Bishop Hill Windfarm boss funds antifracking challenge
Dec 9, 2014 Energy: gas Energy: wind Greens Via commenter Tomo, we learn that windfarm millionaire Dale Vince was funding Frack-free Balcombe's application for judicial review of West Sussex County Council's decision to grant planning permission to Cuadrilla.
Great news – we now have all the money we need for our judicial review. Last week we explained how we needed to have £10,000 available in the event of our losing the judicial review and having to pay WSCC’s costs. Ecotricity has kindly stepped forward and sent us £10,000. FFBRA will hold this in our bank account ring fenced to either return in the event we win our judicial review or to use to pay any costs awarded against us if we lose. This is tremendous news.
Who are Ecotricity? Ecotricity, founded in 1995 as the world’s first green energy company, are the only energy company that has pledged to be shale gas ‘frack-free,’ now and forever. The company thinks fracking is an unnecessary risk and are actively supporting the anti-fracking movement in Britain. Ecotricity have a unique not-for-dividend model, so instead of paying any shareholders they are free to reinvest the money from customer bills into building new sources of green energy – what they call turning ‘bills into windmills’. They now power around 120,000 homes and business from their growing fleet of wind and sun parks, and are developing a Green Gas alternative to fracking in Britain.
There are some interesting business ethics being demonstrated here by Ecotricity's chairman Dale Vince. I'm not sure that paying green activists to disrupt your competitors would generally be seen as a legitimate tactic. But if it is, perhaps it's time for big oil to start funding windfarm protestors.
Reader Comments (31)
Perhaps skeptics should support the avoidance of anything related to Ecotricity.
I am not surprised as the so called green revolution has been led by people of ambiguous morals.
Happy with the law whilst it supports us but will break it if it stops us!
Ecotricity ? More like....ECOTRICKERY !
I'd add that one should also factor in the antics and motivation of the lawyers involved. Leigh Day and David Wolfe QC (who's a quite aptly named blog!) who ran with it "CFA - no win no fee" ... - which these days operates without the fee doubling "uplift" that used to prevail.
JR is there for good reason - I'm uncomforatble with this sort of action which smacks of the collusion frequently seen in the USofA between activists and the EPA. When America sneezes etc.
Activists with deep pockets and a taste for litigation are prominent little lottery wins that pay for those Tuscan farmhouse extensions and indoor swimming pools. I'm a little disappointed that the judge stopped short afaics of labelling this action as vexatious - which many of the claims certainly seem to me to be....
Not for dividend model ;-) !!
He used to live in an ambulance, and now has a 100 million...
"But in 1995, Mr Vince founded Ecotricity, which is now one of the UK’s biggest green energy companies and led to him being awarded OBE in 2004.
Now worth an estimated £107 million, he owns a sports car and lives in the £3million 18th century Rodborough Fort, near Stroud, Gloucestershire, with his new wife and their five-year-old son
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2865950/Wind-farm-boss-abusive-ex-wife-asked-maintenance.html#ixzz3LOf4NYR9
ENRON was founded 10 years earlier.
Delingpole took aim at Dale Vince recently, well worth a read:
http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-London/2014/11/26/Why-millionaire-eco-tosser-Dale-Vince-can-t-afford-to-put-up-any-more-wind-farms/
Ecotricity is renowned for trying to force though applications for wind farms against the local democratic process and in the worst imaginable locations, such as Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Norfolk .... the list goes on and on. See the map here. He owns the infamously useless wind turbine by the M4 at Reading which has a rolling load factor of a pathetic 16%. See here. He conveniently hides the pathetic performance by only stating how many million units of electricity it produces per year.
Dale Vince does not care about the environment; he is only interested in getting hold of the massive subsidies and thereby increasing fuel poverty.
I wouldn't be surprised if the EU were also funding the anti-fracking lobby. They seem to fund other groups to campaign for the things they want or against what they don't, so they can say they have the 'people' behind their schemes.
He is one of the elite doing the modern equivalent of the Highland Clearances.
Specifically, using the land for a modern cash crop and, by increasing electricity prices, forcing the poor to emigrate or end up in inner cities with little energy there to die in their millions.
Soon, The People will wake up to this real threat to their lives. In Germany, the State is being forced either to create a nationalised electricity industry to reduce prices or to counter their social disaster. Here it's the same.
I wonder which newspaper Leigh Day solicitor (and Balcombe case spokesperson) Ugo Hayter reads?
The RSPB has a partnership agreement with Ecotricity, I believe. (Amazingly)
Oh Philip Bratby,
The undoubted beauty of Dorset, Devon Zumersed and Norfolk aside, you should come and have a look at the rape and pillaging of the once beautiful wild splendour of rural Scotland.
