To The Reader’s Forum:

Why build wind turbine factories in Western New York if they produce 10 percent of what is claimed?

According to New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). “Capacity factors of inland wind sites in New York are on the order of 30 percent of their rated capacity. Their effective capacities, however, are about 10 percent, due to both the seasonal and daily patterns of the wind generation being largely “out of phase” with the NYISO load patterns.”

So when Big Wind claims 100 MW of power it is actually 10 MW. When they claim 30,000 homes are powered, it is 3,000 homes.

But when NRG said they produced 435 MW, it was done on a reliable, affordable, dispatchable basis at a 98-acre facility compared to the three Chautauqua County turbine factories that impact tens of thousands of acres of forested land. The negative economic impact has been calculated to be approximately $23 million per year to the region as tourism, agriculture and property values suffer. The health problems of those living in the Arkwright wind factory are now a reality with headaches, vertigo, and sleeplessness, and this affecting children as young as four years old.

When will the state recognize the insanity of forcing industrial wind turbines on the people of Western New York?

Karen Engstrom

Mayville