If you believe BNE Energy’s industrial wind turbine project in Colebrook will create jobs, read Joel Rinebold’s testimony before the Connecticut Siting Council. Who is Joel Rinebold? He was hired by BNE to prepare an Economic Energy Analysis for their projects in Colebrook and Prospect. Interestingly, Mr. Rinebold is a former executive director of the Connecticut Siting Council. It seems that the more one digs into these projects the muddier the waters become.
A short synopsis of Mr. Rinebold’s analysis: There will be one part-time job created once the turbines become operational. One, part-time job. And, if things go as expected and households spend more locally, we might see part-time employment opportunities in Connecticut’s service sector.
How can Mr. Rinebold and BNE call this job creation? Apparently, you have to look at the overall picture… here come the smoke and mirrors. Mr. Rinebold’s Economic Energy Analysis references jobs created within the renewable energy industry as a whole, not specifically here in Connecticut. According to the analysis, nine construction jobs will be created, 16 jobs will be created within the equipment manufacturing industry, and seven indirect/induced jobs are projected as an effect of changes in household spending that may result from the direct or indirect spending of the project.
So overall, according to Mr. RInebold’s projections, thirty-two total jobs could be created, of which nine will be in Connecticut in the construction phase, with the possibility of an additional seven if households change their spending as predicted. However, after the turbines are constructed and become operational, Connecticut can count on one part-time job and perhaps some part-time work in Connecticut’s local service sector associated with the estimated additional local spending.
What a boon to Connecticut’s struggling economy! We can look forward to one part-time job and keep our fingers crossed household spending increases to encourage perhaps seven more! Gee, thanks BNE! You will have spent millions of our taxpayer dollars to fund your project, which will make you millions, and we can count on half a job and hope for seven more!
Oh wait; we can’t dismiss the clean renewable energy that will be created…when the wind blows…because the wind industry has no technology for storing energy for use when there is no wind.
No wind? Look to the Phoenix Press in New Haven and ask how their wind turbine worked out last summer when Connecticut had strings of windless days. The Phoenix Press acknowledged their turbine didn’t perform as expected but they discovered it makes a great marketing tool as a company going green.
Connecticut, we need to let Governor Malloy, Commissioner Daniel Esty (DEEP), and our legislators know we do not want to host the next marketing tools for the wind industry: Wind Prospect, Wind Colebrook South, and Wind Colebrook North. Nor do we want well-connected lawyers with no experience in the wind industry to waste an exorbitant amount of taxpayer dollars on projects that will not have a significant benefit on Connecticut’s economy.