Hydropower is best answer for renewable energy

Editor:

The chart attached to this letter is a screen shot from nyiso.com taken on Feb. 28, 2019 at 6:55 p.m.

The chart indicates the percentage of renewable energy being uploaded to the NYS electrical grid at that moment in time.

Please note that the hundreds of industrial wind turbines in this state were contributing 0.47 percent to the grid. And yet as taxpayers and ratepayers were are supposed to believe that somehow we can rely on wind power to fill this modern society’s need for steady electrical power. Sadly, wind is intermittent. Moreover, this chart indicates that at 6:55 p.m. on Feb. 28, it was almost nonexistent.

What this graphic also indicates is that the Niagara Power Plant, existing since 1961, and occupying a fraction of the footprint that will be required by Apex’s Lighthouse Wind, is a large part of our renewable energy success story. Hydropower is efficient, reliable, and already here. It does not require the industrialization of some beautiful rural areas with 600-foot wind turbines that may last 15 to 20 years, and then must be removed. In contrast, the Niagara Power Plant has been operating literally non-stop for 58 years.

This chart speaks for itself and for the residents of Somerset and Yates, the majority of whom can see clearly that there is no need Apex’s Lighthouse Wind.  If you want to save the planet, keep the bulldozers out, and point out eagles flying overhead to your grandkids, then promote hydropower.

Christine Bronson

Somerset