facts, analysis, exposure of wind energy's real impacts Windaction http://www.windaction.org/articles/c99+52?theme=atom Xarayar 2006-06-12T02:16:27Z .23259 2009-09-22T03:53:17Z 2009-09-22T03:53:17Z

A public informational meeting will be held Wednesday at the Butler Township Municipal Building for input into amending the township zoning ordinance to address wind turbine issues. The meeting, slated from 6 to 8 p.m., was announced at last week's meeting of the Butler Township Board of Supervisors by Chairman Kevin Kowalick, a Republican-Herald employee. The decision to amend the zoning ordinance was spurred by the plans of Broad Mountain Development Co. LLC to construct 27 wind turbines, or windmills, in the Fountain Springs area.

.22936 2009-09-02T09:07:42Z 2009-09-02T09:07:42Z

Despite reports to the contrary, none of the $294 million in stimulus money awarded Tuesday to Spanish wind company Iberdrola Renewables will be spent in Pennsylvania, according to company officials. ...Johnson said Iberdrola applied for stimulus money using projects already completed, like Locust Ridge II, as examples. She said the federal government was looking at a company's track record of success.

.22816 2009-08-23T08:17:39Z 2009-08-23T08:17:39Z

The latest generation of wind turbines needs bigger blades than the 140-foot-long, 6-ton models that Gamesa Technology Corp. Inc. has been making at its factory in Fairless Hills. So company officials announced 184 layoffs in January and said the blade work would be transferred to a larger Gamesa plant in the center of the state, near Altoona. And just that fast, manufacturing jobs that Spain-based Gamesa had delivered to this region less than three years earlier - aided by more than $10 million in financial incentives from Harrisburg - were gone

.19478 2009-01-13T14:17:54Z 2009-01-13T14:17:54Z

A tie vote by Tyrone Borough Council means wind turbines won't be going up on Ice Mountain - at least for now. "Half the town's going to be pleased," said Mayor Jim Kilmartin, one of three who voted against leasing borough watershed land to wind energy developer Gamesa USA. "Half the town will be unpleased." Councilmen Mark Kosoglow and Steve Hanzir also voted against moving ahead with the project that would put 15 to 20 wind turbines on the mountain as part of Gamesa's Sandy Ridge Wind Farm.

.19265 2008-12-16T17:40:43Z 2008-12-16T17:40:43Z

Tyrone Borough Council will vote on a watershed study that started a few years ago. ...The city has been going back and forth between building windmills or establishing a gas lease, but the mayor says windmills appear to be the best fit.

.19109 2008-12-04T01:08:42Z 2008-12-04T01:08:42Z

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, under Democrat Governor Edward G. Rendell's administration, put together an Alternative Energy Package that was passed last year, where the state borrowed $500 million to stimulate conservation efforts and alternative energy sources, such as windmills and solar. Rep. Stern explained that all of those efforts combined are good, but at the same time, he questioned the state's investment of $500 million in taxpayer dollars. The state's reasoning to invest such a large amount of money was to gain investment return dollars.

.17645 2008-08-27T05:11:48Z 2008-08-27T05:11:48Z

"We've been really derelict," Specter said of Congress' response to the energy issue. "We're gonna have to go to alternate forms of energy, and I've been supporting that." Virginia Deeter from Somerset County told Specter her home of 30 years soon would sit between two wind turbine facilities: one 1,400 feet away from her back door and the other 1,800 feet away from her front door. "Our home is going to be worthless," she said she was told by real estate agents. "Where do we turn?"

.17576 2008-08-23T15:15:56Z 2008-08-23T15:15:56Z

Virginia may have given a controversial power line an initial "yes," but Pennsylvania has given it an initial "no." In a ruling released late Thursday, regulatory judges in Pennsylvania recommended that the state's Public Utilities Commission deny applications from Allegheny Power and Dominion Virginia power to build the Trans-Allegheny Interstate Line. A hearing examiner for the Virginia State Corporation Commission has recommended approval for the controversial power line, but only on the condition that West Virginia and Pennsylvania also sign off on the plan.

.17354 2008-08-13T05:23:22Z 2008-08-13T05:23:22Z

Up to 35 electricity-generating wind turbines are to be built along seven miles of the Laurel Hill ridge in Jackson and McIntyre townships in northern Lycoming County, under the plans of Vermont-based Laurel Hill Wind Energy. On Tuesday, the commission reviewed the plan in detail. "The work session was held to delve into the plan and make sure all our questions are answered," said Kurt Hausammann Jr., commission executive director. "A plan of this scale warranted a separate meeting."

.15118 2008-04-08T06:46:16Z 2008-04-08T06:46:16Z

Four windmills may line a portion of the horizon near the Allegheny and Stonycreek townships border by the end of 2009. At their meeting on Monday, township supervisors said that Airtricity Inc., of Connecticut, plans to construct a farm of between 20 and 30 windmills in Allegheny, Stonycreek and Shade townships. During the meeting, the supervisors reviewed a sketch plan of part of the farm drawn by Musser Engineering Inc., of Central City. The four windmills planned in Allegheny Township are to be built on property owned by the New Baltimore Sportsman's Club.

