Why Not Ohio? Wind is 20 Pecent of Iowa's Energy

[Rick Rowlands]

I know Sarge.  Gets frustrating at times.

[sfc_oliver]

The bottom line is we can do more in wind power.....except for naysayers on this forum...

Dennis this is why you will never be more than you are now. You refuse the facts even when they are placed in front of you. You think you know so much more than scientists do. Look at the Blasted Map.

WE DO NOT HAVE THE WIND AVAILABLE!!!!!

And this isn't rocket science either.

[Rick Rowlands]

Everybody knows that Ted Strickland has conjured up magical spells to keep wind speeds low in Ohio while he is governor!

Dennis says wind energy is economical, yet a wind farm development in Rhode Island was just cancelled because of the astronomical rates they would charge.  How can electrical generation by wind, where the motive power is FREE,cost three times as much as coal generation, when you have to dig the stuff out of the ground, haul it by train, burn it and then deal with the waste ash?  Something does not make any sense here!

Rhode Island Officials Nix Wind Farm Deal
Alternative energy proponents suffered a blow on Tuesday when Rhode Island's Public Utilities Commission rejected a deal to build a wind farm in the waters off the state's Block Island.
New Jersey-based Deepwater Wind proposed to build an eight-turbine wind farm and sell the electricity it produced to National Grid, which supplies power to Rhode Island residents.
The three-member commission voted unanimously against the agreement, saying the price of power agreed to by the two sides was too high, The Providence Journal reported.
National Grid was to pay 24.4 cents per kilowatt hour, nearly three times the price it pays for energy from fossil-fuel and nuclear plants. The price would have risen each year, so at the end of the 20-year contract, the price would have been 48.6 cents per kilowatt hour.
That would have meant "hundreds of millions of dollars in additional costs to the state's 480,000 ratepayers over two decades," according to the Journal.
The eight-turbine project was designed as a demonstration project and precursor to a 100-turbine wind farm more than 15 miles offshore.
Jerry Elmer, an attorney with the Conservation Law Foundation, said the commission "failed to factor in the benefits renewable energy projects will yield in terms of price predictability, energy independence and reduction in global warming pollution."
But commission member Mary Bray said: "As excited as we can get about the wind project, I personally don't think that's commercially reasonable."

[irishbobcat]

The bottom line is we can do more in wind power.....except for naysayers on this forum...

[Why?Town]

I've seen this map before and IIRC, the tan areas really don't have enough wind either.

[sfc_oliver]

Over Half of the State doesn't have enough wind.....

[irishbobcat]

Why Not Ohio? Wind is 20Pecent of Iowa's Energy

The Center of Rural Affairs last week reported wind energy accounts for up to 20 percent of Iowa's total electricity production, and is helping to keep the state's power costs among the lowest in the nation.


Authors of the study said it debunks arguments that alternative energy and other measures to combat climate change are too expensive. The study was conducted by the Iowa Policy Project, a nonpartisan, nonprofit research organization based in Iowa City.

The study found that wind produced 3,670 megawatts of electricity in the state. If that power were used solely within the state it would produce enough electricity to power 940,000 homes roughly three-quarters of the state's homes.

The study noted that MidAmerican Energy is one of the most aggressive utility companies in the nation on wind energy, securing approval in December to install another 1,001 megawatts of production.

Iowa continues to rank second to Texas in wind production in the United States, the study found.

Coal-fired plants produce about 75 percent of the state's electricity, and there is one nuclear plant in the state.

In examining electricity costs, the study found that Iowans paid about 6 cents per kilowatt hour in 1998. That climbed to 7 cents per kilowatt hour by 2008. Over the same time period, national average electricity costs went from 7 cents per kilowatt hour to nearly 10 cents.

Why not Ohio? Why doesn't Ohio look to reach double-digit use of wind power? It's because Ohio continues to be led by Ted Strickland, a governor who is controlled by the dirty coal and nuke power lobbysists in the state.

It's time we elect a Green Party Governor who will say NO to dirty energy lobbyists and embrace real clean, green renewable energy!