A new Vermont group in support of wind power has formed, and its members hope to counter the increasingly loud opposition movement.
Wind Works VT is a coalition of individuals and wind power developers, said Kyle Martel of KSE Partners, a Montpelier government affairs and strategic communications firm that represents the group.
Arguing that public opinion polls show strong support for wind power, the group has launched online ads to make the case that wind is a locally generated, clean and renewable source of energy critical to meeting the state’s renewable energy goals.
The individuals and developers behind the group don’t want to be identified, Martel said, “because of the way the anti-wind crowd has bordered on harassment.”
Wind Works VT has been buying ads since July on media websites, including sites for WCAX, the Brattleboro Reformer, VTDigger.org and the Caledonian-Record, he said.
He added: “We do not currently have an exact figure on how much will be spent, but will spend the resources necessary to help more Vermonters understand the important role that wind plays in fighting climate change, reducing our dependence on foreign fossil fuels and helping us meet our state’s goal of 90 percent renewable by 2050.”
Wind critics noticed the group’s ads in July and disputed the accuracy of its claim that wind power will reduce dependence on foreign fossil fuels. Just 1 percent of the state’s energy mix comes from oil, said Annette Smith, executive director of Vermonters for a Clean Environment, which opposes wind projects.
“People don’t understand that when you build more renewables in this big grid system, you’re going to need more of the gas in the form of new gas generators all over New England to meet [peak] load like we are going to experience today,” Smith said.
Though the group announced itself just on the heels of the primary election, it doesn’t plan to become involved in the 2016 campaign, Martel said. But it will be championing wind power at a time when the issue is playing a big role in the governor’s race. Democrat Sue Minter has declared her support. Republican Phil Scott has called for a halt to ridgeline wind projects.
Wind Works VT formed after Vermont legislators this year debated and passed a new wind-power siting procedure and its members worried that what they consider a misleading anti-wind message was taking over, Martel said.
Three Wind Works VT board members are willing to be publicly identified: Jessica Edgerly Walsh, who works as organizing director of SunCommon and is a Montpelier city councilor; Arthur Berndt of Sharon, chair of the Governor’s Council on Energy and the Environment; and Tom Gray of Norwich, former executive director of the American Wind Energy Association.
Wind Works VT is not related to a similarly named group that formed and disbanded several years ago, Martel said.
Got something to say?
Send a letter to the editor and we'll publish your feedback in print!
Wind isn’t Working in New England to meet the region’s peak load today. ISO-NE has to plan for days like today. Take a look at the fuel mix http://iso-ne.org/isoexpress/. Prices just went through the roof. Coal and oil use have been increasing all day. Renewables have stayed at 5% of the mix since I started watching this morning. Of that 5%, wind has increased from 4% to 12%. Of the 24,000+ MW load right now, between 100 and 150 MW of that comes from wind. Time to get real, folks. Wind Does Not Work in Vermont. And this is what wind development on our mountains looks like https://vermontersforacleanenvironment.wor…
Just what VT needs, another group to spread lies and misinformation.
The Doyle Poll in March clearly showed Vermont voters true sentiments on ridge-line wind projects. 90% said they want local communities to have veto power and more of a say in wind and renewable-energy projects.
I think most people in general support solar, and I certainly would like to see it expand to rooftops, parking lots, and industrial and commercial buildings. That’s low-hanging fruit. But industrial-wind on our ridge-lines? No way. Those mountains are Vermont’s identity, and people cherish them. The pro-wind group is turning people off to renewable projects overall, even though solar and wind are not the same. If I were a solar proponent, I’d distance myself from this pro-wind lobby.
Destroying our environment in order to save it just makes no sense.
