After watching the video of the city Engineer giving his comments about the new wind turbine that Evansville wants to install, I have some questions and comments.
As a former member of the Town of Union wind committee I find it interesting that no one from the City of Evansville ever contacted anyone from this committee to ask what we had learned about wind turbines. The Evansville Municipal Judge and Police Chief were also members of the Union wind committee, they have not been contacted either, even though both men have done extensive research concerning the good, bad, and ugly aspects of wind turbines. If the City is getting all its information from the wind turbine salesman and power provider… beware.
This year the citizens of Libertyville IL were able to shut down a turbine half the size of the one proposed for Evansville with a court order because of noise. The Libertyville turbine is now allowed to operate for limited daytime hours. The elected officials that permitted this turbine were told it would be quiet. Has anyone from Evansville contacted the city of Libertyville to learn from their experience?
The City of Evansville needs to do some serious homework before siting this turbine. Has an Acoustical Engineer been consulted? Do not rely on a power provider who is under a mandate or a turbine salesman for critical information about the adverse impacts of noise and shadow flicker. Trust the people in your own community who have been studying wind turbines for over two years.
The total cost is $480.000 with some money coming in the form of grants.
•What will the City’s investment in this turbine be?
•Where does this grant money come from?
•Where does Focus on Energy get its funding? What about WPPI? I believe all this money comes from the taxpayers and rate payers, correct?
•How much is the maintenance contract going to cost?
•How much is the insurance premium going to cost.
•How much power does this turbine consume from the grid to operate its systems?
•What is the real payback time for the $480,000 the taxpayers and ratepayers are investing in this turbine?
•Will Evansville Water and Light offer real time on line monitoring of the actual power production of this turbine?
•Is the turbine manufacture offering any production guarantees based on our wind class and the location of this machine?
•Have the decommissioning costs been discussed?
•Is the turbine at the High School a success or disappointment?
Is this turbine ever going to pay for itself, probably not. Going green is expensive. In the long haul this turbine may be worth the cost, but do your homework first to identify all the expenses and to ensure proper siting.
Thank you for your time and consideration,
Jim Bembinster
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