'Dangerous' Bill Builds Wind Authority
Legislation in General Assembly would create water authority-type consortium for wind power in East Bay.
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There is a very dangerous bill currently coming up for review in the House on Wednesday, May 2.
The House Bill, H7592 was introduced by Representatives Gallison, Malik, Morrison, Edwards, and Handy on February 16, 2012.
The Senate Bill 2870 is sponsored by Senator Lou De Palma, with the support of Senators Paiva-Weed and Chris Ottiano. It has been deemed to be a "dangerous" bill by Rhode Island Statewide Coalition, is too far-reaching, and has too much power. It is another Deepwater Wind, but far worse due to the power of eminent domain!
The group was formed in 2009 by nine communities, Bristol, Warren, Barrington, East Providence, Portsmouth, Little Compton, Tiverton, Middletown and Newport, and has pretty much stayed under the radar. At least one meeting violation has been filed with the Attorney General's office.
Basically the bill creates an entitity that can issue bonds to develop renewable energy - which is then sold to Narragansett Electric via net metering laws.
They will issue bonds to build windmills (which only last 20 years) and strap the taxpayers with the bill over x years. They will then sell the energy to the taxpayers at rates higher than natural gas energy – thus increasing the taxpayer's energy bill.
This consortium can also employ people as it sees fit – which would come out of the net metering revenues.
And, of course, the bill calls for providing pensions for these employees! "To pay pensions and establish pension plans, pension trusts, profit sharing plans and other incentive and benefit plans for any or all of its agents and employees."
What is not addressed is who pays for the removal of the dead windmill in no more than 20 years, and who pays for the toxic leaks that may contaminate the surrounding soil if it goes bad, or who pays for other unforeseen expenses?
Anchor Rising comment: "Apparently the legislature thinks things are going too smoothly between East Bay residents and the Bristol County Water Authority, so they want to throw another regional body with revenue collecting powers into the works."
But the scariest of all..... "The purpose of the Board would be to explore and promote the use of alternative, renewable energy sources in the communities of the East Bay. The Board would also have certain powers to accomplish this purpose, including but not limited to the authority to issue bonds and THE POWER OF EMINENT DOMAIN."
While the concept may be good, this trend to burden the taxpayer both with the FINANCING, and the RISK on these types of ventures is getting out of control. Find someone in the private sector to take it on, invest in it, and leave the taxpayers out of it. If there are no takers... it's because it's another Deepwater Wind... This is an empire in the making.... at taxpayer expense! We need LESS Government/Quasi-Government entities, not MORE! Call your legislator NOW!
The minutes for the meetings of the East Bay Energy Consortium can be found at http://sos.ri.gov/openmeetings/?page=meeting&id=122905. The bill is online at http://www.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText12/HouseText12/H7592.pdf.
Marina Peterson, Bristol and East Bay Patriots
Art West
7:25 am on Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Agreed -- government is all too happy to socialize the costs of projects, shifting financing and risk to taxpayers, while creating nicely paid fiefdoms for government friends. Yet in all of this, the taxpayer does not share in the revenues.
If these folks will cut us in on the profits, then I would be for it.
xatianAquidneck
8:01 am on Tuesday, May 8, 2012
the goal of this thing isn’t to take over the world… get real! The nine cities some years ago voted to invest in the Wind Assets, say again? Wind Assets of our state and has nothing to do with taking over peoples’ backyard. It is attempting to use Rhode Island’s wind pattern (an untapped natural resource) to produce energy for the East Bay and this group is simply carrying out the will of the people when voted and envisioned last decade. This group aims to bring energy production to Rhode Island, so residents here don’t have to buy it from other states… This is more of the East Bay freeing itself from the fiefdom over us from energy producers outside our state wouldn’t you agree?
David Bibeault
8:40 am on Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Does Solyndra sound familiar?
jrobinson
10:55 am on Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Wind power is being abandoned worldwide. The turbines are eyesores, and destroy property values. They underperform, even below their lowest estimates. They kill birds, bats, and other wildlife. They emit subsonic noise which drives people crazy. It has even been shown (just last week, even) that they alter the local climate and actually make it warmer. Not to mention they're all made in China. Really, please - just don't do this. I left RI almost 2 years ago because I needed a job - and watching this slow suicide from afar is really disheartening.
Ron Bachman
8:47 am on Friday, May 4, 2012
Just another opportunity for the state to feed the Unions and the public employee sector. If this is such a great venture why isn't the private sector jumping all over it.
xatianAquidneck
8:09 am on Tuesday, May 8, 2012
The nine East Bay cities have expressed a community investment to wind energy generation. The wind is a natural resource, an untapped Natural resource on Narragansett Bay, and Rhode Island residents can tap into it as a western state would tap into coal mining. It is a wise investment of the nine cities that must account for the energy needs of the mega city that makes up the East Bay and Aquidneck Island.