facts, analysis, exposure of wind energy's real impacts Windaction http://www.windaction.org/articles/c84+89?theme=atom Xarayar 2006-06-12T02:16:27Z .37967 2013-04-05T12:12:27Z 2013-04-05T12:12:27Z

U.S. District Judge Michael Davis dismissed a lawsuit filed by the developer of the 100-turbine Merricourt project, which remains unbuilt amid lingering fears that whooping cranes and piping plovers will be slashed to death by its turbine blades.

.35940 2012-09-01T21:07:49Z 2012-09-01T21:07:49Z

Dwight Anderson, an Allete executive leading the North Dakota project, testified before the commission that potential buyers last year had expressed interest in purchasing the wind farm's output, but no agreement was struck. "Interest has waned as the growth and need for energy remained flat or declined in the overall Midwest region."

.34598 2012-03-20T23:20:27Z 2012-03-20T23:20:27Z

Nearly two months of negotiations failed to settle a lawsuit against Xcel Energy over a stalled $400 million North Dakota wind farm, Xcel Energy said Tuesday, March 20. Now Xcel is preparing for a trial, but the wind farm developer, enXco Development Corp., says it's still open to talks.

.32125 2011-06-09T10:55:04Z 2011-06-09T10:55:04Z

EnXco President and CEO Tristan Grimbert said in an interview that his company still wants to build the project with Xcel's participation even though the two are suing each other over the termination.

.31897 2011-05-06T14:33:17Z 2011-05-06T14:33:17Z

Xcel Energy is asking a federal district court in Minnesota to find that it had the right to terminate a $400 million wind farm development contract with its partner enXco. enXco has counter-sued, asking for $245 millon in damages.

.31640 2011-04-06T22:45:18Z 2011-04-06T22:45:18Z

The decision to scrap the project apparently came as a surprise to enXco. Its parent company, EDF Energies Nouvelles of France, issued a statement Tuesday that disputed Xcel's reasons. It said that enXco would continue to work with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to mitigate threats to endangered species.

.31636 2011-04-06T20:39:55Z 2011-04-06T20:39:55Z

On the plains of North Dakota, two rare birds have sparked an unusual fight between giant energy companies that have long worked as partners. The battle erupted over the endangered whooping crane, which migrates through the state, and the piping plover, a threatened species on the northern plains.

.31631 2011-04-05T21:23:12Z 2011-04-05T21:23:12Z

The project's developer, enXco, said Tuesday that it disputes Xcel's canceling of the project because of threats to two endangered birds. In a statement released by its French parent company, enXco said it intended to fight the termination of the 150-megawatt Merricourt Wind Project announced last week by Xcel.

.30277 2010-12-06T16:33:48Z 2010-12-06T16:33:48Z

Stenehjem argues that Minnesota's restrictive laws on carbon emissions violate the U.S. Constitution's commerce clause, which bars states from interfering in other states' commerce. Minnesota is free to impose whatever restrictions it wishes on its own power plants but runs afoul of the commerce clause when extending those restrictions on other states, Stenehjem said.

.30061 2010-11-22T20:34:12Z 2010-11-22T20:34:12Z

Minnkota Power Cooperative, which supplies electricity for a wide swath of eastern North Dakota and northwest Minnesota, has been delivering a jolt to its member rural electric cooperatives. A combination of factors involving the economics of wind power in Minnesota have led the power provider to tack on a surcharge adding almost 10 percent at the wholesale level.

.27831 2010-06-18T12:42:46Z 2010-06-18T12:42:46Z

Minnesota Power held a ceremonial groundbreaking Thursday in North Dakota to kick off construction of its first wholly owned wind farm in North Dakota.

.26196 2010-03-15T19:20:40Z 2010-03-15T19:20:40Z

Developers of a new power line in western North Dakota are spending $500,000 to make sure whooping cranes don't run into it. Minnesota Power is building the 22-mile line in Morton and Oliver counties. It's supposed to connect a new 75-megawatt wind farm to the Square Butte electric substation near Center.

.22499 2009-08-04T12:41:35Z 2009-08-04T12:41:35Z

Wind farms are rapidly expanding across the Midwest, and a growing number of residents who live near the wind turbines are complaining about noise. ...Leon Steinberg is CEO of Minneapolis-based National Wind. He said most wind farm developers already use setbacks that exceed state regulations. "I don't think the industry believes it's a significant problem," Steinberg said. "But I believe the industry is concerned with the perception that it may be a problem."

