COMMUNITIES across Limerick are to meet over what they have described as “hidden costs” in their electricity bills that allegedly help fund wind farm profits.
Groups are meeting in Bruff on Wednesday March 11 to accelerate their national campaign.
The Limerick Communities Alliance is a group of communities opposing to what they see as “inappropriate” wind farms across the county.
Marie-Clare Power, a member of the Bruff Domin-Athlacca-Ballinlee Community Action Group, said: “Ireland needs a national rebalancing of rights, so communities are no longer helping to fund profits of huge wind farm developers.”
“People are being told that wind energy is the cheapest form of electricity, but when you start to look at the data this is very far from the truth.”
The cost of energy bills was also described as “a national scandal” with one in seven households in Ireland now in arrears paying their electricity bills.
Proposals for a 17-turbine, 160 metre tall wind farm in Ballinlee is planned for the Bruff area, with a further six by the same developer in the works for Coolcappa.
The meeting will take place at Bruff GAA Club at 7.30pm on March 11 and will hear from members of the national Community and Environmental Protection Alliance.
“Ireland’s commitment to sustainable and green energy sources is commendable, yet the rapid evolution in technology and our deepening understanding of environmental and health impacts necessitate a reassessment and update of existing frameworks,” the group said. “We need a national rebalancing of rights.”