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/11097 Wed, 01 Aug 2007 22:55:21 GMT You already drink shade-grown coffee, drive a Prius, and shop strictly organic at PCC. So naturally you're the best kind of customer-indeed a captive customer-for the ad blitz Seattle City Light has recently devised for its two-year-old "Green Up" program. Your latest billing envelopes have encouraged you to Green Up by adding a voluntary premium of as much as $12 to your monthly bill. For what purpose? To buy an amount of wind power equal to a percentage of your household's usage of cheap hydropower. "Participating in the Green Up program demonstrates your preference and support for clean energy and a healthy environment in the Northwest," says the city's Web site. "It helps promote economic development in rural parts of the region, improves our energy security, and reduces pollution." Really? http://www.windaction.org/articles/11097 http://www.windaction.org/articles/10146 Thu, 14 Jun 2007 11:02:52 GMT A tax break that has helped spur the development of windmill farms in Washington state could be extended for five years as part of the new Senate energy bill, Sen. Maria Cantwell said Wednesday. But the ability to carry that power from turbines in some of the wind-swept regions of the Northwest to the customers who need it isn't part of the proposal at this time. http://www.windaction.org/articles/10146 http://www.windaction.org/articles/8621 Mon, 26 Mar 2007 11:38:39 GMT http://www.windaction.org/articles/8621 http://www.windaction.org/articles/7220 Sat, 06 Jan 2007 12:22:32 GMT The company said the increase was needed for a new wind-farm project in Central Washington (Wild Horse Wind), a long-term contract to buy power supplies from Chelan County PUD, the installation of new generators for the Baker River Hydroelectric project and more capacity in several natural gas transmission pipes. http://www.windaction.org/articles/7220 http://www.windaction.org/articles/7112 Thu, 28 Dec 2006 22:24:56 GMT Cowlitz PUD commissioners Wednesday OK’d a multiparty deal ensuring that a $361 million central Washington wind farm, large enough to supply 38,000 homes with electricity, will be financed with private money. Three years in the making and involving lawyers from coast-to-coast, the groundbreaking transaction will mean an investment group formed by Prudential Insurance and Lehman Brothers will own a wind farm conceived by the PUD and three other utilities. The investors aren’t interested in wind turbines, but they are interested in federal tax deductions available to private investors in environmentally friendly wind farms, said Alan Dashen, a financial consultant hired by the PUD to arrange the deal. http://www.windaction.org/articles/7112 http://www.windaction.org/articles/6266 Fri, 10 Nov 2006 13:16:29 GMT Large utility companies will have to increase their renewable energy sources to 15 percent of their supply by 2020 under an initiative approved by Washington voters. Under Initiative 937, utilities with more than 25,000 customers would have to meet 15 percent of their annual load with resources such as wind power, solar energy or sewage gas by 2020. With about 65 percent of the expected vote counted Thursday, I-937 passed with about 52 percent of the vote, or 697,133 votes. About 48 percent, or 647,572, voted against the measure. http://www.windaction.org/articles/6266 http://www.windaction.org/articles/6250 Thu, 09 Nov 2006 22:59:19 GMT Voters picked their way through four statewide ballot measures with an independence that defied easy assumptions about political geography...... Washington voters were all over the map in supporting the renewable-energy proposal, Initiative 937. If the measure, passing with 52 percent, becomes law, utilities will have to derive 15 percent of their energy portfolio from renewables by 2020 or face fines. http://www.windaction.org/articles/6250 http://www.windaction.org/articles/6047 Mon, 30 Oct 2006 12:05:30 GMT The slogans are simple: Clean wind energy or coal-powered plants polluting the planet. Higher electrical bills or utilities free to save ratepayers money. In the muddle of initiatives and measures that clutter the Nov. 7 ballots, those for and against Initiative 937 are hoping to persuade voters with these basic concepts. But that’s only the tip of the wind turbine. http://www.windaction.org/articles/6047 http://www.windaction.org/articles/5972 Tue, 24 Oct 2006 12:18:37 GMT Supporters of Initiative 937, the renewable energy measure on the Nov. 7 ballot, have out-raised their opponents by a 4-to-1 margin heading into the final two weeks of the campaign, according to the state Public Disclosure Commission. Washingtonians for Cleaner Cheaper Energy had collected $1.52 million and spent $1.46 million as of Oct. 10, while No on I 937 had raised $372,615 and spent $67,785. Leading the pro-initiative campaign funding is the Sierra Club and its political action committee with combined in-kind contributions of more than $132,000. The initiative addresses two of the Sierra Club’s top priorities, which are air quality and public health, said Sierra Club associate regional representative Shannon Harps. http://www.windaction.org/articles/5972 http://www.windaction.org/articles/5952 Mon, 23 Oct 2006 12:32:45 GMT Washington's Initiative 937, which appears on the statewide ballot this November, would impose new restrictions on the state's utilities in an effort to reach targets of specifically selected energy types, says Todd Meyers of the Washington Policy Center. http://www.windaction.org/articles/5952 http://www.windaction.org/articles/5673 Wed, 11 Oct 