Monday, September 9, 2013

Heywood Interconnecter and Wind Turbines

Hello Canada, Israel, Sri Lanka, and Poland...welcome to the day after the day after Election day 2013 and the sun came (is coming) up, the birds are tweeting...(the birds have smart phones?-Ed)...no, old school tweeting...and nothing much has changed...although there are set to be some 'bizarre' Senate wins, eg, the Australian Sports Party in Western Australia and the Motoring Enthusiasts Party in Victoria...

These Senate Independents could prove critical in that the Liberals will have to negotiate with several of them to pass anything through the Upper House, and therefore they could even be the catalyst for a 'Double Dissolution' Election in early 2014...yay...

Personally I found Saturday to be hugely cathartic...as unpleasant and serious as the issue is, the 'Out of the Shadows and Into the Light' Suicide Awareness breakfast and walk organised by Lifeline and held early on Saturday was attended by approx 50 people, and I support the idea that open and frank discussion of the issues around suicide is a positive and productive approach...(and 'Are You OK Day' is just ahead, September 14th-Ed)... 

Then spending the rest of the day handing out the 'How to Vote' flyers, left me feeling like I had actually participated in the Human race...for a pleasant change...oh, and kudos to my child for the most excellent Father's Day present of solar garden lights that constantly change colour...it's like a freakin' Rave out there and I just want to get my hands up in the air yo-ohhh...but I digress...

I know that I've been over these various Wind Turbine issues many times before, so I'll keep it short, but there has been much celebration around the announcement that the allegedly independent Australian Energy Regulator has approved the $110million Interconnecter expansion to be built at Heywood...yay...and this approval asks as many questions as it makes statements...(wahhh?-Ed)...

Well, for example, this approval confirms the realities of the many failures of a power generation system based on wholly unreliable Wind Turbines and the obsession with them, whilst framing some very pertinent questions about the professionalism and independence of the AER...(do go on-Ed)...yes I do...

And it shows this planned Planning Plan (previous post) for the empty farce I claim, because these two issues confirm one another...(wahhh?-Ed)...the Interconnecter expansion is going ahead to cater for the increased output of Turbines that are yet to be built...(yes-Ed)...which shows that yet more Turbines are going to be approved/built...(ah yes-Ed)...which takes us directly through the Fascism and gross, deliberate planning omissions of the unchallengeable Turbine legislation...(still with you-Ed)...to the pointlessness of reviewing planning that cannot be changed or doesn't even exist...(kapow-Ed)...

Raine Korte of Electranet was on the ABC Local Radio Friday 6th September 2013 happily spruiking the benefits of the Interconnecter, and he did so by carefully and quite deliberately misrepresenting the facts...(well no wonder he's happy...$110m of taxpayers money to build his companies infrastructure for them-Ed)...well, yes that's one issue...but first, the facts...

As specifically identified by Mr Korte, the Interconnecter is to facilitate the transfer of electricity between SA and Victoria/the Eastern states...the transfer of Wind Turbine power generated in SA going east when it's windy, and Victorian Coal generated power going West...(young man-Ed)...when the wind stops...

This 'promoting the negatives' is an interesting strategy reminiscent of my own 'Yeah I'm Crazy, But It's A Good Thing Because...' Strategy...namely, let's attack the problematic failings of what we are doing by openly acknowledging those issues but then calling them positives.

(Is that therefore lying or simply expressing a biased opinion?-Ed)...good question, and one that I cannot definitively answer...is Mr Korte merely expressing a genuinely held if incorrect belief, or deliberately seeking to deceive?...personally I find it hard to believe that he is strictly an ideologue and therefore his misinformings stray into deliberate deceit...

He has (above) identified one of the greatest failings of the current generation export/import structure, and that is the unreliable nature of Wind Turbine power generation...their intermittent and unpredictable generation patterns create an unavoidable demand for an immediately available back-up supply which in SA's case is Victorian Coal power.

Mr Korte is being deliberately deceitful though, when he says this will bring down electricity prices "over time"...he stated that 'we (SA) will export our cheap electricity, and then when the wind isn't blowing, we can import cheap coal electricity from Victoria'...(go on-Ed)...bollocks...

This market structure and Interconnector is a huge win for the coal industry and related generation companies in Victoria...and Victorian consumers...sort of...they get our electricity cheaply, and then we pay top dollar for their peak demand energy, which then also blows back on them as our demand drives up their prices...(and this greater output from their power stations means more pollution-Ed)...exactly...actually, it's not looking so good for Victoria...

It is a parallel to gas prices, where we as local consumers are paying an inflated global rate for our own natural resource...the Selling of Australia...so will Victoria bear the financial and environmental brunt of SA's failure to provide for ourselves by our legislative obsessing with Turbines...it is a self-perpetuating nightmare...and who makes all the money?...

And so it looks like Turbines all over Regional SA...only weeks ago the Conservation Council was calling for turbines all over the Eyre Peninsula...with the resultant economic, environmental, health and social, loss via transmission, development and land value, fire fighting/hazard, etc, issues.

For example, this export/import immediately doubles the loss by transmission, which then creates upward pressure on prices as companies seek to recover these losses...and every Turbine means tax-payer funding as well...again I've been through this in previous posts.

And clearly the Australian Energy Regulator has not even looked at these realities, chosen to ignore them, is entirely complicit in the Turbine rort agenda, or are just screamingly incompetent and looked but had no idea what it was they were doing...

Regardless, South Australian taxpayers are now going to fork out $65m (our share of the $110m) for a piece of infrastructure to be built in Victoria, that guarantees increasing electricity prices in SA...(and Victoria-Ed)...indeed...

(So let me see if I've got this right...SA will be covered in Turbines, with all their inherent problems, that therefore guarantees heaps more pollution in Victoria, and guarantees spiralling price increases for consumers in both states-Ed)...beautifully put sir... 

The Interconnecter is nothing to be celebrated...and when it comes to local Turbine issues one is immediately reminded of the explicit involvement of alleged Independents former Grant District Council Mayor Don Pegler and current Mayor Richard Sage...and the abject silence from now local member Mr Pegler on the devastating effects of the Rann/Weatherill Labor party Turbine legislation...

Which segues nicely into...

Tomorrow: TFTIM State Liberal Candidate Troy Bell

Which in all honesty is more of a vehicle for holding Don Pegler to account, than the more traditional TFTIM: This Person's A Bastard...

I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...cheers...

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