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.
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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.
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?’
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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…