“I would suggest that the owners of the “wind farms” that may not be able to sell all their output don’t deserve a lot of sympathy. They should have known the risks of investing in an industry that exists only because of massive tax breaks and subsidies and other unwise government policies.”
Mr. Graff: Thanks for your probably well-meaning [August 5th] story that bore the headline, “Newly Available Wind Power Often Has No Place to Go.” However, I wonder if you realize that the story was quite one-sided and likely misleading.
That tends to happen, unfortunately, when a “news” story is based heavily on information fed to reporters by lobbyists — in this case from the wind industry’s Washington-based lobbyists, the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA).
Please consider the following points:
Market Distortion.…
Dear Honorable Mark R. Warner:
I have great respect for your knowledge of information technology. But, with all due respect, sir, your May 24, 2012, response to my request that you oppose extension of the federal Production Tax Credit (PTC) shows a serious lack of understanding of wind energy, energy markets, and energy research & development.
The people of [your] Virginia are fortunate that the Menendez bill (S.2204) failed. Your support for that bill was ill-advised and contrary to the interests of Virginia’s taxpayers and energy users.
You appear not to understand that the wind PTC, a tax shelter, results in shifting tax burden from “wind farm” owners and developers to ordinary tax payers and/or results in more debt that will have to be paid by our children and grandchildren. Furthermore, “wind farms” are being built primarily because of the Production Tax Credit, NOT because of their true environmental, energy or economic benefits.…
[Editor note: This response to the Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee’s March 21, 2011, “White Paper on a Clean Energy Standard” is by Glenn R. Schleede, citizen, taxpayer and consumer. He is retired after working more than 35 years on energy policy matters in the federal government and the private sector. ]
Thank you for undertaking a de novo review of the matter of a potential “clean energy standard.’ Such a review is far preferable to previous attempts to force such a standard on the people of the United States without adequate consideration of its cost and benefits.
My comments are directed towards fundamental issues that are not addressed directly by the Committee’s six major questions or thirty-three subsidiary questions; i.e., the fundamental issues of:
…· Whether assumptions underlying proposals for a “Clean Energy Standard” or similar proposals are valid, and
· Whether actions by governments to select, promote, or mandate particular energy technologies and sources are in the national and public interest.