Interview Q and A's

David Hallquist

CEO of Vermont Electric Cooperative

VELCO Board member

Renewable Energy of North America board member

Principal at Stowe Consulting Company

Mohawk Valley Community College

Q: What was the largest hurdle to get over, as far as permits, laws and zoning?

A: Public service board approval – getting water resources. 

Q: Was the opposition from the public mostly due to consideration of wildlife/environment, noise/sight problems or safety concerns?
A: Noise and aesthetics—50/50. Every single electric source has issues, however wind has the most potential.

Q: Has there been any major issues yet? (safety concerns, reports of wildlife problems...etc)
A: Safety is our biggest concern. Hauling the equipment can be dangerous. 2 weeks ago a man was injured hauling heavy equipment and is still in a coma.

Q: Has the support for wind power gained strength or lost strength in the region since the wind farms have been built?
A: Lost strength. Public support dropped from 80% to 70%

In reality, it’s easy for people to say they support it until it actually shows up. Then they question if it is worth it.

Willem Post

Founding member of Coalition for Energy Solutions

Consulting Engineer and Project Manager

BSME New Jersey Institute of Technology

MSME Rensselear Polytechnic Institute

MBA, P.E. University of Connecticut

Focus: Master Plans and Case Studies

VERY interesting conversation with Willem Post who knows just about everything there is to know about wind energy around the world (specifically in Europe).

Focuses on Master plans and studies for past 10-15 years of his career.

-       Helped design UVMs mater plan for the steam and water pressure systems.

-       He talked a lot about wind energy in Europe (Norway, Denmark, Sweden tradeoffs)

·      Asked him the most important message to convey to class: “I think New England should just forget about wind”

o   Midwestern prairie states have tremendous wind power opportunities and that’s where we should utilize wind energy

o   He compared Midwestern wind capacity to that of Saudi Arabia’s oil capacity

·      Biggest issue surrounding wind energy is noise

o   In Willem’s article on Lowell Wind Farm in July 2011 he states:

·      infrasound consists of air pressure pulsations; not audible, but felt; usually not measured by acoustics engineers; and more or less ignored by state regulators

·      People have been known to get sick from the infrasound that the turbines emit

o   Infrasound was used in the war to torture people

o   He met a farming family in Austria that lives less than a mile away from a wind farm and after a while the chickens started laying eggs without yolks

·      Needless to say, noise has a huge impact on the community and environment

Q: Adverse effects of Lowell wind project?

A: Environmental degradation. Preserving the Lowell mountain environment is very important.

Q: What is Vermont’s energy potential?

A: Vermont is not good for solar. There is decent wind on the ridge lines and better winds offshore as well, but offshore is very expensive.

àKansas has the best wind energy potential—maintence is low cost and there is a tremendous wind capacity

àSaudi Arabia of wind = Midwestern prarie states à evilvalent of Saudi oil

àMaintence of operation for Kansas wind farm = 1, VT ridgeline = 2

àOperation of maintenance + initial capital cost > energy actually produced in Vermont. We are spending unnecessary capital

cap in Kilowatt x 8760 x capital factor = kilowatt hours

*equation is critical to know

Q: When are winds strongest in Vermont?

A: wind is stronger at night

spring & fall = moderate wind

winter = strongest winds at night 

summer = weakest winds 

 Spring and fall intermediate

denmark sends their wind to Norway and Sweden

these plants close water valves and absorb surges of wind

½ is consumed in Denmark and ½ is exported

Sweden and Norway have more storage capacity than Denmark….they don’t have to use their own water

to run hydroplants

Germany is going to shut down all of their nuclear reactors by 2023.

Q: What do you think should be the most important takeaway from my presentation?

A: I think new England should forget about wind.

Q: Why?

A: noisy, visually offensive, destroys ridgelines

people get sick, low frequency noise /infrasound à used in the war to torture people

In Austria, I met a farm family that lives within a mile from a wind farm and eventually their chickens were laying eggs without yolks.