2006 12:12:57 GMT A clean-energy initiative on the November ballot promises to reduce the state’s dependence on fossil fuels, combat global warming and cut the cost of electricity. Backers of the measure, Initiative 937, also say new wind farms would generate millions in tax dollars for struggling rural communities. Can the initiative deliver on all those promises? It’s unclear. http://www.windaction.org/articles/5673 http://www.windaction.org/articles/5610 Sat, 07 Oct 2006 11:22:32 GMT In a state where environmental issues often find ample support, an initiative to compel utilities to use cleaner energy should be the least controversial of the three measures on the statewide ballot in November. But after months of little to no debate over the measure — which would require the state’s large utilities to increase renewable energy sources to 15 percent of their supply by 2020 — opponents have started speaking out, arguing that Initiative 937 would raise customers’ rates. “It’s a feel-good initiative,” said Chris McCabe, spokesman for the Association of Washington Business, which is opposed to the measure. “Everyone wants a cleaner environment. It’s easy for people to buy into that. It’s one of those things where the devil is in the details.” http://www.windaction.org/articles/5610 http://www.windaction.org/articles/5368 Mon, 25 Sep 2006 12:24:41 GMT Power company Avista Corp. (AVA.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Monday it opposes an initiative in Washington state requiring 15 percent of power supply to come from renewable sources, saying the measure would boost prices and that it fails to count existing hydropower. http://www.windaction.org/articles/5368 http://www.windaction.org/articles/5294 Sat, 23 Sep 2006 12:10:44 GMT Voters have a voice in the state’s energy future when they cast their ballots in the Nov. 7 general election. Initiative 937 would require the state’s 17 largest utilities to invest in all cost-effective energy-conservation projects at their disposal and obtain 15 percent of their electricity from new renewable energy resources, including wind and solar, by 2020. Supporters insist the goals can be achieved without taking a big bite out of ratepayer pocketbooks, while building on a regional legacy of clean hydropower and energy independence. “We have a choice of charting a path toward a cleaner energy future,” said initiative backer K.C. Golden, a former state energy policy director and policy director for Climate Solutions. Critics fear passage would drive up energy customers’ costs from $185 million to $370 million a year and create an artificial economy around new energy resources. http://www.windaction.org/articles/5294 http://www.windaction.org/articles/4576 Tue, 22 Aug 2006 11:59:11 GMT Cantwell, a member of the Senate Energy Committee, helped push through Congress a two-year extension of a production tax credit for wind energy, which helped seal the current Vestas deal and provide jobs at the Port, Clark said. The credit was to expire on Dec. 31, 2005. The extension provides a 1.9 cent per kilowatt hour tax credit to the wind farm owner -- which passes the savings to ratepayers -- for electricity generated with turbines over the first 10 years of a project -- a break that has been crucial to wind farm development, port officials said. Cantwell said she also has proposed a bill for the development of clean energy that would ensure the tax credit until 2015. The lengthy extension would provide more predictability for investment and allow the wind power industry to grow, she said. http://www.windaction.org/articles/4576 http://www.windaction.org/articles/4515 Sat, 19 Aug 2006 11:29:54 GMT The power of the federal tax code was on display Friday at the Port of Longview for a U.S. senator to see. Wind towers made in China and South Korea were on their sides waiting to be hauled away by truck or rail car to a wind farm somewhere in North America. Thanks in part to a made-in-the-USA tax shelter, importing wind towers from Asia has grown from zero to about 15 percent of the port's business in three years. http://www.windaction.org/articles/4515 http://www.windaction.org/articles/4351 Wed, 09 Aug 2006 12:01:35 GMT OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) -- Voters will get to choose whether to require state utility companies to increase renewable energy sources to 15 percent of their supply by 2020. http://www.windaction.org/articles/4351 http://www.windaction.org/articles/3890 Wed, 12 Jul 2006 12:26:56 GMT A series of factors -- including increasing demand for wind farms, rising costs for materials and the weakening U.S. dollar -- have driven up construction prices. At the same time, Northwest dams don't have enough remaining flexibility to supplement and smooth the up and down generation patterns of new wind farms. http://www.windaction.org/articles/3890 http://www.windaction.org/articles/3259 Tue, 30 May 2006 11:49:26 GMT OLYMPIA -- The Columbia-Snake River Irrigators Association is pressing the Benton and Franklin PUDs to take a stand against a citizens initiative that would require the utilities to buy more green power. http://www.windaction.org/articles/3259 http://www.windaction.org/articles/22561 Thu, 06 Aug 2009 01:52:38 GMT Cap-and-trade schemes could hurt families and send jobs overseas The recently passed U.S. House bill to create a cap-and-trade system to tackle greenhouse-gas emissions threatens to hurt families and send jobs out of the country, argues Washington state Rep. Shelly Short, R-Addy. In Washington state, the definition of 'green jobs' is ill defined. http://www.windaction.org/articles/22561