Pioneer quits Dunnigan Hills wind project
Buckley (of Pioneer Green Energy) said changes in the renewable energy market caused by cheap solar power, as well as “uncertainty regarding federal policy,” doomed the project. The company’s contractual agreements with Schaupp and other landowners were terminated as of June 1.
He should have added that inexpensive and reliable natural gas, competing with expensive and unreliable wind energy, also played a role.
Residents are not sad to see them go:
Many nearby residents strongly oppose the idea, however, saying that wind farms ruin the land without even providing green-energy benefits such as reduced carbon emissions.
“The noise and strobing lights from similar towers have driven residents from their homes, tourists from quiet country, and birds and wildlife from their habitat,” wrote Mary Jo Hoes of Zamora Hills.
Even Schaupp (a landowner leasing to Pioneer) said he thought the proposal “was foolhardy from the start as the wind doesn’t blow in that area during peak energy demands.”
Two interesting takeaways from this story:
- They were planning (according to the article) 360 foot tall wind turbines, so our request for shorter turbines is not really “tantamount to a ban on modern wind energy” as Pioneer had stated.
- The location didn’t seem to have sufficient wind, even according to landowners leasing property to Pioneer. That seems to back up statements made earlier that government incentives were motivating developers to build wind projects in less than ideal, less windy locations, … like North East, perhaps?
North East doesn’t need or want these turbines either. The same “uncertainty regarding federal policy” as Buckley called it, exists here, too, so let’s just send Pioneer back to Texas. We can do so much better.
UPDATE: More trouble for Pioneer Green Energy