Another Self-Decommissioning Wind Turbine; DeKalb Co. IL. –

What you folks are missing is that wind technology keeps improving. The arguments preceding are similar to those against the horseless carriage in the early 1900’s. Are we driving the same car now as then? They have greatly improved. The same is happening with wind turbines. Our energy should be an amalgam of all that is available and then if a non-renewable resource runs out, we are all set with advanced renewable energy. Wind has made great strides just in the last ten years.

To replace all of the coal fired power stations in the United States will take 1.2 million wind turbines and as of right now there are only 70,800 wind turbines built with an average of 2.75 megawatts per wind turbine. Now what are you going to do when the wind don’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine?

Wow! My complements to the author above. Eyr opening to many I’m sure. A great summery from top to bottom. Thank you

My 2 cents regarding wind farms. Most of these are owned by foreign companies and the development of the project would not take place without the federal tax credits that aid in their construction. From what I understand the wind developments bring in 3 revenue streams. Electrical power that is sold and put into the grid, the federal tax credits and renewal energy credits that are sold to offset co emissions caused by the burning of fossil fuels. They do require constant maintenance but I believe wind development companies hire maintenance staff to perform maintenance. Wind development companies have to supply a bond in an amount necessary to cover any decommissioning cost so that a local agency would not have to eat the cost of removing these industrial complexes. These developments are being driven by political forces. IMO these are not efficient enough to replace fossil fuels. There are only so many locations, usually the tops of ridges and bluffs. that make these developments cost effective.. In Illinois our ignorant legislators have deliberately removed local governments from any decision making on how and where these things are being constructed. Although the wind is generated locally none of the electrical power that is generated stays in the local community. Ask anyone living near an industrial wind development if their utility cost has dropped. The owners of the land (used to receive around $10,000 per turbine located on their ground). Local taxing bodies (mainly school districts) benefit since the land the turbines are located on are rezoned from agricultural and assessed at a higher tax rate. It doesn’t bring in that much more tax revenue but one can FOIA a county to find out. These developments have a salvage value so the tax revenue that is generated to local taxing bodies diminishes over time.
In 20 years the tax revenue will be nothing and you will still have an eye sore, So you will have a industrial wind complex utilizing a wind source driven by local geologic conditions and the locals (except the land owners) getting nothing in return.

The problem stems from not getting enough workforce to service these commodities in a timely manner. Can’t tell you how many O&Ms are behind service schedules and are offering OT hand over fist. On top of that, there are supply chain issues and idiots perpetuating tin foil conspiracies and misinformation.

Vince eats 💩

We must stop these foreign owned companies from taking our farmland.

Quality control apparently is not up to snuff. Expect more of the same, as replacing a defunct device is far more expensive than the original cost, it will be interesting to see how the farmer/owner is made whole. Is he just “out of luck,” or is there a way forward that recoups his lost opportunity?