News
Category:
Texas
New plan aims to reduce bird, wind turbine conflicts from Corpus Christi to Canada
September 7, 2011 by Mark Collette in Corpus Christi Caller Times
September 7, 2011 by Mark Collette in Corpus Christi Caller Times
The plan would provide conservation guidelines for development of wind farms across a 200-mile-wide migratory flyway from the Gulf of Mexico to North Dakota and Montana.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is holding an informational and public input meeting Thursday at the American Bank Center, the last in an initial series of meetings across the plan area.
Also filed under [
Impact on Wildlife|
USA]
Wind turbine erupts into flames southwest Of Abilene
August 26, 2011 by Wayne McCormick in KTXS News
August 26, 2011 by Wayne McCormick in KTXS News
ECCA Fire Chief Gary Young said the fire started in the wind turbine tower and then spread to grass around the tower.
Also filed under [
Safety|
Structural Failure]
Cost of Texas wind transmission lines nears $7 billion
August 25, 2011 by Kate Galbraith in The Texas Tribune
August 25, 2011 by Kate Galbraith in The Texas Tribune
The new number, which amounts to roughly $270 for every Texan, comes from the latest update on the project prepared for the Public Utility Commission. Ratepayers will ultimately be on the hook for the cost, but no one has begun to see the charges appear on their electric bills yet ...Ultimately, the commission says, the charges could amount to $4 to $5 per month on Texas electric bills, for years.
Also filed under [
Transmission]
"We need more tourism if we are to survive the apprehensive world economy, but erecting a monstrosity of this ilk is a transgression of an area of outstanding beauty, indicating to tourists when they cross the border at Carter Bar that we do not care for our precious countryside," adds Mr Smith.
Also filed under [
General]
Sierra Club raises concerns about South Texas offshore wind farm
August 18, 2011 by Mark Collette in Corpus Christi Caller Times
August 18, 2011 by Mark Collette in Corpus Christi Caller Times
An environmental group outlined concerns Wednesday on how proposed offshore wind farms, poised to become the first in the Texas, might negatively affect wildlife.
Baryonyx Corp. wants to install 200 wind turbines each in three areas off the South Texas coast, one of which is planned for the Coastal Bend. The group's comments to the Army Corps of Engineers illustrate why the project is likely to be one of the state's most scrutinized wind energy developments.
Also filed under [
Impact on Wildlife|
Impact on Landscape]
Wind Energy Transmission Texas LLC, a joint venture of Brookfield Asset Management Inc. and Isolux Corsan Concesiones SA, arranged a $500 million loan to build 378 miles (608 kilometers) of power lines in west Texas.
Also filed under [
Transmission]
Some Big Country counties raising taxes as wind farm values decrease
August 10, 2011 by Larry Zelisko in Abilene Reporter-News
August 10, 2011 by Larry Zelisko in Abilene Reporter-News
Keith Ellis, senior industrial and personal property appraiser, said there are several reasons wind farms and wind turbines have dropped in value.
The price of electricity was low at the beginning of the year when values were set, he said, which means wind farms were not as profitable.
Also filed under [
Impact on Economy|
Tax Breaks & Subsidies]
Broadwind loses $4.4M in 2nd quarter; But sales up 17 percent from last year
August 6, 2011 by Jaime Adame in Abilene Reporter-News
August 6, 2011 by Jaime Adame in Abilene Reporter-News
Broadwind, based in Illinois, began Abilene operations in 2008 and receives financial incentives from the Development Corp. of Abilene, which allocates the city's half-cent sales tax for economic development projects.
The DCOA has pledged up to $7.3 million to the company.
Also filed under [
General]
Exec tries to quell doubts over wind turbines off SPI
July 30, 2011 by Steve Clark in The Brownsville Herald
July 30, 2011 by Steve Clark in The Brownsville Herald
Migratory birds, sea turtles, jobs and aesthetics were among the issues raised Tuesday night at a presentation by an executive at the company planning to build wind farms off the South Texas coast - including South Padre Island.
Also filed under [
General]
Utility companies building the transmission line projects have the right of eminent domain, which means they can legally gain the property rights needed for the CREZ projects.
Also filed under [
Transmission]
Pentagon: Nueces County, Duval County wind farms could cause problems
July 15, 2011 by Mark Collette in Corpus Christi Caller Times
July 15, 2011 by Mark Collette in Corpus Christi Caller Times
A proposed wind farm in the Chapman Ranch area is one of 20 projects that could cause problems for the military, according to a nationwide review of renewable energy projects conducted by the Department of Defense.
Also filed under [
Safety]
Mark Leyland, Baryonyx's senior vice president of offshore wind projects, said he'd be surprised if USACE didn't call for a full-scale EIS, though his company intends to do an EIS-equivalent study no matter what the agency decides. He added that people are right to be concerned about the project's impact.
Also filed under [
Impact on Wildlife|
Impact on Birds]
Bracewell and Dean have a website set up, complete with stories about what happened to them, photos and documents. It's called Two Skystream 3.7 Installations Gone Wrong.
Their activism led to a confidential settlement and nondisparaging agreement offer from the company.
http://b-d.ranch.tripod.com/twoskystream37installationsgonewrong/
Also filed under [
General]
Monday, the fire spread into a windfarm and onto a large private ranch, but the ranch owner is not allowing fire crews onto his land causing problems for firefighters.
Snyder volunteer firefighters are still battling this blaze that has spread to a wind farm on top of a plateau.
Also filed under [
Safety]
Six months ago, the company took one of the turbines down to see if it had been affecting the other. Company officials said they would be back in three weeks to re-erect the turbine, but never returned.
Also filed under [
General]
Wind energy company proposes massive leases off South Texas coast
June 17, 2011 by Mike D. Smith in Corpus Christi Caller Times
June 17, 2011 by Mike D. Smith in Corpus Christi Caller Times
An alternate, 45,000-acre site was negotiated with the Texas General Land Office in case of any concerns that may arise about Naval Air Station Corpus Christi operations, Baryonyx's senior vice president of offshore wind projects Mark Leyland said.
Bill aimed at reducing conflicts between wind turbines, military radars dies in Legislature
May 28, 2011 by Mark Collette in Corpus Christi Caller Times
May 28, 2011 by Mark Collette in Corpus Christi Caller Times
Debate over the radar issue underscored the growth of an industry that, compared to other energy sectors, largely has gone unregulated by state government. During the past decade, some wildlife and property rights advocates have made repeated calls for checks on wind development.
There’s the potential for plane propellers and the spinning turbines to look very similar on radar, causing potential problems for air control and that’s exactly why the city is keeping a close eye on future proposed sites.
Also filed under [
General]
Lawmakers debate regulations for wind turbines
April 8, 2011 by Mark Collette in Corpus Christi Caller Times
April 8, 2011 by Mark Collette in Corpus Christi Caller Times
Officials at Naval Air Station Kingsville have led the charge for new notice requirements, saying wind farms, which look like storms or aircraft on radars, could hamper the base's mission to train jet pilots. The wind industry opposes new requirements.
Also filed under [
Safety]
No easy answers blowing in the wind: Wind farms trick radar, raising public policy questions
April 1, 2011 by Mark Collette in Corpus Christi Caller Times
April 1, 2011 by Mark Collette in Corpus Christi Caller Times
Some technical solutions are on the horizon. Raytheon has plans to roll out new software algorithms as early as 2012 ...Patrick Paddock, an operations specialist and radar expert at Naval Air Station Kingsville, said those solutions would require years of testing and procurement processes before the military could begin to implement them.
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