News
Bowmanville green-power promoter guilty of defrauding investors
June 6, 2013 by Jeff Mitchell in Durham Region
June 6, 2013 by Jeff Mitchell in Durham Region
Gregory James Saunders convinced investors they were buying into a lucrative company that built wind turbines and collapsible homes, but his Saunders Power Incorporated was nothing but a sham, prosecutor Michael Malleson said.
PMLD appeals to governor about utility costs, turbine issues
June 5, 2013 by Phyllis Booth in The Landmark
June 5, 2013 by Phyllis Booth in The Landmark
Princeton Municipal Light Department manager Brian Allen has written to Governor Deval Patrick, noting that the failed wind turbine project has contributed significantly to the town's high utility costs. He is seeking financial support from the state. ...PMLD is a municipal utility with a $3 million budget and the turbine cost was approximately $1.2 million of that budget in 2012. "The utility does not have the ability to sustain itself with those types of losses."
Also filed under [
General|
Massachusetts]
Residents file wind farm complaints; Tipton road repairs to start this month
June 6, 2013 by Ken de la Bastide in Kokomo Tribune
June 6, 2013 by Ken de la Bastide in Kokomo Tribune
Residents blamed the Wildcat Wind Farm for creating noise, light flicker and cellphone and television reception issues in a stack of complaints delivered to the Tipton County Plan Commission.
Also filed under [
Impact on People|
Indiana]
Legislators seek offshore wind power restrictions
June 6, 2013 by Glenn Puit in Traverse City Record-Eagle
June 6, 2013 by Glenn Puit in Traverse City Record-Eagle
Reps. Ray Franz, R-Onekama, and Greg MacMaster, R-Kewadin, co-sponsored House Bill No. 4778 this week. The bill would prevent Michigan from entering into a lease or deed for the siting, placement or construction of a wind turbine on Michigan's unpatented or submerged lands. The legislation also would prevent leasing similar lands for an electric transmission line - a critical component for offshore wind projects in the Great Lakes.
Also filed under [
Offshore Wind|
Michigan]
Couple who can't escape the shadow of the wind turbines
June 6, 2013 by Auslan Cramb in The Telegraph
June 6, 2013 by Auslan Cramb in The Telegraph
Mrs Siddell, 69, who has had serious health problems in recent years, describes the Hadyard Hill wind farm they face as a "nightmare", and sometimes retreats to the lavatory to escape its effects. ...According to Struan Stevenson, the Conservative MEP, the Siddells are not alone, and the Scottish Government's drive for more wind farms is "blighting" lives across the country.
Timbertop Wind: SEC declines taking jurisdiction from Temple and New Ipswich
June 6, 2013 by Ashley Saari in Monadnock Ledger-Transcript
June 6, 2013 by Ashley Saari in Monadnock Ledger-Transcript
According to counsel for the SEC, Mike Iacapino, the committee made its decision based on the fact that the towns of New Ipswich and Temple have ordinances in place that deal with the pertinent issues, and the committee wasn't inclined to assert jurisdiction under those circumstances, among other considerations.
Also filed under [
General|
New Hampshire]
PSC formally dismisses Galloo Island transmission line application
June 6, 2013 by Jaegun Lee in Watertown Daily News
June 6, 2013 by Jaegun Lee in Watertown Daily News
In his order of dismissal, PSC acting Secretary Jeffrey C. Cohen reiterated the fact that Upstate NY had been "afforded a great deal of time to move forward substantively on this application" yet has not made any progress for well over a year.
Also filed under [
Transmission|
New York]
Wind farm seeks permit to avoid fines in case of eagle deaths
June 6, 2013 by Jarrel Wade in Tulsa World
June 6, 2013 by Jarrel Wade in Tulsa World
Opponents of the permit, including conservationists and tribes in the area, say they aren't against "green" energy investments. However, they are firmly against the placement of the planned 94-turbine wind farm, which is surrounded within five miles by several active bald eagle nests. ..."If you look at one site, it's not that big of a deal, but you look at all the sites ... collectively, you're looking at a huge impact,"
The proposed Fourmile Ridge wind project in eastern Garrett County has gone beyond the 60-day appeal process for the Federal Aviation Administration's interim decision in February that all 24 proposed wind turbines are presumed to be a hazard to air navigation.
