News
A bankrupt wind energy company's latest attempt to get funding from P.E.I. taxpayers has been turned down. ...The Department of Innovation told CBC news Monday the company made several requests for loans, but none of the terms would give the province the kind of economic return it is looking for.
City officials are going back to the drawing board with their proposed wind turbine ordinance.
After debate Monday, the Austin City Council decided to table the proposed ordinance because council members said it needs more research.
Planning Commission chairwoman Lynn Spainhower heard from angry residents of Oak Park Village, who took exception to her remark to the council that the 350-foot setback the commission added last week was "arbitrary."
Also filed under [
Zoning/Planning|
Minnesota]
Villagers are celebrating after plans to build a wind farm, on the former wartime airfield at Graveley, were thrown out by Huntingdonshire District Council.
Opponents of the plan by Npower Renewables packed the Burgess Hall ...Councillors also strengthened opposition to the plan by beefing up a recommendation of refusal by planners who considered that four of the proposed eight turbines would have an adverse effect on the Grade II listed Toseland Hall.
Wyoming lawmakers will soon take up the thorny issue of whether to impose new taxes on wind energy development, a proposal that developers say could stunt the fledgling industry's growth in Wyoming.
Supporters of a new tax say it's only fair for wind projects to contribute to state and local governments equal to other energy industries. Opponents say Wyoming taxes are already high compared to surrounding states and any new tax would be premature.
The Joint Revenue Committee will consider two proposals to tax wind electricity generation at a Wednesday meeting in Cheyenne.
Also filed under [
Tax Breaks & Subsidies|
Wyoming]
Proposals to build Europe's largest onshore windfarm in the Shetland Islands at a cost of £800 million could be scaled back, according to developer Viking Energy, writes Will Nichols.
The limited company originally presented plans for the 150 turbine, 540MW project to the Shetland Islands council this summer.
However, last week, a spokesman for Viking Energy told NewEnergyFocus.com that the company is to submit an addendum to its plans early in the new year in a response to concerns flagged up during consultation, including over bird life and landscape.
Wisconsin Supreme Court denies Calumet County wind turbine review
November 17, 2009 by Jim Collar in Post-Crescent
November 17, 2009 by Jim Collar in Post-Crescent
Calumet County supervisors jumped the gun on new wind turbine rules this summer even while asking the state Supreme Court to consider whether its old ordinance met legal muster.
A denial from Wisconsin's justices will now require the county to put that early work to action.
The state Supreme Court on Friday denied Calumet County's petition for review of an appeals court decision that invalidated the county's wind turbine rules. The ordinance dictated setbacks and maximum heights and sound levels for all turbine construction within its zoning jurisdiction.
Paying extra for green power, and getting ads instead
November 17, 2009 by Kate Galbraith in New York Times
November 17, 2009 by Kate Galbraith in New York Times
The solicitations have been flooding people's mailboxes lately: pay a bit more on your electricity bill for 100 percent clean wind power. Or, the fliers say, buy "green power certificates" to offset your global warming emissions.
Close to a million electricity customers have signed up for such payments voluntarily, and the amount of electricity sold in this way has nearly tripled since 2005, amid rising concern about climate change and energy security. But the participants are in a distinct minority, with a sign-up rate of only about 2 percent in programs run by utilities.
Also filed under [
Energy Policy|
USA]
Supporters of liquefied natural gas terminals have thrown a late snag into what has been an orderly process to create rules for developing multibillion-dollar energy corridors in Maine. LNG representatives want to extend the current moratorium on energy corridors and create a government commission to do more reviews. Their proposal was filed late last week with the special study group already debating policy for energy corridors.
Wind energy study details Tazewell County impact
November 17, 2009 by Charles Owens in Bluefield Daily Telegraph
November 17, 2009 by Charles Owens in Bluefield Daily Telegraph
A proposed wind turbine farm for East River Mountain would provide $9.2 million in new revenue to Tazewell County over a 20 year period, according to the findings of a new wind energy economic impact study.
The study, which was made public Monday through the county's website, will be discussed in detail at tonight's Board of Supervisors meeting. The meeting begins at 5 p.m. at Tazewell Middle School with a wind turbine discussion scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
Six Digby Neck residents will visit Environment Minister Sterling Belliveau Wednesday in Halifax to ask a few questions about a planned wind turbine park.
"We're trying to find out his reasoning for approving this turbine site in the first place," Evelyn Hayden said Monday.
"We're just a group of concerned citizens that are trying to protect the health of everybody down here."
