www.windaction.org

Some area residents steaming over solar projects
April 14, 2013 by Craig S. Semon in Worcester Telegram & Gazette

"Residents and abutters have little to no opportunity to have their voices heard in objections or their questions answered," Ms. Chase said. "Despite the numerous procedural errors that have occurred, the town continues to blindly allow this ill-sited project to deleteriously impact the public health, safety and welfare of the people who have made their home on Bearsden Road for years."

Also filed under [ Energy Policy| Zoning/Planning| Massachusetts]

Renewable energy bill could hurt rural co-ops
April 13, 2013 by Marianne Goodland in Fort Morgan Times

Kent Singer of the Colorado Rural Electric Association said the co-ops serve 70 percent of the state's land mass but only 25 percent of the state's population, which he called "light density" and which means that costs are spread out over a much smaller customer base.

Also filed under [ Energy Policy| Colorado]

Anti-wind group focuses on comprehensive plan; Goal is no more wind farms
April 11, 2013 by Ken de la Bastide in Kokomo Tribune

The Tipton County Board of Zoning Appeals placement of conditions on the Prairie Breeze permit of a 1,500 foot setback from property lines and development of a property value guarantee ...could make future wind farm development in the county impossible, or difficult at best, he said.

Also filed under [ Energy Policy| Zoning/Planning| Indiana]

Campaign donors, politicians behind Searchlight wind project
April 11, 2013 by Kyle Gillis in Nevada Journal

The Department of the Interior may have recently approved the Searchlight Wind Project, but those who stand to benefit most from the project are politicians and well-connected campaign donors, and not the people of Searchlight. "People from other communities told us, ‘you don't want [wind turbines],'" said Sandy Walters, chairwoman of the Searchlight Town Advisory Board. "We tried telling that to BLM and Duke Energy, too."

Also filed under [ General| Nevada]

Change may hurt $250M wind project
April 9, 2013 by Matt Sanctis in Springfield News-Sun

When the state's renewable energy mandate was enacted five years ago, both demand and prices for electricity were expected to rise, said Ohio Sen. Bill Seitz, chairman of the Ohio Senate Public Utilities Committee that is holding hearings this month on the state's renewable energy requirement. But since then, large deposits of natural gas in shale have kept energy prices down, Seitz said, and the additional demand hasn't materialized.

Also filed under [ Energy Policy| Ohio]

New York renewable power plan would cost $382 billion by 2030
April 8, 2013 by Louise Downing in Bloomberg News

"It's too ambitious by 2030 to replace all the state's power with renewables," Angus McCrone, a senior analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance in London, said today. The projections, he said, look "unrealistic" for individual technologies. ...offshore wind turbines would cover an area of about 4,903 square miles, and onshore machines would cover a further 1,000 square miles.

Also filed under [ Impact on Landscape| Impact on Economy| Energy Policy| New York]

Sales in our wind: Ireland's ambitious wind-energy plans
April 6, 2013 by Frank McDonald in Irish Times

It is "far too soon" to make final judgments on which of the export-orientated windfarm projects now being mooted will be approved and under what terms. "There is no fait accompli at this stage. None of this has reassured objectors, who are concerned about the noise and visual impact of onshore turbines and also see the export of wind energy to Britain as equivalent to "selling the family silver".

Also filed under [ Impact on Landscape| Impact on People| Energy Policy| Ireland]

Falmouth selectmen, finance committee stand firm on removing turbines
April 5, 2013 by Scott A. Giordano in The Bulletin

The Falmouth Board of Selectmen and the Falmouth Finance Committee held a joint April 4 meeting and unanimously stood by the selectmen's prior vote to remove the town's wind turbines, despite receiving none of their requested financial assistance from the state to do so. The latest estimate is that it will cost the town about $14 million to remove both Wind 1 and Wind 2.

Also filed under [ Impact on People| Energy Policy| Massachusetts]

North Carolina edges closer to repeal of renewable portfolio standard
April 5, 2013 by Felicity Carus in PV Tech

"What this bill does is try to soft land this business and to be competitive you need to move from government subsidy you need to move off the taxpayer rolls. I see this as an entitlement programme that is beginning to get its roots into our state. I see it as a regressive type tax." Hager's bill is part of a nationwide campaign to repeal state-based renewable portfolio standards.

Also filed under [ Energy Policy| North Carolina]

NC renewable energy law diminished in House bill
April 3, 2013 by Gary D. Robertson in The Associated Press

A House panel on Wednesday narrowly approved an effort to scale back and ultimately repeal a 2007 law requiring North Carolina electric utilities to generate a percentage of their power through alternative sources and locate energy savings. The House commerce subcommittee voted 11-10 in favor of the bill that would cap renewable energy and efficiency requirements by power companies, electric cooperatives and city-owned electric utilities at roughly half the level the law ultimately demands.