.14809 2008-03-23T17:17:59Z 2008-03-23T17:17:59Z

The final round of hearings begin this week over the controversial high-voltage power line proposal that Allegheny Energy will attempt to prove is vitally important for Southwestern Pennsylvania. As many as 26 expert witnesses are expected to testify during the three-week long technical evidentiary hearings, which will debate the need for the project and explain the routing of the line. ...These evidentiary hearings are one of the final steps before PUC administrative law judges Mark A. Hoyer and Michael A. Nemec make their recommendation to the commission in the summer. The commission is then expected in September to approve, reject or alter the proposal. "I think the residents continue to feel as though they're under attack," Nicholl said. "This is a long and exhausting process, and the stress is very high."

.14013 2008-02-08T05:33:57Z 2008-02-08T05:33:57Z

The winds of change soon may be blowing in Lycoming County. Vermont-based Laurel Hill Wind Energy LLC plans to submit an application to the county to build a commercial electricity-generating wind farm on the Laurel Hill Ridge in Jackson and McIntyre townships. The application will be submitted within days to county zoning administrator to Fred G. Pfeiffer, Robert Charlebois, managing director of parent company Catamount Energy Corp. of Rutland, Vt., said Wednesday. The company proposed the project about four years ago.

.13146 2007-12-13T04:00:37Z 2007-12-13T04:00:37Z

On Capitol Hill, the Audubon Society is leading the fight to increase production of climate-friendly power. So why are Audubon enthusiasts battling a wind farm that could help meet that goal? For one thing, there are trout in nearby streams, which activists say are at risk from chemical and sediment runoff from construction of 30 turbines, each soaring about 400 feet -- taller than the Statue of Liberty. Then there are the bats and hawks, which might be puréed by the giant blades that would catch the wind gusting along the Allegheny Mountains of Western Pennsylvania. "They're enormous," says Tom Dick, a retired veterinarian who founded the local Audubon chapter. "When you start looking at this, it's like, 'hell, this is not right.'"

.12697 2007-11-16T16:08:07Z 2007-11-16T16:08:07Z

Citizens fill every seat Thursday in the Commissioners Board Room as Lycoming County Commissioners vote on zoning changes for proposed wind farms. Depending on your point of view, an amendment to the county zoning ordinance pertaining to wind energy is a step toward energy independence or a threat to the preservation of the county's wilderness and scenic beauty. The Lycoming County commissioners Thursday unanimously approved the amendment, which will allow electricity-generating wind turbines by right in resource protection, countryside and agricultural zoning districts.

.11650 2007-09-05T16:14:47Z 2007-09-05T16:14:47Z

A Press Conference has been scheduled for 12 noon on Monday September 17, 2007 in the rotunda of the Capitol in Harrisburg to protest the statewide push by the Rendell Administration to turn hundreds of miles of Pennsylvania's forested ridge tops into industrial wind facilities. Groups from across the state will be addressing the various concerns that wind power facilities pose to Pennsylvania's wild areas, wildlife, tourism, historical resources, and viewscapes.

.11512 2007-08-23T11:54:14Z 2007-08-23T11:54:14Z

A series of nine meetings will be held by the state Bureau of Forestry to seek public input on changes to its master management plan charting the course of Pennsylvania's state forests for future generations.

.11428 2007-08-21T11:05:23Z 2007-08-21T11:05:23Z

The Pennsylvania Biological Survey has gone to bat for the bats in a swirling policy debate over whether commercial wind power development should be permitted in state forests. The debate pits advocates of wind power as an alternative energy source against those who fear that windmills are harmful to bats and birds.

.11316 2007-08-13T14:37:09Z 2007-08-13T14:37:09Z

Gov. Ed Rendell, who has been outspoken on the need to limit emissions of global warming gases, has not delivered on a promise to come up with his own strategy for Pennsylvania. Administration spokesmen would give no reason for the delay, other than to say a plan is still being worked on.

.11132 2007-08-03T11:10:36Z 2007-08-03T11:10:36Z

WELLSBORO - Plans by the state to allow wind farms to build on all but 2 percent of state forest lands have been abandoned, according to a Department of Conservation and Natural Resources spokeswoman. Chris Novak, agency director of communications, said Thursday that discussions had been ongoing but, because of efforts to attract people to the natural resources and develop ecotourism, the agency has pulled state forest lands in the 12-county area known as "The Wilds" out of the running. "The Pennsylvania Wilds are off the table, along with all other state forest lands, except about two percent located in spots in the southcentral portions of the state, wherever there is adequate wind and ridge tops," said John Quigley, DCNR director of legislation and strategic initiatives.

.10704 2007-07-12T11:57:08Z 2007-07-12T11:57:08Z

A fight over renewable energy and biofuels led to a temporary shutdown of Pennsylvania's state government and, despite a compromise being reached, the opponents will resume battle in September. At issue is Governor Edward Rendell's energy independence strategy to promote renewables, energy conservation and biofuels. The Democratic governor hoped to fund an $850 million effort through a surcharge of 0.05 cents/kWh on utility bills, but Republican Senate leaders who oppose taxes resisted the idea. They also objected to measures requiring utilities to opt for conservation and renewables when customer load grows. And they opposed requiring utilities to install 'smart' meters that allow customers to see time-of-day prices and cut usage accordingly.