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Wind Alert! 18-Nov-2016

News and information from The WindAction Group

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Issue: 18-Nov-2016

WindAction EDITORIAL

Time to cut our losses on big wind

After billions in public hand-outs spanning nearly four decades, big wind has never been able to stand on its own and there's no reason to believe this will change. ...If yanking the handouts causes the industry to flat line then so be it. The US has elected a businessman at the helm who... → MORE

Recent Articles

Maine court rejects Emera deal but sidesteps energy market conflicts

PORTLAND, Maine — Maine’s top court struck down a joint venture among Emera Maine’s parent company and two power generators in a ruling Thursday that leaves open many questions about financial relationships between companies that supply power and those that transmit and distribute it. → MORE

Companies weigh impact of Donald Trump’s win

Continental Resources Inc. chief Harold Hamm, Mr. Trump’s chief adviser on energy issues, said subsidies for renewable energy like solar and wind, and credits for electric cars, should be eliminated. “None of it should be subsidized, none of it,” Mr. Hamm said Wednesday. “If it makes it in the market,... → MORE

Opposition grows over proposed floating wind farm off Kaena Point

"It's phenomenally complicated. It is very, very difficult to do. It's by a fact of a minimum ten times more complex than any other project ever tried anywhere on earth," Petersen said by phone. → MORE

Wind farm application rejected by Billings County Commission

Billings County Commissioners rejected the application for a 114-turbine wind farm on Tuesday. ...The majority of the audience voiced concern over the proposed wind farm, sighting the visual impacts as a deterrent for tourism, potential decrease in land value and the proximity of the towers to the Painted Canyon Visitor... → MORE

Big wind had a rough Election Day in the Green Mountain State.

Although it cannot be stated definitively that wind energy was the deciding factor in Scott’s win over Minter, it is abundantly obvious that wind has been one of the most divisive issues in the state. → MORE

How wind and solar plan to thrive during the Trump presidency

The ITC and PTC that were agreed to at the end of 2015 and run through the early 2020s “are factored into the long-term growth of the solar and wind industries,” former Colorado Public Utilities Commission Chair Ron Binz, now president of Public Policy Consulting, told Utility Dive. A change to... → MORE

Lake Land board votes to remove north wind turbine

The Lake Land Board of Trustees voted Monday evening to authorize removing the north wind turbine near the West Building. In addition, the board authorized removing the blades from the nearby south turbine so this unit can continue to be utilized for educational purposes for Lake Land students. This project would... → MORE

Perquimans denies wind permit

Perquimans County commissioners have rejected a proposed $300 million wind farm, voting 3-2 Monday night to deny the project a conditional use permit. A majority of the board’s five members favored the project, but three individually had problems with at least some aspect of Apex Clean Energy’s Timbermill Wind proposal. → MORE

Ohio lawmaker pushes for stricter rules on wind development

“If wind farms cannot be developed without borrowing or stealing their neighbors’ nonresidential property in order to satisfy the setback, health, and safety requirements, then perhaps they should not be developed at all,” state Sen. Bill Seitz (R-Cincinnati) asserted in comments filed on October 31 with the Ohio Power Siting... → MORE

New rules put into question future of Clay County wind farms

Future wind farm projects in Clay County might have to be put on hold after new regulations were recently put in place. Energy producers are now required to notify the Department of Defense and complete a "screening study" before connecting to the Texas power. → MORE

Camp Perry turbine motion rekindles suit; Organizations vow to block Air Guard plan

A national birding organization based in suburban Washington is working with northwest Ohio’s Black Swamp Bird Observatory again on a lawsuit to block the Ohio Air National Guard’s plan for a commercial-scale wind turbine along the western Lake Erie shoreline. → MORE

Windmill fire sends black smoke across the valley

The wind turbine in Bear Creek Township caught fire Thursday afternoon. ...Smoke from the fire could be seen for miles. → MORE

Regulators overhaul wind, solar power rules for federal land

Federal regulators made final a rule Thursday overhauling how wind and solar power companies lease public land. The rule from the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) creates a competitive bidding process. → MORE

World’s biggest wind turbine maker sinks after Trump victory

Shares in Vestas Wind Systems A/S plunged after U.S. voters unexpectedly propelled Republican nominee Donald Trump to the presidency, sparking concern that the renewable- energy industry will face future political headwinds. → MORE

Report calls wind tax credit too generous, calls for trim

An Oklahoma tax credit that provides millions of dollars to the wind industry yearly is overly generous and should be curtailed sooner than planned, according to a consultant's report considered by a state committee Friday. → MORE

Wind power developer sues Somerset over project delay

The company, which brought suit under the name of its Lighthouses Wind subsidiary, contends that the Planning Board failed to comply with a legal deadline to make a decision on the site plan and special use permit it sought for the two 197-foot meteorological towers on Lake and West Somerset... → MORE

Report on questionable tax credits names cross-section of Oregon companies

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Some of the biggest names in Oregon's renewable energy and forest products industries landed on a list of suspicious state giveaways during an investigative audit of Oregon's Business Energy Tax Credit Program. ...The audit details ongoing and costly failures by staff at the Oregon Department of Energy in applying the... → MORE

Contentious wind farm seeks zoning nod

"I want what is best for us, and I don’t like making comment about what others do on their own land," Etchison wrote in an email. "But when they plant a forest of 500-foot towers with rotating tops in my world, and when it’s a precarious endeavor only held up... → MORE

Wind turbine burns near O'Donnell

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Shortly after the firefighters arrived, Roye said, one of the burning blades broke loose and fell to the ground, causing a pendulum motion where the wind turbine began to sway back and forth. A second burning blade then broke loose and fell to the ground.  → MORE

