News
Category:
USA
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Clarity on PTC 'begin construction' language expected soon
March 6, 2013 by Mark Del Franco in North American Windpower
March 6, 2013 by Mark Del Franco in North American Windpower
The "commence construction" component is the missing piece from the American Tax Payer Relief Act, which was officially signed into law on Jan. 2. The PTC extension included a change in language that requires projects to begin construction before Jan. 1, 2014, in order to qualify for the PTC.
Also filed under [
Tax Breaks & Subsidies]
Renewable energy companies awaiting payment under the stimulus-funded clean energy grant program will receive smaller checks because of newly implemented across-the-board budget cuts, the Treasury Department said today.
Also filed under [
Tax Breaks & Subsidies]
Rep. Mike Pompeo remains confident the PTC will end this year.
"I am convinced now there's a majority here that recognizes it's a bad policy," said the Kansas Republican, who sponsored legislation in the previous Congress that would have ended the PTC and various other energy subsidies. "Whether it is part of something bigger or we just mosey to the end of the year and it goes away again, I think the wind-production tax credit's in its final days."
Also filed under [
Tax Breaks & Subsidies]
While wind power could help retard climate change by reducing carbon emissions, the authors-one at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and the other at Harvard-note that it actually generates some warming of its own through its effect on wind and turbulence.
Also filed under [
General]
Federal agency undermining state offshore wind plans, backers say
March 3, 2013 by Maria Gallucci in InsideClimate News
March 3, 2013 by Maria Gallucci in InsideClimate News
Tensions are building between the struggling U.S. offshore wind industry and the federal agency that oversees it.
Industry leaders worry that a new federal program designed to spark offshore wind construction could end up killing proposals that have been in the works for years.
Also filed under [
Offshore Wind|
Energy Policy]
Rethinking wind's impact on emissions and cycling costs
March 1, 2013 by David Wagman in Power Magazine
March 1, 2013 by David Wagman in Power Magazine
Recent reports by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and others suggest that the emissions-reducing benefits of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar may have been overstated and the cost of cycling fossil-fueled plants underestimated. These findings may change how utilities and policymakers weigh the costs and benefits of wind and solar energy.
Also filed under [
General]
Why the US still doesn't have a single offshore wind turbine
March 1, 2013 by Tim McDonnell in The Guardian
March 1, 2013 by Tim McDonnell in The Guardian
Higher construction and transmission costs make electricity from offshore over twice the price of onshore in the US, he says, a tough pill for state regulators and utility operators to swallow, especially given the low cost of natural gas made possible by fracking. Today renewables startups rely heavily on private investment to get off the ground, but the industry needs better financial backing from the feds.
Also filed under [
Offshore Wind]
Sen. Grassley seeks fairness for wind energy in tax debate
February 27, 2013 by Mark Del Franco in North American Windpower
February 27, 2013 by Mark Del Franco in North American Windpower
Grassley says he will continue to defend wind energy. However, there may be other battles to fight. For instance, more transmission will be needed to transport wind power from the Midwest to load centers in the East - which has the potential to spark a debate on transmission siting.
Also filed under [
Tax Breaks & Subsidies]
Colorado orders Abound Solar to clean up hazardous waste at four sites
February 26, 2013 by Mark Jaffe in The Denver Post
February 26, 2013 by Mark Jaffe in The Denver Post
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment says Abound Solar is responsible for thousands of "unsellable" solar panels containing cadmium in warehouses. Barrels of toxic liquid also were found.
Claims that there is no upper bound for wind power, that it is scalable because gusts and breezes don't seem likely to "run out" on a global scale, are not based on reality. And neither are claims that the generating capacity of large-scale wind farms is unlimited. The generating capacity of very large wind power installations ...may peak at between 0.5 and 1 watts per square meter. Previous estimates put that figure at between 2 and 7 watts per square meter.
Also filed under [
Technology]
Ralls can question U.S. over forced wind farm sale, judge say
February 23, 2013 by Andrew Zajac in Bloomberg News
February 23, 2013 by Andrew Zajac in Bloomberg News
Jackson threw out the bulk of Ralls’s lawsuit against the Obama administration, which focused on whether the president exceeded his power by ordering the company, an affiliate of China’s Sany Group Co., to sell the wind farm assets. “The statute expressly authorizes the president to do what he deems necessary to accomplish or implement the prohibition."
