I see where the arithmetically challenged folks at the Greenbank money pit have found another way to waste more money. They just spent $275,000 to put in a solar electric system with the purpose of “saving money.”

Well, let’s take a look: If you figure 10 cents per kwh, about the rate around here, that means their 25.1 kwh system will generate about $2.51 per hour at full capacity. Incidentally, if your house has a 200 amp service, that’s over 40 kw… but to continue, if you figure eight hours per day with full sun for 365 days per year and frequent proper maintenance, the break even point is only 37.52 years, minus whatever they can sell back.

I’m sure the power company will buy back any surplus, if any, at a discounted rate to offset the bill.

To look at this another way, $275,000 invested at 1 percent interest would pay $2,750 per year, or about $230 per month, enough to make a pretty good dent in the farm’s power bill, I would guess, and you would still have the $275,000!

Why wasn’t that money used to make the farm more productive? Just getting rid of the folks being paid to come up with this garbage and hiring a few real farmers would make far more sense.

It’s kind of ironical. I wonder if these are the same people that busted their hump getting all the farm restrictions in place that shut down all the dairy farms on the island.

Rick Kiser
Oak Harbor