Greenpower users will be double billed if changes to the new greenhouse gas reporting system are not made, says University of Adelaide climate change Professor Barry Brook. This could cause the GreenPower national accreditation scheme to "implode" when an emissions trading scheme is introduced in 2010. Professor Brook said the almost 750,000 households and businesses using GreenPower nationally would be penalised once an emissions trading scheme was introduced as they would be paying extra to buy power from renewable sources.

Unreliable renewable generation contributes to high spot prices. "The flaws in the policy to ban new thermal power stations are being graphically illustrated by current high electricity spot prices," said Ralph Matthes, Executive Director of the Major Electricity Users' Group (MEUG). "Yesterday provisional spot prices at Haywards averaged 19 c/kWh. These are extremely high prices reflecting relatively tight supply. Yet there was no security of supply risk yesterday, just generators pricing their output to reflect current and possible future scarcity. The existence of unreliable and intermittent renewable generation such as wind did not mitigate the high spot prices. ..."Yesterday the Te Apiti wind farm had peak generation of approximately 30 MW. Installed wind turbine capacity at Te Apiti is 90 MW. Average wind generation for the whole day from Te Apiti was approximately 12 MW. Just when we need as much supply as possible to cover known outages and hence put pressure on spot prices, wind has been missing.

Investing in a Te Uku wind farm is as risky as buying an apartment in Auckland. ...Mr Gallagher presented calculations which showed a rate of return of 1.1 per cent on the wind farm. "If the wind energy is just 4.1 per cent less than forecast then the project changes from a marginal investment to a rejected investment proposal." He said a more effective investment for Wel would be to spend $200 million installing 70,000 heat pumps in Waikato homes.

Mr Gallagher's research underpinned by interviews with 85 tourists, selected at random on Raglan streets in January and February suggests visitor numbers would plunge from the current upward trend into decline, with most accommodation providers, tourism activities or attractions hit by the wind farm. ...The company found Raglan would go from a position of having "net word-of-mouth" of 75 per cent positive feedback from visitors to having a net word-of-mouth of 84 per cent negative. "In other words visitors would tell their friends to stay away.

Victorian Nationals Energy spokesman Peter Hall has called on the Government to acknowledge that windfarms devalue properties surrounding the land on which they are sited, and to review planning guidelines to reflect the drop in value. Mr Hall said that irrefutable proof of property devaluation was contained in conditions attached to a recent planning permit issued by South Gippsland Shire Council. The condition, attached to a permit to subdivide land adjoining the proposed Bald Hills wind energy facility, requires future land owners to be advised that "residents on the lots may experience detrimental amenity affects arising from the facility such as noise, blade glint and blade flicker." ..."The Government's renewable energy policies should be targeted at those renewables that have less negative environmental impacts such as solar, geothermal and bio-fuels," Mr Hall concluded.

The government's new plans to get power from sustainable sources are being slammed by some business leaders. The government says it wants "wind and water power" rather than coal and gas energy but the business leaders say it is not necessarily the cheaper option. ... "Sometimes frankly it doesn't rain and the wind doesn't blow and if that's going to be the case what are going to do to keep the lights on come 2025," O'Reilly says. And despite the government's claims renewable energy will be cheaper for all of us in the long term, the cost of a carbon emissions trading scheme alone is likely to increase power bills and there's no hard evidence windfarms can combat that.

A proposed wind farm in the Ahipara gumfields is still undergoing investigation by the Department of Conservation. Meridian Energy applied for a concession from DOC in 2006 to develop a wind farm on the Epakauri conservation area.

The State Government has commenced a 15 week consultation process on its renewable energy strategy, after economic modelling revealed the costs of reaching its target of 15 per cent renewable energy by 2020 would exceed $1 billion. More than $1 billion will need to be invested in renewable energy in Western Australia if the State Government is to reach its target of 15 per cent renewable energy by 2020, new data has revealed.

Meridian has sent letters to its 2500 Marlborough customers informing them of the rise, which follows annual price rises by other electricity suppliers Trustpower (8.1 percent in June) and Contact Energy (nine percent in July last year). Genesis Energy public affairs manager Richard Gordon said he could not recall any recent price rises and the company did not have any plans to do so for at least a year. Meridian spokesman Alan Seay said electricity increases were never good news but that the price rise was necessary and reflected the overall cost of supplying electricity......Mr Seay said the considerable price increase in Marlborough was attributable to increasing demand in the South Island, where dairying and viticulture were flourishing. As a result, Meridian was investing money into new hydro schemes and wind farms in Wellington and Central Otago.

Proposed wind farms at Yendon and Elaine would dominate the landscape and reduce property values, a community group has claimed. Spokesman for the Lal Lal and Landscape Elaine Action Group John McMahon expressed concern at the size of both the proposed wind farms and turbines. "It is a very, very large project, (with) up to 79 turbines. It's very big, and these turbines are enormous."

Wind power companies offering farmers lucrative contracts for turbine sites are driving a wedge between some country communities as neighbours are forced to "pay up or put up" with noise disruption and possible health problems. Three farmers involved with new wind farms told Rural News that power company negotiators tell farmers there will be no potential noise or health problems from turbines, in spite of contrary evidence from international researchers. One farmer says he signed up for 14 turbines, to earn $140,000 per year for 40 years, after being told by the power company that the turbines would be "ecofriendly". Now he thinks he should have done more research.

A $250 million wind farm planned for rural Victoria will help "drought-proof" struggling farms, the company behind the project says. The Victorian government on Thursday signed off WestWind Energy's plan to build a 160-megawatt wind farm at Mt Mercer, 30km south of Ballarat.

WIND power is behind an economic boom in the state's Mid North, which is reaping millions for local drought-affected communities. The first turbine at AGL's wind farm at Hallett is about to be switched on and 44 others are under construction. In one of the worst years for local farmers in history, construction of the $230 million project has provided communities with a much needed alternative source of income.

The switch to “clean green” energy sources will cost households up to 40 per cent more on their power bill, Federal Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane has said. Mr Macfarlane said it was inevitable there would be “big jumps” in power bills, but said most people were unaware of the looming increases. “I don’t think the consumers fully understand the price tag associated with lower greenhouse gas emissions,” he told The Courier-Mail in an exclusive interview.

Farmers signing deals with wind-farm developers may be losing out on future earnings if they fail to add more small print, writes Tim Cronshaw.

TWO wind farms worth a total of $550 million have been shelved and another worth $250 million is at risk because of a lack of support from the Federal Government, a developer says.

An economic analyst claims he's done the numbers and wind energy is costing the Victorian Government far more money than any wind turbines could generate.

Almost every property in their street, apart from those of the farmers on whose land the turbines are being built, is for sale. "I've watched my husband work all his life to build this home," Mrs Cicero said. "We've never had loans, we've always worked and saved. And now we find everything that we've put in here, it's all worth nothing." The Ciceros had their home valued at $410,000 before the wind farm was taken into account. Afterwards, the estimated value dropped to $270,000. They have not received one offer for their property in two years.

Keep wind turbines out of Yass Valley Council area and maintain pristine ridge lines was the overwhelming message from a meeting in Bowning last Tuesday night. Organised for those concerned about the proposed installation of wind generators on Black Range west of Yass, the meeting elected a committee to lobby local and state governments, and to raise awareness within the local community.