.21815 2009-06-29T14:20:55Z 2009-06-29T14:20:55Z

A Minnesota Department of Health analysis of possible health effects from wind turbines concludes that annoyance and diminished quality of life are the most frequent complaints from nearby residents. The "white paper," a review of available scientific research, notes that people vary greatly in their sensitivity to noise, with penetrating, low-frequency sounds posing the most problems.

.13160 2007-12-13T23:13:34Z 2007-12-13T23:13:34Z

The project's official name is "Capacity Expansion by 2020," or "CapX2020" for short. It is being driven by an alliance of 11 different utility companies throughout the region, which covers all of Minnesota as well as parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa and Wisconsin. The power line planned for this area is one of three 345 kV lines proposed at different areas of the state as part of the the CapX2020 project. The project also includes construction of one 230 kV line between Bemidji and Grand Rapids. A public hearing for residents of this area is scheduled for next Tuesday, in Cannon Falls. It is one of many meetings still to come during the CapX2020 planning process. ...Rate payers from all area power utility companies will see an increase in their bills as a result of the CapX2020 construction, he added. Though Fordice could not put a specific amount on how much the increase to utility bills will be - probably $1.50 to $2 a month - the project itself is going to cost $1.4 billion, which will be divided among all 11 utility companies.

.8626 2007-03-27T11:59:50Z 2007-03-27T11:59:50Z

(AP) Bismarck, N.D. A proposed new wind farm near Langdon, North Dakota, will be supplying power for Minnkota Power Cooperative and Otter Tail Power Company. When it's finished, the Langdon project will be North Dakota's largest wind farm. It's planned to have 106 wind turbines -- generating 159 megawatts of power. Fergus Falls, Minnesota-based Otter Tail Power will own 27 of the turbines and get 40 megawatts of electricity from the project. The rest of the wind farm's output is being sold to Minnkota Power Cooperative of Grand Forks, North Dakota, Minnkota supplies wholesale power to eleven electric cooperatives in eastern North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota.

.8575 2007-03-24T11:14:32Z 2007-03-24T11:14:32Z

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - A group of utilities in Iowa, Minnesota and the Dakotas plan to spend $200 million on a project in Iowa that would store energy generated by wind turbines. The Iowa Stored Energy Park would essentially act as a "battery" for wind energy, said Bob Haub, executive director of the Iowa Association of Municipal Utilities. Wind farms in Iowa, Minnesota and the Dakotas would ship energy over the power grid to the storage park near Des Moines. Xcel Energy and the federal government are experimenting with ways to "store" wind power in the form of hydrogen, but the Iowa project would employ a far simpler strategy that would include the following steps:

.8257 2007-03-05T12:32:18Z 2007-03-05T12:32:18Z

Minnesota’s new mandate requiring 25 percent of the state’s electricity to be derived from renewable energy sources by 2025 likely will boost wind-power development in North Dakota. The so-called “25 by ’25” initiative sends a signal to regional power providers that demand for wind energy will grow significantly, said Brad Crabtree, of Kulm, N.D., director of an initiative by the Great Plains Institute to reach consensus about how to reduce greenhouse gases. “I think the implications are large for North Dakota,” he said. Minnesota, especially the growing Twin Cities metro area, is a big export market for electricity generated in North Dakota, he said. “The political sentiments are pretty obvious in Minnesota, and we need to provide a power mix that is customer-oriented,” Crabtree said.

.4623 2006-08-24T12:08:36Z 2006-08-24T12:08:36Z

Separately, the commission on Wednesday gave regulatory approval for FPL Energy to build an electric substation and 532-foot stretch of new power line in Oliver County. The utility is developing a wind turbine farm near Center. When completed, the wind development will use 22 turbines to generate 50 megawatts of electricity, which is being sold to Minnesota Power of Duluth. The power line and substation are needed to transmit the energy east, Commissioner Susan Wefald said.

.3401 2006-06-10T13:08:41Z 2006-06-10T13:08:41Z

ST. PAUL, Minn. - An upgrade of the state's power grid would include a $600 million high-voltage transmission line from the South Dakota border to the Minneapolis-St. Paul area - and that's just part of the plan proposed by a coalition of utility companies. The plan also calls for a second high-voltage line from Fargo, N.D., to the St. Cloud area, a third line from the Minneapolis-area to Rochester and then to La Crosse, Wis., and a smaller fourth line in the Bemidji area.