Wind Turbines

We, the residents of Delaware County, are being asked by power companies to allow the construction of scores, perhaps hundreds, of 40-story wind turbines across the county. In the town of Meredith, two power companies have sent sales teams to sign up a few large landowners to long-term leases without informing their neighbors.

While an industrial wind project might at first seem like a good idea, the costs and risks to the community are huge. On balance we have concluded that these costs far outweigh the small potential benefits.

We will not be able to use the electricity produced by industrial wind projects. It will flow out of the region. The financial benefits will go largely to the corporate sponsors and leave the area as well.

The companies that build these projects get their financing from big Wall Street investment banks and because of huge taxpayer subsidies stand to earn millions per turbine. The few landowners who have contracts with the developers will also receive payments.

Will the people of Meredith benefit financially?

Although some claim that town taxes could go down, this has not happened in other towns in New York after wind projects were built. If the Town Board passes an ordinance permitting these projects to go forward, they will be asked to sign a PILOT agreement (Payment In Lieu of Taxes), which involves granting the development companies a large reduction in local property tax rates compared to what we pay as individuals and local businesses. The most optimistic result of a PILOT would reduce the average annual property tax bill by about $100.

Is this a good deal for the town of Meredith? NO!

The Alliance for Meredith is a non-profit community group opposed to the exploitation of our town’s natural resources for the benefit of the wealthy few. We believe that the small financial benefit to the town will be more than offset by the many potentially devastating effects of large-scale industrial wind turbines:

• They will change the rural character of the landscape forever. These machines can be more than 400-feet high, with blades as long as the wing of a 747, and will be placed on ridge tops that are clear cut of trees, and will be visible for miles.
• They will drive down neighbors’ property values. In Andes a broker surveyed recent real estate purchasers and found that 95% of respondents would not have considered purchasing property if it was anywhere near an industrial wind turbine.
• They will harm the town’s economic base. The local building industry and tourism will suffer.
• In government studies tourists overwhelming say they will avoid areas with wind turbines. Power companies can and have restricted hunting and snowmobiling on the land they lease.
• They are noisy. University studies show that people over a mile away are disturbed by the constant pulsating noise, and many people up to half a mile have reported their sleep disrupted.
• They can throw ice from blades 400 feet high moving over 150 mph, endangering neighbors, livestock and property, especially in New York, which has more ice storms than any other state.
• They generate litigation against towns and landowners who lease their property, due to problems with noise, interference with cell phone and satellite reception, strobe effects inside neighboring homes and other health, safety, nuisance and financial impacts.
• They pose a significant danger to birds and bats. In Meredith we are just south of Franklin Mountain, a major point in the southward migration of golden eagles – an endangered species – as well as thousands of other raptors.