I am a resident and business owner in Highland Plantation. I could not help but respond to your July 2 editorial, “Maine needs to get real in wind power debate.”

I am no expert on any of this, but since everything I have worked for in the last 35 years is at risk because of the Highland Wind proposal, I have a keen interest in knowing whether what we gain from this project is worth what we are losing.

Stating that “when there is wind produced power on the grid, demand for power from other sources is reduced,” is a simplistic view. The most pressing reason for rushing into the construction of any wind project is to reduce burning of fuel that creates green- house gases. Before I can sacrifice the mountains that have been my source of sanity all my adult life I would like to know that this project will accomplish a reduction in GHG as has been claimed. Some studies say yes and others say no and usually both sides have convincing arguments to prove their case.

If I understand correctly, the efficiency of wind power is related to what it saves in fossil fuel consumption. Angus King and Rob Gardiner of Highland Wind LLC have suggested they “might” achieve 30 percent efficiency with their project in Highland, but the University of Maine at Presque Isle has a turbine that only achieved 11 percent efficiency.

There is a big difference and it would be wise to know if that is typical of what we should expect. We need to know what has been achieved at Kibby, Mars Hill, Stetson and anywhere that has similar projects running.

We also need to have details about where the fossil fuel savings come from for each project. In order to estimate exactly what we are getting for our money we need this information. On top of that we need to factor in the carbon footprint from permanent deforestation for infrastructure and running of diesel generators needed to operate things on site when the wind isn’t blowing.

What if mountaintop wind in Maine actually increases our carbon footprint? Until all the information is out there for us to view, we should not permit any more of these projects. We may be sacrificing a large portion of a unique and irreplaceable resource that could be the key to our economic future in the rural part of Maine.

 

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