Almost every day I receive correspondence about wind farms, battery storage facilities, or power lines.
Much of it is from people who feel not only isolated but also bullied by those who want to base our future energy supply on electricity.
There is little doubt the Highlands bears the brunt of these developments. What’s more, most of the power which is generated north of Perth is transported south of it.
Thus, the pain these developments cause is felt more acutely in the Highlands than anywhere else.
The consequence is that we must not only host the wind turbines - which are estimated in the Highlands to expand from the 850-odd that we have at the moment to over 2,500 - but we also must suffer the subsequent grid connections and expansion of the transmission network.
I was involved in the construction of the Beauly to Denny line, and I remember the powerful, heated discussions that took place. What we are looking at now dwarfs that project.
With the proposed new turbines and the plan to build more powerlines, I would suggest that the Highlands and Islands are, when it comes to the wild environment, facing a perfect storm.
A blizzard of 23 new applications for larger wind farms will no doubt, despite local opposition, be forced through to add to the 28 that have already been approved.
Every time I hear of yet another local decision being overturned by the Scottish Government, which results in another wind farm being built, I wonder what I can say to the many the Highlanders who will contact me.
They want to berate me about the fact that they are being ignored again. Not only ignored, but also paying the price. There are those who claim these communities will benefit from funding from wind farms, but it’s little more than a paltry bribe.
And let’s be honest: there are only a certain number of village halls which can be built or repainted.
People who live and work in the Highlands’ many diverse towns and villages aren’t averse to change, and they completely understand the need for a change in the way we produce energy.
But they won’t be taken for fools either. They’ve done their bit, and it’s time energy companies and both Scotland’s governments treated them with some respect.
They see this revolution for what it is: often misguided and based on a wealth of uncertainties.
If only we had started this journey towards electrification knowing the full extent of the cost.
We still don’t.
How many new power lines do we need to build before 2045 to transport the newly generated electricity?
How many connections for the wind farms that are being developed in the Highlands by commercial interests will be required?
Industrialising the Highlands, covering them in steel and concrete hardly seems to sit comfortably with rewilding and peatland restoration.
Let’s be clear: not only will future generations despise us for sacrificing the Highlands on the altar of net zero, so will those that live in the metallic shadow of the industrialisation of our wild land.
Edward Mountain is the convener of the Scottish Parliament’s net zero, energy and transport committee, and a Scottish Conservative MSP for the Highlands and Islands
Agenda is a column for outside contributors. Contact: agenda@theherald.co.uk
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