O Joy! 83 More Turbines… and $2.74/day

The following comes from a Facebook post by Rob Magson of Lomond, Alberta…

I want to take this time to thank the gods at Buffalo Plains for bringing this project to my part of the world. My farm (in my family for over 100 years) has been generously allocated 13 wind turbine locations in a two mile radius. Honestly, I can’t wait!! It’s so boring here in the country and two years of construction and start-up will break up the monotony of life. The sounds of wildlife and serenity will finally be over, replaced by the sounds of construction equipment and trucks.

Each tower pad will require 140 truck loads of cement and 125,000 pounds of rebar. For my 13 nearby turbines that’s 1820 loads of cement and 1,625,000 pounds of rebar. And here’s the good part…we haven’t even considered the 61 stories worth of turbines, blades, and towers that will be coming down the roads. The whole project is bathed in environmental sustainability and I get to witness it firsthand.

My little country roads will be decimated by that kind of traffic. Travel to and from my farm will be extremely difficult for the two-year construction/start-up period and I have Buffalo Plains to thank for that. Do you know how much money I’ll save being sequestered on my farm? Maybe enough to save up for some earplugs….

I don’t know about you, but I’ve always wanted to have some shadow flicker on my farm. Endless days of sunshine seem so boring. And as for the noise of those 13 turbines, I guess we’ll just have to turn the T.V. up to mask the warm soothing sounds of wind turbines and spinning blades.

I also have to thank Buffalo Plains for getting rid of those pesky birds…man they’re everywhere. I feel so relieved that they won’t be defecating on my lawn furniture anymore. Hopefully those birds that manage to traverse blades traveling at 240 km/hour will simply be too pooped to poop on my furniture. And the bats…well who likes bats anyway? Perhaps it should have been called the Buffalo Plains Wildlife Cleansing. I never really liked the name Buffalo Plains Wind Farm anyway.

First Nations groups will also be relieved to see a Wind Farm in the viewscape of the Majorville Medicine Wheel. After 4500 years of virtually unobstructed views from the historic site that predates the Pyramids of Egypt or Stonehenge the Blackfoot will now have some cool new red lights to look at. Maybe Buffalo Plains could spring for a giant flashing disco ball to illuminate the Medicine Wheel for all to see. Lord knows they’ll have the power.

No one really understands our system of carbon credits and carbon credit trading in Canada. It seems part science, part Wall Street, part Gypsy magic but rest assured the German company will do its best to make sure Canadians get the lions share of the profits. In fact, it may even be sold to a Canadian emitter one day…think Suncor.

$2.74

The best part of it all is this. I get all the benefits of being in the middle of a wind farm and I get paid for it. Can you imagine!! If I accept their “Green Option” I’ll be rewarded with a financial settlement of $2.74/day. Think of the possibilities. Every other day I could get a Cappuccino at Starbucks or, if I save my Green Option money, maybe I get dinner at the Keg once a month (maybe not enough for my wife to eat too, but she’s a good sport). Some might argue that my farm will become worthless because of the wind farm but hey, at least I won’t have those damn birds. Others might argue that the social and financial costs of wind power have been downloaded onto me as a rural Albertan but I say they’re wrong and I have $2.74 to prove it. And with my newfound wealth I might sponsor an all night dance party to the rhythmic beat of the cool red lights and the Majorville Disco Ball.

—Ron Magnuson