Why can’t batteries save BigWind in Ohio?

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In the past, we have blogged about the poor performance of industrial wind energy turbines in Ohio (just ask USV/ONU schools about this!). It is public record that they actually produce less than 40% of what they touted to the public. Remember how many homes were to be powered by an industrial site? Hogwash! Anyway, due to the intermittent nature of industrial wind energy turbines, they must ALWAYS have natural gas or coal running in the background….in other words, they NEVER stand alone and replace ZERO fossil fuel plants. What is the obvious solution to this problem? Batteries. Except that all of us know that batteries are anything BUT environmentally friendly and do NOT last nearly long enough before they are tossed (but not in the trash!) Knowing this, What is your prediction about the proposed batteries (5x semitruck sized) for Ohio?….

We’re now told the solution to the chaos delivered by wind and solar is giant lithium-ion batteries, of the kind peddled by Elon Musk. The reefer-smoking, Californian carpetbagger managed to offload one unit in wind power obsessed, South Australia, collected $150 million, and was never seen again….

This conjob was first sold in South Australia, as with their experiment of a 50% Renewable Energy Target descending into a costly farce, and to cover-up the fact they needed spend several hundred million on emergency diesel generators to keep the lights on just before the state election, with Hollywood fanfare SA announced they were installing ‘’the world’s largest battery’’ to save the day.

And unsurprisingly, the green useless idiots of the left have swallowed this hook, line and sinker – as rent seekers continued to go laughing to the bank to cash their millions from subsidies.

Well the performance of the ‘’world’s largest battery’’ last Thursday exposed what a complete con job it’s been – and delusion that we can power our economy on solar panels, wind turbines and big batteries is as dangerous to the economy as rabies is in a dog.

Let’s look at the evidence from 1/24/2019…

As wind power collapsed into the afternoon, prices in South Australia surged to $14,500 Mwh (they averaged around $40 Mwh before all these ‘cheap’ renewables flooded into the grid) at around 4.30pm ‘’the world’s biggest battery’’ started to dribble in 30MW to the grid.

The 30MW was less than 1% of South Australia’s total demand, and less than 0.1% of the National grid’s demand.

The world’s biggest battery continued to dribble out around 30MW until 7.30pm, then it ran flat, rendering it completely useless as peak demand hit at 7.30pm.

Meanwhile the emergency diesel generators (chewing through a reported 80,000 litres of diesel an hour) were doing the real work in SA, pumping out over 400MW at a time on demand – and they continued to so as demand peaked at 7.30pm, when the world’s largest battery had given up the ghost.

So at peak demand, in the renewables paradise of South Australia, 97% of their electricity was coming from fossil fuels.

Over the afternoon, I estimate the ‘’world’s biggest battery’’ delivered only around 100 Mwh of electricity – compared to 2000Mwh by the diesel generators.

The facts should be clear from the evidence that it’s a dangerous delusion that Australia can run the economy with solar/wind backed up by big batteries…

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Ohio letter shows what is wrong w BigWind

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Have you educated yourselves about these truths? Please do and share with others. As you read in our last post, BigWind, the pollster allies and lobbying groups are quick to persuade our legislators a ‘different story’.  Have you shared these truths with anyone today?? How about your legislators??…..

…When Baldosser states that wind turbines’ “efficiency is that they are quickly able to go on and off line” and if we need extra power it is easy to “put more turbines online,” it leaves the impression that wind turbines are turned on and off with a switch and that the wind is always there to use at a moment’s notice. This is just not the case.

In real life, the variable wind only blows enough for the turbines to generate one third of the electricity they could if they ran full power all the time. And, as every reader knows, the wind blows when it wants to, not when you want it to….

The intermittent output of turbines is one of their big downfalls. Some people like to say that it’s not a problem because they are connected to the grid and some other generating source will fill in the gaps. Currently, the only reliable source of power that is always ready to ramp up at a moment’s notice is certain kinds of natural gas generators. In the end, they will generate the two-thirds of the electricity that the turbines were suppose to provide but can’t because of variable winds.… And, because of the physics involved in using gas as a backup, the inefficiencies cause as much or more gas to be used in backing up wind turbines as would be used in more efficient full-time gas generators making all the electricity and not building any turbines in the first place. That is why wind turbines do not save on CO2 emissions. And remember, whenever you read that “wind energy is now the cheapest form of electricity” the cost of backing it up when the wind slows is not included in that price. Intermittent electricity has little value to you as the end user.