Also filed under [
Energy Policy|
Oregon]
Rare Right Whales Move into Area, Mariner Restrictions in Place
February 22, 2013 by Mark Alan Lovewell in Vineyard Gazette
February 22, 2013 by Mark Alan Lovewell in Vineyard Gazette
The whales have also caught the attention of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which is overseeing wind farm lease areas off the Vineyard and Rhode Island, and has commissioned the New England Aquarium to do an aerial survey, according to Tim Cole, a research fisheries biologist with the National Marine Fisheries Service.
Also filed under [
Impact on Wildlife|
Massachusetts]
Wind, solar lobbyists scramble to shield grants from sequester cuts
February 20, 2013 by Nick Juliano in E&E News
February 20, 2013 by Nick Juliano in E&E News
Sweeping federal spending cuts scheduled to take effect next month have sparked a quiet lobbying campaign and veiled threats of lawsuits from renewable energy interests expecting smaller project grants. ...The wind industry is less exposed to worries about the sequester. However, several projects have yet to be reimbursed by Treasury, and it remains an open question whether anyone still awaiting payment would see their reward cut.
Also filed under [
Tax Breaks & Subsidies]
Federal agency slammed over 'secretive' eagle-wind energy policy proposal
February 19, 2013 by Chris Clarke in Rewire
February 19, 2013 by Chris Clarke in Rewire
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is considering eliminating most public oversight of wind turbine impacts on protected bald and golden eagles by offering developers 30-year permits to kill eagles by accident, as opposed to the current 5-year permits. What's more, they're shaping the implementation of that proposed policy change in a series of private "stakeholders'" meetings to which the public is not invited.
Also filed under [
Impact on Birds|
Energy Policy]
Green energy standards hitting blockades; Kansas is now resistant
February 19, 2013 by Ken Silverstein in EnergyBiz
February 19, 2013 by Ken Silverstein in EnergyBiz
Renewable Portfolio Standards are coming under attack. The latest locale is Kansas, where the Republican-led legislature says that green energy mandates are distorting markets. ...It's all part of the national discussion over whether requiring utilities to either procure or to produce a percentage of their offerings from sustainable sources is a good thing.
Also filed under [
Energy Policy|
Kansas]
Leading Bird Group Wants New DOI Secretary To Review Possible Revised Rule Weakening Eagle Protections For Wind Industry
February 18, 2013 in American Bird Conservancy
February 18, 2013 in American Bird Conservancy
In a letter to the U.S. Department of Interior, American Bird Conservancy (ABC) called on the agency to suspend further consideration of a revised rule that would weaken protections provided to eagles pursuant to the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, by allowing private companies to apply for an unprecedented 30-year permit to kill these iconic species.
Also filed under [
Impact on Wildlife|
Impact on Birds]
Tax credits complicate Cape Wind, South Terminal schedule
February 16, 2013 by Ariel Wittenberg in Cape Cod Times
February 16, 2013 by Ariel Wittenberg in Cape Cod Times
Barton said that in order for Cape Wind to be eligible for the federal tax credit, it must "commence construction" before the end of the year, but the federal government has not yet clarified what exactly commencing construction means. ...Cape Wind may have to place the monopilings, or foundations, of at least some of the project's 130-turbines before the Jan. 1 deadline.
Also filed under [
Tax Breaks & Subsidies|
Massachusetts]
Sen. Udall of Colorado to renew push in Congress to extend wind tax credit
February 15, 2013 by Raju Chebium in Gannett News
February 15, 2013 by Raju Chebium in Gannett News
Wind energy’s most prominent Capitol Hill advocate is renewing his push for the 113th Congress to extend taxpayer subsidies for the renewable energy source.
Also filed under [
Tax Breaks & Subsidies]
The wind production tax credit will be the subject of increased oversight this Congress, Rep. James Lankford (R-Okla.) told The Hill on Tuesday. ..."There's no clarification yet as to what under construction means ... We are going to look at that as a committee because that is undefined area that in the hands of a regulator and we want to be sure we bring some clarity to that."
Also filed under [
Tax Breaks & Subsidies]
Industry works to avoid listing of prairie grouse
February 12, 2013 by Associated Press in The Daily Times
February 12, 2013 by Associated Press in The Daily Times
Oil, gas and wind energy producers are working to persuade federal wildlife officials not to enact protections for the lesser prairie chicken, a move that could force them to halt or significantly alter their operations to protect the species' dwindling grassland habitat.
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