An appellate court has overturned a lower court ruling and opened the way for Luminant Energy Company LLC (f/k/a TXU Portfolio Management Company, L.P.) ("Luminant") to recover millions of dollars in damages from wind farms owned by NextEra Energy (f/k/a FPL Energy) that promised but did not deliver the required amount of wind-generated electric energy and renewable energy credits.

CABLE - It was standing room only as residents of Wayne Township, as well as a few from other areas, attended the Wayne Township Zoning Commission meeting Wednesday to get information regarding wind turbines. Kevin Sheen, vice president of Everpower Renewables, was present to answer the many questions the residents raised. Everpower Renewables is a New York-based company that also is courting land owners in Union Township for wind turbine development. Those present expressed concerns regarding the height of the turbines, where they will be placed, how the machines operate and the benefits and hardships the community would reap by having wind farms.

The problem has largely been caused by the recent rapid growth in wind energy in China coupled with the extensive power grid upgrades that are needed to transmit wind energy to consumers. ...China plans to get 15 per cent of its energy from non fossil fuels by 2020, with wind power expected to contribute two per cent and solar one per cent.

Its operator hopes to file an application with the Ohio Power Siting Board early this summer and begin construction by the end of the year. Commercial operations would then begin in the summer or fall of 2014. Construction would have to begin this year for the operator to take advantage of a federal tax credit, unless it is renewed for next year.

"Western Ohio is seeing a renewed interest in companies taking a look at areas of the state to do energy development. Some companies are large, some are medium-size and some are small but we have identified 17 different energy development companies talking with farmers and offering leasing agreements in Northwest Ohio in the last year," he said. The primary reason Western Ohio is of interest is because the two distribution systems on the eastern half of the nation pass through this region. Though the corridor doesn't have as much wind as other states, it has enough.

Wind farms generate a lot of electricity, but not a large number of permanent jobs once the construction phase is over. And although the projects are desirable because they use an abundant renewable natural resource, the only significant revenue the units are generating in Wyoming at this point is through property taxes in the counties where they are located. Their property tax bills so far are modest.

Anthony Alliston says the modification isn't a significant change to the proposal. "They're proposing a power line to connect to Transgrid's 330kW transmissions line which will increase the efficiencies of the wind farm," he said.

The Ashtabula County Port Authority and Board of Commissioners are having a difficult time deciding which suitor would make the best partner in the offshore wind-energy marriage. Port Authority member Dennis Eckart compared the county’s dilemma to eloping at the age of 16 with the first suitor who comes along or waiting until you’re 40, when the picking is going to be slim and your appeal diminished.

Where wind is curtailed, it can ruin a plant’s profitability. Where it is anticipated by forward-looking models such as the ones Moland uses to perform congestion studies at GL Garrard Hassan and those used by transmission planners, it can make a viable development non-viable.

In the world of electric transmission it's called "curtailment." At Sheffield and Lowell Mountain, it's meant that even on the windiest of days the regional power grid operator, ISO New England, pulled the plug on power production because there was just too much available from other sources. Newer, non-baseload sources like Lowell got yanked first.

HURON, Ohio - Lake Erie could become the "Saudi Arabia of wind" power, U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D., Toledo) said yesterday. But no more wind turbines should be built along the lake shoreline until all potential impacts on wildlife have been studied in depth, Miss Kaptur added. The same goes for entertaining any proposals to install them in the open waters of the Great Lakes, she added

As Northeast Utilities and Hydro-Quebec begin seeking state and federal approval for the construction of Northern Pass, a $1.1 billion dollar project that would bring 1,200 megawatts of energy from a dam in Canada to southern New Hampshire, environmental groups say that it's too early to tell if the project will end up being truly "green." ...About 50 miles of the power lines will be in new territory, and 130 miles will use existing paths. In the new territory, a path of about 150 feet would be cleared to accommodate the power lines.

Opponents to a proposed electricity-generating turbine project in Champaign County questioned Thursday during state hearings whether the wind-turbines would harm an endangered species of bat, but a researcher who studied the issue said the windmills would not. ...UNU attorneys argued the study did not follow specific guidelines for net placement developed by the department of fish and wildlife. A follow-up study by wildlife officials, however, did find evidence of the Indiana bat in the area. Meinke said she had worked closely with officials from the department of fish and wildlife when she conducted the study, which was deemed adequate at the time.

Comments of support and opposition were voiced Monday night about two proposed wind turbine zoning amendments — one of which was recommended for acceptance and the other for rejection. The Union Township Zoning Commission recommended that township trustees accept a proposal it drafted and reject a proposal submitted by Union Neighbors United, a group of residents concerned about wind energy development zoning issues. "If we put something on the books today it's not an end, it's a start," commission member Steve Bricher said. "Sitting here today, we have no guidelines for (wind turbine) placement."

"This is a vote about the Lowell wind project -- absolutely," said Holland, an Irasburg resident and co-op member, who is among those urging members to vote against the transmission line. "The public hasn't been able to participate in this effectively."

As the second phase of the Buckeye Wind Project moves forward, project developers said they will have a temporary office available during construction to handle any questions or complaints from residents. If the project is approved, it would install more than 50 wind turbines throughout the county at a cost of about $250 million, according to developers.