The Daily Telegraph are reporting that the SNP's pro-wind energy policy benefits wealthy landowners by hundreds of millions of pounds every year, but leaves ordinary households to carry the burden.
The full article is as follows:
"The SNP's pro-wind energy policy benefits wealthy landowners by hundreds of millions of pounds every year but leaves households saddled with an expensive and intermittent source of power, an industry expert has warned.
"Stuart Paton, a former chief executive of Dana Petroleum, argued that the Scottish Government must move beyond a "fixation on wind power and point scoring with Westminster".
"Writing for the think tank Reform Scotland, he questioned whether the SNP's continued drive to expand the number of turbines made sense as any additional power they produced would likely be exported to England.
"He argued that in many cases their locations were determined by where landowners can access public subsidies rather than "technical rationale" or the visual impact on the countryside.
"But Mr Paton warned that electricity would have to be imported from south of the border when the wind is not blowing, after Scotland's two nuclear power stations are decommissioned.
"He urged the Nationalists to perform an about-turn and support the construction of a new generation of nuclear plants to provide the necessary "base load" for the National Grid in Scotland.
"Dismissing the SNP's attack on teh UK Government's decision to withdraw a key wind power subsidy, he said wind farms would not need public money if they were as cost effective as the industry and the SNP claims.
"Mr Paton is the latest in a series of energy experts to warn Scotland is likely to become increasingly reliant on importing power from England when the existing nuclear plants at Torness and Hunterston close, along with the Longannet coal-fired power station.
"Scottish ministers have overseen a rapid expansion in the number of wind farms after setting a target of generating the equivalent of 100 per cent of the country's electricity from renewable sources by 2020.
"According to Mr Paton, Scotland now has 2,315 turbines with another 405 under construction. He estimated that the wind farms and their associated power lines are now visible from a third of Scotland.
"He argued that the SNP's pro-wind policy is "far too narrow" as it does not provide base load capacity when the weather is still, is expensive and redistributes wealth to landowners.
""The government should change its stance and support the construction of new nuclear power stations, most likely at the existing sites," he wrote.
""This will likely have to follow the British Government's approach and largerly be dependent on foreign investment. However, the necessity of providing base load capacity makes support for nuclear electricity generation essential."
"Mr Paton also urged ministers to drop their indefinite moratorium on gas extraction techniques such as fracking, arguing concerns about drilling, methane leaking and seismic activity could be tackled by a "robust" regulator.
"A Scottish Goverment spokesman said: "Scotland's abundant energy resources play a vital role in delivering security of electricity supply across the UK. A recent independent YouGov poll showed 71 per cent supported the continued development of wind power.""