These companies will always hire an experienced person over one without experience, and there are many experienced operators out there. So unless you have inside connections, goodluck.

“As for the cost of turbines, those costs are assumed by the developer” (which, yes, is passed on to the consumer, but the rest of my argument addresses that issue).

“based on cost of the farm plus taxes over a 20 year period divided by the amount of energy it would produce” — the COE that I’ve estimated also reflects the availability of a 1.9 cent/kWh federal Production Tax Credit, which just got extended for another year.

Lastly, this wont be the last time AEP makes such a request, as global demand for App coal combined with dwindling App coal reserves will result in a steady increase in THE PRICE OF coal electricity over the next couple of decades.

Thanks. Rory

The soil on strip-mines is not turned over, as you would a compost pile or your own garden. These forests exist with some of the richest soil in the world. They are temperate rainforests, and they are one of the most biodiverse ecosystems in the world. When strip-mines come in, they dont “turn over” the soil. Sure, by law, they are supposed to remove and store the soil for when the mining is complete (most often times a decade or more later), but they dont. Here’s how the process ACTUALLY goes.

The coal companies clear-cut the mine site. 90% of the time, they dont even sell or distribute this valuable hardwood timber for commercial use. They either burn it on site or dump it into the valleys. Along with that goes the soil. Yup, they actually dump the soil into the valley fills, which are constructed in headwater streams. This has all been scientifically documented, see the EPA’s Environmental Impact study on MTR and Valley Fills (can be viewed by clicking on Final PEIS at http://www.epa.gov/Region3/mtntop/), or the work of Ben Stout from Wheeling-Jesuit University. Then they begin blasting the rock to get at the coal. Most of that rock is also then dumped/bulldozed into the valley, covering the soil and trees. When all is said and done, what the reclaimed land consists of is pulverized rock and coal that they then hydroseed with lespedeza, a scrub grass that can grow in the harshest of conditions, and sometimes desert bushes. I’m not making this up, I’ve been studying MTR and reclamation for 18 months now.

As for the cost of turbines, those costs are assumed by the developer. The estimated cost of the CRM wind farm would be around $750 million. Alot of money yes, but here’s the counter-point. A proposed medium size coal-fired power plant generating 400-500MW of electricity costs well over $1Billion. Take a look into the costs of proposed coal plants around the US these days, you’ll see I’m right. As for cost of electricity, the CRM wind farm will produce electricity at 6.5-7.0 cents per kilowatt-hour, based on cost of the farm plus taxes over a 20 year period divided by the amount of energy it would produce. So that cost is an average over 20 years. Secondly, Appalachian Power just announced that it is requesting a rate increase in WV from 6.4 to 7.35 cents per kilowatt-hour, citing the recent doubling in the price of Appalachian coal as requiring higher electricity rates so as to cover the higher purchasing costs for AEP. Lastly, this wont be the last time AEP makes such a request, as global demand for App coal combined with dwindling App coal reserves will result in a steady increase in coal electricity over the next couple of decades. The wind farm, however, once developed, will produce electricity at a constant price over the life of the farm.

Whats next. profits from coal. This one will blow you away. A single county, Raleigh County, the county where we are proposing this wind farm, saw $450 million worth of coal leave on coal trains in 2006. The mining employed 1400 people (1.8% of total county population, 3.5% of total county workforce, so not much of an economic benefit for most) at a total of $70M in income (see low pop % to understand how little this benefited the general county population). In return, Raleigh County received $1.5 million in severance tax receipts. This “share” of the coal wealth amounts to a third of a percent….let that one sink in….a third of a percent of the total wealth that left on the trains. Raleigh County remains one of the poorest in the nation.

Now, coal will still be mined in Raleigh County, even if the wind farm is built. It will still be mined in the underground mines currently active below the mountain. Raleigh County will still receive the same pittance of an economic return for the destructive investment of its land. BUT, the $750K that the wind farm would add to county tax revenues, each year, amounts to an automatic 50% increase in the amount of tax revenue coming from energy resources. AND, it would eliminate, at least for one set of communities, the increased social, health, environmental and economic costs that ALWAYS result from massive strip-mine (read Mountaintop Removal) operations.

I hope this helps shed some light on the subject. I’ll be checking your post again. Take care.

Rory McIlmoil
Coal River Mountain Wind Project

Mine workers from even the lowest earn nearly $100,000. This is for 12 hour shifts and sometimes 3 weeks on and 1 week off. Still the disparity is significant.