A policy leap of faith
New York State promotes wind energy projects under a state policy to increase to 30% New York's reliance on renewable energy production. New York hydropower already provides 19% of our electricity from renewables. Can the remaining five or six percent be provided by wind?
Potential environmental impacts of wind power plants
A wind power plant (not a small wind turbine) involves dozens of industrial wind turbines, each with an access road sturdy enough to accommodate a 500-ton crane to construct the turbine. To get the crane and other heavy equipment to a single turbine site requires clearing many acres. (See image.) Also required are miles of new transmission lines, either underground or above ground.
In sharp contrast to conventional power plants, wind power plants require a large project area, about well over a dozen square miles. This often takes about half the land area of a rural town.
Development of a wind power plant can change drainage patterns and diminish water quality by silting up creeks, ponds and wetlands. Criss-crossing the countryside with access roads and transmission lines can fragment habitat and divert wildlife populations away from the area. Operation of wind turbines kills birds and bats. The visual and noise impacts of wind turbines can diminish property values, offsetting gains to the host town by decreasing its property tax base. This can change the character of the community, which New York counts as an environmental effect.
However, there is no state plan or comprehensive regulation for wind farms in New York. This encourages wind energy developers to take advantage of rural towns on whose shoulders land use regulation falls.
Energy & emissions benefits of wind power plants
A 60-turbine wind power plant using 1.5 Megawatt turbines will be said to have a 90-MW capacity, but it's not so: in New York, mean wind speeds are less than optimum for large-scale wind turbines, the best winds occur in the winter when peak electricity demand is low, and as a result, according to GE Energy industrial wind plants have effective operating capacities of 10%. That is, the 60-turbine wind farm can be expected to generate about 9 MW annually in New York.
Wind farms perform poorly because they are intermittent. This imposes new costs on the operator of the regional electricity grid passed on to ratepayers. In New York and other states the grid operator is required by law to accept wind energy interconnections and manage the on-again off-again nature of wind energy. As government policies promote more and more wind farms, grid operators have expressed concern that transmission systems will be unable to manage the surge and decline of wind-generated electricity, leading to more frequent power outages.
Conventional power plants must keep running to provide electricity when the wind won't. This is because electricity must be used instantaneously, it is not stored, so grid operators are constantly "balancing" load to meet supply and demand. When some electricity generators go down, the grid operator must call others up. Acknowledging this fact, the wind industry estimates that wind farms can still displace about one-third of fossil fuel generated electricity. If that were true, there might be grounds for hoping wind energy can make a meaningful contribution to efforts to reduce harmful air pollutants, including greenhouse gas emissions. However, the National Academy of Sciences estimates that, at full build-out, wind can displace no more than 4.5% of fossil-fuel-fired power plant CO2 emissions, and "less than 2.25%" of CO2 emissions from all sources in the U.S. by 2020. In its Wind Report 2005 (p. 10), Germany's grid operator (and wind farm developer) E.On Netz estimates that by 2020 wind can displace no more than 4% of fossil-fuel-fired power plant CO2 emissions.
U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar says wind power can replace "about 3,000 medium-sized coal-fired power plants," but FactCheck.org finds that claim to be "far-fetched" and "wildly optimistic, to say the least." That's because when we turn on a light switch, we expect the light to go on. Wind power can't provide steady power to meet that expectation. The more wind plants are built, the more backup power plants must be built, severly reducing the emissions reductions and other environmental benefits we thought wind plants would provide. Jonathan Cogan of the Department of Energy told FactCheck.org: "You couldn’t really, just by themselves, replace a steady baseload supply like coal-fired or nuclear plants with an intermittent supply" such as wind turbines.