From east to west and north to south it is desecrated by the windmills of the fevered mind of Wee Eck Salmond (soon to grace the halls of Westminister by his August presence). Then of course we have the giant pylons.
As I type this I look out across the historic bay of Carnoustie towards the RL Stevenson Bell Rock Light.
This will also soon be despoiled by the construction of up to 150 monstrous bird mincers which will fill the coffers of old jug ears Charlie Windsor even further. Crown possessions and all that. You could not make it up in one's most fevered imagination.
patrick healy,
I know, I am a supporter of Scotland against Spin and my heart goes out to you all.
I have no intention of ever visiting Scotland again - it would be too painful and would spoil all those memories from years gone by.
Patrick: I might be wrong about the Duchy - perhaps Charles does pocket the revenues from that 'estate' but the other Crown Estates revenues are paid to HMRC and the Gov doles out a remittance to HM for the upkeep of our Royalty.
Edit: I meant to add that this is the very opposite of Ecotricity's 'not for dividend' economic model which is designed solely to enrich one man, whereas HM is enriching the Exchequer.
What are the chances of the impending severe weather bringing any of these monstrosities down..?
I mean, some of them must be getting on a bit now, and with any luck are getting structurally weaker.....
Just hopin'....
He's not REALLY called Dale Vince, is he..? Honestly..?
Sounds more like the stage name thought up (on the spur of the moment) by the manager of a 1950's rock star....
The view from my living room window includes Vince's fort on Rodborough Hill. Ecotricity have their headquarters locally and employ many people in town, but I would still gladly see him go bust.
Bloke down the pub, I have a slightly NIMBYish attitude to Ecotricity.
If any other company dominated UK wind power they would obviously build wind farms on the Cotswolds (where we live). A central location with high elevation - Cleeve Hill is the highest point on that latitude until the Urals (going east, of course).
But, other than a test rig at Nympsfield, we are remarkably turbine free.
Sherlock1:
Nope, it's an anagram of Vile Dance. Something in which he leads us all.Building the base of an eco-crucifix.
Doesn't look very 'green'.
@sherlock1, 1:22PM:
There are potentially at least 40 that could fall down due to incorrect installation:
http://www.westernmorningnews.co.uk/Safety-fears-faults-toppled-turbines/story-22887067-detail/story.html
@sherlock1, 1:22PM:
There are potentially at least 40 that could fall down due to incorrect installation:
http://www.westernmorningnews.co.uk/Safety-fears-faults-toppled-turbines/story-22887067-detail/story.html
@ Barry Woods, 10:53am: Unfortunately the DM article on Dale Vince is being 'moderated in advance'.
The important thing to remember about the renewable industry is that its an 'industry ' and like any other it will do what it can to keep itself in business and others out . The application of green wash does not change that basic fact.
Ecotricity tell their customers that none of their power comes from nasty power stations like nuclear. When I questioned their marketing people about that claim and how they could guarantee that none of the electrons that their customers used was from nuclear or coal stations they just said that they only sell renewable electricity and it was what their customers believed in. So in effect Ecotricity prey on the naivety of their customers to sell them snake oil. Says a lot about the morals of an eco friendly company that they do such immoral stuff to make money.
I seem to recall the Vince pillock enforces a vegan only diet at the football club he owns. Players can't eat red meat. First they came for our cheeseburgers……..
"Dale Vince does not care about the environment; he is only interested in getting hold of the massive subsidies and thereby increasing fuel poverty.
Dec 9, 2014 at 11:03 AM | Registered CommenterPhillip Bratby"
Well of course! . Ecotricity is a subsidy farming company. Electricity is a waste product of this process which they sell off to the gullible. Subsidy farms are usually marked by wind mills. As soon as the subsidies are all farmed out the subsidiy farming company declares bankruptcy and the windmills are abandonned to corrode as nobody in governnent thought to provide for removal of subsidy farm markers. The subsidy farmers then move on to another area with fresh subsidies to be farmed.
But surely site cleanup & decommisioning costs are ring fenced as a condition of the planning permission? Like is done for mining operations.
Don't forget the tour of the antifracking movie Gasland was funded by the COOP the UK's largest lender to windfarm business.
- Same old pattern whatever wild unevidenced accusation comes out of warmists is just projection of what they do themselves hence the conspiracy theory that skeptics are finded by big oil .
stewgreen
you probably knew already - but the dead Venezuelan president and secular god Hugo Chavez indulged in a bit of Yanqui baiting via funding Josh Fox / GasLand I - i.e. funded by biggest oil......
Dec 9, 2014 at 2:39 PM | MCourtney
I can see the Nympsfield turbine when I go for a walk locally. As for Cleeve Hill, I always thought that GCHQ had objected to anything too close that would interfere with their reception.