www.windaction.orgfacts, analysis, exposure of wind energy's real impactsWindactionhttp://www.windaction.org/articles/c82+91?theme=atomXarayar2006-06-12T02:16:27Z
Setbacks and strides for wind power.215162009-06-10T17:18:34Z2009-06-10T17:18:34ZAfter a sorely disappointing eight-month trial period, the town of Kittery, Maine, is shutting down the 50-kilowatt wind turbine it installed at the Transfer Station last fall. Real-time data from the 124-foot turbine shows that it generated less than 15 percent of the electricity expected between October and May. The turbine turmoil: South Berwick residents, officials discuss pros and cons of wind energy.185042008-10-23T20:09:19Z2008-10-23T20:09:19Z[T]here are some negatives associated with the increasingly popular form of alternative energy, according to a University of New Hampshire expert.
But the cons - mainly noise and vibrations from the rotating turbines - are generally things people can live with, UNH assistant professor of geography Mary Lemcke said.
In South Berwick, a 300-foot-high ridge across from Marshwood High School is being eyed as a possible location for a wind farm. A Cape Neddick-based alternative energy company is conducting a yearlong wind study there with the hopes a wind farm would be viable.
For Wisconsin resident Gerry Meyer, however, the sound of five 400-foot-tall wind turbines located within three quarters of a mile of his home is simply unbearable.
Wind Power: turbulence ahead .183602008-09-01T00:00:00Z2008-09-01T00:00:00ZImagine 30 wind turbines whirring ATOP two remote Maine peaks. The 300-ton towers, with blades sweeping 400 feet high and aglow with aircraft-warning lights, would each produce 9,000 megawatt-hours of renewable electricity per year. So what's wrong with this picture? A lot, according to groups like the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) and the Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC)–like the fact that the windmills in this proposed farm would be visible from a 34-mile stretch of the Appalachian Trail.PSNH officials say millions of dollars of projects on tap.168332008-07-14T15:23:25Z2008-07-14T15:23:25ZBoisvert said future projects only will result in more spending as the utility carries out needed improvements.
She also said one of the most expensive projects on the horizon could be the proposed Coos County Loop. She said this project requires the transmission lines in Coos County to be upgraded so new biomass, wind and solar power generated there can be transported to Southern New Hampshire and other states as needed.
Boisvert said PSNH has to carry out that project to meet the state's Renewable Portfolio Standards approved by state lawmakers. ...
It has yet to be determined if the costs will be borne by PSNH ratepayers, New Hampshire state taxpayers or shouldered by customers of member utility companies that make up ISO-New England throughout the Northeast.
"There's no definitive answer," Boisvert said.
Transmission limits hamper renewable energy plans .145832008-03-09T21:04:02Z2008-03-09T21:04:02ZState and regional regulators acknowledge the hurdles - especially in northern New Hampshire - but don't have ready solutions. A bill before the New Hampshire Senate would have the state be ready to act if no regional solution is forthcoming.
ISO New England, which manages power for the region, is considering changing rules so more of the costs of transmission upgrades could be shared regionally. But as things stand now, backers of projects generally must pay for upgrades needed to connect them to the system.
"None of this is a real speedy process," acknowledges Michael Harrington, senior regional policy adviser for the state Public Utilities Commission.
Power plants get little-known subsidies.124062007-10-28T16:05:58Z2007-10-28T16:05:58ZWhile paper mills close and Cabletron spins off its remnants out of state, power plants from the Seacoast to Whitefield enjoy the perks of a poorly understood, $100-million subsidy program just for energy producers. It has a bureaucratic name: the forward capacity market. ...An unidentified 600-megawatt, gas-fired power plant project somewhere in Rockingham County is blocked behind half a dozen North Country renewable energy projects in the ISO-New England regulatory queue. The waiting list policy is first-come, first-served. A plant like that would typically pay its host community $4 million or more in property taxes, with few smokestack emissions. But those wind- and wood-fired projects at the front of the line are all in limbo. The Public Service power lines in the region are too small. Most of the players can't even bid into the upcoming ISO auction, because yet-to-be-built plants have to ante millions of dollars as a sort of performance bond. And the ISO doesn't make forward capacity payments for transmission line upgrades.Study hints power rates to stay high.111132007-08-02T12:00:23Z2007-08-02T12:00:23ZNew England's electricity rates, among the highest in the nation, will continue to depend almost entirely on the price of natural gas over the next two decades -- no matter what policies state leaders adopt for conserving energy and approving new kinds of power plants, according to a study being released today.
The report, by Independent System Operator New England, which runs the six-state power grid and the region's $10 billion wholesale power market, offers no hope rates will drop significantly unless the price of natural gas plummets. That's an outcome few energy investors are banking on.
Since 2000, as New England has grown more dependent on cleaner-burning natural-gas power plants, average homeowners' electric bills in Massachusetts have roughly doubled, along with an equivalent jump in the prices for wholesale natural gas. The ISO's "scenario analysis" examines 52 approaches to meeting demand for electricity through 2025, but takes no position on which are best. They include launching massive conservation efforts, building nuclear generators at existing nuclear plants, and making a huge regional push into cleaner-burning coal plants.
