'Honeypot' overflows

Companies don't stay in business long if they make a habit of borrowing $500,000 for capital equipment of dubious utility from which they expect a $30,000 annual return. But Phoenix Press in New Haven will do just that, and thanks to Uncle Sam and Aunt Jodi, can expect to clean up on its investment even as taxpayers and ratepayers are forced to take a bath.

As reported in Forbes magazine, Phoenix will buy a 121-foot wind turbine it doesn't need and wouldn't otherwise purchase because it can get it an 83 percent discount. "A windmill doesn't make economic sense," even though Phoenix is "gouged 19 cents a kilowatt-hour from (its) utility," Forbes reports. The air at the site on Long Island Sound "is so still that the average output would come to only 18 percent of peak output, meaning that the juice would be worth $30,000 a year."

But Phoenix is plowing ahead because its purchase will be underwritten with a $263,000 state grant and "another $150,000 from President Obama's renewable energy honeypot," Forbes reported. Since the company will pay only $87,000 for the $500,000 turbine, it can expect to break even on what otherwise would be a ruinous investment in three years, and enjoy 17 years of "free electricity," provided the turbine actually makes it to the end of its projected life span and the technology isn't rendered obsolete by scientific advances in the meantime.

The real gouging here is being done by the state and federal governments when they confiscate money from ratepayers and taxpayers to finance green elephants.

I googled Phoenix Press and found that it is on the harbor near Quinnipiac Park, downtown New Haven, not far from the I91 and I95 split.

Questions:

Has the company received permission from the city to erect a 121’ windmill in the city center?

Have neighboring businesses been notified of the permit to build a 121’ windmill?

Did the New Haven Parks Dept give permission to erect a 121’ pole next to a public park?

Is the windmill in the path of any known avian migration routes? Especially right next to a city park?

Do Canadian geese fly through this area? (Well, hopefully they do fly low here)

Has the environmental impact statement been approved by the feds, like the western state wind farms have all battled through?

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Well, further reading on their site found that the windmill will be completed this fall, and that the owners expect that it will become a landmark at the park.

It takes about 400,000 kwh to run a press at Phoenix Press - the interview was not specific whether that was a single press or the entire company. They expect that it will supply about 1/3 of the power needs at the company.

400,000 kwh is not that big a company. I regularly sell commercial accounts much larger, and even have a quickie mart that uses more power than this just keeping AC and refrigeration going.

Interview here:

http://www.phoenixpressinc.com/new.html

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