Appeals court upholds dismissal of BLM-approved project

A federal appeals court has dismissed a Virginia energy company's request to overturn a federal judge's ruling last year that threw out the Obama administration's approval of what was projected to be Nevada's largest wind power project. → MORE

Living near a wind farms can cause sleep loss, stress and anxiety, government review finds

Complaints about noise disturbance can range from the steady swishing noise from the blade to a louder thump which can sometimes occur, the review said. But, it added, the annoyance is not just limited to the thunderous sound a wind farm can create. Flickering shadows can similarly irk those who live near... → MORE

Groton Wind says 2015 output blew in below expectations

As the state’s Site Evaluation Committee decides whether to permit a proposed new wind farm in Antrim, New Hampshire Wind Watch is citing Groton Wind’s estimate four years ago that its facility would have a capacity factor of 33 to 36 percent. The capacity factor measurement is the average power... → MORE

Wind energy firms sue county

NextEra and the other companies said they received a special use permit six years ago to develop the project. That agreement, however, has since been terminated by the zoning panel, the document added. The firms said they have continued efforts to obtain leases for the construction, and that a subsequent application... → MORE

Broken blades on two turbines east of Kinde

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A single blade on two different wind turbines at wind farms bounded by Verona, Redman, Huron City and Kinde Roads were hanging by a literal thread this morning after having apparently snapped in half. → MORE

German EEG levy jumps 8.3% as Energiewende costs reach €24bn

The levy German power consumers pay on their electricity bills to finance the build-up of renewables (EEG surcharge) next year will jump by 8.3% to €0.0688 ($0.0758) per kilowatt hour of electricity consumed, re-igniting a heated debate on the cost of the country’s energy transition. → MORE

Cornyn worries wind turbines may put military pilots at risk

"No one is talking about banning wind turbines, but we do have to be careful when we talk about their proximity" to bases, said Cornyn, R-Texas. "We're just trying to make sure it's safe for our pilots, both those in the military and those who use civilian aircraft." → MORE

Parts fall off wind turbine

The blades, hub and nacelle of one of eight Auwahi Wind turbines in the Kanaio area separated from the tower and fell to the ground Sunday, an official with the wind-power generation company said Monday. → MORE

Iowa wind farm generates more tax credits than electricity

Public officials must stop gearing energy policy around the promise of guaranteed profits for well-connected energy investors like Warren Buffett. This hits average Americans once in their taxes and twice in higher electricity bills, which raises the prices on goods and services as well as utilities. → MORE

Ontario suspends green energy plan, wind projects

Blinking in the face of a growing political backlash against rising electricity prices, Ontario is suspending plans for more green energy. The surprise announcement by Ontario’s Liberal government Tuesday — affecting wind, solar, hydro and energy-from-waste projects — is forecast to save the province billions of dollars. → MORE

Zoning commission votes to prohibit wind energy conversion systems

The zoning commission voted to entirely prohibit “commercial wind energy conversion systems” in Clinton County on Thursday, September 1 ...Before the ban can go into effect, it will need to be approved by the Clinton County Commissioners. → MORE

Windfarm operators paid £3.1m to switch off turbines for one day

Highland-based industry watcher Stuart Young said: "I was disgusted how people were crowing about how much electricity had been generated by wind when customers are going to be hit so hard in their pockets. "The number of megawatt hours wasted - constrained off - was 46,150. → MORE

Ruling reversed and affirmed in wind appeal

“We conclude the (wildlife) service failed to comply with its NEPA obligations when it failed to consider an economically feasible alternative that would take fewer bats than Buckeye’s proposal, and we reverse the district court on that point,” [Circuit Judge Robert L.] Wilkins stated.  → MORE

Conservation department serves notice to wind farm

A wind farm company proposing a project in Northwest Missouri has raised the concern of the Missouri Department of Conservation over potential bird and bat deaths. → MORE

Sibley Wind project permits to be pulled

“We respectfully request our permit for the Sibley Wind Project be canceled while we work out a solution that will meet everyone's requirements relating to avian studies on the project,” wrote Steve Estes, president of Star Distributed Energy, in a letter to the state Public Utilities Commission. Star controls Sibley... → MORE

Recent Documents

Ecological impact assessments fail to reduce risk of bat casualties at wind farms

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NY Health Department comments Eight Point Wind Energy proposal

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As part of the New York State Article 10 process for reviewing wind energy proposals, the Department of Health has submitted these scoping comments to the developer of the proposed Eight Point wind energy facility. Project developer NextEra plans to erect 32 wind turbines totaling 103.4 megawatts on land leased... → MORE

Wind Turbine Noise and Human Health: A Four-Decade History of Evidence that Wind Turbines Pose Risks

This important peer-reviewed paper examines 15 years of the authors' combined experience with wind turbine noise issues. The authors respond to the various responses by the wind industry regarding turbine noise and explain why audiologists, particularly those interested in community noise, should embrace the notion that all forms of noise, if sufficiently... → MORE

Recent Pictures

Minnesota Landscape - Bent Tree wind facility

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On Monday, November 7, 2016, Kristi Rosenquist visit with friends in south-central Minnesota. For 5 1/2 years, Kristi's friends have been living with the constant sound and motion of the Bent Tree wind project (200 MW, 122 turbines) owned by Alliant Energy - a life they describe as torture. This is not... → MORE

Recent Videos

Another fire in Germany

A wind turbine in Germany burned for hours because fire fighters did not have ladders long enough to tackle the 100 metre high blaze. The flames struck this morning in the town of Isselburg in North Rhine-Westphalia. → MORE

A wind turbine caught fire in Scholen, Lower Saxony

Burning blades fell to the ground and set fire to small grain field areas. Special thanks to Friends Against Wind for providing closed caption English subtitles. → MORE








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