Numbers Don’t Lie … People and Emotions Do

Numbers Don’t Lie …. People and Emotions Do

I’m laying in bed the other night thinking about a few of the recent conversations I’ve had with some of the “Not In My Back Yard” (NIMBY) Offshore Wind Haters.

The conversations all seem to be the same – highly emotional accusations backed up by zero facts and most of the time, it ends with electricity prices will increase.
Always the same – emotional accusations backed with zero facts.

Recently I found myself hood-winked into a social media conversation with one of the more “outspoken” haters who has group of followers and a very large bullhorn.

This particular person kept saying how electric rates are going to increase 30%-60%.
Of course she had a whole list of other emotional reasons Offshore Wind wasn’t a viable option, but she kept going back to increase in electric rates. (Without any proof)

I couldn’t sleep the other night so at about 2:00AM I quietly rolled out of bed, made my way to the other side of the house,  grabbed my HP10b calculator, a pad of paper, and some math. 

While my vocabulary may be a bit limited, I’m fairly good at math and have been known to say: “Numbers Don’t Lie – People and Emotions Do.”

After a couple of hours of research and scribble, I transferred the numbers over to an Excel spreadsheet to double check the math and to make it a bit more legible. (My writing is coded in a way that only I can read.  A politically correct way of saying my penmanship stinks.)

With that in mind, humor me a bit and let’s look at a few numbers when it comes to the NIMBY accusations shall we?

First, the frame: This person I referred to in the beginning of this post kept claiming electric rates will increase 30%-60%.

I have no idea whatsoever where they got this information because I couldn’t find anything. But,  for the sake of the argument, let’s assume the information is correct so we have a starting point shall we?

For this example I’m going to split the difference between 30% and 60% and use 45% sound reasonable?

Now we all know Wind Power isn’t going to completely replace traditional power at anytime in the near future, so for argument sake, lets assume Wind Power will eventually generate 20% of the total electricity used. That means 20% of your electric bill will increase 45% and the rest will remain the same – are you following me?

Let’s get a little more in detail: If the average monthly electric bill is $300 and 20% of the electricity comes from Wind, then we’re talking about 20% of $300 which is $60.

• 20% of your $300 electric bill is $60
• $60 of your electric bill was generated by Wind, then $60 of your electric bill would increases by 45%.
• 45% of $60 is $27 – therefore, your electric premium is $27

Long Story Short, your $300 monthly electric bill would go up by $27.

Don’t be alarmed if I just confused the living daylights out of you because my wife ran out of the room as if her hair was on fire when I ran this by her so while I had Excel open I made a pie chart to make the information easier to digest.

Now that you’ve got a good “Big-Picture” overview, follow along with me as I dig into the real numbers. 

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State	Monthly
Maine	$154.82
New Hampshire	$179.04
Massachusetts	$201.91
Rhode Island	$203.62
Connecticut	$192.94
New York	$154.91
New Jersey	$141.01
Delaware	$109.88
Maryland	$117.24
Wash. DC	$116.61
Virginia	$102.26
North Carolina	$98.58
South Carolina	$106.65
Total	$1,879.47
Average Household Electric Bill	$144.57
20% from Wind	$28.91
45% Wind Premium	$13.01
Per Day	$0.43

Based on the above numbers, the average electricity bill will increase about $13.01 per month. Thats equivalent to about ONE CUP of plain Starbucks per week, or about $0.43 cents per day.

So Let Me Ask You This ….

Is it worth 43 cents a day to have cleaner air for your grandchildren to breath?

Is it worth 43 cents a day to have abundant high paying jobs in the community so your children can afford to live close by and raise their family?

Is it worth 43 cents a day so you can spend time with your grandchildren and watch them grow up?

Is 43 cents a day a worthy investment for your neighbors to have higher paying jobs which trickle down to nicer homes in the neighborhood?

So This Begs The Question …
How much are you willing to invest if you knew you could provide a better life for your family and leave the planet a better place for your grandchildren and future generations? Is 43 Cents A Day Worth It?

Please leave your comments below.

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One More Thing …. It’s a known fact that as technology gets better the cheaper it becomes.

I remember when I was a kid it cost $1.00 per minute to make a Long Distance Phone Call on the “Off-Peak” hours. ….. Now you call anywhere in the world, any time of the day or night for FREE.

What do you think is going to happen with renewable energy?