Letter: Minuteman Will Be Winner, Savoy Loser in Wind Profits
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To the Editor:
I am following the Savoy wind development story with great interest because a developer tried to build turbines in my town of Peru.
Just like Savoy, the developer tried to change our bylaws to make the requirements and limitations more suitable for his project, and of course for his bottom line. But what about Savoy's bottom line?
My understanding is there is no financial agreement as of yet between the developer and the town. Having no agreement in place is a risky financial move. To add insult to injury, it is predictable that real estate values within a two-mile radius of the turbines will decrease, the likelihood of selling those properties will drastically be affected in a negative way, and the overall assessment of Savoy will feel the impact if other parts of the country provide an indicator of what Savoy can expect.
But I also wonder if voters in Savoy are aware of what a cash cow this will be for Minuteman Wind. The company already received $224,781 of state public money to pursue the project. With an average output capacity of about 30 percent, and the price of Renewable Energy Credits (paid for by us, rolled into our electric bills) of $60 a credit, Minuteman is looking at $1.8 million a year in subsidies paid for by all the rest of us. That's on top of selling electricity to the grid. The guesstimate of income to Savoy would only be about $100,000-$200,000, or a $5 a week benefit to everyone in town. And, I am guessing the developer is trying to pay as little as possible while acting like they are doing Savoy a big favor.
Minuteman will be the winner. Savoy will lose real estate value, suffer nuisances and likely health effects, and provide a vehicle for yet another wind developer to take advantage of rate payers and tax payers, all in the name of green energy.
Savoy's special town meeting to amend their wind bylaw is Wednesday, Sept. 27, at 6 p.m. at the Savoy Fire Station. If you don't want this rip-off taking place in your town, doing you no good but only harm, please do what we did in Peru, vote "NO" on the developer's bylaw change. Please visit www.savoywind.com.
Kimberly Wetherell
Peru, Mass.
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