News
Category:
Iowa
Council member Brian Sokol told the Toledo City Council he was seeking input for an ordinance regulating wind turbines in the city of Toledo. ...the council voted to form a committee to research the topic of residential wind turbines and provide input for an ordinance to regulate them.
Also filed under [
Zoning/Planning]
State regulators disagree with Alliant rate hike, customers to receive partial refund
December 16, 2010 by Dave Dewitte in KCRG TV 9
December 16, 2010 by Dave Dewitte in KCRG TV 9
Alliant's request to recover past investments in the Sixth Street Generating Station in Cedar Rapids was reduced by $3.1 million, and Alliant was denied a return on its investment for cost overrages at the Whispering Willow Wind Farm related to wind turbine purchases.
Also filed under [
Impact on Economy]
Transferring wind power; HVDC transmission line could cut through Iowa
November 29, 2010 by Larry Kershner in The Messenger
November 29, 2010 by Larry Kershner in The Messenger
A non-public meeting with local government and development leaders in Webster County will be held Dec. 8 in Fort Dodge as the first stage in determining if a new electric transmission system can be routed through or near this county.
Clean Line Energy Partners is planning to construct 500 miles of new high voltage direct current transmission line across Iowa.
Also filed under [
Transmission]
Wind energy producers face wall in moving power east
October 31, 2010 by Dan Piller in Des Moines Register
October 31, 2010 by Dan Piller in Des Moines Register
"Resistance from some Eastern states, Massachusetts in particular, has become stronger and stronger," said Stanley, part of a working group of 39 state energy and utility regulators.
Easterners have made it clear that Iowa and the Midwest can build all the transmission it wants, so long as it pays all the costs. Midwesterners beg to differ.
Also filed under [
Transmission|
USA]
But figures from the American Wind Energy Association released Friday show a dramatic drop in new projects during 2010. In 2009 about 10,000 megwatts of new capacity came on line nationally and another 4,000 megawatts were finished in the first quarter of 2010.
But since then just 500 new megwatts of wind energy have been completed in the U.S.
Horizon tests county for two possible wind projects
October 19, 2010 by Magdalene Landegent in Le Mars Daily Sentinel
October 19, 2010 by Magdalene Landegent in Le Mars Daily Sentinel
The transmission system for electricity is "entirely too congested at this point," he explained.
"This is basically our first step," Yonnone said. "We need to get met towers up first to get a couple years under our belt of wind data, crunch the numbers and we determine whether or not the wind is viable for a larger wind project."
Also filed under [
General]
Price tag for wind transmission; $20 billion and up
October 18, 2010 by Dan Piller in Des Moines Register
October 18, 2010 by Dan Piller in Des Moines Register
The MidAmerican/AEP proposal is the only wind transmission plan. ITC Holdings of Michigan, which owns and operates Alliant Energy's transmission sysstem in Iowa, already as preliminary approval from federal regulators to approach investors about a similar line from the Dakotas through Iowa across the Mississippi River to serve urban markets to the east.
Also filed under [
Transmission]
Report encourages six corridors for wind power transmission
October 1, 2010 by Dave DeWitte in The Gazette
October 1, 2010 by Dave DeWitte in The Gazette
The transmission corridors would be built over a number of years, the report said and would provide a way to move 15,000 megawatts of new power from wind farms to the markets where the power would be consumed. It would serve as a backbone for future wind energy developments.
Also filed under [
Transmission|
USA]
Last week, several senators proposed a new version of the renewable-power mandate, hoping Congress might pass it in a lame-duck session after the election. But one analyst, Kevin Book of ClearView Energy Partners, gives the measure "near-zero odds" of passing. "I would be reluctant to invest in more wind generation right now unless I knew I was required to do it or the market price of power was higher."
Also filed under [
Energy Policy|
USA]
Alliant's 13 percent rate hike request now in board's hands
September 23, 2010 by Dave Dewitte in Eastern Iowa News
September 23, 2010 by Dave Dewitte in Eastern Iowa News
The consumer advocate office believes Alliant should not be allowed to charge customers for bad management decisions it's made in the past, Polle said, citing the higher transmission costs resulting from the 2007 sale of its transmission system to ITC and wind farm overruns as examples. It is asking the board to assess a $5 million per year management inefficiency penalty.
Also filed under [
Impact on Economy]
The 3-megawatt turbines are already used abroad and North American customers are interested in buying them because they will make it feasible to build wind farms in less-windy places where smaller, 1.5 MW turbines will not work as well, she said.
The larger rotor diameters mean less wind is necessary to turn the blades, Hazen said.
Also filed under [
General]
Between 17 and 27 wind towers are expected to go up south of Edgewood and west of Greeley. Steve Dryden is the owner of R-P-M Access, which will build and run the 41-megawatt facility.
Also filed under [
General]
The farm is completely operable, Witt said, but the problem lies in the transmission of energy from its location near Zearing to Ames. The farm will need to upgrade its transmission lines before the university will be able to meet its goal, Witt said.
Also filed under [
General]
Michael O'Sullivan of NextEra Energy, Iowa's second-largest producer of wind power, told the American Wind Energy Association meeting in Dallas this week: "Our product is too expensive relative to other options. Our competitive advantage has largely evaporated."
The sudden rise of natural gas is credited with throwing wind energy into another of its periodic slowdowns. Iowa, with 2,300 megawatts of wind electricity generation, trails only Texas among the 50 states in wind capacity.
Wind turbines such as these could soon be built by the hundreds in Marshall County after recent passage of an ordinance regarding how they are taxed Tuesday. The turbines generate a clean, renewable electricity.
Marshall County now has a new ordinance that should make wind farms a little easier to build in the county.
Also filed under [
General]
The amendment alters maximum tower height from 100 feet under the previous ordinance to 65 feet for lots between 1 acre and 3 acres in size, 80 feet for lots between 3 acres and 7 acres in size, and 100 feet for lots larger than 7 acres in size.
It also specifies than any earthen berm, terrace or retaining wall used to elevate the turbine be considered a part of the turbine itself.
Also filed under [
Zoning/Planning]
Transportation -- of both giant wind turbine parts and the electricity they eventually generate -- remains the biggest hurdle to continued growth of wind power, an Iowa utility official says.
Neither an extensive network of farm roads in a state like Iowa nor the existing corridors of high-power electric lines match the expanding needs of wind farms.
Also filed under [
Energy Policy]
TPI Composites announced Wednesday it is laying off more than half of its workers by cutting approximately 237 positions at the Newton wind blade manufacturing plant. The company said in a press release that the layoffs were part of a restructuring process to "meet current and future customer and market expectations."
Also filed under [
General]
A state economic development board today gave TPI a green light to go ahead with a proposal to build a new blade manufacturing plant in Sioux City, with members saying they believed the wind-energy company would hit its job-creation promises in Newton. ...State documents show the company has until July 30 to create 504 jobs in Newton.
Also filed under [
General]
Wind company TPI cuts jobs in Newton as it weighs new plant
May 19, 2010 by Donnelle Eller in Des Moines Register
May 19, 2010 by Donnelle Eller in Des Moines Register
A The wind blade manufacturer that's weighing construction of a plant in Sioux City said today it's unlikely it will meet the job-creation requirements for its plant in Newton by July.
Arizona-based TPI Composites said it "continues to restructure its operations in Newton" and will reduce its workforce to 233. The company did not say how many workers would be cut in this latest round of layoffs.
Also filed under [
General]
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