facts, analysis, exposure of wind energy's real impacts Windaction http://www.windaction.org/articles/c73+61?theme=atom Xarayar 2006-06-12T02:16:27Z .36438 2012-11-03T00:15:09Z 2012-11-03T00:15:09Z

Wind project developer and owner First Wind Energy LLC said Clipper accepted $59.5 million in advance payments for wind turbines it no longer produces in the lawsuit filed last month in Linn District Court in Cedar Rapids. ...First Wind is seeking a writ of attachment on Clipper's Iowa assets because it is worried Clipper will dispose of them, making it impossible for First Wind to collect any award it receives in arbitration.

.35734 2012-08-08T14:38:42Z 2012-08-08T14:38:42Z

Congressman Tom Latham says he has talked privately with fellow Republican Mitt Romney about a key tax break for the wind industry, but Latham says Romney is standing by his opposition to extending the wind production tax credit.

.35501 2012-07-16T13:43:14Z 2012-07-16T13:43:14Z

Despite Iowa's stake in wind and Romney's apparent emphasis on winning the swing state, the GOP candidate has shown little love for the industry. Literature from the Romney campaign calls wind energy "sharply uncompetitive" and said the industry "seems to be operating more on faith than on fact-based economic calculation."

.32854 2011-08-22T19:34:55Z 2011-08-22T19:34:55Z

Opponents of proposals to build a multistate line from Iowa east of the Mississippi River to bring wind-generated electricity to large urban markets have asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to reconsider its decision last month to allow the cost of such lines - estimated to be as high as $20 billion, to be spread to end users rather than borne entirely by the builders of the line.

.32802 2011-08-18T23:19:53Z 2011-08-18T23:19:53Z

Iindustry publication Recharge in May reported on the height advantage of the 120-meter all-concrete towers Acciona plans to offer. It said the higher tower height and an enormous 116-meter rotor would extend the reach of Acciona's new turbine.

.32599 2011-07-29T14:39:24Z 2011-07-29T14:39:24Z

Iowa Stored Energy Park Agency director Bob Schulte said that geology tests found the storage reservoir wasn't suitable for the scale of project officials envisioned. Essentially, the quality of the storage rock, which would have been sandstone, wasn't as good as officials were looking for.

.29714 2010-10-31T11:09:32Z 2010-10-31T11:09:32Z

"Resistance from some Eastern states, Massachusetts in particular, has become stronger and stronger," said Stanley, part of a working group of 39 state energy and utility regulators. Easterners have made it clear that Iowa and the Midwest can build all the transmission it wants, so long as it pays all the costs. Midwesterners beg to differ.

.29696 2010-10-30T12:12:18Z 2010-10-30T12:12:18Z

But figures from the American Wind Energy Association released Friday show a dramatic drop in new projects during 2010. In 2009 about 10,000 megwatts of new capacity came on line nationally and another 4,000 megawatts were finished in the first quarter of 2010. But since then just 500 new megwatts of wind energy have been completed in the U.S.

.29351 2010-10-01T23:59:04Z 2010-10-01T23:59:04Z

The transmission corridors would be built over a number of years, the report said and would provide a way to move 15,000 megawatts of new power from wind farms to the markets where the power would be consumed. It would serve as a backbone for future wind energy developments.

.29268 2010-09-27T10:47:50Z 2010-09-27T10:47:50Z

Last week, several senators proposed a new version of the renewable-power mandate, hoping Congress might pass it in a lame-duck session after the election. But one analyst, Kevin Book of ClearView Energy Partners, gives the measure "near-zero odds" of passing. "I would be reluctant to invest in more wind generation right now unless I knew I was required to do it or the market price of power was higher."

.27542 2010-05-27T11:53:50Z 2010-05-27T11:53:50Z

Michael O'Sullivan of NextEra Energy, Iowa's second-largest producer of wind power, told the American Wind Energy Association meeting in Dallas this week: "Our product is too expensive relative to other options. Our competitive advantage has largely evaporated." The sudden rise of natural gas is credited with throwing wind energy into another of its periodic slowdowns. Iowa, with 2,300 megawatts of wind electricity generation, trails only Texas among the 50 states in wind capacity.