Regardless of which scenario is pursued, 90 percent of the time in 2020-2025 the price of gas would determine the price of electricity, the report says. Emissions, regulation, siting among legislative priorities in Northeast.105902007-07-06T11:22:37Z2007-07-06T11:22:37ZLegislators in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic passed a number of bills applying to the electric power industry, with several states committing to emissions reductions through the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and other states making broad organizational changes to their regulatory processes.PEI Wind Farm Exports Power To U.S..96102007-05-16T11:00:28Z2007-05-16T11:00:28ZA portion of the wind energy generated from newly installed wind turbines located in PEI was wheeled through PEI and New Brunswick and sold to the New England Power Pool (NEPOOL) via the international interconnection node in Keswick, N.B. The renewable energy certificates (RECs) that were generated from this transmission were sold separately to independent buyers located in the NEPOOL. Significant New England Energy Alliance Survey Results.91762007-04-26T21:28:25Z2007-04-26T21:28:25ZNew England Energy Alliance Survey Finds Consumer Concern about Future Electricity Supplies, Desire to Choose Electricity Supplier and Support for Addressing Global WarmingISO New England warns $3.4B in plant investments needed.60232006-10-28T12:16:20Z2006-10-28T12:16:20ZNew England will need to add power plants capable of generating 4,300 megawatts, and $3.4 billion of additional transmission investment, by 2015 to avoid blackouts, the region’s grid operator says.
The area will need 170 megawatts of new power before the summer of 2009 to assure adequate supplies, according to ISO New England Inc., the power grid and wholesale market operator that serves the region’s 14 million people........ If a 1,000 megawatt coal or nuclear power plant had been installed in 2005, buyers in the wholesale market would have saved $600 million in power costs, the report said.
Windplant developer hires consulting firm.58202006-10-18T11:57:44Z2006-10-18T11:57:44ZSaying New England holds tremendous opportunity for wind energy development, Connecticut-based Noble Environmental Power today announced that it is teaming up with Vermont-based Vermont Environmental Research Associates (VERA) to explore potential windpark locations throughout the region.
Energy officials: Supply looks good Flurry of power plant plans may ease crunch.55272006-10-01T13:00:06Z2006-10-01T13:00:06ZUnder the agreement, ISO New England will project regional power needs three years in advance and hold annual auctions to buy power resources, including new and existing power plants. Incentives would encourage private operators to respond to power system emergencies, and operators that don't make extra capacity available would face penalties.
Flurry of power plant proposals offers hope.53492006-09-25T21:35:01Z2006-09-25T21:35:01ZAfter years of warning that New England's electric grid was on the brink of having to impose Third World-style rolling blackouts, top power officials now cautiously predict the region may have enough power for the near future.
Since February, thanks to recent policy changes, proposals for 21 new power plants that could deliver enough electricity for about 3 million homes have come before regional power grid administrators. Those include a $1.5 billion NRG Energy Inc. plan for multiple new generators in Connecticut and a single generator that would burn methane gas from a dump in Westminster, near Fitchburg.
The Holyoke -based organization that runs the six-state power grid and wholesale markets, Independent System Operator New England, plans to discuss the projects in a two-day Boston conference starting today .
Seven Northeastern States Set Greenhouse Gas Limits.44612006-08-16T12:19:53Z2006-08-16T12:19:53ZAug. 15 (Bloomberg) -- New York, New Jersey and five other Northeast states set a goal of cutting power-plant carbon dioxide emissions by 10 percent over 10 years to help curb global warming.Wind-Power Sites Gaining In Northeast - New England's High Speeds Attract Wind Farms: 10 Online, A Dozen Proposed.43772006-08-07T14:35:23Z2006-08-07T14:35:23ZMore than 10 large and small wind-power facilities are on line in the region. More could be on their way. A proposed 24-megawatt project in Lempster, N.H., is under regulatory review. A 13.5-megawatt project in western Massachusetts' Berkshires is moving through the regulatory process.
Wood-burning plants gain power.43052006-08-06T13:12:52Z2006-08-06T13:12:52Z``The problem we're having with all these wind farms is . . . they're proposing to put them in all the worst places," said Thomas W. French , assistant director of the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife. ``If they could do what the Russell Biomass plant did, which is to find a preexisting, historical industrial district, we'd be applauding them." As part of the ongoing state permitting process for the plant, French's division worked with its developers to reroute proposed power lines to reduce their impact on wildlife.
Power usage expected to break records, but supply adequate.42512006-08-02T12:50:45Z2006-08-02T12:50:45ZThe New England power grid will have 30,345 megawatts available today - use is expected to peak at a record 28,030 megawatts, even after energy companies have put out a call for people to voluntarily reduce power consumption, she said.
‘Gloomy picture’ for power prices.41272006-07-27T22:34:22Z2006-07-27T22:34:22ZWORCESTER— Absent interest in lower-priced fuels, New Englanders should brace for continued high electricity prices, the byproduct of a regional system heavily dependent on oil, natural gas and coal, the head of the region’s power grid said yesterday.
