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Florida
The biggest cuts will come in Fort Madison, where 407 workers at a wind turbine blade factory will be out of work. About 220 workers there will be retained.
The company blamed difficult market conditions due to lack of congressional action on a wind energy tax credit as well as increased use of natural gas-fired power plants and an overall sluggish economy.
Siemens laying off half its work force in Hutchinson
September 18, 2012 by Emily Behlmann in Wichita Business Journal
September 18, 2012 by Emily Behlmann in Wichita Business Journal
Siemens, a German conglomerate, announced Tuesday it is laying off 146 employees at its wind turbine nacelle plant in Hutchinson, leaving just 152 employees there.
All told, 615 employees in Siemens' wind power business will lose their jobs. Siemens said the change would primarily affect employees in Iowa, Kansas and Florida.
With commissioners Paul Caragiulo and Willie Shaw voting to keep the fund, the board's move sent a strong message that leaders in Sarasota are too broke to gamble on progressive energy efforts.
"We need to get realistic," said Commissioner Terry Turner as he presented rough budget projections that show the city could face a $20 million deficit in 10 years.
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Year-old wind turbines at Sebastian airport not working; plagued by software glitches, voltage problems
July 17, 2012 by Janet Begley in TC Palm
July 17, 2012 by Janet Begley in TC Palm
"We're not happy with the installation so far," said Griffin. "They're only working intermittently but they are under warranty."
The two, 20-foot wind turbines adjacent to the new hanger "B" were supposed to generate enough energy from the wind to power security streetlights along Industrial Park Drive at the airport.
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General]
U.S. District Judge Manuel L. Real tossed the final remaining count in Wind Energy's lawsuit, which challenged the city's approval for a proposal from NextEra Energy Resources LLC to repower its 49.5-megawatt wind farm in Riverside County, Calif. - a project about which Wind Energy said it was not sufficiently notified.
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General]
Florida wind farm's antagonists: environmentalists
June 9, 2012 by Patricia Sagastume in Miami Herald
June 9, 2012 by Patricia Sagastume in Miami Herald
Although the Sugarland Wind Project has won approval from the County Commission, it still faces a number of obstacles. The company needs state and federal environmental permits to proceed. There's also the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. And it's a given that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will take a closer look at the impact on wildlife.
Also filed under [
Impact on Wildlife|
Impact on Birds]
FPL still plans to pursue wind power in St. Lucie County
March 30, 2012 by Christin Erazo in TC Palm
March 30, 2012 by Christin Erazo in TC Palm
Satterlee said the Hutchinson Island project was put on hold while FPL assessed the wind speeds out west. He said while the large wind turbines on the beach were not supported by the public or county commissioners, no one seemed to have a problem with the more inconspicuous 200-foot wind towers.
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General]
Windfarm OK'd by county to generate power, jobs in struggling Glades region
March 22, 2012 by Jennifer Sorentrue in Palm Beach Post
March 22, 2012 by Jennifer Sorentrue in Palm Beach Post
Members of environmental groups such as the Sierra Club, pleaded with commissioners to delay the decision, saying more study is needed to determine the project's effect on migratory birds and bats. Others said flatly that the project would decimate Everglades bird populations.
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General]
NextEra executive: Florida isn't right for a wind farm
March 22, 2012 by Susan Salisbury in Palm Beach Post
March 22, 2012 by Susan Salisbury in Palm Beach Post
Today, the Palm Beach County Commission is scheduled to vote on the proposed 114-turbine, 200-megawatt Sugarland Wind project that St. Louis-based Wind Capital Group wants to build on 13,000 acres of farmland east of Belle Glade.
"If wind made sense in Florida, wouldn't we be proposing wind here ourselves?"
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General]
'Wind farm' next to Everglades gets initial go-ahead
March 2, 2012 by Andy Reid in South Florida Sun-Sentinel
March 2, 2012 by Andy Reid in South Florida Sun-Sentinel
"It has to be in the right place," said Jane Graham of Audubon. Building the wind farm without more study of the effect on Everglades birds "equates to gambling with the future of this world-class treasure," she said.
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General]
Campaign tries to win support for western Palm Beach County wind farm
February 24, 2012 by Andy Reid in Sun Sentinel
February 24, 2012 by Andy Reid in Sun Sentinel
The main objection facing Sugarland Wind is the bird deaths expected from putting towering, fast-spinning blades between Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades, two prime destinations for migrating birds, wading birds and birds of prey.
Sugarland backers have said they expect about three to four bird deaths per tower per year.
Also filed under [
Impact on Wildlife|
Impact on Landscape]
Splattered birds make going green a tough sell.
The risk of birds flying into fast-spinning blades atop wind-catching turbines the size of the Statue of Liberty threatens to torpedo a proposed "wind farm" that could produce non-polluting energy on the edge of the Everglades.
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Impact on Wildlife|
Impact on Landscape]
Palm Beach County makes it easier to build wind farms, despite environmental objections
August 30, 2011 by Andy Reid in Sun Sentinel
August 30, 2011 by Andy Reid in Sun Sentinel
"This is difficult for us to oppose because ... we all love the idea of wind farming," said Steve Horowitz, president of the Friends of Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, which stretches across western Palm Beach County. "The problem here is the location."
Also filed under [
Impact on Birds]
FPL gets green light for wind towers in western St. Lucie County
August 3, 2011 by Eric Pfahler in TCPalm
August 3, 2011 by Eric Pfahler in TCPalm
Florida Power & Light can build meteorological towers to test wind speeds in western St. Lucie County.
So can anyone else as long as the towers are not more than 262 feet high and meet other standards set by the county. Whether the winds justify the creation of turbines will be a topic for another day.
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General]
Palm Beach County wind turbines get initial go-ahead, despite threat to birds
July 29, 2011 by Andy Reid in Sun Sentinel
July 29, 2011 by Andy Reid in Sun Sentinel
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in a July 1 letter to the company called for a more thorough analysis of potential wildlife threats from the wind farm. The federal regulators said that bird "collisions with turbine blades are often fatal, and usually resulting in the animal being effectively eliminated from the breeding population."
Also filed under [
Impact on Wildlife|
Impact on Birds]
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.
Also filed under [
Impact on Wildlife|
Impact on Birds]
FPL's proposed wind towers unopposed at St. Lucie County Commission hearing
July 5, 2011 by Jim Mayfield in TC Palm
July 5, 2011 by Jim Mayfield in TC Palm
FPL is seeking an amendment to the county's land development code that would allow it to build temporary towers not to exceed 200 feet tall to collect wind data, ultimately to determine whether wind turbines would be viable sources of renewable energy in the county's AG-5 zoning district.
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General]
Environmentalists want FPL out of Everglades National Park
June 27, 2011 by Laura Edwins in Miami Herald
June 27, 2011 by Laura Edwins in Miami Herald
On Wednesday residents and environmental activists encouraged the National Park Service to purchase the tract of land FPL owns in the Everglades, rather than trading for a parcel further east.
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General]
That location would place the turbines near the northernmost remnants of the Everglades, as well as the South's largest lake and a series of man-made cleanup marshes that have become magnets for egrets, herons and ducks. The region is also the epicenter of a $15 billion Everglades restoration effort.
Also filed under [
Impact on Wildlife|
Impact on Landscape]
FPL wind towers in western St. Lucie County not creating controversy like turbine proposal
April 30, 2011 by Eric Pfahler in TCPalm
April 30, 2011 by Eric Pfahler in TCPalm
FPL has asked the county for permission to build 200-foot meteorological towers to gather wind data in western St. Lucie County. The data would determine whether there's enough wind to build turbines out west.
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General]
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