Roadrunner Windfarm project moving forward
Celinda Emison
Abilene Reporter-News
Tuesday, November 20, 2007

The proposed Roadrunner Windfarm project, which will be in Comanche, Brown and Mills counties, is moving ahead as company officials continue to approach all taxing entities with tax abatement requests.

Comanche County commissioners were the first to give the green light to the Roadrunner Windfarm project proposed by Austin-based Renewable Energy Systems, Americas Inc., by approving a reinvestment zone and a requested tax abatement.

On Monday, William Coats, from RES in Austin, and Wes Jackson, from Cummings Westlake, LLC of Houston, approached Brown County commissioners with the project.

"We have been leasing land for this project for the past year," Coats told commissioners. "We haven't leased much in Brown County, but we have some verbal agreements from the larger land owners."

Visit http://www.reporternews.com/news/2007/nov/20/roadrunner-windfarm-project-moving-forward/ to read the full story.

Residents say proposed wind farm would mar beauty of Hill Country
Vicki Vaughan
San Antonio Express-News
November 14, 2007

FREDERICKSBURG — On a sparkling fall day in this Hill Country town, all seems right with the world. The sky is a bright blue bowl and monarch butterflies float by on a soft breeze. Free-spending tourists throng Main Street, boosting an already healthy economy.

But some Gillespie County residents are concerned that their Hill Country idyll is in jeopardy. Their worries focus on a movement that's usually viewed as highly desirable: the building of wind farms to produce electricity.

A new organization, Save Our Scenic Hill Country, says an energy company seeks to build wind turbines north of Fredericksburg. The group fears the Hill Country's serenity and scenic vistas — everything that makes it a beloved part of Texas — are in danger of being marred by 400-foot-high wind turbines.

One wind company obtained leases to build wind turbines within site of Enchanted Rock State Natural Area, a popular hiking and camping spot that borders Gillespie and Llano counties.

The company since has pulled out, but its plans unnerved area residents. And another company has expressed an interest in developing a wind farm in the area, although it hasn't made its plans public.

Visit http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/environment/stories/MYSA111507.01A.WindFarms.29521cc.html for the full article.

These things are going up everywhere because they are getting HUGE amounts of writeoffs from the government to put them up.  After those run out, it isnt going to be worth running them, and the company will pull out.  It's then going to be too expensive to tear them down... so you will have a TON of 400 foot eyesores out there doing nothing all so a landowner could get 10grand a windmill a year for 5-10 years.

Just wait and see...  

Got on the post a bit late.  But guys (&gals) when you look at a wind turbine, consider things in a different light.  Think what alternatives there are and what might take the place of these Turbines.

If we bring reality into the subject, I can tell you I love the idea of the turbines in the Hill Country.  My family has had land in Fredericksburg for much longer than the avg. Gillespie county resident these days.  Two things constant 1)Growth and 2)Change.  My goal was always to finish college, get a good job, and be able to buy some additional land in the Hill Country for myself.  Now I'd say it's too late.  We have more neighbors and houses moving in than we do deer on the place. (That should say something). 

Avg land prices $8 to $30,000 in our area and we are 11 miles out of town.

The humm of a turbine is rythmic, the dash and crash and horns form all the traffic on the county road is less than soothing.  Sitting in the blind these days is almost a joke.  I don't like hearing neighbors conversations while hunting. 

Everyone likes the appearance of the Hill Country... But take a good, long and slow drive up 281 N from San Antonio, then loop back around and take Bulverde Road back South.  And don't worry... you won't have to try to drive slow.  This was once a scenic drive as well.

If you still think that wind turbines are a big threat to Hill Country Scenery, than I guess you also think that Walmarts, Mega Apartmentment complexes, and cheap Match box houses are a sight to behold, Country Living at its best. 

Some would say: But the developments are tasteful and on larger acreages.

Then again the generic subdivisions are already showing face.  If you really like your way of country living, do things to support rural living.  Save your money and buy the neighbors property when they sell out.  Don't split your land between 5 kids so that each one has an equal share of nothing worth keeping.  Fight the appraisal district! Use ingenuity to make an income from your land.  And consider placing development and subdivision restrictions on your property, yes you can do this.  Don't be so quick to discount Conservation Easments & Land Trust.

But most importantly, Take a kid hunting & fishing, and make the most of what we have!

I very much agree with null null there is people moving up on peaople houses getting closer and closer together sufficating us and the wildlife.. And i enjoy wildlife just as much as the next person but dont you think that it has brought in jobs for people who really needs them.. It's getting tough to find good paying jobs and i just wonder if it is benefitting the blue collar workers. We are what keeps this country going... 

I don't know where people with negative attitudes towards the turbines get their information about wind turbines or their company's. I love the hill country and its view's but the last time I was home all I saw were a bunch of cookie cutter houses and new developments. I don't think any of the cedar choppers said "hey that's a nice house in my back yard" or "WOW sure glad there's a mall so close to the house now". I have no pity for those lucky few that have a turbine in their backyard. We in the industry call them "boss" or just plain rich! There is not a  turbine in the USA (all 50) that is 400 foot tall the largest are no more than 300 most common are no more than 200. The average life expectancy on siemens turbine is 20 years and they will be running in 20 years. At max power which is around 25 mph they make 170 dollars per hour, you can do the math it may not seem like much but times that by 40 to 200 which is each of your towers on your site.  So to say that it is all government funded is outrageous these people make enough to put up these things pay everyone around way too much and still have enough to bitch about the view from their porch in fredericksburg. To say wind turbines will be forgot is not accurate the company I work for is now buying towers that have past their expiration life expectancy and are rebuilding them. They then turn around and sell them to the public for fairly cheep. NOW you can get a tax break of like half off or something not real sure on that. If anyone has any questions just post on here and I will get you the answer.

PS GREAT LUCK THIS WEEKEND PLAY HARD AND BE SAFE!

Thanks and shootem straight

I am a ranch owner in Concho County that showed up one weekend to find one of the test towers near the border of my property.  Even it is unsitely and I get sick knowing there is a good chance that those ugly wind towers will be going up on my neighbors property.  However, even worse, now I sit on my back porch at night and look out at the stars and now see many blinking lights on the landscape that are on either wind towers or test towers.

The towers, which provide some financial gain to the landowner that has it on his/her place, hurt the landscape of many more.

Further, if you don't think our tax dollars are helping to signifcantly supplement the financial gain of the companies that put those towers up, you are mistaken.  Natural gas driven energy generation is still much more economic than wind energy and it is only our tax dollars that allows wind energy to compete.

I can't buy the economics...to me wind energy is another case of bait-and-switch.  It only appears profitable because its subsidized by the feds.  Ultimately its the taxpayer that pays these bills less a government 'pass-through fee', which ain't cheap and getting more expensive every day.  Is that truly economic?  And like someone else said, when these subsidies are gone what's going to happen then?  The vast majority of wind-related jobs will vanish.  

I'm all for technology development, but if it can't stand on its own after a reasonable amount of time and support (and how long have wind turbines been around?) then its not worth having, regardless of the zero-emissions dream it supposedly fulfills.  Wind is not the only energy technology that has this problem - ethanol is another.  And with ethanol, look how the grain and feed prices have risen.

It appears to me we're being led down a primrose path of energy dependency by folks who ultimately don't care whether the end results bankrupts this country or not.