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Keeping Taxpayers in the Dark (Ithaca Solar Panels lose $1 million)
Federal Review ^
| Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Posted on 06/13/2006 8:36:48 AM PDT by Behind Liberal Lines
ITHACA NY--Once again proving that social engineering and taxpayer money shouldn't mix comes this news from Ithaca, New York:
In 1999, the Tompkins County Board of Representatives voted to install solar power on the roof of the country library. (In cold, dark upstate NY.)
It will be paid for with $551,025 of County funds -- an addition to the library capital project -- and $455,514 in grants from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and the U.S. Department of Energy.
So, how much power has their system generated since $1,006,539 was spent to install it?
460,124 kilowatt hours (kWh) since it was installed, in July of 2001.
On the open market 460,124 kWh would cost a commercial user (assuming an astronomically high average price of $0.10 per kWh) about $46,000.
Only in The City of Evil could spending over a million dollars to generate at most $9,358 worth of electricity per year make sense.
Source for generation info
http://www.powerlight.com/mypowerlight/
User Name: library
Password: solarpower
(hat tip: the Comedian, who told me to go ahead ahead and "steal" his work)
TOPICS: Culture/Society; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events; US: New York
KEYWORDS: cityofevil; energy; ithaca; mdm
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To: governsleastgovernsbest; gaspar; NativeNewYorker; drjimmy; Atticus; John Valentine; TLBSHOW; ...
City of Evil bump:
To: Behind Liberal Lines
How many days of sun can there be in Ithaca?
3
posted on
06/13/2006 8:38:01 AM PDT
by
Mikey_1962
(If you build it, they won't come...)
To: Mikey_1962
Plenty of light as long as the Eye of Sauron remains.
4
posted on
06/13/2006 8:40:13 AM PDT
by
JamesP81
To: Mikey_1962
There is no such thing as sun in the City of Evil. :)
To: Behind Liberal Lines
And that doesn't even include cleaning and repair costs for the panels.
6
posted on
06/13/2006 8:44:08 AM PDT
by
KarlInOhio
(Never ask a Kennedy if he'll have another drink. It's nobody's business how much he's had already.)
To: Behind Liberal Lines
So it'll pay for itself in 100 years, assuming no degradation or failures in the solar cells. Now if they had invested that million...
7
posted on
06/13/2006 8:45:16 AM PDT
by
sionnsar
(†trad-anglican.faithweb.com† | Iran Azadi | SONY: 5yst3m 0wn3d - it's N0t Y0urs)
To: Behind Liberal Lines
Using my brief calculations, $46000 in 5 years = $9200/Year.
At a cost of $1,006,539 / $9200 annually = 109.4 years. (Not including maintenance sosts, devaluation of the equipment, and fluctuating Kw energy calculations).
So, the sucke- people of Ithaca (City of Evil) will begin to see a profit in January, 2116.
8
posted on
06/13/2006 8:49:31 AM PDT
by
theDentist
(Qwerty ergo typo : I type, therefore I misspelll. 17,400+ snide replies and counting!)
To: Behind Liberal Lines
Yes, but te NYSERDA money was FREE! They got back about 9% of the cost so far if you don't include the money taken at gunpooint from you and me.
9
posted on
06/13/2006 8:52:18 AM PDT
by
ikka
To: Mikey_1962
"How many days of sun can there be in Ithaca?"
Both
10
posted on
06/13/2006 8:53:11 AM PDT
by
EQAndyBuzz
(Democrats - The reason we need term limits)
To: ikka
Like the greenies say, every little bit helps. What it helps with isn't exactly clear.
11
posted on
06/13/2006 8:55:40 AM PDT
by
RightWhale
(Off touch and out of base)
To: theDentist
With cost of capital more than 1% ($10k per million) it will never pay back.
To: Uncledave
You have to remember, we are dealing with Liberals. Money is not important. It's how good we all feel about the project.
13
posted on
06/13/2006 9:08:07 AM PDT
by
50sDad
(ST3d: Real Star Trek 3d Chess: http://my.ohio.voyager.net/~abartmes/tactical.htm)
To: Behind Liberal Lines
I'm a big fan of alternative energy, but it still has to be worthwhile economically. A million bucks at 5% interest is $50K a year for electricity forever. If it is indeed 10c a kWh in Ithaca, that's 500,000 kWh per year. I yield the floor to anybody from that area or anybody in the library biz to say if that's more than that library needs or not.
14
posted on
06/13/2006 9:16:29 AM PDT
by
jiggyboy
(Ten per cent of poll respondents are either lying or insane)
To: 50sDad
And since it's not their INDIVIDUAL money, they feel REALLY good.
15
posted on
06/13/2006 9:16:59 AM PDT
by
PzLdr
("The Emperor is not as forgiving as I am" - Darth Vader)
To: Behind Liberal Lines
Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe they installed these knowing that a future building would be constructed adjacent to the libray that would block sunlight from the panels.
16
posted on
06/13/2006 9:35:42 AM PDT
by
finnman69
(cum puella incedit minore medio corpore sub quo manifestu s globus, inflammare animos)
To: Behind Liberal Lines
A whooping 0.93% ROI. Who says the government doesn't know how to spend our money more wisely than us. Of course that assumes an infinite lifetime and no maintenance costs.
17
posted on
06/13/2006 9:56:20 AM PDT
by
Lonesome in Massachussets
(NYT Headline: 'Protocols of the Learned Elders of CBS: Fake But Accurate, Experts Say.')
To: 50sDad
[W]e are dealing with Liberals. [Other people's m]oney is not important
18
posted on
06/13/2006 9:58:03 AM PDT
by
Lonesome in Massachussets
(NYT Headline: 'Protocols of the Learned Elders of CBS: Fake But Accurate, Experts Say.')
To: RightWhale
Like the greenies say, every little bit helps. What it helps with isn't exactly clear. It helps the "greenie" who owned the company that installed the solar panels.
19
posted on
06/13/2006 9:58:32 AM PDT
by
PsyOp
(The commonwealth is theirs who hold the arms.... - Aristotle.)
To: Behind Liberal Lines
Let me guess. To make it aesthetically pleasing to behold, they installed the panels on the North side as well as the South side, (if there is a South side).
Now if I had a few tens of thousands to invest without concern, I could get a twenty year return on the investment. But I would put them on the South side of my house.
20
posted on
06/13/2006 10:07:47 AM PDT
by
NicknamedBob
(Hummingbirds would be even more popular if they could remember the words to the songs.)
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