One group of researchers likens the intermittent nature of wind power to driving a car in the city or on the highway: acceleration and braking in city driving increases emissions, while steady motoring on the highway achieves emissions reductions. Modeling the effect on thermal plants used to balance variable wind power, "the results showed at least 8-10% increase of fuel consumption and emissions comparing with the steady operation of thermal stations under constant mean power of wind turbines. In some cases the environmental gain from the wind energy use was lost almost totally." (O. Liik, R. Oidram, M. Keel 2003)
An important article in the German publication Spiegel Online suggests that commercial wind energy in Europe has not reduced CO2 emissions "by one gram," principally because Europe's cap-and-trade system allows carbon credits for wind to be sold to coal-fired power plants, increasing coal plants' CO2 more than what was planned. Thus wind energy fails to achieve its primary mission as a measure to affect climate change.
Investment schemes
New York's largest wind farm, the Maple Ridge Wind Farm in Lewis County, 195 turbines on the Tug Hill Plateau, has been sold twice since operations began in 2005. (It is now owned by Iberdrola.) It is common for large industrial wind power plants to be sold within two years of obtaining all required approvals. This is because public money is the source of most wind plant revenue, exceeding the combined cost of the purchase and installation of the plant's wind turbines and the electricity it sells. These public subsidies are transferable and are very attractive to corporations with high U.S. tax liability. Some of the public money even goes to subsidiaries producing oil and coal.
The federal Energy Information Administration has found that large-scale wind facilities are the largest beneficiaries of federal energy subsidies. Tax incentives offered by New York and the federal government include (1) providing federal and state income tax credits for the cost of purchasing and installing a wind power plant; (2) exempting the value of equipment from local property tax; (3) permitting a five-year depreciation for all equipment; and (4) exempting such equipment from state sales taxes.
The federal five-year depreciation tax credit will generally pay for the full cost of constructing a wind farm. Tax credits also include (5) the controversial federal Production Tax Credit (PTC) which pays wind companies 2.1 cents per kw for a ten-year period, for electricity generated. The 2009 Stimulus Bill allows wind farm operators to choose between the PTC and a check from U.S. Treasury for 30% of the cost of the project.
Wind power plants cannot survive on electricity sales alone, even after getting a tax credit for the full cost of construction and being excused from local taxes. So dependent is the wind industry on the PTC that each time it was not renewed, in 1999, 2001 and 2003, new installed wind capacity declined 93, 73 and 77 percent, respectively.
Finally, wind farms don't compete with other generators of electricity in the open market. Instead, they are guaranteed the wholesale price for the electricity they generate, whether it's needed or not. The added costs on the electric grid management system resulting from wind's on-again off-again nature are paid by utility ratepayers, not wind development companies.
And what does the town hosting such a plant get in return? Realtors in towns with these kind of wind plants report that property values of homes decline within sight of a battery of wind turbines. Because the turbines are sited on ridge tops, the impact on home values extends many miles away. In some communities the wind energy company has had to buy homes of complaining homeowners and sell them at fire sale prices–its cheaper than a nuisance lawsuit.
However, nuisance suits can't be stopped. Neighboring landowners who don't sign an easement agreement can still sue the company for allowing a nuisance. Local laws establishing setbacks less than a mile are therefore setting up their communities for divisive litigation. And understandably so, because the nuisance and safety impacts of a local law with inappropriate setbacks or buffer zones between wind turbines and homes should have been looked at in the first place.
And what do the people of the State of New York get in return? Wind energy cannot replace conventional power plants or lower the cost of electricity. To generate 300 MW (typical actual generation rate for a small base-load conventional power plant; large power plants are rated at about 1000 MW), operating at 20% capacity, at least 12 wind plants (each comprised of 60 turbines with 2.0 MW capacity per turbine) will be needed. Each wind plant can be expected to require 10,000 acres. Twelve 60-turbine wind plants taking up as much as 120,000 acres (187.5 square miles) will cost far more, and have far more impact on the community than one conventional power plant.
As wind turbines get larger, researchers have studied how noise and visual impacts combine to explain escalating reports of health effects. Health problems do not appear to be present where wind turbines are located at a safe distance from homes.