.26986 2010-04-27T16:52:16Z 2010-04-27T16:52:16Z

If you're interested in wind energy and its implications for Iowa and the Midwest, best to keep an eye this week on a decision by the federal government about a wind project off the Atlantic coast opposite Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

.23716 2009-10-20T22:48:02Z 2009-10-20T22:48:02Z

Wind energy production nationwide increased by 1,649 megawatts during the third quarter, but you'd never know it by looking at wind installation in Iowa and Minnesota, the largest wind energy states in the Midwest. Both states recorded no gain in installed wind energy, although they have a total of seven wind projects under construction as the fourth quarter began.

.19789 2009-01-30T15:42:35Z 2009-01-30T15:42:35Z

The presence of prairie winds and rich soil makes Iowa literally fertile ground for developing alternative energy sources from wind turbines and biofuels. But the landscape is also a reminder that achieving energy independence is a formidable challenge and making an agricultural economy green is not easy. ...Phil Wyse, a state representative for 22 years, believes Iowa and America need nuclear power. "We need sources of power that are constant and don't rely on things like whether the wind's blowing or the sun's shining," he says.

.19429 2009-01-08T01:46:28Z 2009-01-08T01:46:28Z

U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, said today that he is introduced a bill to extend the wind energy production tax credit until 2017. The current credit, which was extended last year, is set to expire at the end of 2009. Braley told reporters Thursday a long-term extension will create some certainty in the market and spur greater development.

.19154 2008-12-13T15:56:25Z 2008-12-13T15:56:25Z

The political winds are right for making wind power in Iowa. The problem is getting that power to the big cities that can use it. ...Proposals to give FERC more say over power transmission lines have foundered in Congress before, and the commission itself isn't united behind Kelliher's idea. Under current law, the commission can promote investment in new transmission lines for wind farms by awarding developers a higher rate of return. That allows utilities to charge more for the power. But it's still up to the states to decide whether to allow the lines to be built.

.15675 2008-05-06T11:15:42Z 2008-05-06T11:15:42Z

Here's another sign that wind energy is coming of age: Wind law is now piling up in court precedents and is being taught at law school. ...Hamilton's wind law course covers the gamut of the legal nitty-gritty about wind energy, including easements and leases, property issues, land-use regulations, utility regulation, metering and financing, and state and federal tax, energy and environmental policies. Hamilton's class is one of three in the United States. The University of Texas at Austin has a wind law class and so does the University of Oregon in Eugene. "With turbine farms going up all over Iowa, it's the next logical step,"

.15519 2008-04-26T10:41:38Z 2008-04-26T10:41:38Z

Times have never been better for wind power. The industry's growth rate doubled last year, and additional turbines are going up across the country. But the industry is heavily dependent on a federal tax subsidy that's set to expire at the end of this year. And the industry's growth is steadily increasing the cost of the subsidy and making it tougher for lawmakers to keep it going. ...Last year, the industry added 5,244 megawatts of capacity, more than twice the 2,454 megawatts added in 2006. That brought the nationwide capacity to 16,818 megawatts. But that growth also means that continuing the subsidy for one more year, through 2009, would cost taxpayers $3 billion. "The problem with a long-term extension is that it's cost-prohibitive as long as the industry continues to expand. Budget-wise, it's hard to do it for an extended period of time," said Frank Maisano, an energy industry lobbyist.

.13373 2007-12-30T15:36:06Z 2007-12-30T15:36:06Z

Wind energy is booming in Iowa, and backers say it's only the beginning. ...But the jobs could blow away, economists warn, just as other manufacturing jobs have disappeared because of competition and technological change. Other states want to attract manufacturers, too. Wind power depends on subsidies, and changes in government policies could dampen the enthusiasm for wind. ...John Solow, a University of Iowa economics professor, is cautiously optimistic about the future for wind generation and turbine manufacturing. Future policy decisions and technological innovations could change that, he said. A breakthrough in clean-burning coal, for example, could reduce interest in wind energy and biofuels, he said.

.12031 2007-10-03T16:04:41Z 2007-10-03T16:04:41Z

... a coalition of local utilities is grappling with one of the thorniest challenges in the field of renewable power: how to store the excess energy windmills create when demand is low so it can be used later, when the need is greater. The group is building a system that will steer surplus electricity generated by a nearby wind farm to a big air compressor. Connected to a deep well, the compressor pumps air into layers of sandstone. Some 3,000 feet down and sealed from above by dense shale, the porous sandstone acts like a giant balloon. Later, when demand for power rises, this flow is reversed.