Arthur Berndt is the funder behind Energy Action Network http://eanvt.org/ which operates like a private club, with industry, government and ngos meeting behind closed doors. They are the people deciding our energy policy. I cannot ever recall a news story about them even though they’ve been around for 5 years. I tried to join twice. Nope, not welcome. Only members of the club can join this exclusive club. Ironically, Arthur Berndt used to run the Maverick Lloyd Foundation which funded VCE’s work on water issues. Now Arthur is promoting destroying our headwaters, using herbicides at high elevations, drying up mountains, turning them into hot blasted rock, with orange iron floc flowing into wetlands and creating new stream channels.
Annette’s analysis and facts are right on the money, and our legislators would be wise to heed them.
On this blazing hot, sunny, summer day, there is virtually no wind, while VT’s energy demand is spiking sharply. Wind is contributing next to nothing, nor could it be, even if we had many more ridge projects. We just don’t have the wind resources to justify ridge-line development, and especially at the times we need energy the most.
And what’s worse, half of the businesses on Church Street in Burlington have propped their doors wide open, blowing cold air outside to attract diners and shoppers. While we get phone-calls to shut off our appliances due to energy demand.
It’s beyond shameful. VT’s energy and environmental policy is disturbing and broken.
Thank you VTPolicyAnalyst for supporting my facts. They are not welcomed by the Shunlin administration (which has shunned me) or Energy Action Network. The next part of the education about Vermont and regional load is to look at Vermont’s load today http://www.vermonttransco.com/load-graph. While the region right now has a load of 24,853 MW, Vermont’s load has peaked about 900 MW. Think about that. We can build real community renewable energy and serve much of our state’s load with distributed generation and micro-grids. Throwing big wind and solar up on the big grid just means we have to build more big gas plants. Vermont has squandered the opportunity we have to power much of our state with renewables. We need to change direction and do it right, and do it smart. Shunlin Administration = Stupid Energy Policies
Very amusing that some of the industry shills joining together under the well-feathered wing of KSE are afraid to identify themselves for fear of harassment. If they are thinking of the protest at Recchia’s home wasn’t that a horse of a different color? It sounded as though there the beef was disappointment and disgust at a public servant and his pro-industry bias, his failure to represent the broader public’s interest. There’s no underlying hypocrisy in the case of this lobbying group: they are there to serve their industrial masters interests no matter how much distortion and outright falsehood it takes. That’s what they get paid to do, not represent the public interest.
PS Nice going with the snappy name, Wind Works. It might not have taken more than a few seconds to come up with but sometimes quicker is snappier.
Energize Vermont first reported on Wind Works VT on July 26. You can read our report here: http://energizevermont.org/2016/07/iberdro…
When Wind Works VT first appeared, the telephone number displayed on the website was that of Alex MacLean who works for the lobbying firm KSE Partners. KSE represents Iberdrola, the Spanish energy giant that would like to lay waste to many of Vermont’s most precious ridgelines in exchange for large sums of taxpayer and ratepayer dollars.
Prior to joining KSE, Ms. MacLean, worked at her own public relations firm where she “managed crisis communications.” Before that she worked as an aide to Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin and assistant to Jay Peak’s Bill Stenger. Insert your own “crisis communications” joke here.
We note with interest that Ms. MacLean’s website bio includes no reference to her time at Jay Peak with Bill Stenger. We wonder when her association with Peter Shumlin will become so hot that it too has to be expunged.
Since our original report, the Wind Works telephone number has changed. Good thinking.
If the name “WindWorksVT” has a familiar ring, it’s because it has been used at least twice before—once as the name of a WordPress blog and once as windworksvt.org. The current domain name, windworksvt.com, was registered on July 8, 2016.
We noted with amusement that on their new windworks website, the Iberdrola lobbyists expressed concern that “a small but vocal group of opponents, using fear tactics and misinformation, have dominated the public discourse about wind in recent years.”
They have a keen sense of irony, those Spaniards.
Annette, you’re welcome. This Administration…and the Legislature…doesn’t seem to like data and facts, possibly because it stands in the way of their big-money rhetoric. So far, I have witnessed the same behavior from Sue Minter, I’m sad to say.