But what about batteries, you say? Baldosser’s 55-gallon drums sound like batteries! … While there are a few installed in California and Australia, they are only capable of storing a few seconds’ or minutes’ worth of power, and they do so at a very high cost. While there are many storage ideas being researched, there is nothing even close to being developed or deployed that can store the massive amount of electricity needed at an affordable price….If we were to ramp up current battery technology to the required scale, besides being extremely expensive, it would involve many environmental impacts and require moving mountains of earth on a scale even greater than mining coal to acquire the necessary natural elements like lithium, etc.

In the end, there is no perfect way to generate electricity without causing some issue. If we think CO2 is the immediate biggest problem, then we should be installing more nuclear plants, as they are the only thing that can generate massive amounts of stable electricity with no CO2. ...Eventually, they will realize that large number of voters being forced to live near wind turbines will not be happy with their current politicians. At that point, the wind fad will be over, but we will be left to live among the huge flailing armed machines for decades into the future, while things like solar panels would have had very few effects on surrounding residents….

Some will make lots of money on wind power and they will be happy. They are the ones so busy promoting it now. Every fad in history was pushed to its maximum by those making money on it.

Jim Feasel,

Tiffin

Letter to the Editor

Has BigWind become a BULLY in Ohio?

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This week the Senate announced the members who will be serving on the Senate Energy and Public Utilities Committee. Senator Steve Wilson (R-Maineville) has been appointed Chairman.  Wilson is a former bank CEO and member of the Board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.  Vice Chair will be Sen. Rob McColley of Napoleon in Henry County who is an attorney. Senator Sandra Williams (D-Cleveland)  is the ranking member.  Filling out the Committee are Republicans Brenner (R-Powell); Burke (R-Marysville); Dolan (R- Chagrin Falls); Eklund (R-Chardon); Hoaglund (R-Adena); M. Huffman (R-Lima); Peterson (R-Sabina); Rulli (R-Salem); Craig (D-Columbus) and O’Brien (D-Bazetta).

Several interesting issues have arisen in various forums this week.   A spokesperson for Innogy announced that they would be backing up wind developments onsite with batteries the size of semi-truck containers.  They propose to stack five of them one on top of the other to provide 5MW of back-up power to smooth out variable winds.  But their spokesperson claimed there would be no need to involve the OPSB because they would not meet the over 5MW for state regulation.  We fail to see how batteries installed at a wind facility would not be considered a part of the total project and therefore included in the total MW for the facility. And, how ‘green’ are batteries? We are told NOT to dispose of them in regular trash because of the risk of the acids.  What will they do with batteries the size of semis??

A question has arisen as to whether a tenant will be afforded adequate protection if a non-resident landowner/landlord signs a wind lease waiving setback restrictions.  Will the landlord be obligated to inform the tenant?  Does the landlord have a duty to ascertain whether the tenant family has any medical conditions? Does the tenant have any right to claims against the landowner if adverse impacts are experienced?  Setback waivers generally include agreements not to publicly complain about noise, shadow flicker and other nuisance effects.  Would the tenant be bound by such terms if they are not party to the agreement?

The Findlay Zoning Board of Appeals rejected an application for approval of two on-site wind turbines for an industrial facility.  The 400 foot turbines exceed Findlay’s height limits of 100’ for wind turbines. The existing turbines in the Findlay area at Ball and Whirlpool are in Allen Township which has no zoning.  The company seeking to erect the turbines was originally rejected by the Marion Township Zoning Board of Appeals. This led them to annex their 37-acre property into Findlay where they were met with another rejection.  The company may seek to overturn the decision in court.  Press reports indicate the turbines would be as close as 1000’ from neighboring residences.  In the Findlay, Ohio article, Jereme Kent of One Energy is quoted as saying, “We will have to evaluate our other legal recourses to resolve this”…I don’t know about you, but that sounds like a threat to those who were opposed to the turbines! City administrators assert there would be negative impacts on these properties. We hope the folks in Findlay are aware of what happened in Falmouth, MA.

The Ohio Conservative Energy Forum has gone into an over-spin condition with a new poll claiming widespread support for clean energy in Ohio.  (You might even call it a “mandate”. ☹)  The poll was conducted by Public Opinion Strategies in the D.C. area.  P.O.S. states on their website: “Public Opinion Strategies is one of the nation’s leading public opinion research firms specializing in political, public affairs, public policy, and corporate positioning research. Our roots are in political campaign management. As such, our research is focused on producing data that compels decisions – to get results.”  Gee – seems like they admit their polls are designed to get whatever result the client wants. In this case, the objective is reduced setbacks measured from homes.  How noble.  

