Wind energy: Maryland's next fiasco

Wind energy: Maryland’s next fiasco

 

Governor O’Malley is hot to dump hundreds of millions into wind technologies, which are neither perfected nor economical. His green agenda will only generate red in the event the state of Maryland moves forward with this folly. The proposed project entails building floating wind generating stations miles off the coast of Ocean City Maryland. Estimates from O’Malley’s crack team of experts believe this project would eventually extract up to 200 megawatts of power from the wind when these devices are fully functional. Wind energy is unreliable, costs to generate one megawatt of power are staggering and the infrastructure to get such a leviathan project off the ground will cost billions not hundreds of millions as suggested by the Governor. The best manner in which to view this project: think of a Solyndra on steroids. There exists an enormous bulk of literature on wind technologies displaying its impracticality for use in large populated areas. Maryland’s Executive branch is selling this folly to the State legislature and the General Public with creative accounting techniques. Ratepayers will be requested to fork out an estimated $1.50 per month, if you can suspend disbelief while you consider this number. Cost overruns by projects proposed and implemented by Democrats are not uncommon. The Big Dig, a highway/tunnel project in Boston was originally budgeted at approximately 2.8 billion. When the project was finally completed, ten years later than expected, its price tag was 15 billion dollars. A complicated series of unforeseen events triggered this project’s elevated costs and time delays including; very poor workmanship, unions and their selective work rules, double and triple overtime payments, poor quality materials, constant political interference, design flaws, deaths due to accidents and much more. Maryland’s ill-conceived wind project will have many of the same problems, which will intrinsically have its own set of cost overruns and time delays. The proposed legislation will have new entitlements for the Afro-American community, which include allowing minority investors to selectively buy into this project. Additionally, the plan provides a 10 million dollar fund to assist minority businesses so they can participate in supply chain economics of this horrifically conceived project. Many more questions arise than can be answered here. Who will get these jobs? Is the selective minority funding constitutional? Who will be accountable when the costs for this proposed project run into the billions? Who will benefit from Maryland’s newest proposed disaster: state workers and companies or out of state entities? In the event there is any sanity left in the Maryland State Legislature they should vote this tragedy down. Maryland does not need its own Solyndra, we have had too many already. Mark Davis MD, platomd@gmail.com, www.healthnetsreviewservices.com