Tag: House Energy and Commerce Committee

via FoxNews.com

Wind farms in the Pacific Northwest -- built with government subsidies and maintained with tax credits for every megawatt produced -- are now getting paid to shut down as the federal agency charged with managing the region's electricity grid says there's an oversupply of renewable power at certain times of the year.

The problem arose during the late spring and early summer last year. Rapid snow melt filled the Columbia River Basin. The water rushed through the 31 dams run by the Portland, Ore.-based Bonneville Power Administration allowing for peak hydropower generation. At the very same time, the wind howled leading to maximum wind power production.

Demand could not keep up with supply, so BPA shut down the wind farms for nearly 200 hours over 38 days.

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"We have heard the grass roots loud and clear, and will have a hearing early next Congress," said Mr. Upton, a Michigan Republican who is facing several others in his party in a bid to earn the gavel of the powerful committee. "The last thing we wanted to do was infringe upon personal liberties - and this has been a good lesson that Congress does not always know best."

Sounds good, eh?  Confession and redemption usually does.

The site has compiled an in-depth listing of Fred Uptons' big government, big spending, more government regulation votes.

See: You asked for it! A much, much longer list of Upton's many, many votes for bigger and more intrusive government.

As of this writing there are 13,516 petition signatures that will be delivered to the Capitol Hill offices of the House Republican Steering Committee members.