There have been several media reports covering the poll but it is unclear whether any reporter has actually seen the questions that were asked.  It appears that the attached memo was carefully crafted to “appear” as though it is presenting the questions but it is not.   Our question is when did Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez join the Ohio Conservative Energy Forum?  Representatives of OCEF spent the week meeting with legislators to convince them they need to vote for renewables if they want to keep their elected office.  Meanwhile, newly elected Rep. Cross from Hardin County spoke to the Annual Indian Lake Chamber meeting and said that “quality of life is now Number 1 in attracting growth.”  Wonder if they took the survey?

A short video of an energy conversation with Bill Gates is worth watching: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1EB1zsxW0k

PILOT payments for the solar field in Hardin County were the recent subject of discussion with the County Commissioners.  No resolution was reached and there continues to be much uncertainty surrounding the PILOT program.  “County Auditor Mike Bacon had questioned if taking the productive farmland off the property tax charts would result in an increase to other taxpayers to balance the loss.  Klooster said the issue has been a major concern of Invenergy, who doesn’t want the solar field development to not result in “a penny of increase to anyone’s taxes.”  A public hearing on Phase II of the solar farm will be held on March 14 in Hardin County.

In other news:

 

  • Hardin County’s Upper Scioto Valley schools want to get rid of two turbines on their property.  One of the turbines does not work and the cost of a needed part is $100,000, which NexGen is not willing to pay unless USV extends its contract for services.   “But the board and administration questioned why it would be interested in doing that since the amount they pay per kilowatt to NexGen is double the cost paid by the district on the commercial electric grid.  “It is cheaper for me to have them not working,” said Treasurer Stacy Gratz.”….How many schools across the state know this reality?

 

  • “American Electric Power (AEP) is paying $551m in cash to acquire full or partial interests in 724MW of US wind projects from Sempra Energy, continuing an aggressive drive to add capacity since the spectacular collapse last year of its 2GW Wind Catcher project. The deal, expected to close next quarter, includes Sempra’s 100% stake in the 100MW Apple Blossom wind project in Michigan and 78MW Black Oak Getty facility in Minnesota.  The remaining 546MW comprises projects that Sempra jointly owns with BP Wind Energy: Auwahi Wind in Hawaii, Ridge 2 Wind in Kansas, Mehoopany Wind in Pennsylvania, Cedar Creek 2 Wind in Colorado and Fowler Ridge 2 Wind in Indiana.”

 

  • Supporters and opponents of the Lake Erie Icebreaker project are sounding off about whether the benefits outweigh the risks of putting wind turbines in the lake. “Final approval could come soon for Icebreaker, a six-turbine wind installation in Lake Erie, eight miles off Cleveland’s shoreline. Lake Erie Foundation board member John Lipaj noted it’s actually a pilot project for a massive, 1,500 wind turbine installation throughout the lake. The developer has said each turbine holds about 400 gallons of industrial lubricants, and Lipaj said that’s just not worth the risk. “Lake Erie, which is the source of drinking water for 11 million people, isn’t the place to be building an industrial wind facility,” Lipaj said. “Build the wind turbines onshore; build them where farmers need that extra income. It just makes so much more sense and it’s better for the lake.”   The Ohio Power Siting Board could decide on the project at a hearing February 21.

 

  • The United States Senate has voted to approve a large measure protecting public lands.  One provision of the bill is a bird measure sponsored by Ohio Senator Rob Portman that will provide $6.5 million each year through 2024 on conservation. Portman said hundreds of bird species migrate through Ohio each year, making Lake Erie a popular bird watching destination. The Senate approved the bill in a 92 to 8 vote. The House of Representatives has not yet taken it up. “Protecting and conserving these bird populations is critically important and I am pleased the Senate approved this bipartisan legislation,” said a statement from Portman. “I’m looking forward to this legislation being signed very soon.”    It remains to be seen whether the OPSB will consider this federal legislation when deciding the Icebreaker project.

 

  • In Tippecanoe County, Indiana has decided that industrial wind development will no longer be allowed. “Wind turbines are not appropriate for our county,” said Julie Peretin. Speaking on behalf of several Tippecanoe County residents who share the same concern Peretin said,  “We are too densely populated and we have some of the best farm ground in the state.”   “Wind farms are a great economic opportunity for rural areas and areas with declining populations,” said Murtaugh.  “Our population is constantly growing, our economic development activities are escalating, to tie up that type of ground for up to 50 years is way premature,” said Murtaugh.  “A commercial developer who just kind of sweeps in, the potential to cause harm to a community cannot be understated,” she said.

