This morning’s Sun Journal (Nov. 22) included a front-page story about former President Bush’s installation of a wind turbine at his Walker Point summer residence. The writer and various editors who vetted this story need to brush up on their units of measurement.

The turbine in question does not generate 400 kilowatts per month, it produces 400 kilowatt-hours per month. Kilowatts measure power, which is the rate of using energy, measured in kilowatt-hours. The two are not synonymous.

Mistaking power for energy is a bit like confusing speed with distance. No intelligent writer would ever say “The next exit is 38 miles per hour away” or “the speed limit has been reduced to 45 miles.”

The Bushes’ turbine may in fact generate 400 kilowatts, but if it did, its monthly output would be on the order of 288,000 kilowatt-hours; certainly more than even the former president would ever need.

This is to say my car may in fact go 150 miles per hour, but it if did, its daily output would be on the order of 3,600 miles; certainly more than even I would ever desire.

David Chittim, Lewiston