The Winds of Ontario

Wind power

 
 

... and the power of subsidies

Frederick Gallagher, son of oil man "Smiling Jack" Gallagher, is betting on wind power.  His company, Vision Quest Windelectric, has four windmills operating in southwest Ontario, each of which cost a million dollars, and plans to build two more.

Evidently, the project is expecting to turn a profit in the current fiscal year, something that is unusual for a wind energy company. 

Reading beyond the headlines, we find the following statement in the Toronto Globe and Mail: "Vision Quest's rising fortunes are a result of federal policies that are buying its output, some speculations from the oil patch, and a successful promotional campaign by Calgary's electricity distribution company, Enmax Corp."

I could make a profit selling electricity from hamsters running in squirrel cages, despite unreliability, variable output, low output at best, and high maintenance costs if I could get the government to buy the electricity at a high enough price.  Bill Gates could make even more by linking the hamster farm with his little oil patch (Microsoft).  Now, if we could just hire a snake-oil salesman to promote the venture ...


 

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