Wind Turbines Pt 2 and the loud call for cheap hydro

I’m interested in the topic of wind turbines for several fascinating reasons.

In my opinion, the tall white productive giants are like living art installations.

“They spoil the view,” some will say.

“They are the view,” I say in return. “And a lot more beautiful than urban malls, big box stores, snout houses, and transport trucks flying down miles of tarmac atop some of the best arable land in the world.”


["What do turbines say to you?": photos GH]

(We could have fewer turbines if we reduced our spending on consumer goods, stayed home, dismantled our electric leaf blowers and raked the lawn by hand. The growing number of turbines make that statement with every artful sweep of their blades. Sorry, I digress).

In my opinion as well, turbines may actually produce power more cheaply than some other conventional means, i.e., coal-fired and nuclear energy plants, when you consider all the costs we bear related to hydro production.

“What the heck?” some will say and point to a complaint voiced by G. Drimmie in our local paper:

“Of more serious concern (i.e., than spoiling a view) - and a concern that affects all residents of Ontario - is the increasing electricity cost that these ‘green machines’ will inject into Ontario’s electrical grid. My bill is 19.6% higher than a year ago and will increase progressively as more and more expensive generating capacity is added. Electricity is becoming unaffordable to residents... and from a business standpoint we are pricing ourselves out of the market.” (Aug. 19, London Free Press)

Is hydro getting more expensive? Do turbines add to the cost?

Yes.

However, we need to ask ourselves if the cheaper bills of the past - for which so many people yearn - were subsidized for us in some way.


Or, were we paying a high cost for cheap hydro in some other way?

The answer again is yes.

High numbers of people entering our over-burdened health-care system with respiratory illnesses suggest we are paying for some costs associated with cheap, coal-fired energy with our very lives.

I suppose that’s one reason we have life insurance. Another cost, right?

Are there additional costs, other than on our hydro bills, associated with all forms of energy production, including wind power?

Certainly. And it would take a genius (which I’m not; I can prove it) to tease the costs out of all the various government and business departments (associated with manufacturing new energy plants, health care plans, towers, turbines, distribution lines, billing systems, etc.), but, in the long-run, I wouldn’t be surprised if wind energy turns out to be one of the cheaper forms of producing hydro, alongside solar panels and water-powered turbines as one of the healthiest forms too.

Let’s take the long view and consider all the costs, rather than complain about the loss of a sunset view and the costs of just wind turbines.

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Q: Would you rather lose a view or a lung?

Public education about pros and cons associated with all forms of hydro production is a government responsibility, right?

To whom should I send my bill?

Sorry, I digress.

Please click here to read a Letter to the Editor and then link to Wind Turbines Pt 3

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