And while I don’t want to bring VT Gas into this discussion, it does seem that lying rules the day when it comes to energy policy, and there are no consequences for such behavior.
Plus, the biggest elephant in the room is really consumption. We can’t build our way out of climate change via renewables of any sort without drastic reductions in consumption. Yet just try to mandate smaller vehicles, smaller homes, net-zero (or even very tight buildings), or an end to blatantly wasteful behavior, either outright or through tax incentives. The numbers say we need to reduce consumption drastically…like by a factor of 10…to even begin to reverse the trend of climate change, which the science shows is beginning to spin out-of-control.
I’ve also wondered how much energy is used in making and installing these turbines, as steel manufacturing is very energy-intensive. And then there is the impact on permanent degradation of our mountains, road-building, etc., which is all is part of the equation.
Okay, well here’s a question: who the Haymound decreed we are bound to this 90% x 2050 benchmark? Would it be our current governor Mr. Shumlin…you know, the guy who’s policies are so popular that he nearly lost the last election to basically a cardboard cutout? If so, then why should we be turning ourselves inside out to meet this ‘benchmark?’
Today LCAR adopted the temporary rule for wind turbine noise standards. The legislative intent was to make it more protective. The PSB’s rule adopted the same 45/30 standard, left whether or not it’s averaged to do case by case, and changed it from a compliance protocol of “windows open” any time of year to “windows closed” in winter.
At LCAR today, when asked by compassionate Senators about why the standard was made worse, not better, the answer was that the industry wanted it. The neighbors of these wind projects wanted the numbers lowered. The PSB did nothing to address the neighbors’ interest. The PSB did what the industry wanted. Again. And then LCAR did what the industry wanted, again, and adopted the rule on a 5-3 vote.
Peak load just exceeded last year’s peak summer load. So much for conservation and using less. Build build build, that’s the only thing this state is supporting. And Sue Minter appears to be riding on the same bandwagon.
Thank you, Annette, for sharing that. It’s disturbing.
But not surprising. Facts don’t matter. Testimony doesn’t matter. The truth doesn’t matter. The majority of Vermonters opinions don’t matter. I wish it was just this one issue, but it’s not. I see it on issue after issue, at both the State and even at the local level. At virtually every hearing or board meeting, with very few exceptions. There are no penalties for lying, so it is done with impunity across the board. And when challenged by caring, concerned individuals…they are labeled NIMBYs, or obstructionists, regardless of the issue.
And it’s making it even harder and harder to recruit dedicated individuals to serve on local boards. Plus, good people who do serve are marginalized and attacked…and then resign. It’s eroding our sense of community. It’s creating a society where many people feel so disefranchised they just give up. Faith in gov’t, even at the local level, is at an all-time low. And deservedly so. Big money, and self-interest, has taken over. I can give you a long list of former board members, like myself, who will all attest to this.
The media is starting to tell the truth. Title of this Washington Post article is what the renewable industry in Vermont isn’t to talking about. “Turns out wind and solar have a secret friend: natural gas.” The article says a study is finding renewables might be requiring more fossil fuels, not less
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy…
The New York Times also went out on a rare limb last month and accurately reported that renewables may not be helping with climate change
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/20/business…
For all you folks who keep giving my posts a thumbs down, I live off grid with solar and love renewables. I just want it done right. I am not the enemy of renewables that the wind industry claims.
A large scale industrial hydro electric dam would be dismissed immediately, yet somehow people are naive enough to believe large scale industrial wind turbines on our pristine ridgelines is a good thing…bizarre how people fall for this green washing…
We keep giving you a thumbs down because you are a ridiculous, pathological narcissist. As your 5 posts on this thread alone (so far) attest. You were the first to post and you’ve posted 5 out of 13 comments. You think you’re a genius. You think you’re better and smarter than everyone who disagrees with you. You think your opinion is more valid than everyone else’s. You’re a self-appointed hero. You’re infatuated with yourself. You are just like Peter Shumlin.
And it will promptly be 6 posts no doubt.
