www.windaction.org | Energy Policy

Energy Bill to increase prices to fund cleaner fuel
November 23, 2012 in BBC News

The government has published details of its long-awaited Energy Bill, designed to keep lights on and emissions down. It will allow energy companies to charge households an extra £7.6bn until 2020, to go towards low-carbon electricity infrastructure. A decision about setting carbon emission targets for 2030 has been delayed until 2016, after the election. Labour said this was a "humiliating failure" for the Lib Dems.

Also filed under [ UK]

Davey defends contentious energy agreement
November 23, 2012 by Jim Pickard, Pilita Clark and Hannah Kuchler in Financial Times

Ed Davey, the Liberal Democrat energy secretary, defended his green energy deal on Friday, after coming under fire for dropping a carbon emissions target and adding to consumers' rising energy bills. After months of infighting, Mr Davey finally compromised with his Conservative coalition partners, agreeing a deal that will pave the way for an energy bill next week.

Also filed under [ UK]

Wind farms to increase energy bills by £178 a year
November 22, 2012 by Rowena Mason in The Telegraph

Households and businesses will have to pay £7.6billion a year towards the cost of building "greener" power stations by 2020. This is three times the current level of £2.35 billion per year, as bill-payers are forced to remunerate companies for several new nuclear plants, thousands of wind turbines and potentially "green" fossil fuel stations.

Also filed under [ Impact on Economy| UK]

Five wind farm applications a day under the SNP
November 22, 2012 by Simon Johnson in The Telegraph

Figures obtained by the Scottish Tories under the Freedom of Information Act show 5,528 applications have been made since May 2007, seven times more than under the previous Labour-led administration. One local authority, Aberdeenshire, has received more than 1,000 planning applications over this period, while a series of other rural councils have experienced a 14-fold increase since the SNP came to power.

Also filed under [ UK]

Alex Salmond accused of wind farm 'cover up'
November 22, 2012 by Simon Johnson in The Telegraph

The First Minister told MSPs last month around 18,000 people were employed in the renewables industry but even the trade body that represents wind farm companies put the total at around 11,000. ...Opposition parties said the First Minister had "shamed his office" and "lies instinctively", questioning how voters could trust him to run a separate Scotland.

Also filed under [ UK]

First cap-and-trade auction a bust for California budget
November 22, 2012 by Kevin Yamamura in Sacramento Bee

A low price for credits and minimal demand for future offsets suggest California will see a mere fraction of the $1 billion that Gov. Jerry Brown and lawmakers estimated the state would receive this fiscal year. If demand remains similar in two forthcoming auctions, the state would generate only about $140 million.

Also filed under [ California]

On-shore wind policy 'must be sensible' - energy secretary
November 21, 2012 in BBC News

The Lib Dem energy secretary has clashed with his Conservative deputy John Hayes over the amount of on-shore wind developments required in future. Mr Hayes has said no projects should go ahead beyond those in the pipeline.

Also filed under [ UK]

Missouri court upholds PSC's renewable energy rules
November 21, 2012 by Jeffrey Tomich in St. Louis Post-Dispatch

The law says the use of renewable energy cannot cause electric rates to rise more than 1 percent from what they would be otherwise. The rate cap provision in the rules was at the heart of the legal battle. The PSC rules require utilities to use a 10-year average when calculating the 1 percent rate impact to allow for higher upfront costs.

Also filed under [ Missouri]

FERC initiates unprecedented enforcement action against Idaho PUC
November 21, 2012 by Rocky Barker in Idaho Statesman

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will seek to enforce an earlier order against the Idaho Public Utilities Commission over wind power projects near Murphy. The federal commission oversees electric and natural gas delivery policy. Its ruling says the Idaho commission violated federal law when it denied an appeal by developers for three Murphy Flat wind power projects.

Also filed under [ USA| Idaho]

Audit rips management of RG&E, NYSEG; Utility's Spanish owner battling state regulators over workforce levels, leadership
November 19, 2012 by Steve Orr in Democrat and Chronicle

Top Iberdrola executives seemed largely ignorant of American regulatory requirements. Auditors said they must "adjust more to business culture here, as opposed to expect U.S. stakeholders to accommodate themselves to Spanish custom and practice." Top executives wouldn't answer auditors' questions, wouldn't allow board members to be interviewed and argued against disclosing information, making arguments that auditors described as "invalid" and "very peculiar."

