Imagination Pays

I think Stan Tucker is looking in the wrong place to plug in to wind-generated renewable energy (letters, Jan. 13). Downtown Wasilla would not be a likely place to collect and store electrical energy generated by wind power, despite what folks in Palmer say.

It’s unfortunate that uninformed individuals like Tucker are willing to go to the editorial page and disparage any efforts to augment our energy supply with renewable sources of energy like wind power. Our willingness to find, evaluate and develop renewable energy sources will pay huge dividends in the near future.

Tucker and his coal-fired cronies should pay attention to the efforts of the state Department of Natural Resources to acquire public comment concerning land use permitting to Wind Energy Alaska LLC. This effort will evaluate two sites at Hatcher Pass (Willow Creek side) for potential wind resources. This is the basic modern engineering process for considering wind generation that would be an important addition to our energy picture. Mountain passes are certainly top choices for study, but other sites, such as Fire Island adjacent to West Anchorage, could prove to be valuable as well.

Deadline for comments concerning this effort are due Jan. 30, and you should send your comments to DNR at stephen.bethune@alaska.gov.

It is understood that wind energy is not a constant source. Consider the value of a wind farm supplying energy to the grid for a mere 10 percent of our needs. That would be a sizeable reduction in your monthly bill and we wouldn’t be as dependent on the likes of Conoco-Phillips for delivery of our oil and gas. Certainly, this renewable energy would cost money to test and develop, but once we pay for that effort we would have a steady supply of energy at very little cost.

My guess is that this well-engineered effort would be way more reliable than Tucker ever imagined from his yard in Wasilla. Imagination — that’s how innovations happen.

Michael Janecek,

Meadow Lake