Town boards are being told by wind developers there is no need to look at potential negative impacts of noise standards and home setbacks until later, when an application is submitted for a wind plant. By then it's too late, because the applicant has achieved its main goal, a local law with setbacks that are short enough to accommodate 60 interconnected turbines, but too short to protect people, and noise limits of 50 decibels at the exterior wall of homes, too high to protect people's right to peace and quiet and sleep.
Potential health impacts of industrial wind turbines
Proponents of industrial wind plants point to the high decibel levels required to damage the ears (over 90 decibels), urging that noise from wind turbines is safe. However, chronic exposure to much lower noise levels is a recognized health problem.
To avoid sleep disturbance, the World Health Organization recommends nighttime limits for noise be no higher than 30 dB(A) in bedrooms. Ontario, Canada, has imposed a limit of 40 dB(A) at residential property lines on noise from wind turbines. However, most towns in NY are adopting local laws recommended by the wind industry with a limit of 50 dB(A).
The existing background nighttime sound level in most rural areas is about 25 dB(A). NY Department of Environmental Conservation issued a guide on assessing noise impacts that states (at p. 15) increased sound levels of 6 decibels will cause community complaints, and an increase of 20 decibels is "intolerable." Operating wind farms have been measured causing sustained sound levels in excess of 70 dB(A) well over 1,000 feet away.
In Europe, complaints about the health impacts of industrial noise from wind turbines have led to a growing consensus that a safe distance from residential areas is a minimum of one mile.
In western New York, wind energy companies are asking for local laws establishing setbacks of 1,000 feet or less. Wind companies ask local landowners to sign easement agreements that preclude any complaint by the landowner for droning noise, loss of hunting resources, migraine-inducing "shadow flicker" caused when the blades catch the sun, and damages from wind turbines leaking oil or throwing ice hundreds of feet at high velocity. At the same time, these companies are telling town boards and planning boards that wind turbines are quiet and safe.
NOISE AND HEALTH
Noise study critical of Noble assessment in Ubly, Michigan (January 2007) "Nighttime levels in the homes are expected to be in the low to mid 20 dBA range based on the tests conducted inside the residences of the study participants. The turbines would set the outdoor background sound levels approximately 20 dB higher (steady sound of 40-45 dBA) than the naturally occurring nighttime sounds and thus could cause sleep interference. This would be especially true for people who leave windows open in the evening and nighttime." (p. 8)
The Noise Heard Round the World - the trouble with industrial wind turbines
Canadian & American Wind Energy Associations, critique of vibroacoustic disease (2009) - noting that the scientific jury is still out on the link between direct organic impairments and exposure to wind turbine noise (the focus of Dr. Pierpont’s work), called vibroacoustic disease or wind turbine syndrome, this report overlooks well-established findings of health effects resulting from chronic sleeplessness, caused by mere annoyance with wind turbine noise at sound levels that are unlikely to result in vibroacoustic disease.
UK Noise Association - Wind Farms are Causing Noise Problems
AUDIO-VISUAL RECORDINGS OF WIND FARM NOISE AND
SHADOW FLICKER
INDUSTRY
Mergers & acquisitions
Tetra Tech, Inc. (Pasadena, CA) has acquired the Delaney Group, a New York-based firm with annual revenues of about $60 million that has participated in several wind energy development projects, including the Maple Ridge Wind Farm in the Tug Hill region of New York, which Tetra Tech describes as the largest wind farm east of the Mississippi River. --EBJ's Weekly News Update- April 25, 2007
THE REAL CAPACITY OF WIND ENERGY
Actual generation rates for wind farms are available on the website of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The data shows no wind farm in New York has achieved a 30% generation rate, compared to its rated or "installed" capacity, and most produce slightly above or below 20%.
