In Cleveland, North East England, a group of residents from Marske, New Marske and Saltburn have joined forces to oppose the installation of eight wind turbines across several local sites, according to a story covered in the Evening Gazette.
This story stands out from many others because underlines the dash for cash that keeps the uneconomic wind industry on life support. Firstly it tells readers the agent acting on behalf of the developer, Empirica Investments Ltd, is working for the West Midland Metropolitan Authority Pension Fund – a body committed to making a lot of money for members. Secondly it also carries a nail-on-head quote from a local councillor, Dr Tristan Learoyd, that defines this money train for what it is:
Local people are united in their opposition to the proposal. I am a lifelong environmentalist, but these projects aren’t about climate change. They’re about a few people making fast cash from government grants.
The Gazette story, which has attracted a handful of comments that are universally hostile to the collection of turbine planning applications, also mentions that a leaflet circulated in the area by EDF Energy has left residents questioning the need for the eight turbines given that a previously approved 29-turbine offshore Redcar wind farm was pitched as catering for all Marske and Saltburn energy needs.
The money train is used as a hook in the marketing material published by Empirica Investments. It is of course a staggering coincidence that at the exact time this story makes headlines in the area, Empirica are in the process of redeveloping their website. But Google’s graphic cache of the pages of Empirica’s website, pre redevelopment, enables us to see how they lure landowners into having turbines sited on their land, so both they and the parasitical Empirica can make money from our taxes and energy bills.
For those who cannot make out the text it reads:
Offering to the landowner
The attraction of the Empirica Investments offering is for the landowner to receive income from their land at no cost to them.
As Empirica receive the tariff from the Government backed Feed in Tariffs, the income is underwritten by Government policy and is not subject to the volatility of the wholesale energy markets.
The landowner will share in the total income received from the electricity generated from the wind turbine in exchange for leasing their land, without the risks attached with developing the project.
Typically we are seeking sites for the installation of a single turbine, however in certain circumstances we can look at multiple installations and possibly the installation of a different size or model of turbine.
We adopt a bespoke approach to any deal with landowners, however our standard terms offered for suitable site criteria are based upon the following […]
These are government facilitated parasites, hoovering up money from our pockets via our taxes and energy bills for the installation of an unreliable technology that we have shown contributes a negligible percentage of our energy when the energy is needed most. But the target of our ire must be the bureaucrats and politicians in Brussels and Westminster who have imposed this corporatist scam on us. It is legalised theft, a forced redistribution of wealth from those who often can least afford it, to those who already have significant resources.
Autonomous Mind 
Trying to stop all these proliferating ripoffs is like hunting rats with a knife. They need to be killed off at source.
This is brilliant stuff. The US writer and former leftwinger David Horrowitz has on his site an article the capture the essence of the left’s success – namely their ability to reduce their argument to a simply understandable version in order to garner support for it.
The arguments about wind turbines are multi faceted but here the locals have managed to boil it down to what it is about and expose it for what it is. It’s something other people can grasp and nothing grasps people more than the stink of cheap money off the backs of taxpayers at the moment.
This is ludicrous – wind farms are unreliable – no way of storing electricity – no wind – no electricity – too much wind – they’re shut down. Much more sensible is to produce electricity by wave-power, put resources into developing this. (In France there is the Rance, where electricity is generated tidally, first one way, then the turbines are reversed for the other. The tide never ceases – wind does. We are paying dearly for these through our taxes, and Cameron’s wife is a director of a company producing wind turbines!!
Nuf said!!
Cleggy’s wife is the windy one.
Yet he strangely fails to make clear how his family kitty is growing when he is making public spiels about wind energy.
Conflict of interest? He couldn’t care less because like Blair he will probably go on to make a lucrative living from directorships.
Where do we get these ‘politicians’ from ??
This comany really gives one confidence in their long term commitment to any project. (Source Companies House)
EMPIRICA INVESTMENTS
FORMED 07 Jan 2011
NET ASSETS 01.09.2012 £12,185 (NO TURNOVER)
DIRECTORS
PAUL BROWN 39%
MRS BROWN 11%
RUFUS SALTER 39%
MRS SALTER 11%
DIRECTORS HISTORY
PAUL BROWN AGE 48
4 CURRENT DIRECTORSHIPS – NO TURNOVER
TOTAL NET LIABILITIES £145,099
12 PREVIOUS COMPANIES DISSOLVED (FAILED?)
RUFUS SALTER AGE 31
4 CURRENT DIRECTORSHIPS – NO TURNOVER ALL FORMED IN 2012
3 PREVIOUS COMPANIES DISSOLVED