USVI-On-Line

We have our first windmill!
Here is a link to the St. John Tradewinds article:

First Windmill on St. John Rises on Bordeaux Mountain
http://www.stjohntradewindsnews.com/ind ... &Itemid=38

- Ruth

I am sure that there may be some that disagree, but I say it is about time.
Good for them!

Smart. We have a lot of them in Iowa and they are huge. I can only imagine how difficult it was to get all of the pieces to st john.

I agree, it's about time! Harness our NATURAL resources. Looks better than a cell tower!!!!! Hope more follow. We were just discussing this with Capt John on our last trip as he pointed out the ones on Peter Island.

I am all for it as long as there doesn't become too many of them. I'd hate to see a windmill "farm" on STJ.

BRY1105 wrote:I am all for it as long as there doesn't become too many of them. I'd hate to see a windmill "farm" on STJ.

I am honestly interested in why you would not want to see too many?

The people of STJ spend an INSANE amount of money on electricity. Using natural resources for power will only help the island, the resisents, and the tourists.

I don't think they are unsightly at all. In fact, when I go to VT, I love seeing them all along the ridge of the mountain.

Are you kidding me? So you wouldn't mind if one day you showed up on STJ for vacation and saw this: http://www.terragalleria.com/california ... a9769.html
As I stated earlier, I am all for clean renewable energy, but too many windmills can cause problems and be an eyesore.
http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20 ... ms_090422/

I was on our local planning board committtee that reviewed regulating commercial windmills. What we learned is that hey can and do kill bats and birds. It isn't that they fly into the spinning blades. The blades move at a high rate of speed at the tips and cause a dramatic change in the air pressure. When the animals fly close to the blades they die from baro injuries.

I hope that STJ and the area does not suffer from such a problem. Yes, we need clean, renewable energy. No, we don't need to damage the ecosystem to get it.

The endangered species of bats that we have living in the area and the lack of infrastructure to transmit the generated power have made the idea all but infeasible in this county.

JIM

BRY1105 wrote:Are you kidding me? So you wouldn't mind if one day you showed up on STJ for vacation and saw this: http://www.terragalleria.com/california ... a9769.html
As I stated earlier, I am all for clean renewable energy, but too many windmills can cause problems and be an eyesore.
http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20 ... ms_090422/

Not kidding you at all. We all have different ideas of what is unsightly. Windmills don't bother me.

I think it's a sight we're all going to eventually get used to. Like cell towers, and, I imagine, power lines (back in the day).

If the island is making steps towards sustainability, I'm all for it. Power's not cheap and windmills could be a way to cut some dependency on the cable from STT as well as reduce costs.

Does it look natural? Obviously no. Is it the worst thing ever? Not if you ask me.

As for the bats and birds...that could be a problem. They're bound to figure that problem out though.

Wait a minute, I thought that there have been windmills on STJ for hundreds of years. I checked the forum archives and I didn't see anyone complaining about that huge one that was built at Annaberg.

the one at Peace Hill seems to have met with an untimely demise. Someone didn't like it me thinks

I have read the sound pollution is the most unbearable. Something about the generators whining, whistling, constantly. Can't live near them.

Pete (Mr. Marcia) wrote:Wait a minute, I thought that there have been windmills on STJ for hundreds of years. I checked the forum archives and I didn't see anyone complaining about that huge one that was built at Annaberg.

That's a very good point Pete. I don't know what they looked like but I doubt that they had 120 foot long blades, spun at the speeds that today's do or had turbines that generated electricity.

JIM

The one that was the subject of the Tradewinds article has 6 foot blades...not 120.

The Danish windmills had much longer blades and were really loud, as they turned mill stones.