Jon Boone, "The Wayward Wind," June 19, 2006 --Good discussion of "capacity factor" (the actual electricity we can expect commercial wind plants to generate) and the high cost of public subsidies for commercial wind, focused on Noble Environmental Power's Bliss Windpark project in Wyoming County.
E.ON Netz manages about one-half of all wind power integrated into the grid in Germany, the world's leading user of industrial wind power. The E.ON Netz 2005 Wind Energy Report concludes that the intermittent nature of wind results in a capacity factor of less 20% under the best circumstances, and cannot diminish the need for baseline power plants. (Discussions of the report here and here.)
Turbine manufacturer GE Energy reports that while utility-scale wind turbines have a capacity of 30%, their effective capacity is 10% because most of their contribution to the electricity grid occurs during off-peak times (at night and in the winter) when it's not needed.
GRID INTEGRATION PROBLEMS
New York's Public Service Commission (PSC) administers limited regulation of industrial wind plants under Article VII of the state Public Services Law. Under Article VII, PSC must issue wind plants a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility and Public Need.
IMPACT ON GREEHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS
Large quantities of cement are required to anchor industrial wind turbines; cement plants are among the largest sources of greenhouse gases (especially NOx and SO2) and emit into the air about 1.5 lbs. of mercury per ton of cement produced.
EXPERIENCE AT EXISTING WIND FARMS
Huron County, Michigan (get an idea of how much money wind companies pay local host communities compared to their revenue)
COMMUNITY ACTION GROUPS
ENHANCED GEOTHERMAL ENERGY
In a decade or so, industrial wind turbines may be obsolete as more cost effective and less damaging renewables become available. Hot rock ("enhanced") geothermal energy can produce very reliable baseload capacity, and can operate 24 hours a day waste-free, virtually emissions-free. According to a recent MIT study, known Enhanced Geothermal resources in the U.S. have the potential to generate an astonishing 56,000 times the nation's energy needs, for slightly less cost per megawatt than wind. On a per-megawatt basis, the footprint of an enhanced geothermal plant is less than the footprint required for a nuclear plant.
MIT study: 100,000 MW from enhanced geothermal systems can be achieved in the United States within 50 years with a modest, multiyear federal investment.
SMALL WIND, SMALL IMPACTS
WHAT'S NEW
Not everyone's happy in Bliss: now that Noble Environmental has put up 55 of 67 turbines in the Hamlet of Bliss (Wyoming Co.), some residents say the wind farm is more intrusive than they expected.
Iowa State University Center for Agricultural Law and Taxation has a guide for landowners faced with an easement offer from a wind power company.
At least a dozen New York towns have banned industrial-sized wind power plants (although allowing small turbines), including: Malone, Italy, Castile and Warsaw. Contact us if you'd like a copy of their local laws.
According to the Energy Information Administration (USDOE's research branch), Annual Energy Outlook 2009 (Table A17), wind energy's technological limits make it unlikely to generate much more than 1% of our future electrical energy needs. We could reduce many times more of our energy needs by directing subsidies to municipal, commercial and home energy reduction plans.
“Community wind” projects optimize local benefits, particularly for rural communities. Such projects involve small turbines and local ownership. More information can be obtained from Farmers' Legal Action Group.
Recommended video:
(scroll down to near
bottom of page)
An excellent NPR radio series provides an objective and balanced look at the problem of 20% wind penetration for grid operators, and the absence of planning for such problems. Part 3 of the series raises the question whether we are creating a "renewable energy financial bubble" comparable to the housing finance bubble that burst last year. Go to www.npr.org/grid
In New York, the State Environmental Quality Review Act requires comprehensive environmental impact review for new regulations and new projects. However, responsibility for environmental review lies with the host town, generally ill-prepared to undertake such review of large projects. All other state agencies are "involved agencies," limited to their specific
permitting authority.
historical sites and views.