Also filed under [ Energy Policy| North Carolina]

Subcommittee votes to reduce state support of renewable energy
April 3, 2013 by Molly Parker in Star News

A House subcommittee narrowly passed a bill Wednesday that chips away at a 2007 law that aimed to increase conservation efforts and renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and biomass. Rep. Chris Millis, R-Pender, one of the bill's sponsors, said the intent is to stop the burden of renewable energy subsidies and mandates on ratepayers.

Also filed under [ Energy Policy| North Carolina]

Coal makes a comeback in Europe as conventional gas dries up
April 3, 2013 by Arthur Max in EnergyWire

Coal is cheap not only because U.S. supplies are sold at bargain prices but because the penalty for emitting too much carbon has become almost insignificant. Europe's cap-and-trade program is meant to make it expensive for industry to pollute. In practice, the economic recession has led to an industrial slowdown, less emissions and an overabundance of permits for sale. Thus, the price of carbon has collapsed to less than €5 per ton.

Also filed under [ Energy Policy| Europe]

Searchlight wind farm could reduce property values by 25-60 percent, suggest studies
April 2, 2013 by Kyle Gillis in Nevada Journal

Recent studies and testimony by real estate appraisers from around the world indicate that properties within two to three miles of wind turbines have seen their values decline from 25 to 60 percent - with the decreased value being "tantamount to an inverse condemnation, or regulatory taking of private property rights."

Also filed under [ Impact on Economy| Property Values| Nevada]

Exelon falls from green favor as chief fights wind aid
April 1, 2013 by Jim Snyder & Julie Johnsson in Bloomberg News

Also filed under [ Tax Breaks & Subsidies| Energy Policy| USA]

Sen. Lamar Alexander still tilting at wind energy
April 1, 2013 by Paul C. Barton in The Tennessean

"I will continue my efforts to get rid of the 20-year-old, multi-billion-dollar subsidy for unreliable, expensive wind energy that stands no chance of powering our nation's 21st century economy." ...Perhaps just as important, Alexander said, wind turbines would scar the mountaintops of Tennessee, the only place in the state where they can work.

Also filed under [ Tax Breaks & Subsidies| Energy Policy| USA| Tennessee]

New England plan to buy renewable power as a region is held up by patchy rules
March 31, 2013 in Associated Press

By offering long-term contracts to wind and solar power suppliers, New England states would virtually guarantee financing for renewable power projects. However, not all of the six New England states are joining the regional effort, the only such endeavor in the country. New Hampshire is not participating, and Maine and Vermont disagree with Connecticut over whether hydropower and biomass count as renewable energy.

Also filed under [ Energy Policy]

Vermont Senate: Study turbine impacts
March 30, 2013 by Mike Faher in Brattleboro Reformer

On Friday, Galbraith argued that the significance of that assessment and report should not be downplayed. Armed with information from the study, lawmakers could revisit the wind-power legislation in their next session starting in January. "Then, we have our bite at the apple," Galbraith said. He also pointed out that the bill still contains a provision banning wind turbines -- or any other commercial development -- on state land.

Also filed under [ Energy Policy| Vermont]

The £9million bonus bonanza dished out to green energy bureaucrats
March 30, 2013 by Daniel Martin in Daily Mail

Bureaucrats in charge of the Government's controversial green policies have benefited from a multi-million-pound bonus bonanza since the last election. The total amount of performance-related handouts given to civil servants at the Department for Energy and Climate Change has almost tripled since Labour's final year in office to £9million.

Also filed under [ Energy Policy| UK]

A third more Scottish wind turbines built in one year
March 28, 2013 by Simon Johnson in The Telegraph

The true pace at which wind farms are spreading across Scotland's countryside has been disclosed after official figures indicated the number of turbines increased by a third in the last year alone. ...Struan Stevenson, a Scottish Tory MEP, said the DECC figures were "perfectly symbolic of how pathetically useless and inefficient the whole technology of wind is."

Also filed under [ Energy Policy| UK]

Proposed bill to allow people to sue over wind turbine damages
March 28, 2013 in Wisconsin Ag Connection

"This bill makes it easier for families that have been hurt by industrial wind turbines to receive compensation for their losses," Senator Lasee said. "It is unconscionable for a family that has invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in their home that they have lived in for years to be forced to move because an industrial wind tower is built nearby. Or wish that they could move and just can't afford it."

Also filed under [ Legal| Energy Policy| Wisconsin]

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