 

  • The aggressive left-wing group “Checks & Balances” had a complete meltdown over the citizens in NW Ohio (aka “fossil fuel operatives”) who are effectively using social media to speak out against industrial wind.  You can read C&B’s incomprehensible screed at https://checksandbalancesproject.org/van-wert-wind-development/.  We find it interesting that they blame citizen groups, such as our own, for Apex pulling out of NW Ohio, yet Apex said NOTHING like this when they left.  Read the Apex article here
  • Why did Apex leave VW Ohio?

 

  • Google re-confirms its data center investment in New Albany as well as an opioid addiction program in Dayton.

 

  • An Illinois School Superintendent challenges Apex on a misleading marketing campaign concerning a wind development’s  “windfall” for local schools. “I feel the school district should only be taking a stance on any issue that has a direct impact on the schools. The other political issues people are having when it comes to the environmental impact, etc., I as Superintendent of the school district should not be making any statements on those issues. So we are absolutely neutral on this issues and we will just see how it plays out, but I just felt that I needed to clarify any perception people in the community might have that this would be viewed as a windfall for the school district,” says Ptacek.

 

  • The authors of a 2016 study found steeply diminishing returns when a lot of battery storage is added to the grid. They concluded that coupling battery storage with renewable plants is a “weak substitute” for large, flexible coal or natural-gas combined-cycle plants, the type that can be tapped at any time, run continuously, and vary output levels to meet shifting demand throughout the day.   Building the level of renewable generation and storage necessary to reach California’s goals would drive up costs exponentially, from $49 per megawatt-hour of generation at 50 percent to $1,612 at 100 percent. And that’s assuming lithium-ion batteries will cost roughly a third what they do now.  These forces would dramatically increase electricity costs for consumers.  “You have to pause and ask yourself: ‘Is there any way the public would stand for that?’”   The Ohio Conservative Energy Forum would say “YES!” 

 

Findlay vs OneEnergy

Polls

Yet another poll

Cleveland poll

Kenton questions $ behind renewable

AEP

Lake Erie questions arise

Indiana BAN on BigWind

Battery problems w renewables

USV school

 

 

It’s a first! Ohio BigWind can be profitable without the PILOT tax abatement

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We blogged about this, yesterday, and now want you to ‘view’ it from a different perspective….Less than a dozen industrial wind energy turbines should be located in Logan county, BUT Innogy is now claiming they will build DESPITE NOT BEING GIVEN A PILOT.  (Remember, this is the company that bought out Everpower. Everpower had given their word that they would NOT build in Logan county w/o the PILOT) What does this mean? After more than 3 decades of taxpayer ‘gifts’ (hundreds of millions of $$$), one BigWind company has decided they can finally afford to pay a few taxes.  BigWind wants to spread across our great state like an algae bloom – if your area is being pursued, make certain that your county commissioners know that the time is right to say NO to giving BigWind a PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes).  Let them pay their fair share! 

…Jason Dagger with Innogy said state regulators approved the project for 172 turbines, but the project has been scaled back to no more than 107.

He expects there will be much less than that built.

He spoke Thursday before the Logan County Commissioners, Logan County Prosecutor Eric Stewart, Logan County Engineer ScottColeman and about two dozen opponents of wind turbines…

Local officials cannot stop the development nor do they have control over the project. They can, however, develop an agreement to protect the county’s investment in roads….

Dagger said the $300 million project will be completed in 2020…

Bellefontaine examiner

 

Logan county, Ohio says NO to BigWind, but it doesn’t matter…

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Yesterday Jason Dagger presented Innogy’s update to the Scioto Ridge Wind Project which is sited primarily in Hardin County with a spillover of approximately 10 turbines into Logan County. This is an OPSB approved project.
 As the 2016 Examiner report explains, EverPower declared they would not build in Logan County without the PILOT.  The Logan County Commissioners responded to their constituents and denied the PILOT in June, 2016. 
Recently Innogy purchased EverPower and the decision has been made to site turbines in Logan County without the PILOT.  Mr. Dagger informed the Logan County Commissioners yesterday that the intent is to include Logan County in the Scioto Ridge footprint. 
The goal of Logan County Prosecutor Eric Stewart is to finalize a Road Use Maintenance Agreement (RUMA) with Innogy which states the conditions they must follow when using our county and township roads.  Innogy has indicated they wish to add conditions to this agreement….
 Concerned citizens have been complimented on the respect and courtesy they displayed and the intelligent and targeted questions asked of Mr. Dagger.
Mr. Dagger’s vagueness and lack of response to those questions was obvious.
Commissioner Antrim invited Mr. Dagger to begin the meeting with his presentation.  At the conclusion of that presentation, Mr. Antrim responded that though you have updated us on these changes, Logan County’s position has not changed.  We do not want you here.
County leaders are working on an agreement with a wind turbine devel-oper that will cover the costs of damage to any county or township roads.

