WIND SETS FOX NEWS STRAIGHT

Why is Fox Business saying those things about wind power?

David Ward, February 15, 2013 (Into the Wind)

“Just because you’re on TV doesn’t mean you can make things up. [Here are some facts about things misreported recently by Fox Business News [personalities Melissa Francis and Stuart Varney]…Wind power is actually one of the least expensive forms of energy. And, it offers 25-year fixed rate contracts. When the Midwest grid operator recently got a quarter of all its electricity from wind (Nov. 23, 2012) it noted…[that wind helps] manage congestion on the system and ultimately helps keep prices low…

"…Wind power is reliable and already generates significant amounts of electricity. Iowa and South Dakota reliably produce more than 20 percent of all their electricity from wind power and several other states produce more than 10 percent. Wind power also makes the utility system more reliable, because it is predictable up to 24 hours in advance and changes gradually…Failures at large fossil and nuclear power plants, in contrast, occur instantaneously and without warning…"

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“…The cost of running 24/7/365 isn't because of wind. To accommodate running other large single plants all day long, utility system operators must keep enough fast-acting reserves online at all times to manage the loss of any one of those plants, a cost that runs into billions of dollars per year and is paid by all electricity consumers. All analyses of the costs of integrating wind energy have found them to reduce this cost to a small fraction of that…

…Wind power IS reducing emissions. Wind turbines generate no emissions in operation…[Those] installed through 2012 will displace approximately 95.9 million metric tons of carbon dioxide a year, or 1.8% of the entire U.S. carbon footprint. And that amount is growing fast…”

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