http://www.windaction.org/ facts, analysis, exposure of wind energy's real impacts en-us Windaction hourly 1 http://backend.userland.com/rss http://www.windaction.org/articles/37596 Mon, 04 Mar 2013 21:16:22 GMT A flood of unexpectedly cheap natural gas could put a damper on offshore winds' fresh enthusiasm. Electric utilities may find it cheaper and easier to enjoy cheap gas while they can and put off more costly investments in alternatives, at least in the near term. "There's some truth that the decline in gas prices has changed people's perception about the urgency of renewables." http://www.windaction.org/articles/37596 http://www.windaction.org/articles/37415 Sun, 17 Feb 2013 02:51:50 GMT http://www.windaction.org/articles/37415 http://www.windaction.org/articles/36749 Thu, 13 Dec 2012 15:10:44 GMT Nationally, demand for electricity is leveling off as residential power use falls, experts say, reversing a long upward trend. More efficient lighting and electric devices are partly credited for the change. New homes also are being built to use less electricity and government subsidies ...help older homes use less power. Rourke said the weak economy also has contributed to reduced electricity use. http://www.windaction.org/articles/36749 http://www.windaction.org/articles/36683 Wed, 05 Dec 2012 18:26:55 GMT The Patrick administration placed the project's cost at $100 million and project proponents touted its potential to serve the offshore wind industry. In an interview Tuesday, Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Rick Sullivan acknowledged Massachusetts and Rhode Island are competing for the Cape Wind jobs. Massachusetts was not looking to sweeten its infrastructure effort with loans or grants. http://www.windaction.org/articles/36683 http://www.windaction.org/articles/36515 Fri, 09 Nov 2012 15:34:06 GMT Rodgers said Cape Wind has periodically met with other ports as the project has progressed, and he would not go into detail about the meeting. But he said among the topics they discussed was whether Quonset would be able to take on at least some of the work Cape Wind planned to do in New Bedford. http://www.windaction.org/articles/36515 http://www.windaction.org/articles/33631 Sat, 25 Feb 2012 11:16:10 GMT Global wind farm developer Windlab's general manager, Nathan Steggel, said the government's planning laws had gone too far and the company was moving staff to its Canberra head office. The new area under consideration “now includes more than 164,000 acres of federal water southwest of Nomans Land between Martha's Vineyard and Block Island.” While many state officials from Rhode Island and Massachusetts praised the revised plan, the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) is questioning whether the area still comes too close to what the tribe has considered sacred views for centuries. http://www.windaction.org/articles/33631 http://www.windaction.org/articles/34165 Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:31:32 GMT A federal order issued last fall is intended to make it easier to construct transmission lines, costly and controversial projects that are notoriously tough to build. http://www.windaction.org/articles/34165 http://www.windaction.org/articles/32807 Sat, 20 Aug 2011 01:19:57 GMT Winchester startup Neptune Wind LLC has made its plans for an offshore wind farm more clear, after announcing Thursday its intention to develop, construct and operate a 500 megawatt offshore wind farm about 20 miles south of the Massachusetts border with Rhode Island. The project is called Nomans Wind. http://www.windaction.org/articles/32807 http://www.windaction.org/articles/32791 Thu, 18 Aug 2011 18:26:51 GMT Leases could be awarded as early as 2012, said Salazar, although any construction is still at least three years away. He called the news "another major milestone in the development of offshore wind power in America." No such installation has been built yet. http://www.windaction.org/articles/32791 http://www.windaction.org/articles/28505 Tue, 27 Jul 2010 18:48:01 GMT Massachusetts and Rhode Island will jointly explore the development of offshore wind power in federal waters near the two states, according to an agreement announced Monday by the states' governors. http://www.windaction.org/articles/28505 http://www.windaction.org/articles/27962 Sun, 27 Jun 2010 01:52:26 GMT In a quirk of timing, two developers in neighboring states are racing to build the first offshore wind farm in the United States ...Cape Wind Associates in Massachusetts and Deepwater Wind in Rhode Island must both persuade public utilities regulators in their respective states to approve long-term contracts that would allow them to sell power to National Grid. http://www.windaction.org/articles/27962 http://www.windaction.org/articles/26951 Sun, 25 Apr 2010 15:24:30 GMT Power companies in New England are beginning work on a nearly half-billion-dollar plan to upgrade the region’s electric grid to make way for appliances that can shut down to reduce electric bills, improve energy conservation, and connect to wind and solar energy. The first step is replacing decades-old meters with so-called smart meters that detail the use of computers, appliances, TVs, lights, and other household equipment. http://www.windaction.org/articles/26951 