Long awaited guidance on the Production Tax Credit
June 3, 2013 by Susan Kraemer in Wind Energy Update
June 3, 2013 by Susan Kraemer in Wind Energy Update
"I think that is the most difficult thing for the wind industry, that you have the lack of predictability for the regime that basically helps incentivise the industry," says Pugh. "This kind of start and stop of the PTC, and this kind of unpredictability of it, is very difficult."
Also filed under [
Tax Breaks & Subsidies|
USA]
End of hated wind farms that ruin our countryside amid growing backlash over green energy
June 6, 2013 by Macer Hall in The Daily Express
June 6, 2013 by Macer Hall in The Daily Express
Eric Pickles's Department for Communities and Local Government will announce that planning laws are to be amended so that "consultation with local communities" is compulsory before wind farm developers can even formally apply for planning permission
It means local authorities will get powers to block possible developments early in the planning process.
Tackling organised crime in a bid to secure investor confidence in wind
June 6, 2013 by Rachana Raizada in Renewable Energy World
June 6, 2013 by Rachana Raizada in Renewable Energy World
The DIA's aggressiveness in clamping down on organised crime is widely lauded but investor confidence is far from being restored. An industry insider who has observed investment funds shying away from Italy believes the country risk is just too high when the political instability and the reduced incentive schemes announced in 2012 are added in. ...The mafia allegations and potential for random asset seizures hasn't helped - companies wanting to sell their wind farms in Sicily aren't finding buyers.
No permits filed with state for Wild Meadows wind project
June 6, 2013 by Dan Seufert in New Hampshire Union Leader
June 6, 2013 by Dan Seufert in New Hampshire Union Leader
The Spain-based wind-power company that drew public outcry with its proposed wind farm project for the ridgelines near Newfound Lake and Mount Cardigan has not filed for permits for the project with the state.
Also filed under [
General|
New Hampshire]
Senior Conservatives claim the move will effectively end the spread of the controversial turbines which have been blamed for blighting picturesque landscapes.
Ministers will announce that residents will have to be consulted over new wind farms with applications barred if there is significant opposition. Councils are currently prevented from even considering applications for larger turbines.
Lowell Mountain Ridgeprotectors demand hearings on GMP bat-taking application
June 6, 2013 by Robin Smith in Caledonian Record
June 6, 2013 by Robin Smith in Caledonian Record
Ridgeline wind project opponents want hearings on a permit application by Green Mountain Power to allow the deaths of a small number of endangered or protected bats each year by Lowell wind turbines.
The man who represents a group of people who own property near a proposed New Ross-area wind farm says the project "is ripping this community apart."
Emery Peters gave an impassioned closing argument Wednesday as a provincial Utility and Review Board hearing into the appeal of the South Canoe wind farm wrapped up.
Town of Madison working on windmill law rewrite, holding meeting June 13
June 5, 2013 by Jolene Cleaver in Oneida Daily Dispatch
June 5, 2013 by Jolene Cleaver in Oneida Daily Dispatch
The town of Madison is about halfway through the process of creating a new windmill law.
Analysis of the work of a committee that re-tooled an existing windpower facilities law was conducted in February. Since then, the plan has been reviewed by the town planning board.
Also filed under [
Zoning/Planning|
New York]
Alex Attwood said the reason a final decision had not yet been issued on the long standing proposal to erect a single 60 metre turbine close to Lough Patrick indicated that concerns about the land's religious significance were being factored in.
In Ireland, for example, a court case is pending involving seven families from Banteer, Co Cork and the wind energy company Enercon. The Banteer families claim living near a wind farm has destroyed their quality of life.
U.S. to lease federal waters for commercial offshore wind energy
June 5, 2013 by John M. Broder in The New York Times
June 5, 2013 by John M. Broder in The New York Times
The federal government will hold the first lease sale for commercial offshore wind energy projects at the end of July, the Interior Department announced on Tuesday. ...In 2010, federal officials approved the fiercely contested offshore wind farm known as Cape Wind after nine years of battles with Massachusetts residents.
Also filed under [
Offshore Wind|
USA]