First, let’s be clear about the economics of publicly backed wind turbines: The appearance of profit is only possible because the start-up costs are heavily subsidized and the expensive nature of the energy production is hidden by being spread out to all consumers, typically via mandated rates.
So, the $400,000 that the town of Portsmouth supposedly made on its giant fan was not a profit gained by offering a more efficient or desirable product, but by forcing other people to pay more. (Sounds like a tax, doesn’t it?) The town government profited, but it would be wrong to extrapolate that benefit to the broader public… that is, the “we” that people seem to confuse with government bodies.
Now it appears that even that appearance of profit was illusory.
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