www.windaction.orgfacts, analysis, exposure of wind energy's real impactsWindactionhttp://www.windaction.org/articles/c52+84?theme=atomXarayar2006-06-12T02:16:27ZAustin consumers avoid pricey renewable power.230422009-09-09T02:25:19Z2009-09-09T02:25:19ZAustin Energy, a publicly owned power company and a city department of Austin, Texas, has found itself stuck with surplus renewable power as city residents have declined to sign up for higher rates under the city's voluntary GreenChoice program.
Contracting with renewable power providers and offering the service to customers sounded like a good idea to city officials until the price tag came in at up to three times the cost of conventional power. Wind industry protesting plan to pay for new lines.226852009-08-14T10:26:40Z2009-08-14T10:26:40ZThe emerging wind industry in Minnesota and the Upper Midwest could be shut down by the cost of connecting to high-voltage transmission lines if a proposal by the organization that controls the Midwest's power grid goes through, wind advocates say.
The grid operator and some utilities say the wind industry is overstating the effect, but the long-simmering dispute over who should pay for new transmission lines boiled over Thursday.
Minnesota wind farm prompts Wisconsin vote.219792009-07-08T22:33:55Z2009-07-08T22:33:55ZState regulators plan to vote Thursday on a Wisconsin utility's plans to build a massive wind farm in southern Minnesota.
Wisconsin Power & Light Co., a subsidiary of Madison-based Alliant Energy, wants permission to start the first phase of the farm on 32,500 acres just north of Albert Lea in Freeborn County. Plans call for scores of turbines that would generate about 200 megawatts of electricity.
Wisconsin eyes wind import possibilities.209922009-04-30T23:04:46Z2009-04-30T23:04:46ZThere is no guarantee a wind farm construction boom will follow if Wisconsin establishes statewide standards for where such developments can be built. ...With resources available beyond state borders and Alliant employees testifying Wednesday the company projects diminishing opportunities for new generation, opponents could argue more wind turbines in Wisconsin are unnecessary, said Lynda Barry-Kawula, co-founder of the renewable energy group Better Plan Wisconsin.State approves massive power line project.207762009-04-17T11:52:26Z2009-04-17T11:52:26ZThe massive power line project known as CapX 2020 has been approved by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission. The commission made one stipulation in its decision today: The line from Brookings, S.D. to the Twin Cities has to carry wind generated power. The lines will run between Fargo and Monticello, Brookings and the Twin Cities and the Twin Cities to La Crosse. Legislators advance turbine bills on Winona's behalf.207632009-04-15T13:44:45Z2009-04-15T13:44:45ZMinnesota lawmakers Tuesday gave a gust of support to bills allowing Winona County to form a corporation with private investors to build and operate commercial wind turbines.Wind utilities push line upgrade.206092009-04-04T05:38:34Z2009-04-04T05:38:34ZTo meet Minnesota's goal of getting 25 percent of its electricity from clean renewable wind energy by 2025, the state's utilities would need to build a 345-kilovolt line between Granite Falls and Shakopee at a cost of $460 million, according to a study released Friday.
The 125-mile line would replace a 260-kilovolt power line that is 60 years old.Turbines will soon churn in 11 cities.204042009-03-21T06:28:57Z2009-03-21T06:28:57ZRecycled turbines that turn renewable wind energy into electricity are expected to begin appearing this summer in Anoka, Buffalo, North St. Paul and eight other Minnesota cities that are part of a power agency. ...Anoka Mayor Phil Rice expects the windmill will go up, but calls it a taxpayer-subsidized waste of money that will never cover the windmill costs.
"In my mind it is foolishness," Rice said. "The government is mandating it, and we will comply so we don't have to pay a fine."
Gung-ho on eco-friendly energy, officials vexed by states on placement of power lines.201472009-02-24T10:15:35Z2009-02-24T10:15:35ZAcross the Great Plains the wind blows incessantly, while in the remote Nevada desert the sun bears down without relief. Each holds the potential of a vast new energy resource.
While wind turbine and solar projects are ready to capture this new, eco-friendly energy source, where are the transmission lines to get the power to where it is needed?
Wind energy faces challenge of meeting production demands.191892008-12-16T14:36:23Z2008-12-16T14:36:23ZThe next driver and the major incentive from here out is the Renewable Portfolio Standard ..."It's going to be a challenge," Huelskamp said, to meet the RPS.
A prime challenge facing the industry is transmission. Somehow, renewable energy has to get onto the transmission lines. The need exists to relieve congestion and improve reliability in the existing transmission system, he said. The infrastructure is maxed out.
High-voltage lines generate organized opposition.179812008-09-14T21:08:14Z2008-09-14T21:08:14ZA major high-voltage power line proposal is generating organized opposition.
The CapX 2020 project would bring more electricity -- including wind-generated power -- from remote parts of Minnesota closer to the Twin Cities. It calls for three 345-kilovolt lines that could cost between $1.4 billion and $1.7 billion and a fourth, smaller line farther north to be added later.
Winds dying down?.178642008-09-07T15:13:16Z2008-09-07T15:13:16ZOverall, total revenue generated from the turbines rests at about $1.9 million, whereas total expenses on the turbines have been about $859,000, for repairs, insurance and scheduled maintenance, according to MPS documents.