Listen to knowyourassumptions. He knows what he is talking about.
Annette Smith = Mt. Philo.
We love paranoid conspiracy theories!
From what I can tell, all Annette is doing is presenting information and asking questions.
And the method of response is always the same: First you are ignored, then you are marginalized, then targeted, then attacked, then threatened, and then in a final act to try and silence you, they file a phony lawsuit against you. VT does not enforce it’s own anti-SLAPP laws.
And all because you simply tried to tell the truth and get others to perform their job. This is what VT has become. And Annette is not the only one this has happened to.
The more I see what’s going on, the consortium behind Wind Works, or should I say Big Wind, is taking the same tact as Big Oil before them, and Big Tobacco before them. It was the same way with the nuclear power industry…just smear and silence those who know what they are talking about.
If Sue M is elected our state will continue to be destroyed with these fruitless turbines. Shummy has lined his friends’ pockets with the , no permit needed, don’t care what the public thinks, wind projects. This group buying up ads has a LOT of money to do so, thanks to Shummy and his cronies. They don’t want this cash cow to end anytime soon. For this reason alone we MUST elect Phil Scott.
KNOWYOURASSUMPTIONS: You are certainly entitled to your opinion. But to hide behind an anonymous username to attack Annette Smith, is cowardly. The vitriol in your remark, makes me believe that you are one of the parties that is featured in the story.
Why am I shocked that the conversation here has been dominated by two accounts (who may be the same person for all we know)? Annette seems to believe that posting over and over again will show she’s right; non-biased facts show her to be in the minority.
I ask those who oppose renewables here what they’d rather powering the grid, right now and in the future. Coal? Oil? Natural Gas? Nuclear? We can’t power ourselves on hydro alone (not to mention the thousands of displaced First Nation residents in Quebec thanks to Hydro-Quebec), and I’ve heard only NO from Annette and her crew of Internet bloviators.
MY ANSWER: Less consumption. More efficiency of homes. Solar and small scale wind turbines on business, farms and homes. Solar window panes.Solar roadways. Eating a vegetarian diet (yes, THAT really does work against cutting carbon!).
All of these things make more sense than what industrial wind OPPORTUNISTS keep telling us. Me? Not buying that cow~
I’m thinking 20 people are gonna “dislike” me immediately because: a.)I can’t see the *big* pictures of industrial wind taking over our precious Green Mountains or b.) they are paid trolls to do so.
Happy Friday Afternoon!
Please show the supposed “facts” you are alluding to? And just why are you promoting a totally unsubstantiated made-up scenario that Annette is the same as another poster here?
Annette is not against renewables. She has stated she has solar. I believe she supports other types, as well, such as biomass. I have never met the woman, but she walks the talk, living off-the-grid in a low-consumption lifestyle. Do you and others who attack her do this?
The Doyle Poll showed that 90% of respondents want more local control on renewable siting. This was one of the highest numbers EVER on any Doyle Poll over many decades. THIS is a fact.
Annette stands for reasonable approaches on renewable energy siting, and truly protecting the environment. Not destroying what people love about VT, simply for the financial gain of a handful of individuals and often out-of-state interests, while contributing next to nothing to our overall energy supply.
Folks would be wise to review her material, and listen to her. Not attack her because one has some idealized view that somehow ridge-line development in VT is going to miraculously save the world. In the end, we’ll have destroyed our Green Mountain ecosystems for nothing, and Climate Change will continue unabated until we drastically reduce consumption. Rather than attack her, I suggest you attack the wasteful behavior you see all around you.
Another anonymous poster bashing Annette Smith. Where has she ever stated that she opposes renewables? I do not oppose renewables either. Just the attitude that any “site is a good site”.
Does it occur to you that there might be operators within the industry that doesn’t have our best interest at heart? When big tobacco put out their studies that smoking was harmless, did you believe them? Of course not. They issued those studies to circle the wagons. This organization Wind Works, is doing the same thing. She was pointing out that wind doesn’t work during a peakload. Check the sources that she cited. It is the industry’s own data.
