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/9632 Fri, 18 May 2007 12:30:05 GMT PPM Energy of Portland, Ore. is having a bad week. On Friday, Searsburg, Vt., voters rejected a proposal by PPM to expand the Searsburg wind turbine facility, above. On Monday, a Massachusetts administrative magistrate advised a state permit for the company to build 20 turbines in Florida and Monroe be rescinded. http://www.windaction.org/articles/9632 http://www.windaction.org/articles/4650 Fri, 25 Aug 2006 13:17:44 GMT Paul and Geraldine Bednarz stand on their front lawn in Sheffield, Vt., last week a sign opposing a wind development that would be located on a ridge behind their home. http://www.windaction.org/articles/4650 http://www.windaction.org/articles/1504 GMT http://www.windaction.org/articles/1504 http://www.windaction.org/articles/38494 Wed, 29 May 2013 14:31:27 GMT The head of the Brighton Ridge Protectors, a citizen-led group fighting efforts to site a wind project in Brighton, Ferdinand and Newark, wants the Vermont Attorney General to rule on alleged violations of Vermont's Open Meeting Law. Island Pond resident Pam Arborio says the Board of Governors of the Unified Towns and Gores have committed violations of the state open meeting law in discussing possible financial terms and more with a wind developer in recent months. http://www.windaction.org/articles/38494 http://www.windaction.org/articles/38298 Mon, 06 May 2013 19:25:15 GMT Brighton recently adopted a newly amended town plan in which the town says it supports the regional planning agency's call for a moratorium on wind development until further study is done. Four members of the Brighton Planning Commission and the three members of the town's select board, signed a letter urging the CPG not be issued for the MET towers. http://www.windaction.org/articles/38298 http://www.windaction.org/articles/38299 Sun, 05 May 2013 20:01:55 GMT There were planning issues, aesthetic issues, things that people get concerned about when one of these type of projects shows up in their backyard, their neighborhood, so we really felt, and the Commission felt, that we needed to emphasize the planning process more first and also give the public an opportunity, a much longer opportunity to respond. Right now, there's a 45-day public notice period when an applicant is going to file with the board. http://www.windaction.org/articles/38299 http://www.windaction.org/articles/38248 Wed, 01 May 2013 22:34:33 GMT Marsha Blomberg, an ISO New England spokesperson, said the grid uses an "economic dispatch" method, which often gives the most expensive power source the temporary ax. But Johnson said cheaper sources could be curtailed if it keeps the grid safe. http://www.windaction.org/articles/38248 http://www.windaction.org/articles/38213 Sun, 28 Apr 2013 15:23:14 GMT Senate Bill 30 might have gotten the wind knocked out of it this session, but a revised bill - far from its original call for a moratorium on big wind projects - sailed through a second reading on the House floor Friday by a vote of 140-3. That does not mean, however, that some senators have ceased trying to pump the legislation back up. http://www.windaction.org/articles/38213 http://www.windaction.org/articles/38180 Fri, 26 Apr 2013 22:25:40 GMT The four wind turbines on Georgia Mountain, stationary for a week, are expected to spin back into action in the near future while technicians run safety checks, a company official said Thursday. A faulty electrical component at the site’s tie-in with power lines caused the turbines to shut down automatically, project manager Martha Staskus told the Burlington Free Press. http://www.windaction.org/articles/38180 http://www.windaction.org/articles/38185 Fri, 26 Apr 2013 13:38:29 GMT Kim Fried, chairman of the Town of Newark's Planning Commission, which amended the Town Plan last year to ban industrial wind projects, a change overwhelmingly supported by residents, said "We are very disappointed and saddened. Neither SMW, the PSB or the state of Vermont appear to care about the concerns of Newark's citizens and I think this attitude towards small towns is beginning to bother many other citizens across the state, as it should. http://www.windaction.org/articles/38185 http://www.windaction.org/articles/38162 Mon, 22 Apr 2013 17:09:44 GMT David Hallquist, CEO of the utility Vermont Electric Cooperative, publicly