Top 10 Myths About Wind Power
1) Wind energy is more expensive than conventional energy. Wind energy is among the most affordable new forms of power generation. It also has a stabilizing effect on power bills because wind has no fuel costs and can provide power without the cost increases associated with fossil fuels. When the Colorado Public Service Commission issued a ruling in 2001 on the 161-megawatt (MW) wind project in Lamar, Colorado, the commission determined that wind energy provided the lowest cost of any new generation resource submitted to an Xcel Energy solicitation bidding process (except for one small hydro plant). The commission also noted that unlike the other generation resources considered, the Lamar project avoided the risk of future increased fuel prices. And in a recent landmark study of wind integration into the New York State electric power system, a 10% addition of wind generation (3,300 MW of wind in a 34,000-MW system) actually projected a reduction in payments by electricity customers of $305 million in one year.
2) Wind energy requires a production tax credit (PTC) to achieve these economics. True, but every energy source receives significant federal subsidies; it is disingenuous to expect wind energy to compete in the marketplace without the incentives enjoyed by established technologies.
3) The production tax credit and accelerated depreciation are helpful only to big, out-of-state developers. The economic benefits aren’t local, and rural electric cooperatives and municipal utilities can’t receive the same benefits. It’s true that only entities that pay federal taxes can use the tax credits to reduce their tax liability. But those tax credits result in lower wind energy costs for the benefit of all electricity customers. However, if local entities assume equity positions in wind plants, then they can receive the tax credit benefits. Whether or not the wind-plant equity is locally held, wind plants result in jobs for the local community and the need for local services—both during construction and during operation. Additionally, the added county and state taxes and the landowner lease payments directly benefit the local and state economies. And to the extent that debt financing comes from local sources, debt- service payments stay within the local community. Also, in some cases farmers have joined together in a cooperative arrangement to build and own wind plants. In aggregate, their tax liability can be sufficient to make full use of the tax credits.
4) Wind energy is unpredictable and must be “backed up” by conventional generation. No power plant is 100% reliable. During a power plant outage—whether a conventional plant or a wind plant—backup is provided by the entire interconnected utility system. The system operating strategy strives to make best use of all elements of the overall system, taking into account the operating characteristics of each generating unit and planning for contingencies such as plant or transmission line outages. The utility system is also designed to accommodate load fluctuations, which occur continuously. This feature also facilitates accommodation of wind plant output fluctuations. In Denmark, Northern Germany, and parts of Spain, wind supplies 20% to 40% of electric loads without sacrificing reliability. When wind is added to a utility system, no new backup is required to maintain system reliability.
5) If wind energy displaces energy from existing power plants, then rates will go up. Rates for electricity from wind plants being installed today are comparable to wholesale electric power prices from other forms of power generation. When a thermal power plant is throttled back the rate payers save money because the least efficient most costly plants are the ones that are shut down. The power from wind is generated without fuel so it costs less than other forms of generation.
6) Large, utility-grade wind turbines can’t be installed on the distribution grid without expensive upgrades and power-quality issues. In situations with weak distribution grids (long lines with thin wires and few customers—maybe even single-phase), this can be true. But it would be true with any new power generation placed on such lines. In many cases wind generation can be connected to the distribution system in amounts up to about the rating of the nearest substation transformer. One study of a rural Midwestern county estimated that several tens of megawatts of turbines could be installed on the local distribution grid with a minimum of upgrade expense and minimal power-quality impacts. A number of single wind turbines and clusters of turbines are currently connected to the distribution system.
7) Small projects that might be suitable for co-ops or small municipal utilities are not economical. Small projects generally have a higher cost per megawatt than larger wind plants, as would be expected. However, the incremental costs on customers’ bills are likely to be small. The energy premium for a small project is unlikely to exceed 50%. If the project provides a small portion of the community’s needs—say 2%—then the premium is reduced to about 1% if distributed among all customers. Some communities view this premium as a worthwhile investment to obtain local environmental benefits and experience with wind power.
8) Wind turbines kill birds and thus have serious environmental impacts. Bird kills have caused serious scientific concern at only one location in the United States: Altamont Pass in California, one of the first areas in the country to experience significant wind development. Over the past decade, the wind community has learned that wind farms and wildlife can and do coexist successfully. Wind energy development’s overall impact on birds is extremely low (fewer than 1 in 10,000) compared to other human-related causes, such as buildings, communications towers, traffic, and house cats. Birds can fly into wind turbines, as they do with other tall structures. However, conventional fuels contribute to air and water pollution that can have far greater impact on wildlife and their habitat, as well as the environment and human health.
9) Wind turbines are noisy. Modern wind turbines produce very little noise. The turbine blades produce a whooshing sound as they encounter turbulence in the air, but this noise tends to be masked by the background noise of the blowing wind. An operating modern wind farm at a distance of 750 feet to 1000 feet is no more noisy than a kitchen refrigerator.
10) Wind turbines make you sick. There is no evidence in the peer-reviewed scientific literature linking wind turbines to human health concerns. At present there are well over 10,000 wind turbines operating in North America, and tens of thousands of people who live and work in proximity to these turbines. Of these individuals, only a very small number have claimed that their health has been impacted by wind turbines.
Wind turbine syndrome has not been recognized as a disease or specific syndrome by any major medical association or organization, nor is it recognized by insurance companies as grounds for payable medical claims.
Find more information on wind energy myths (pdf).
