The fourth thing, of course, is that price controls give government an influential role to play in the marketplace. California, with its Third Way politics, is the clearest place to go for examples to bolster the argument. It is there that we find the dimmest bulbs and the greatest smog. The Bay Area of San Francisco is known as the windmill bird-death capital of America. The National Audubon Society has been calling for a moratorium on new construction on the grounds that wind farms are both bait and executioner for all birds including federally protected species, such as the Bald Eagle, that it is a prosecutable crime to kill.
Wind farms have very high up-front construction and acquisition costs.
They must be located in isolated areas which implies high investment costs for extended transmission lines. That s because wind does not blow around the clock. It does not blow at peak speeds at times of peak demand, either. As a result, the average cost of production over five years is approximately double the cost of gas and triple the cost of spot market purchases. Oh yes, electrical shorts caused by exposed wires and flaming birds cause fires.