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/38260 Fri, 03 May 2013 10:47:34 GMT NAW has learned that West Butte Wind Power LLC has withdrawn its permit application enabling the developer to "take" golden eagles at a proposed wind project in central Oregon. ...the developer withdrew its take permit request in March due to the difficulty in finding a power purchase agreement (PPA) for the project. http://www.windaction.org/articles/38260 http://www.windaction.org/articles/38098 Thu, 18 Apr 2013 17:46:26 GMT The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) this week released a new proposal to share the "oversupply costs" that pile up when there is not enough demand for all the electricity produced by hydroelectric dams and wind-power producers. During these oversupply periods, when wind-power producers may be asked to shut down, the plan would compensate them for lost revenue, according to Doug Johnson, a BPA spokesman. http://www.windaction.org/articles/38098 http://www.windaction.org/articles/37491 Sat, 23 Feb 2013 23:45:44 GMT Jackson threw out the bulk of Ralls’s lawsuit against the Obama administration, which focused on whether the president exceeded his power by ordering the company, an affiliate of China’s Sany Group Co., to sell the wind farm assets. “The statute expressly authorizes the president to do what he deems necessary to accomplish or implement the prohibition." http://www.windaction.org/articles/37491 http://www.windaction.org/articles/36184 Mon, 01 Oct 2012 13:34:26 GMT No one has ever before sued the US president over this type of ruling, but Ralls argues that Mr Obama exceeded his powers ... On Friday afternoon, Obama issued an order compelling the company to sell within 90 days four wind farm sites in Oregon, and to clear all its equipment and structures off the sites within 14 days. http://www.windaction.org/articles/36184 http://www.windaction.org/articles/36174 Sat, 29 Sep 2012 19:38:15 GMT The wind farm sites are all in or near restricted airspace at the Naval Weapons Systems Training Facility in Boardman, Ore. ...The interagency Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States initially recommended against allowing the transaction in July. But only the president can halt an acquisition. http://www.windaction.org/articles/36174 http://www.windaction.org/articles/36163 Sat, 29 Sep 2012 15:17:20 GMT Barack Obama said he had decided that Ralls, the company behind the project, "might take action that threatens to impair the national security of the United States," and ordered it to sell its four sites and remove its equipment. http://www.windaction.org/articles/36163 http://www.windaction.org/articles/36198 Fri, 28 Sep 2012 11:54:49 GMT Obama ordered Ralls Corp., a company owned by Chinese nationals, to divest its interest in development rights for the small wind farms -- with just five turbines each --near the Naval Weapons Systems Training Facility. ...Ralls said it would lose the chance for $25 million in federal renewable energy investment tax incentives if the farms weren't running by Dec. 31. http://www.windaction.org/articles/36198 http://www.windaction.org/articles/36093 Fri, 21 Sep 2012 14:25:08 GMT After conducting an investigation, CFIUS issued an order on July 25 citing "national security risks" raised by the sale of the assets to Ralls and directing the company to stop all construction and operations at the wind-farm locations, according to the filing. ...If the wind farms aren't in service by Dec. 31, then the company won't be able to obtain $25 million in federal investment tax incentives, according to the court filing. http://www.windaction.org/articles/36093 http://www.windaction.org/articles/35875 Tue, 28 Aug 2012 16:50:59 GMT Gas prices, the report worries, "may not ultimately rebound to earlier levels as the economy recovers, due to the ongoing development of significant shale gas deposits." The widely held belief that gas will remain cheap for quite some time "puts the near-term comparative economic position of wind energy at some risk, absent further reductions in the price of wind power (and absent supportive policies for wind energy)." http://www.windaction.org/articles/35875 http://www.windaction.org/articles/34912 Sun, 06 May 2012 13:01:36 GMT The order forced wind farms along the Columbia River to shut down for about 10 hours during the past weekend. ..."Our folks are working as hard to minimize it, but as the runoff continues, it is certainly possible that it will happen again. It depends on a number of factors: the runoff, what the wind is doing. Certainly what amount of power people are using." http://www.windaction.org/articles/34912 http://www.windaction.org/articles/34872 Mon, 30 Apr 2012 01:14:46 GMT The agency, which manages much of the power grid in the Northwest, confirmed it issued the orders during the early morning hours of Sunday and Monday, when demand is low. The action rekindles a dispute from last year, when the agency curtailed wind turbines because the water from a large mountain snowpack. http://www.windaction.org/articles/34872 http://www.windaction.org/articles/34184 Wed, 25 Jan 2012 13:53:09 GMT "Iberdrola Renewables is focusing on operations in 2012 rather than new building due to low energy prices, a poor economy and regulatory uncertainty," Johnson said, adding that the company has a "solid balance sheet, positive cash flow and no real debt." http://www.windaction.org/articles/34184 http://www.windaction.org/articles/34183 Wed, 25 Jan 2012 13:45:07 GMT Energy company Iberdrola Renewables cited multiple factors for a decision to scale back on new projects. That led directly to layoffs in engineering, construction and development. "The low energy prices and the regulatory uncertainty here in the U.S. are by far the biggest decision makers," says company spokeswoman Jan Johnson. http://www.windaction.org/articles/34183 http://www.windaction.org/articles/1224 Thu, 12 Jan 2012 19:47:10 GMT Worldwide, renewable-energy companies are reeling from overcapacity and plunging prices caused by an explosion in manufacturing and competition from low-cost producers in China and other countries. Some big U.S. and European solar companies have gone bankrupt, with more failures expected. http://www.windaction.org/articles/1224 http://www.windaction.org/articles/33528 Sat, 05 Nov 2011 21:33:30 GMT Government agencies that depend on radar -- such as the Department of Defense and the National Weather Service -- are spending millions in a scramble to preserve their detection capabilities. ...Spinning wind turbines make it hard to detect incoming planes. To avoid that problem, military officials have blocked wind farm construction near their radars -- and in some cases later allowed them after politicians protested. http://www.windaction.org/articles/33528 http://www.windaction.org/articles/19025 Sat, 24 Sep 2011 05:09:00 GMT The Navy has shut down wind projects near the bombing range in the past. The Horn Butte project in Gilliam County, for example, was midway through its permitting process when the Navy, via the Federal Aviation Administration, issued a “no build” order. McLane said the turbines in the Echo Wind Project somehow flew under the Navy radar because of a change in the federal review process. http://www.windaction.org/articles/19025 http://www.windaction.org/articles/32502 Tue, 19 Jul 2011 13:44:34 GMT At night and on weekends, when demand was low, the Bonneville Power Administration ordered wind farms to shut down, saying there was more electricity than the region needed or could export. http://www.windaction.org/articles/32502 http://www.windaction.org/articles/32185 Tue, 14 Jun 2011 23:06:20 GMT Since May 18, BPA has ordered wind generators to shut down several hours a day, usually in the low-power-demand nighttime hours. The result so far has been the loss of 74,114 megawatt hours of wind energy, or about 15% of what the wind farms might normally have generated. http://www.windaction.org/articles/32185 http://www.windaction.org/articles/32070 Tue, 31 May 2011 18:15:08 GMT http://www.windaction.org/articles/32070 http://www.windaction.org/articles/32028 Tue, 24 May 2011 16:09:04 GMT The wind energy industry demanded Monday that the Bonneville Power Administration fix problems that have forced the shut-off of Northwest wind generators while hydroelectric dams fill the grid with power produced from a heavy spring runoff. http://www.windaction.org/articles/32028