The venom coming from the anonymous crowd is very telling.
“KNOWYOURASSUMPTIONS: You are certainly entitled to your opinion. But to hide behind an anonymous username”
You mean like “VTPolicyAnalyst,” who’s put 6 posts on this thread already?
KNOWYOURASSUMPTIONS: Whatever side your on, it would be nice to know who is posting opinions. Special interests love to hide behind anonymity and light fires. So what is your true identity?
To recap this week, we had three peak load days in the regional grid, 24,000 to 25,000 MW load that had to be met. Of that, wind energy in the regional grid — which now has more than 1000 MW of wind built at a cost of billions of dollars — produced about 115 MW each day. This illustrates Ben Luce’s scientific finding that we could build out all the wind resource in New England and it would have a miniscule effect. Wind Wrecks Vermont and New England wherever it is built. If you are uncertain, take a look at this http://www.caledonianrecord.com/opinion/le…
Since I was just brought up into discussion by knowyourassumptions.
I am a former DOE (Department of Energy) employee, and have a graduate degree in Public Policy Analysis. I wrote my first paper on energy policy as a graduate student back in 1981. Interestingly, it was on the proposed deregulation of natural gas at that time.
I remain anonymous on this forum because SevenDays does not screen nor regulate the trolls who post nasty personal attacks on individuals, rather than discuss the issues.
People would be wise to heed Annette Smith. She knows what she is talking about.
On an unrelated note, it makes no sense whatsoever that many State officials and pro-renewable folks keep lumping solar and wind energy in the same grouping. Their inputs, impacts, distribution, and production are completely different.
This is like lumping nuclear energy in with natural gas. Totally different, in almost every respect.
Why many solar proponents keep aligning with wind baffles me. In my opinion, it hurts their own industry and holds them back.
@ “VtPolicyAnalyst”: Congratulations on granting yourself a free pass to post anonymously while at the same time: a) touting your own credentials to be an “expert” on energy policy (which we cannot refute because… you’re anonymous); b) criticizing wind energy developers from your self-appointed perch of expertise, wisdom, and anonymity; c) hogging the posts on this thread; and d) shilling for anti-everything Annette Smith. Gee, if it’s ok for Mr. Anonymous Energy Expert to remain anonymous then I guess it’s ok for the rest of us, too.
Knowyourassuptions, do you have anything to add to the discussion other than simply criticize people individually? And why do you continually put your own words into the mouths of others?
I certainly never professed to be an expert, but I suppose I do have a fair amount of experience in this area. I know others who have even more.
Seems to me postings like yours are reason why many people choose to remain anonymous. Attacking people only shuts off the discussion and turns people away. Or is that your true intent? Because I have certainly seen that behavior in the energy industry before.
If you’d like to talk about energy policy or power engineering, I’d be happy to discuss even more details about why the State’s wind-siting policy seems misguided and unwise. But I suspect all I’ll get from you is further rants or obnoxious behavior. I hope you will prove me wrong.
Also, of interest: Many SunCommon employees are personally anti-Big-Wind. I’ve asked them individually. But SunCommon managment is pro-Big-Wind, so they only offer their opinion in private.
I also know one person who did not go with SunCommon panels specifically because the company supports Big-Wind.
To me, both are management areas of concern.
VTPolicyAnalyst, it is so refreshing to see someone talk about the issue like the differences between wind and solar. So much of the dialogue over the last 6 years has been entirely to avoid having any discussions. Last year when I went to ISO-NE, I saw some flashing red lights on the upper part of the control panel and asked what that was about — wind, said the man giving us the tour. Voltage issues, either too high or too low. Though they were being careful in what they said to us, it was pretty clear wind energy is a pain for the grid operators. Built far from load, intermittent, hard to integrate. Then I asked about solar. The man pointed to one rectangle in the center of the panel. He said that’s a 20 MW solar array in Mass. that is their proxy for solar. The grid operators do not have a handle on the region’s solar, which is mostly behind the meter and they said they are gaining but not there yet. Getting data from states is a challenge. So when you look at that ISO-NE real time chart and it shows 1 or 2% for solar as part of the renewables mix, all you’re seeing is that one solar array. Solar is contributing more than ISO-NE shows.
