Print this story | E-mail story | This story has 15 comments Add your own | iPod friendly
Time to invest in wind is now
Published Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Those who say electric utilities such as Otter Tail Power should put more into resources such as wind energy, now is the time to put your money where your mouth is.
Otter Tail Corporation, which owns Otter Tail Power, is offering five million shares to the public in an attempt to generate revenue for the expansion of its wind tower manufacturing facilities and the construction of a new wind center in Barnes County, N.D.
It’s been widely pointed out that wind energy is more environmentally friendly than coal or oil in providing energy. But building the wind turbines and transmission lines to collect and distribute the energy is expensive. Public companies such as Otter Tail depend on funds from private investors to fund projects. While Otter Tail has an obligation to society to be responsible, it also needs to be profitable, or it will not exist.
Let’s hope investors confirm their belief in wind energy by opening their wallets. Let’s also hope Otter Tail can provide them with handsome future returns.
Comments
The Daily Journal is happy to host community conversations about news and life in Fergus Falls and the surrounding area. As hosts, we expect guests will show respect for each other. That means we don't threaten or defame each other, and we keep conversations free of personal attacks. Witty is great. Abusive is not. If you think a post violates these standards, don't escalate the situation. Instead, flag the comment to alert us. We'll take action if necessary. It's not hard. This should be a place where people want to read and contribute -- a place for spirited exchanges of opinion. So those who persist with racist, defamatory or abusive postings risk losing the privilege to post at all.Posted by mccain08 (anonymous) on September 17, 2008 at 1:05 p.m. (Suggest removal)
all energy on this planet, except for geothermal and nuclear, is solar. whether it's oil, coal, wind, gas, it all is a derivative of solar energy. plants have figured out how to make energy directly from the sun, maybe some day we will too.
Posted by richan (anonymous) on September 17, 2008 at 6:21 p.m. (Suggest removal)
as27 is being sarcastic I hope and not stating a true position?
Posted by neocon (anonymous) on September 18, 2008 at 10:59 a.m. (Suggest removal)
who cares where energy comes from just go to work and pay your bills didn't your parents teach you anything. let the experts worry about the rest
Posted by mccain08 (anonymous) on September 18, 2008 at 11:01 a.m. (Suggest removal)
i understand as27, that's why have to make it simple for the simpletons. you have to say "oil is solar", then they might think solar is "awesome". you can't explain to them that oil is nothing more than a substance made when a fern 10 million years ago uses the energy from the sun to combine some hydrogen atoms from water with some carbon atoms from carbon dioxide to make a hydrocarbon (oil).
actually i think more "people" would switch to electric vehicles powered by solar energy if manufacturers included a loudspeaker on the back on the car that make some obnoxious vrooom vrooom noise. you could customize the noise by using the formula "self esteem/IQ = noise volume"
Posted by mccain08 (anonymous) on September 18, 2008 at 11:03 a.m. (Suggest removal)
neocon = robot
Posted by FFSSG (anonymous) on September 18, 2008 at 11:30 a.m. (Suggest removal)
thats funny
Posted by Jerry (anonymous) on September 18, 2008 at 3:01 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Solar power is alive, well, and growing through-out the entire south. But it still has a long way to go.
Posted by brighteyes (anonymous) on September 18, 2008 at 4:13 p.m. (Suggest removal)
pamida parking lot crowd.... hahahahahaha, anyone got any chew?
Posted by edrule3 (anonymous) on September 19, 2008 at midnight (Suggest removal)
There are far better ways to solve the energy crisis woes than to leave the same organizations in charge that created the status quo we deal with today. They are the ones that forced us into the direction that got us here, after all. When we tried in the 70's to shift our direction towards more alternative fuels, the entrenched machine forced us back towards their agenda. What we'll end up with is the same expensive energy bills in the long run, because the machine works well for the few at the expense of the many, and it seems too many of us just assume that's the only way it can be.
If each of us owned our own power generators using wind, solar, etc. and fed the excess back into the grid then there would be no more huge bills and the monopolies will fold. They would have to send us checks by law for every watt we send back through the grid. In the long run, there would be no need to send people to die for the broken machine that creates wealth for the few.
I know . . . I expect some morons and capitalizers will call this socialism or even communism, but I really don't give a hoot.
Posted by Jerry (anonymous) on September 19, 2008 at noon (Suggest removal)
as27. Nope very little in oil, more of a future in renewable energy. You should get some Otter Tail Power stock,"OTTR" it has done quite well. They should put wind turbines all around Washington DC with all the BS wind coming from both parties.
Posted by apinion (anonymous) on September 21, 2008 at 12:44 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Too bad that OTTR does not realize that wind and solar do not work without reliable backup generation. They tell you that coal is their backup, but coal is not a backup, it is base load, it would take way too long to startup to be a backup for wind unless it is running at a rate way higher than needed at all times. Someone in that company needs to look at natural gas. Sure it is a little more expensive, but it does not need to be running at 50% plus at all times just incase the wind happens to slow a little. Not to mention that it creates little to no polution, and it is almost entirely produced in the USA. Sure would be nice to not destroy MN largest tourism segment because of mercury from coal, just so South Dakota can benefit from the extra tax revenues because they don't care about our lakes and rivers.
Posted by edrule3 (anonymous) on September 21, 2008 at 4:38 p.m. (Suggest removal)
http://www.silverbearcafe.com/private/9....
Posted by apinion (anonymous) on September 21, 2008 at 11:26 p.m. (Suggest removal)
edrule3, you must have flunked physics. It is impossible to "create" energy. There is no way to supply 100 watts of power and get 100 watts of power back, plus heat (energy).
Posted by apinion (anonymous) on September 21, 2008 at 11:30 p.m. (Suggest removal)
A ground water heat pump on the other hand can be 300% plus efficient, because it does not creat heat it simply moves it from one place to another (The ground to your house). So the ground gets a little colder and your house a little warmer, electricity is only used to move the heat not create it!!!
Posted by brighteyes (anonymous) on September 26, 2008 at 4:54 p.m. (Suggest removal)
geothermal, solar, and wind is going to be the future, and solution to our energy problem. If you agree that oil NEEDS to be the way, then you are an idiot.
Apinion- What if we used a heat pump that was run off of a solar panel? I guess Im not certain what kind of conditions(clear, patrly cloudy) a solar panel can properly function at--but what a hell of a way to lower energy bills in the long run, not to mention a KEY selling point, if you were to sell the house!
Post a comment
(Requires free registration.)