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The agency said there was potential harm to the Everglade snail kite, bald eagle, wood stork, northern crested caracara and the many species that inhabit the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge. Also at risk were bats, which play a role in controlling insects that would otherwise infest the farm fields.
The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) has curtailed wind electricity generation in the region by about 7 percent over the last seven weeks in an effort to balance the extra hydropower being generated from an unusually large amount of melting snowpack.
"Wind and other energy facilities" producing more than a megawatt is charged $5,000 plus $1,000 for each wind turbine.
The county also is increasing a yearly renewal fee, especially for commercial wind energy facilities, from $50 to $500.
Also filed under [
Oregon]
Solano County's wind farm plan has bird fanciers worried
July 6, 2011 by Tony Burchyns in Times-Herald
July 6, 2011 by Tony Burchyns in Times-Herald
The group concluded in written comments that the project falls short of state law by failing to address the "expected cumulative fatalities" of birds and bats.
However, project consultants for the county and the applicant, Nextra Energy Montezuma II Wind, LLC, pledged to provide habitat for wildlife and birds elsewhere.
"While we understand the board had a difficult decision to make, we are disappointed in the outcomes and the process," she said. "The impacts of the code amendment will vary from project to project but overall I can anticipate less economic development in the county from renewable energy development."
Also filed under [
Energy Policy|
Oregon]
Protecting the watershed: how the new wind power laws change things in the Blue Mountains
July 1, 2011 by Samantha Tipler in East Oregonian
July 1, 2011 by Samantha Tipler in East Oregonian
In the decision to change wind siting rules Tuesday, the Umatilla County Commissioners did something new and unique: They quartered off an area with tougher restrictions, essentially keeping wind turbines out of the Walla Walla River watershed.
Also filed under [
Zoning/Planning|
Oregon]
"We were trying to set standards that would be a protection for the environment but also the citizens. Umatilla County is unique in our landscape, we have a number of critical streams in our mountains and some very erodible soils in some area and we don't want to create issues that could damage those."
Also filed under [
Zoning/Planning|
Oregon]
County commissioners approve new wind power rules
June 29, 2011 by Samantha Tipler in The East Oregonian
June 29, 2011 by Samantha Tipler in The East Oregonian
After years of work and months of meetings, the Umatilla County commissioners approved changes to the county's rules deciding where and how wind farms can be built. ...Commissioners Dennis Doherty and Larry Givens approved of the two-mile distance between a rural home and a wind turbine.
Also filed under [
Impact on People|
Oregon]
Utility-scale renewable projects in Oregon hit hard by BETC overhaul
June 28, 2011 by Angela Beniwal in North American Windpower
June 28, 2011 by Angela Beniwal in North American Windpower
Currently, projects can receive tax credits worth up to 50%. The new legislation scraps this element of the program and instead provides grants. The budget for the entire program is limited to $3 million, which does not make much of a dent when dealing with large projects that can cost millions of dollars.
Also filed under [
Tax Breaks & Subsidies|
Oregon]
The wide, green gorge where the majestic Columbia River begins its final push to the sea generates so many stiff breezes that windsurfers from around the world make their way to Hood River, not far from here, to ply their colorful sails atop the churning whitecaps.
Testing at wind energy sites throughout the state shows approximately 25 bats and four birds killed every year at each of the state's 420 active turbines ...That puts the estimated kills through June 2010 at some 10,500 bats and 1,680 birds.
Latest wind farm proposal angers Benton residents
June 15, 2011 by Wendilyn Grasseschi in Mammoth Times
June 15, 2011 by Wendilyn Grasseschi in Mammoth Times
But with the potential for many more of the 200-foot-tall wind towers, some residents are none too pleased with the whole idea.
"This is one of the most important habitats for birds in the county," said Emmy Cattani, an owner of the Adobe Ranch, located northwest of Benton.
Wind power and water power collide in the Northwest
June 14, 2011 by Kim Murphy in Los Angeles Times
June 14, 2011 by Kim Murphy in Los Angeles Times
Since May 18, BPA has ordered wind generators to shut down several hours a day, usually in the low-power-demand nighttime hours. The result so far has been the loss of 74,114 megawatt hours of wind energy, or about 15% of what the wind farms might normally have generated.
Umatilla County to review another draft of wind rules
June 12, 2011 by Samantha Tipler in East Oregonian
June 12, 2011 by Samantha Tipler in East Oregonian
On Tuesday, the Umatilla County Board of Commissioners will hold another meeting analyzing possible changes to the rules allowing wind farms in the county.
The board has spent three previous meetings pouring over the changes proposed by the planning commission.
Also filed under [
Zoning/Planning|
Oregon]
The Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals has asked the Morrow County Court to take another look at its decision regarding the Willow Creek wind farm and its neighbors.
The court ruled in January that the 48-turbine project near Ione exceeded the state's noise control rule at one nearby home.
Oregon green energy tax breaks face sweeping changes, cutbacks
June 10, 2011 by Harry Esteve in The Oregonian
June 10, 2011 by Harry Esteve in The Oregonian
Oregon's practice of channeling ever higher sums of taxpayer dollars into big wind farms and other green energy projects appears to be coming to an end in favor of thriftier and more targeted conservation incentives.
Also filed under [
Impact on Birds|
USA]
Each year, about 2,000 raptors are killed in the Altamont Pass by wind turbines, according to on-site surveys conducted by field biologists. The toll, however, could be higher because bird carcasses are quickly removed by scavengers.
Environmentalists have persuaded the energy industry and federal authorities - often through litigation - to modify the size, shape and placement of wind turbines.
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is asking the project developers to make up for the lost habitat, and Horizon project manager Valerie Franklin says that means finding conservation easements for 35,000 acres of neighboring lands, which she estimates would cost the company $145 million.
Also filed under [
Impact on Wildlife|
Oregon]
Wind power turbines in Altamont Pass threaten protected birds
June 6, 2011 by Louis Sahagun in Los Angeles Times
June 6, 2011 by Louis Sahagun in Los Angeles Times
"It would take 167 pairs of local nesting golden eagles to produce enough young to compensate for their mortality rate related to wind energy production," said field biologist Doug Bell, manager of East Bay Regional Park District's wildlife program. "We only have 60 pairs."
Also filed under [
Impact on Birds|
California]