NStar Offers Green Power and Charges Extra
The Wednesday edition of the Boston Globe (7-25-2007) published a front page story about NStar offering it’s customers the opportunity to buy wind generated power. Good news for anyone that wants to help the environment by promoting clean renewable forms of energy. Of course, as one might expect, doing the “right thing” comes at a price.
Pay extra and get nothing
NStar plans to charge environmentally minded customers and extra $7.50 to $15 more per month for being good global citizens. The additional price, while being completely ridiculous, isn’t too bad. Right? We’ve all been told that we “have to do our part” to protect the environment. So we all need to suck it up and take one for the team? The problem with the whole program is that just because you’re paying extra to use renewable clean power there is no guarantee that the power you get actually comes from one of these wind farms! So, we’re paying extra for WHAT?
Quoting stupidity
The Wednesday edition of the Boston Globe quoted Philip Giudice, commissioner or the Massachusetts Division of Energy Resources, as saying, “It’s neat for customers to be able to say: I’m part of this specific wind project.” Neat? Is the commissioner kidding? What kind of buffoon thinks it’s “neat” to pay extra for something you’re probably not getting just to say you’re kind of being “green?” I guess colossal stupidity leads to a top job at the Massachusetts Division of Energy Resources.
Stupidity aside, why does power generated from a free renewable resource cost more than something like coal? According to the article NStar explains the higher cost this way:
“the conversion of wind to electricity is more expensive than conventional sources because of the cost of turbines and associated gear because many extra towers have to be installed to ensure a minimum of flow of power as wind speeds slows and changes direction.”
The extra cost defies rational thinking
Okay, so other fuel sources magically convert raw material to electrical power with no associated cost? I think not. Someone needs to drill these people on this point and force them to produce a spreadsheet breaking down the operational cost of a wind farm verses a traditional power source. And don’t forget to factor in the operational cost for harvesting the raw material needed for those traditional sources. I’m confident that there is no way a wind farm cost more to operate. It’s very clear that the additional cost is nothing more than big business exploiting the environmentally conscience consumer. Isn’t it nice to get screwed for doing the right thing?
Technorati Tags: wind generated power, renewable clean power, commissioner or the Massachusetts Division of Energy Resources, NStar
on July 27th, 2007 at 8:59 am
The day before you posted this I was looking at wind turbines for residential applications. The prices started at around $3000 before installation costs and went up depending on how much power you wanted to generate for your home. I thought that was a reasonable investment if it got me off the grid a majority of the time. The website stated I should have a minimum average wind speed of 10 mph to make it worthwhile, so I need to check that along with any county ordinances on putting up a tower. Since I have a small tree buffer between my home and others, I don’t see it being an eyesore. Heck, I live in tobacco growin’, moonshine brewin’, confederate flag wavin’ country with a Wal-Mart just 2 miles away. My wind turbine will fit right in.
As for those electric companies that are trying to peddle that song and dance about their initial capital investment for a wind farm, they know they’re going to get their ROI in record time. Think about it, instead of using oil to generate power the source will now be wind. Other than the wind turbines, the land to put them on, and the inverters to convert the power to electricity I would think that everything else past that point would still work. I’m not an engineer, but it doesn’t sound like rocket science to me.
on July 27th, 2007 at 9:16 am
I also looked into getting a personal windmill but unfortunately I just don’t have the proper layout for good placement. I did read that if you can feel the wind on your face, you have enough to drive a windmill.
I did see one of these personal windmills in action. Near the Costco in Dedham, MA there is a large parking lot that I think was used by a nearby car dealership. Right smack in the middle of the lot was this little windmill spinning away. It was quiet and certainly NOT an eye sore. Matter of fact there was something peaceful about watching it spin knowing that each rotation was generating power and reducing the overall need for traditional power sources. You could almost hear it go “cha ching, cha ching, cha ching.”