The rush to America of foreign wind-turbine manufacturers shows that the Obama administration's plan for stimulating the creation of green-energy jobs is going in an odd direction.
A vote was scheduled for Austin's City Council, on a proposed wind turbine ordinance, in the city. It would allow turbines, with several restrictions to be placed in industrial parks and commercial areas, but 350 feet away from residential buildings. ...But Monday's council never saw a vote on the issue, it was tabled on the overwhelming support of some concerned residents. A lot of people showed up to voice their disagreement with the ordinance, though it wasn't a public hearing.
Also filed under [
Zoning/Planning|
Minnesota]
Landowners in Henderson and Ellisburg are charged up over the proposed transmission line for Galloo Island Wind Farm.
They voiced their displeasure with the plan during public hearings for the Public Service Commission on Monday morning and evening in Henderson and Belleville. In fact, none of the about 50 speakers at Monday's hearings supported the project.
Upstate NY Power Corp., the developer for the entire project, is seeking to build a 50.6-mile, 230-kilovolt transmission line.
Also filed under [
Transmission|
New York]
Green energy a perfect incubator for legal conflict
November 17, 2009 by Richard Blackwell in The Globe and Mail
November 17, 2009 by Richard Blackwell in The Globe and Mail
On the surface, it looked like bad news for dozens of farmers in Prince Edward County, about 200 kilometres east of Toronto, who had leased portions of their land to SkyPower Corp. for a large wind power project.
SkyPower filed for bankruptcy protection in August, after which a creditor was able to register construction liens against about 150 parcels of those properties. ..."The take-home message is that people have good reason to be cautious on a number of different levels when looking at [renewable] energy projects," said Eric Gillespie, a Toronto lawyer who specializes in environmental issues.
This time, the county was prepared, but the developer was not ready to advance the Minonk Wind Farm project for a vote by the Woodford County Board.
At the request of David Radin, project manager for developer Gamesa Energy, the County Board on Tuesday tabled a vote on a road agreement as well as a special-use permit for the proposed 100-turbine project.
Attorney provides legal advice on wind farm options
November 17, 2009 by Jen Cullen in The Republican Eagle
November 17, 2009 by Jen Cullen in The Republican Eagle
Concerned residents have relentlessly questioned how far wind turbines should be set back from other structures in rural Goodhue County.
Commissioners learned Tuesday that addressing those concerns locally regarding two proposed wind farms could be difficult. ...[County Attorney Stephen] Betcher said state law now allows counties to step in and regulate wind farms between 5 and 25 megawatts as well with PUC's help. In doing so, commissioners could impose stricter standards - including for setbacks - than the state currently does on mid-range and larger projects.
Recommendation for wind farm permit on its way to McLean Co. Board
November 17, 2009 by M.K. Guetersloh in The Pantagraph
November 17, 2009 by M.K. Guetersloh in The Pantagraph
A recommendation that a proposed 333-turbine wind farm should be given a special use permit is on its way to the McLean County Board.
The McLean County Zoning Board of Appeals voted unanimously to recommend Horizon Wind Energy LLC's plan for Black Prairie Wind Farm, which would dot 3,500 acres north of Illinois 9 east of Bloomington-Normal.
The County Board likely will not take up the issue until its January meeting.
A state energy council on Monday recommended approval of the 95-turbine Desert Claim Wind Power Project but also put conditions on its future construction and operation eight miles northwest of Ellensburg.
The approval is a recommendation to Gov. Chris Gregoire who will make the final decision on the project, which has been sought since January 2003 by the French-owned firm of enXco USA Inc.
Gregoire is expected to formally receive the recommendation in early December and has until early February to make her decision.
Also filed under [
General|
Washington]
Italian finance police have arrested two prominent businessmen - including one with ties to a former investor in the Cape Wind project in Nantucket - in the wind energy sector on charges of fraud, reports the Financial Times.
Arrested were Oreste Vigorito, head of the IVPC energy company and president of Italy's National Association of Wind Energy, and Vito Nicastri, a Sicilian business associate, according to the article.
According to the European Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow, Oreste Vigorito has ties to Brian Caffyn, a former investor in the Cape Wind project, which has been criticized as a poor investment for taxpayers, reports Dakota Voice.
Where's the best place for a wind turbine in Orland Park? What are the advantages of a geothermal system? Should the village add solar power to some of its buildings?
These are some of the questions sustainability consultant Teresa Fourcher will help village officials answer.
The village is expected to use up to $10,000 in grant money from its $200,000 Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant to pay Fourcher.
Village manager Paul Grimes said most municipal staffs don't know a "hill of beans" about renewable energy so some help is needed.