FOD 2012.03.12

I few days ago I commented on the absurdity of the obama administration's plan to save the spotted owl by killing off the barred owl, a related species that competes for the same habitat. At the time I thought that was the height of this administration's folly.

I should have had more faith in obama and his goons. Now his administration is participating in a plan to pay wind farms in the Pacific Northwest to not produce electrical power.

Wind farms in the Pacific Northwest -- built with government subsidies and maintained with tax credits for every megawatt produced -- are now getting paid to shut down as the federal agency charged with managing the region's electricity grid says there's an oversupply of renewable power at certain times of the year.

The problem arose during the late spring and early summer last year. Rapid snow melt filled the Columbia River Basin. The water rushed through the 31 dams run by the Bonneville Power Administration, a federal agency based in Portland, Ore., allowing for peak hydropower generation. At the very same time, the wind howled, leading to maximum wind power production.

Demand could not keep up with supply, so BPA shut down the wind farms for nearly 200 hours over 38 days.

"Demand could not keep up with supply." There's an ironic twist for you. Hey, all you Oregon electric consumers - turn up the heat. Replace your CFLs with incandescent light bulbs. Get with it and do your part to increase demand to keep pace with supply. You slackers...

Now, Bonneville is offering to compensate wind companies for half their lost revenue. The bill could reach up to $50 million a year.

The extra payout means energy users will eventually have to pay more.

Think about the lesson being taught here. Reduce demand by making homes and businesses more energy efficient. Decrease consumption through conservation measures. Subsidize green, clean, and renewable energy sources. And what happens? Customers will end up paying more, not less. That's the perfect description of a government initiative if I ever heard one.

"We require taxpayers to subsidize the production of renewable energy, and now we want ratepayers to pay renewable energy companies when they lose money?" asked Todd Myers, director of the Center for the Environment of the Washington Policy Center and author of "Eco-Fads: How the Rise of Trendy Environmentalism is Harming the Environment."

"That's a ridiculous system that keeps piling more and more money into a system that's unsustainable," Myers said.

Even green energy advocates recognize the absurdity of the situation.

"It sends a very poor signal to the market about doing business in the Northwest," said Rachel Shimshak, executive director of the Renewable Northwest Project. "We want the Northwest to be a good place to do business."

BPA says its hands are tied by environmental regulations. Officials contend if they shut down hydropower generation instead of the wind farms, endangered salmon would be harmed.

There's always some species that's endangered in every scenario. It's interesting, though, how none of the government agencies or special interest groups are worried about that most endangered of all species - the American taxpayer.