The big grid relies on gas, nuclear, hydro, with some coal and oil during peak periods. During this latest hot spell each day renewables (in total, and most of that was wood) was 5 to 6% of the region’s load. More than 1000 MW of wind produced a little over 100 MW during the 3-day peak load period. Trying to build renewables to serve the big grid is where we’ve gone wrong. Instead we should be starting with a system like mine with solar, batteries and generator and scale up to serve Vermont communities. Vermont’s peak load didn’t even reach 1000 MW in the recent hot spell. Regional load was 25,000 MW. Vermont is uniquely position to do it small. Instead, the money and power is all about build build build and big big big. Some day we will come to our senses and get smart. And maybe we’ll even start being nice to each other. Annette Smith https://www.facebook.com/windwrecksvt/
It is my right to respond to the wild and persistent ravings, accusations, and attacks of the narcissist Ms. Smith, Vermont’s self-appointed Joan of Arc, who believes that she’s the only one who’s right about Vermont energy and land-use policy and that everyone else is ignorant, foolish, or corrupt. Thank you very much.
Read your original post to this thread and tell me you don’t describe yourself perfectly.
We keep giving you a thumbs down because you are a ridiculous, pathological narcissist. As your 5 posts on this thread alone (so far) attest. You were the first to post and you’ve posted 5 out of 13 comments. You think you’re a genius. You think you’re better and smarter than everyone who disagrees with you. You think your opinion is more valid than everyone else’s. You’re a self-appointed hero. You’re infatuated with yourself. You are just like Peter Shumlin.
And it will promptly be 6 posts no doubt.
Here is another worthwhile article from the NY Times about the challenges of the changing energy system. Previously I posted articles from the Washington Post and the NY Times from the last week or two. This one is from Saturday. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/14/business….
Education is the key to Vermont’s energy future. Name calling and greed serve the interests of the few at the expense of the rest.
Thanks for the kind words, Annette. And for continuing to post important information, even while being attacked by trolls. Just trying to educate our legislators and the interested populace is not an easy task in this environment.
Please know that while defamation law (libel and slander) may not be simple, in my opinion many posters here have crossed way over the line in several instances.
You are not an office holder, so a person cannot claim you are fair game for anything. While I am not a practicing attorney, these postings offer no commentary on the topics at all, so their malicious intent is obvious.
Hi commenters — while we encourage vigorous, fact-based debate in the comments on our site, the conversation must be respectful and civil. Even if you don’t agree with another commenter’s opinion, please remember that we’re all part of the same small Vermont community, and address the argument rather than the person.
You can find all our comment guidelines right here (http://7dvt.co/commentguidelines) and email me at andrea@sevendaysvt.com if you have questions.
Thanks, as always, for your participation!
-Andrea
A Smith says wind “does not work in Vermont” because “right now” it is supply only 100 to 150 mW. But that is a LOT of power. Vermont Yankee only provided about 620 mW at full output. That, right now, means we are burning about one million cubic feet of gas less, each hour. Does not work???
Putting a turbine on a ridge line doesn’t destroy the environment. We have built 1000 times more stuff than this, all over the state. We have 16,000 miles of roadway. 200,000 homes. 20,000 miles of power lines. Rail, bridges, cleared agricultural land, superfund sites, thousands of cell towers. Environment not yet destroyed. Here’s what will definitely alter the environment: continued massive burning of fossil fuel. Environmental opposition to wind power is utterly illogical. You have been fooled by Koch Industries / Ethan Allen Institute, who are tricking you into continuing to burn their coal, gas, and oil. They are spending millions a year to fool you, and they are succeeding. We are easily fooled.