Also filed under [ General| Zoning/Planning| New York]

John Hayes: 'windfarms will not replace gas or nuclear'
November 16, 2012 by Fiona Harvey in The Guardian

"Wind turbines ... create barely a trickle of nonstorable electricity and none at all when wind speed is unsuitable. They will always have to be backed up by conventional power stations because of their unreliability. Because the wind by nature is intermittent and cannot generate a steady output of energy to supply constant demand, even thousands of wind turbines won't replace gas or nuclear power generation."

Also filed under [ UK]

Wind-energy panel examines other states' procedures
November 15, 2012 by Candace Page in Burlington Free Press

The five commission members, whose report is due in April, are trying to keep their sessions inclusive of all forms of energy generation and focused on the Public Service Board process. But at the commission's first two meetings, the audience has been dominated by supporters and opponents of wind energy development.

Also filed under [ Vermont]

Aerial photos of giant Google-funded solar farm caught in green energy debate
November 14, 2012 by Jakob Schiller in Wired Magazine

Barbara Boyle, a senior representative at the Sierra Club's regional field office in Sacramento, says Ivanpah could have been located at any number of other locations where it would have had less impact on the environment and the tortoises that live there. Boyle says there are multiple areas in Southern California, including old dried-up agricultural lands and mining areas, that would have been more suitable.

Also filed under [ USA| California]

Alternative To Wind: VEC eyes geothermal energy
November 14, 2012 by Robin Smith in Caledonian-Record

Hallquist said it just makes sense to focus on the real causes of Vermont's carbon production -- oil and gasoline -- than burn so much political energy battling over wind and solar energy. Both are much higher in cost than the market rates for electricity today, and both carry a high cost in dividing communities that would otherwise be supportive of a less-intrusive energy source like geothermal, Hallquist said.

Also filed under [ Vermont]

U.S. redraws world oil map: Shale boom puts America on track to surpass Saudi Arabia in production by 2020
November 13, 2012 by Benoît Faucon and Keith Johnson in Wall Street Journal

Four years ago, the perception of energy scarcity and rising concern about global warming led Mr. Obama to push for legislation capping greenhouse-gas emissions and to pump billions of federal dollars into green-energy companies. ...In Mr. Obama's second term, Republican control of the House makes any big climate-change legislation unlikely, and budget deficits will limit any effort to spend billions more on green-energy projects.

Also filed under [ USA]

GOP senators accuse Interior of playing favorites in offshore wind deal
November 10, 2012 by Zack Colman in The Hill

"The administration has a habit of picking energy-industry winners and losers, and we want an explanation. Secretary Salazar should at least be able to defend the economics of the lease sale for wind energy."

Also filed under [ USA]

Alternative energy backers go to court in Seabrook Station fight
November 10, 2012 by Jim Haddadin in Fosters Daily Democrat

The groups contend that alternative energy sources could eventually make the nuclear energy supplied by Seabrook Station unnecessary. ...When it dismissed the groups in March, the NRC indicated alternative energy technology must be viable today "or in the near future" in order for consideration.

Also filed under [ USA| New Hampshire]

Michigan Proposal 3: Voters reject 25 by 25 renewable energy mandate
November 7, 2012 by Melissa Anders in MLIVE

Voters rejected Proposal 3, opting not to put the renewable energy mandate in the state’s constitution. Opposition group Clean Affordable Renewable Energy (CARE) for Michigan claimed victory in defeating the proposal that it said would lead to higher electric bills. It made the call at about 11:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Also filed under [ Michigan]

Ruth Davidson attacks Alex Salmond's 'scorched earth' wind farm policy
November 6, 2012 by Simon Johnson in The Telegraph

She said there was no need for the "march of the turbines" to continue but SNP ministers were unwilling to review the situation or listen to "besieged" communities' concerns. Miss Davidson delivered the attack during a keynote speech marking her first anniversary as leader in which she argued that the state in Scotland has become so bloated it is harming society.

Also filed under [ Impact on Landscape| UK]

Huge scale of UK's 'dash for gas' revealed
November 4, 2012 by Damian Carrington and Jamie Doward in The Observer

The coalition is divided over energy policy, with Osborne favouring a major increase in gas use ...The Liberal Democrats want greater emphasis on renewable energy. The chasm was laid bare last week when Tory energy minister John Hayes declared "enough is enough" over onshore windfarms.

Also filed under [ UK]