Hope blows eternal

The U.S. Department of Energy is using Reno city government’s wind turbine program as a good example for the nation, apparently unaware that substantial questions have been raised about whether that program is accomplishing its stated ends.

“On the street level in Reno, it may be easy to forget that every time the breeze blows off the Truckee River and past the 17-story City Hall, the town is quietly saving money,” begins an article on a page on the DOE website. It can be read at http://energy.gov/articles/saving-money-renos-wind-tunnels

In March, the Reno Gazette-Journal reported that one turbine that cost the city $21,000 saved the city $4 on annual energy costs and that $416,000 worth of turbines saved the city just $2,800. Savings of $91,000 had been predicted a year earlier.