http://www.windaction.org/articles/24489 Mon, 07 Dec 2009 15:28:23 GMT After plans fell through for a 120-foot wind turbine behind Town Hall, the Alternative Energy Committee has focused its attention on other locations in town where a larger turbine could be built. The committee is considering locations in Portsmouth, R.I., and Hull for construction of a turbine. It is also looking at Dartmouth. http://www.windaction.org/articles/24489 http://www.windaction.org/articles/23155 Thu, 17 Sep 2009 14:00:37 GMT Blue H USA, a Dutch-owned company that wants to anchor floating wind turbines some 20 miles southwest of Martha's Vineyard to harness offshore ocean winds, has applied for a permit from the U.S. Army Corps. The company wants to anchor a demonstration unit on the outer continental shelf approximately 23 miles off Squibnocket Point in Chilmark and about 32 miles southeast of Block Island, R.I. according to the Army Corps. http://www.windaction.org/articles/23155 http://www.windaction.org/articles/22700 Sun, 16 Aug 2009 07:41:41 GMT With plans moving forward in New Jersey and Delaware - not to mention recent progress in Cape Wind's years-long fight in Massachusetts - it's far from certain that Deepwater and Rhode Island will succeed in their quest to be first. And make no mistake, being first is important. For the developer, it means more than just bragging rights. It gives the company a leg up on its competitors as it tries to develop additional wind farms elsewhere. For the state, it means much-needed economic development and valuable green-collar jobs. http://www.windaction.org/articles/22700 http://www.windaction.org/articles/19571 Mon, 19 Jan 2009 16:06:53 GMT In 2000-plus pages, filled with studies, statistics and opinions galore, the federal Minerals Management Service concluded that building a wind farm on Horseshoe Shoal was not only better than nowhere, but better than a good many other spots. The Final Environmental Impact Statement released last week didn't say the site in Nantucket Sound was perfect, but that it met a series of physical, biological and social/human benchmarks. http://www.windaction.org/articles/19571 http://www.windaction.org/articles/19324 Mon, 29 Dec 2008 16:31:41 GMT A developer is proposing to build the first commercial-scale projects in New England waters to harness the power of the waves for electricity, but most of the energy they produce would actually come from attached wind turbines. Grays Harbor Ocean Energy Company, based in Seattle, applied for preliminary permits from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in October to explore mounting 100 jack-up platforms - similar to those used in the offshore oil industry - in seven tracts of ocean around the country. http://www.windaction.org/articles/19324 http://www.windaction.org/articles/17699 Fri, 29 Aug 2008 21:28:11 GMT The state's suspension of a rebate program for small wind turbine projects has led Mashpee Commons to rethink its proposal to mount two turbines to the roof of the Talbots' building in the middle of the commercial and residential development. Douglas S. Storrs, a vice president of both Mashpee Commons LP another related development firm, said this week that in light of the suspension the developers are now investigating using the two small turbines, purchased nearly a year ago, at other properties in Rhode Island. http://www.windaction.org/articles/17699 http://www.windaction.org/articles/14583 Sun, 09 Mar 2008 21:04:02 GMT State and regional regulators acknowledge the hurdles - especially in northern New Hampshire - but don't have ready solutions. A bill before the New Hampshire Senate would have the state be ready to act if no regional solution is forthcoming. ISO New England, which manages power for the region, is considering changing rules so more of the costs of transmission upgrades could be shared regionally. But as things stand now, backers of projects generally must pay for upgrades needed to connect them to the system. "None of this is a real speedy process," acknowledges Michael Harrington, senior regional policy adviser for the state Public Utilities Commission. http://www.windaction.org/articles/14583 http://www.windaction.org/articles/12406 Sun, 28 Oct 2007 16:05:58 GMT While paper mills close and Cabletron spins off its remnants out of state, power plants from the Seacoast to Whitefield enjoy the perks of a poorly understood, $100-million subsidy program just for energy producers. It has a bureaucratic name: the forward capacity market. ...An unidentified 600-megawatt, gas-fired power plant project somewhere in Rockingham County is blocked behind half a dozen North Country renewable energy projects in the ISO-New England regulatory queue. The waiting list policy is first-come, first-served. A plant like that would typically pay its host community $4 million or more in property taxes, with few smokestack emissions. But those wind- and wood-fired projects at the front of the line are all in limbo. The Public Service power lines in the region are too small. Most of the players can't even bid into the upcoming ISO auction, because yet-to-be-built plants have to ante millions of dollars as a sort of performance bond. And the ISO doesn't make forward capacity payments for transmission line upgrades. http://www.windaction.org/articles/12406