New York's largest coal-fired power plant, Niagara Mohawk's Huntley plant, has a 336 MW capacity and operates at about 80% capacity. The Indian Point 3 nuclear power plant has a capacity of 970 MW, the Fitzpatrick nuclear power plant is 820 MW, both operating at 90% capacity or better.
See the discussion of
“capacity factor,” below.
June 1, 2008
Wind will not help us avoid dependence on foreign oil. Most of our electricity comes from coal-fired and nuclear plants; very little oil is burned to produce electricity. The U.S does not rely on foreign fuel imports for electricity.
The western New York Town of Bethany impaneled a very talented group of local residents to study "the possible ramifications of the placement of [commercial wind energy conversion systems] within the Town. The town used a 12-month moratorium, which it found necessary to extend by six more months, to allow the study committee to prepare a report on what they learned. The Report from the Bethany Wind Turbine Study Committee (2.2MB download) is a balanced, thoughtful analysis of pro's and con's. Every town should have such a committee. If they do, thanks to Bethany their committee can build on this work and add the findings of new research as it becomes available.
One wind farm developer's noise study states that turbines create up to 106 db at a distance of 10-20 ft., 42 db at 1300 ft. in an area with nighttime background noise levels of 28-32 db
The capacity factor is the ratio of actual energy produced in a given period of time (generally, annually) to the hypothetical maximum amount of energy that could be produced if the turbine was running full time at the rated power. The rated power of the turbine is the energy the turbine will produce per hour of operation, when running at its maximum performance ( i.e. at high wind speeds).
"Net metering" is a policy requiring payment at the retail rate charged by utilities for electricity to alternative electricity generators that connect to the grid. New York's net metering policy applies only to "residential and farm service wind electric generating equipment owned or operated by a customer-generator." NY Public Service Law § 66-l(2) (2006). Industrial wind farms are paid at an "avoided cost" rate, the wholesale cost of electricity paid by utilities and grid operators.
How much land is needed for a utility-scale wind plant?
The Maple Ridge Wind Farm comes close: 195 turbines rated at 1.65 MW each (321.75 MW) has a project area of 21,000 acres (32.8 sq. mi.), or slightly greater than AWEA's prediction of 19,305 acres.
However, the Allegany Windpark proposed by Noble Environmental Power for Rushford and Centerville would have 67 turbines rated at 1.5 MW each (100.5 MW), with a project area of 15,360 acres (24 sq. mi.), more than double AWEA's prediction of 6,030 acres.
According to the Manhattan Institute (Energy & the Environment: Myths & Facts, pp. 28-29), "To generate the electricity that a typical 1,000-megawatt coal-fired or nuclear power plant produces would require a utility-scale wind plant using 60,000 acres of land," that is, 93.7 sq. mi. "Wind and solar energy, moreover, are not constant. The wind does not always blow, and the sun does not always shine. Nuclear reactors, coal furnaces, and gas-fired plants, on the other hand, can produce electricity virtually around the clock, using far less space. . . . Consequently, policymakers at the federal and state levels should resist calls to implement renewable portfolio standards that would only serve to drive up prices for consumers and provide less reliable supplies of energy." (p. 35)
From the National Grid White Paper (2006):
"In the current interconnection process, the generator developer applies to the transmission provider for an interconnection after identifying a proposed site. The transmission provider must then perform a system impact study to determine what interconnection facilities and system upgrades would be necessary to connect that generator to the electric system. To manage requests for interconnection, a transmission provider has an intake process referred to as a queue. The interconnection queue provides for orderly management of requests under a first-come first-served approach, and serves as the basis for assigning cost responsibility to generation developers for transmission upgrades.
"Ideally, all generator applications would be processed in a timely manner. However, the queue process can become burdensome particularly if significant transmission upgrades are required for a project. Queue position can have real commercial significance; a long wait in the interconnection queue can have serious consequences for the financial viability of projects, particularly renewable projects if they are dependent on the recently extended federal PTC.
