The turbine has not been consistently operational since its installation in 2011. The Wilmington-based energy company that installed it, Lumus Construction, eventually defaulted, and Hanover Insurance, the company that held Lumus’ surety bond, became involved, Clarkson said.

Structural Failure Massachusetts

The decision means Cape Wind will either have to challenge the board’s ruling in court or start from scratch in seeking regulatory approval for the transmission line, both of which would be time-consuming. Cape Wind officials got up and left the meeting before its formal conclusion.

General Massachusetts

In its request for an extension of the transmission line approval, Cape Wind said none of the circumstances that led to the original approval has changed. The company said “it is quite feasible” it may be able to begin construction of the wind farm by the extension date of May 1, 2017, but conceded that if there are further delays it may need more extensions.

General USA Massachusetts

After more than a year, the Board of Health wants to revisit a shadow flicker regulation for Kingston wind turbines.

Shadow Flicker Massachusetts

A state board on Tuesday issued a tentative decision denying the extension of permits that would allow Cape Wind to build an electricity transmission line to connect its proposed offshore wind farm to land, further complicating the beleaguered project's already grim prospects.

Offshore Wind Massachusetts

Backers of gas generation countered that renewables are benefiting from government-backed subsidies and long-term contracts that threaten to reintroduce government-mandated integrated resource planning. ...state policies are giving renewables undue advantage and undermining conventional generators’ investments in the market.

Energy Policy Connecticut Maine Massachusetts New Hampshire Rhode Island Vermont

Attorney Kevin J. Joyce of Boston, representing the residents, filed a motion requesting a temporary restraining order against Future Generation Wind putting the turbines into operation. In his motion, Mr. Joyce stated that the turbines are “undisputedly in violation” of the board of health’s regulations. The motion further stated that preventing operation of the turbines would be in the best interest of public health, safety, and welfare.

Legal Massachusetts

Maine was originally part of Massachusetts, and we act like we are still, but I would admonish Maine residents to rise up and show the wind developers the door. Let them try constructing these useless monstrosities in the Berkshires and see how far they get. I have yet to delineate the total crony corruption that has enabled this industrial wind disaster but here are a few nuggets to chew on.

General Maine Massachusetts

The Falmouth Select Board voted to recomend Town Meeting indefinitely postpone Article 27 Monday night.

Zoning/Planning Massachusetts

The Falmouth selectmen made no public comment about the town's wind turbines at their Monday meeting, the first since Zoning Board of Appeals members indicated they would reject the town's application for a special permit to run one of the devices.

Zoning/Planning Massachusetts

With coal and nuclear fleets shrinking, large-scale Canadian hydropower is needed to avoid an overreliance on natural gas and meet aggressive carbon reduction goals, several speakers said. Wind and solar can’t develop at scale fast enough to replace thousands of megawatts of legacy generation, they said.

Energy Policy Massachusetts

Wind turbine projects have previously been rejected in Wellfleet, Eastham, Orleans, Harwich, Dennis, Brewster, Barnstable and Bourne. Health concerns have been a major issue. A Superior Court judge, hearing neighbor’ complaints that wind turbine noise constituted an intolerable “nuisance” that was causing “irreparable harm,” issued an injunction to curtail operations. The “Falmouth experience” is not unique.

Impact on People Massachusetts

Following a decision-making flow chart prepared by Falmouth special counsel Mark Bobrowski, board members weighed the existing turbine’s consistency with the 2010 town bylaw that was in place when Wind 1 was erected. ...board chairman Kimberly A. Bielan argued that neighbors testified in the hearing that curtailment would not lessen the impact of the turbine on their daily lives.

Zoning/Planning Massachusetts

The special-permit application is just one legal issue surrounding the turbines. Nine lawsuits are now pending in Barnstable Superior Court about their operation, said Westboro attorney Christopher Senie, who represents some of the neighbors. The special-permit denial may help quell some of those suits as well as deal with the continuing operation of Wind 2, he said. 

Zoning/Planning Massachusetts

The majority of board members found fault with the application on more than one front, including the zoning requirement that the turbine known as Wind 1 will not have "adverse effects" on either the neighborhood or the town. Throughout the permit hearing, which stretched over a half dozen meetings and several months, neighbors of the turbine presented evidence on multiple fronts, including personal testimony, in an attempt to show the negative effects of the turbine.

Impact on People Zoning/Planning Massachusetts

A group of Bourne residents has brought a lawsuit against town officials and Future Generation Wind LLC relative to the construction of four giant wind turbines at the Bourne-Plymouth town line. The case was heard in Barnstable Superior Court on Friday, March 4. The judge in the case rejected the neighbors' request for a temporary injunction, which would have halted work on the project.

Legal Massachusetts

A six-year battle over the town's wind turbines faces a critical turning point Saturday when the Falmouth Zoning Board of Appeals will deliberate a special-permit application to keep one of the devices operational. The board has scheduled a public meeting to deliberate the application and is expected to vote on it, although a delay is possible. But whenever the board's decision comes, whether it marks the beginning of the end for the fight or simply sparks another round of litigation remains to be seen.

Zoning/Planning Massachusetts

The board is holding a rare Saturday meeting to give itself more time to deliberate on the permit for the 397-foot-tall turbine known as Wind 1, which began spinning five years ago.

Zoning/Planning Massachusetts

A representative from Denmark’s largest energy company had a cold reception in Chilmark this week as commercial fishermen and others discussed a proposed wind farm south of the Vineyard. Andy Revill, a fishermen’s liaison for Dong Energy, traveled from the U.K. to meet with fishermen. ...But fishermen who gathered at the Chimark town hall on Tuesday said that would almost surely interfere with gillnetters in the area.

Offshore Wind Massachusetts

The long-stalled offshore wind project planned for the coastal waters off Massachusetts could face even more legal roadblocks. Federal appeals court judges today signaled skepticism about whether the government had properly determined how to minimize the project's impact on migratory birds.

Impact on Birds Offshore Wind USA Massachusetts