opposed any new utility-scale wind projects in the Northeast Kingdom because the ISO-New England, is ordering Vermont and New Hampshire wind projects to curtail electricity output to maintain grid stability. Hallquist said the co-op and its utility partner, Green Mountain Power, have already lost $1 million this winter on curtailment of Lowell Mountain's 21-turbine Kingdom Community Wind Project. http://www.windaction.org/articles/38162 http://www.windaction.org/articles/8597 Fri, 19 Apr 2013 11:23:40 GMT Senators took a bill that called for a three-year moratorium on large-scale wind developments, pared it down to legislation that would have required large energy generation projects to conform to Act 250 land-use criteria, and then stripped it to $75,000 worth of studies for the House to consider. http://www.windaction.org/articles/8597 http://www.windaction.org/articles/38105 Thu, 18 Apr 2013 23:49:43 GMT "The basic fact is just to make a small dent-- a few percent of the energy demand in the Northeast and virtually nothing in the Southeast-- you would have to develop thousands of miles of ridgeline. You'd be talking about devastating impacts to the mountaintops due to bulldozing and blasting," Luce said. http://www.windaction.org/articles/38105 http://www.windaction.org/articles/38106 Tue, 16 Apr 2013 23:54:20 GMT Two members of the public grilled the town's Selectboard on Tuesday with questions about the planning commission and a meeting between the board's chairman and a representative from an energy company constructing a test tower. http://www.windaction.org/articles/38106 http://www.windaction.org/articles/38001 Mon, 08 Apr 2013 13:33:24 GMT Stone, who owns G. Stone Motors in Middlebury, said Friday the condition in the agreement was his way out, but other factors also contributed to his family pulling their support. "The main reason was they stopped paying the rent of the land," Stone said. "But I was not aware of the devastation on the mountain they were going to have." http://www.windaction.org/articles/38001 http://www.windaction.org/articles/37979 Fri, 05 Apr 2013 21:40:14 GMT Vermont Electric Cooperative will oppose any large new wind project in northern Vermont, including Seneca Mountain Wind, CEO David Hallquist says. That's because existing wind projects have introduced instability in the grid, prompting grid operator ISO-New England to order existing wind projects in Vermont and New Hampshire to cut back or "curtail" electricity output. http://www.windaction.org/articles/37979 http://www.windaction.org/articles/37896 Thu, 28 Mar 2013 02:18:20 GMT He said opponents of the bill "threw huge amounts of money" into defeating S.30. He added he was shocked by the hypocrisy of the renewable energy movement that expressed interest in preserving a clean environment but opposes Act 250 environmental oversight of large scale renewable energy projects. http://www.windaction.org/articles/37896 http://www.windaction.org/articles/37872 Wed, 27 Mar 2013 16:57:43 GMT "I would have preferred to get the protections for the towns," Senate Natural Resources & Energy Committee Chairman Robert Hartwell, D-Bennington, said, but he added, "We'll be back. This is going to continue. It was a good debate." The Senate is due to vote again on the newly revised bill, likely Thursday, when attempts could be made to change the bill again before sending it to the House. http://www.windaction.org/articles/37872 http://www.windaction.org/articles/37791 Tue, 19 Mar 2013 17:52:17 GMT John Ewing, a former chairman of the state environmental board, says the issue has badly divided environmentalists. He supports the Senate bill. ...If there were "a more adequate environmental review and the impact on aesthetics that Act 250 provides, and opportunity for citizen participation that Act 250 provides, that would make a big difference and I think a lot of the conflicts that we see now and the gridlock would go away if we had a proper process," Ewing said. http://www.windaction.org/articles/37791 http://www.windaction.org/articles/37639 Wed, 06 Mar 2013 11:30:00 GMT By a vote of 88-12, residents of this Northeast Kingdom hill town voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to raise the tax rate by about a nickel to defend their community's opposition to placing commercial wind turbines on a local ridgeline. http://www.windaction.org/articles/37639