 

Innogy SE plans to begin site preparations for Scioto Ridge Project, most of which is in southern Hardin County.

However, much of the gravel and concrete is expected to come out of Logan County and there are plans to put up around eight turbines near Belle Center.

Jason Dagger with Innogy said state regulators approved the project for 172 turbines, but the project has been scaled back to no more than

107…

He spoke Thursday before the Logan County Commissioners, Logan County Prosecutor Eric Stewart, Logan County Engineer Scott Coleman and about two dozen oppo-nents of wind turbines…

Local officials cannot stop the development nor do they have control over the project. They can, however, develop an agreement to protect the county’s investment in roads…

Dagger said the $300 million proj- ect will be completed in 2020.

This year will focus on the infrastructure and turbine site development followed by turbines going up in the spring and summer of 2020…

Examiner article

Ohio Lake Erie fish NOT excited about potential BigWind addition

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Fish and Oil don’t mix. We find it incredibly sad that people are so incredibly misinformed about industrial wind energy. It is a large part of the ‘New Green Deal’. But, read below, and you learn that an industrial wind turbine is anything BUT clean.  400 gallons of industrial lubricants and 55 gallons of oil in EACH turbine. Think about that folks, the ‘New Green Deal’ can’t eliminate fossil fuels because BigWind NEEDS fossil fuels, inside their bellies, to function!!!!! Will the Ohio Power Siting Board see this? Probably not, their nickname, remember is the Say Yes to BigWind Board……

CLEVELAND, Ohio – The first freshwater wind-energy installation in North America could be coming to Ohio. While agreeing that a move to cleaner sources of energy is important, opponents say there’s not enough evidence that the benefits of the project outweigh the risks.

Final approval could come soon for Icebreaker, a six-turbine wind installation in Lake Erie, eight miles off Cleveland’s shoreline. Lake Erie Foundation board member John Lipaj noted it’s actually a pilot project for a massive, 1,500 wind turbine installation throughout the Great Lakes. The developer has said each turbine holds about 400 gallons of industrial lubricants and 55 gallons of oil, and Lipaj said that’s just not worth the risk.

“Lake Erie, which is the source of drinking water for 11 million people, isn’t the place to be building an industrial wind facility,” …

Cleveland article

BigWind disaster in Massachusetts hits national stage

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This is why we make efforts to educate you. This is why our SETBACK laws are important and why they should be INCREASED.  This is what BigWind does NOT want you (or our legislators) to know. Falmouth, MA is one of many communities with citizens that complain about detrimental health effects from turbines. But this is not our only plea. Turbines will NOT cause the closing of 1 coal/natural gas plant.  Turbines must always have backup power, readily available in a fraction of a second, to generate energy when the wind slows or doesn’t blow at all.  Why plague our great land, with thousands of industrial machines, knowing this truth??????????

…”The Wall Street Journal published a scathing editorial on the experience of Falmouth, Massachusetts, which spent $10 million on wind turbines and it’s been a disaster” Rep. McClintock said at the hearing.  “That small town went deeply into debt to finance them.  The townspeople couldn’t bear the noise, the constant flickering of light as 400-foot windmills turned and property values plunged 20 percent….”

in comments below-

The town of Falmouth between 2010-2012 constructed 2 Vestas V-82 type 1.65 Megawatt wind turbines….

The Falmouth Board of Health Dept meeting minutes for 6/11/2012 shows 63 people/respondents spoke. Of those 47 people reported health effects from the turbines.  41, or about 85% reported sleep disturbance, 25 reported stress, 21 reported mental health problems, 2 reported suicide attempt or ideation…

The resident homeowners living around the commercial industrial wind turbines were left to fend for themselves hiring attorneys while state and town officials attempted to outspend them in court to keep the turbines operational.

Falmouth resident Barry Funfar a Marine Vietnam veteran who flew over 100 missions on Huey helicopters enjoyed his garden until the wind turbines started operation.

Diane and Barry Funfar had to remortgage their home 3 times to cover the cost of their attorneys during 8 years of court hearings.  They were awarded $75,000 in an insurance settlement, a far cry from their entire life savings and years of mortgage payments.

Betsy and Neil Andersen, according to news reports spent near $100,000, including legal fees, appraisal fees and witness fees defending their health and property.

A Falmouth woman who spent years living in her basement away from the noise and spending money on lawyers had to give up and sell her home.

There are up to 200 residential homes around the Falmouth wind turbines in which residents reported sleep disturbance, high blood pressure, headaches, tinnitus, dizziness, nausea, a rapid heart rate, and panic attacks….

 

Falmouth