WIRES FOR WIND COSTS, BENEFITS

Costs add up, but so do benefits
Editorial, July 10, 2010 (Indianapolis Star)

"…[It] behooves consumers of electricity to keep [the multibillion-dollar cost of transmission lines for wind power] in perspective.

"Alternative energy is not free, or even cheap. Wind, solar and other renewable fuels will not surpass, much less replace, coal and oil in the near future…[but] green power has proven itself to be a worthwhile, indeed necessary, investment. It can cut significantly into the dominance of fossil fuels, reducing the nation's dependence on foreign oil and offsetting the inevitably increasing costs of gasoline, coal-fired electricity generation and their emissions control."

Surely tt would be a shame to be pennywise and foolishly squander the rich wind resources of the Midwest. (click to enlarge)

"Wind, solar and their cousins mean jobs and income for landowners…They're impervious to embargoes by faraway dictators. Their environmental impact will not be 100 percent benign, but the negatives won't compare to the pollution tonnage of fossil fuels…

"[T]he Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will be deliberating on a $2-a-month question for Indiana electricity customers…It is not a trivial matter. The commission must decide who is to pay how much for the massive infrastructure -- $16 billion worth of power lines, the industry says -- that will be needed to move wind energy from the wide open spaces where it's generated to the cities and towns…"

click to enlarge

"…[C]oncern has arisen that consumers will get stuck with the entire tab -- and that some…will pay disproportionately. Wind farmers insist they can't afford to shoulder even 20 percent. If customers take on 100 percent, as the multistate utility-backed organization that monitors the grid has tentatively proposed, the average monthly Indiana electric bill is expected to rise at least $2.

"Fairness is at issue as the federal commission meets with state regulators and others in attempting to arrive at a plan for allocating costs…Least-cost is always a desirable goal. But getting the job done is paramount. In the days when coal and oil were cheap, or seemed so, alternative energy was a fringe pursuit for the wealthy and the eccentric. Today and tomorrow, it had better be mainstream, because the alternative is unaffordable."