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| Andrew Stein, former reporter for VT Digger. |
Q: What do you believe the positive and negative effects of wind power are?
A: One of the things is I wouldn't be the best person to answer that sort of question because the stance that I took when I was covering those issues wasn't about positive or negative, it was about the different sides debating the issue. To tell you the truth, I never tried to insert myself into it, and I don't want to insert myself into that debate. On the positive side, obviously you're not producing serious carbon dioxide emissions or other pollutants. What's really interesting about wind as well is that it sort of created a rift between the ultra-conservationists and the environmentalists who are very much for renewable energy. You sort of have this divide among environmentalists which is interesting to see where you have some that weren't staunchly yes to projects like the Lowell Mountain Wind Project, for example, because they were concerned about what that bridge top development would mean for wildlife. A range of wildlife, specifically terrestrial like bats and birds.
That was interesting to see there. It really is a subjective question, and I don't live next to one of these. In an area like Lowell [Vermont], for example, where the town overwhelmingly supported the [wind] project going on there numerous times. A major benefit of the project for the town, and this is true of other wind projects in the state of Vermont, they provide enough money for the town to cover a large portion, and in some cases all of, the municipal taxes for that town. Certain towns where there are wind projects, towns are able to create large funds to carry out capital construction projects and what have you. I don't really want to insert myself in the midst of the debate considering I previously held an independent role providing to the public both sides of the argument. I'm now working in an independent role where if I had to evaluate one of these projects, I wouldn't want to jeopardize my independence by taking a subjective side.
Q: Well, one of my questions was are you for or against wind power, but obviously I won't put you in that position if you're not comfortable with that.
A: Yes, thank you. I think in the state of Vermont when people talk about being for or against wind power, I don't think it's people that are for or against wind power. I think it's people that are for or against the sighting of wind power in certain places. That seems to be the major argument, and there are certain people who don't feel there's any site in the state of Vermont that is appropriate for wind power, and they're entitled to their opinion. I think that's been one of the major issues in the state of Vermont - if there is wind power, where do we put it?
A lot of the detractors of wind power in the state of Vermont are particularly upset with where it's being put. For some people, in terms of detractors, there are people who complain about noise especially. The state is monitoring that very closely, and they have found especially in this last round monitoring particularly on wind that it is within the regulated limits. Some people have had such a vitriolic reaction to it, you know, they opposed it before it was there, they lived right there, it was built there, they hated it that much more because it was there. I can't speak to whether or not the health impacts they felt were substantial or not because of my position and I don't know them personally at all, but there were people who agreed to buyouts, who moved away from their homes as a result of these projects. For them, it was obviously an extremely negative experience.
Q: So, obviously you'd say it was quite controversial in Vermont, the idea of wind power in general.
A: In the legislative session, it was one of the most, if not the most, polarizing subject. A lot of it was talked about on the basis of citing energy generation projects, but there was language inserted in bills about implementing a moratorium on the development of wind power. Ultimately these efforts failed, but it was extremely controversial. There were a number of very tight votes, there were issues with large funders threatening candidates. It was very polarizing between democrats as well in the State House - we have a super majority here. You didn't have a lot of issues that had folks sort of just killing a line, but in this case, you really had a diversity of opinions.
Q: That makes a lot of sense based on some research I'd done prior to talking to you. It seemed like Vermont wasn't really all one side or all the other side. It was more like some people were saying "Yeah, it's a more efficient way to get energy," but others were saying "Oh, it's an eyesore,"and that kind of thing.
A: Well, there have been other issues with it as well. The region of the grid where the Lowell Mountain wind project was placed was a volatile section of the grid. [Green Mountain Power] has strengthened it since, but it's still volatile to some degree. Before Green Mountain Power made a number of improvements to that area, they weren't able to produce at full capacity. They were being what's known as "curtailed," which is when a power operator, in this case ISO New England, calls on certain power producers to curtail their power generation. What that meant was that Green Mountain Power rate payers, which in this case were those who gave into that large capital construction project, weren't getting the return on their investment that they otherwise would've because the grid wasn't able to handle those large spikes in power production.
This is something that's going on all over the country right now. With wind, our energy grids were created for what are known as base power generators, such as coal, nuclear, and natural gas. These are power producers that can produce power at a steady rate all the time. With these renewable energy sources that have emerged, hydro power being a slight exception, but particularly with wind and solar power, you have large spikes in their power generation, and the grid isn't designed to deal with that in all areas. There are a lot of advancements that are being made on that front, and the grid is an evolving entity, [so change for this in the future could be possible].
Q: Okay, so a lot of it was also just the fact that the grid couldn't handle the spikes in power from the wind energy being produced?
A: Particularly early on [this was a bigger issue]. They've made a lot of improvements. I haven't gone back to this issue in a little while now, so I don't know what rate they're producing power at now. Although in the first year [of the Lowell Mountain wind project], they had to curtail power quite a, bit. I don't know all of what they did because I haven't been following it now for over a year, but I know that they have what's called a synchronous condenser that they constructed at Jay Peak, and there were some other things [constructed such as the synchronous condenser in Jay Peak] which leveled out the voltage - the voltage being the pressure that's going through the line. If [the voltage] spikes up too much, it could take out a whole section of the grid, so that was meant to even it out. There were some other improvements made to the grid in that region to handle that type of electricity production.
Q: One last quick question because I know you have to go - have you had any events happen in your life related to wind power aside from being a journalist reporting about it? Did you ever live near a windmill or have something happen because of one?
A: I've never lived near a windmill. I've seen them my entire life, but I've never lived near windmills like the type we're talking about, such as those on top of Lowell Mountain or Georgia Mountain. I see Lowell Mountain ones whenever I go up to that region, but I don't live there, I don't have the same sort of sentimental connection to that particular mountain region that many other people have had. At the same time, people who live there have overwhelmingly voted in favor of the project. They believe the benefits of it outweigh the cost. Some don't see any cost to it whatsoever, or very little. Others see it as a major eyesore, an interruption to the pristine natural environment that was there before. There are a lot of debates about exactly the size of that interruption, so people will say "I still see moose up here all the time, it's still as full of wildlife as it's ever been," and other people will argue that that's not the case. There's a lot of back and forth and a lot of heresy surrounding this issue, but as for me personally, I don't have a particularly strong connection to wind.