The remaining balance goes to paying off the turbines, Schwandt said.
Moorhead spent $1.5 million to erect the two towers - the first in 1999 and the second in 2001 - on the city's northeast edge.
Meeting heats up over wind energy.177472008-09-01T13:54:22Z2008-09-01T13:54:22ZFour Renewable Energy Systems Americas, Inc. (RES) conditional use permit requests for meteorological towers were endorsed by the Mower County Planning Commission.
However, they all came under attack by another wind energy developer.
RES is a national leader in the development and construction of renewable wind energy. This summer RES was awarded five utility scale wind projects in Canada with a total capacity of 954MW.
RES critic James Hartson is a Waltham area farmer who is trying to develop the state's only community-based (i.e., farmer-owned cooperative) wind project in Mower County, Green Acres Wind Farm.
Wind farm set in motion; Leases OK'd for turbine sites.176642008-08-27T03:50:39Z2008-08-27T03:50:39ZLike the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, the elements needed to put together a 5-megawatt wind energy farm northwest of New Ulm are all coming together for the New Ulm Public Utilities Commission.
Giant steps were taken at the NUPUC meeting Tuesday as the commission approved the land and wind easement leases with three landowners in southwestern Nicollet County to provide space for the wind turbines needed to generate that amount of "green" energy.
In all, New Ulm Public Utilities would be leasing a total of 237.03 acres just off Highway 7, about 5 miles northwest of Klossner.
Transmission line ruling shortsighted.159172008-05-17T23:58:49Z2008-05-17T23:58:49ZOpponents of the proposed Big Stone II power plant likely cheered a Minnesota administrative ruling that jeopardizes the construction of transmission lines across the state.
But that element of the power plant's construction also benefits something opponents probably support: wind power.
The same lines that Big Stone II would use to transmit power also would carry South Dakota wind power. ...The search for feasible replacements for fossil fuels will not always be painless. Wind power requires more than turbines, which are eyesores in their own right, to harness energy. That energy must then be moved and stored, and that potentially means heavy-duty lines crisscrossing the country.
Costs, other concerns spark debate over requiring green power.145632008-03-08T15:09:28Z2008-03-08T15:09:28ZIf Michigan is to join 25 states requiring that more electricity come from renewable sources, the Legislature must sort out all kinds of issues -including the price tag.
Compared with existing power from old, already-paid-for coal plants, renewable energy is more expensive. The House is considering capping residents' extra costs at no more than $3 a month, or $36 a year over 20 years, which could let power companies off the hook for meeting the renewable energy requirement, known as an RPS.
Under legislation pending in the House, commercial customers would pay no more than $190 a year more, while the cap for industrial customers would be $2,250.
City seeks moratorium on wind turbines.141922008-02-18T18:09:51Z2008-02-18T18:09:51ZBecause it is uncharted territory, Community Development Director Gordon Hydukovich is requesting a temporary moratorium on wind turbines.
The city attorney will be asked during Tuesday's Fergus Falls City Council meeting to draft such an ordinance. It is necessary, Hydukovich said, until city code can be written clearly stating where they can be placed. The moratorium was prompted by an individual requesting to place a turbine in a residential area. Another request was submitted by an industrial user in the city.
Minn. looks at electrical line plans.130852007-12-09T13:24:47Z2007-12-09T13:24:47ZMinnesotans soon can tell state officials what they think of a plan to add hundreds of miles of electric transmission lines across the state.
A group of 11 utilities, led by Xcel Energy and including Otter Tail Power Co., has proposed building three high-voltage transmission lines in Minnesota, claiming they are needed to improve service and prepare for growing electricity demands in areas such as the Red River Valley. ...Red Wing attorney Carol Overland has tracked the CapX 2020 proposal and operates a Web site that attempts to debunk the utilities' claim about needed transmission expansion.
Overland said a better alternative would be to add generation facilities close to where the electricity is needed.
"We're dealing with this false justification of need," said Overland, who will challenge the utilities' claims at the upcoming meetings.
Renewable power's blowin' in the wind.128422007-11-24T12:55:27Z2007-11-24T12:55:27ZMinnesota renewable energy advocates see great opportunity in wind-generated electricity, but the state struggles to reach that goal. ...efforts to increase Minnesota's use of wind energy face an inconvenient reality: The state lacks enough transmission lines to move the new electricity from wind turbines to customers. ...Also, while wind-generated electricity is more than half of Minnesota's renewable energy, even supporters acknowledge it only works when the wind is blowing, so other energy sources still are needed.SMMPA has power generation options.123042007-10-22T16:45:30Z2007-10-22T16:45:30ZWhile it is pursuing wind power as a renewable resource -- most recently with a large deal last week -- that source is strictly supplemental, SMMPA spokesman Dan Hayes says. Wind-generated power is available when the wind blows, so it is not always online to ship. SMMPA needs to have enough power available 24/7 to supply its 18 city-owned utility companies and their customers. ...But there are other possibilities for baseline electricity, and SMMPA's chief operating officer, Dave Geschwind, says agency managers now are evaluating them more closely.