New Hampshire State Senators Jeb Bradley, Bob Giuda and Ruth Ward, as well as Rep. Michael Vose sent a letter to the Site Evaluation Committee (SEC) on Jan. 29 pointing out that the Committee has been sidelining public complaints about noise the Antrim Wind Energy turbines make in the Antrim area.

Impact on People Noise New Hampshire

What Antrim residents who complained of turbine noise levels are especially upset about is that the SEC, at this meeting that they missed due to it not being directly noticed to them, adopted a report that they believe is not acceptable under the SEC’s own rules regarding the Conditions of the AWE Certificate.  ...So, to summarize, the Town of Antrim was not directly notified of the meeting, those making the complaints were not directly notified, no transcript of what took place in the November 23 meeting – now a month ago – has been made available, and no meeting to consider the complaints has been scheduled as of yet. 

Impact on People Noise New Hampshire

“This is incredibly disruptive to my workday and life in general,” she wrote. “My neighbors and many others fought against the installation of these turbines and they were right to do so. The turbines have been nothing but a constant headache and source of stress for those made to endure their intolerable noise. It must stop.”

Impact on People Noise New Hampshire

The business groups argue that halting the surcharges would provide some rate relief to both commercial and residential customers at a time when many are having financial difficulties as a result of the COVID-19 shutdown. “We’re not looking to decimate these programs, but we are saying, ‘We’ve got to take a breather,’” said Doug Gablinske, executive director of the Energy Council of Rhode Island, which represents large energy users.

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In deeper waters of the gulf, wind power will be achieved only with the use of floating turbines. The extensive anchoring and cabling that would be required means “lease areas will become de facto closures to fishing,” the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance wrote in an April 14 letter the governors of Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts, and the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.

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Those types of disputes are “what we’re trying to avoid happening now,” said Annie Hawkins, executive director of the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance, or RODA. The coalition of fishing stakeholders aims to get the industry on the same page as researchers and wind developers across the region. “We’re trying to make sure fishermen are much more involved in the process from day one,” Hawkins said. She’d like to see more work across state lines to coordinate policy and research.

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The conflict stems from the vacant-land myth: the notion that there’s plenty of unused land out there in flyover country that’s ready and waiting to be covered with wind turbines, solar panels, power lines and other infrastructure. The truth is that growing numbers of rural and suburban landowners are resisting these types of projects. They don’t want to endure the noise and shadow flicker produced by 500- or 600-foot-high wind turbines. Nor do they want miles of transmission lines built through their towns, so they are fighting to protect their property values and views.

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Energy produced by the turbines will be sold under long-term power purchase agreements ...The project’s completion comes despite significant pushback, with opponents saying it could disrupt wildlife habitat, intrude on scenic views, cause too much noise and lower property values.

General New Hampshire

Opposition to the proposed industrial-scale lithium-ion battery energy storage system (BESS) at the dead end of Foster Hill Road has grown fiercer. On Tuesday, the roughly 100 residents turning out to the Littleton Opera House put both the applicant and the Zoning Board of Adjustment on the hot seat during a public hearing that was again continued, until March 24. ...The system would store electrical energy using specialized battery store containers and would go on 13 of the 27 wooded acres owned by Aaron Scott DeAngelis, who would lease the site to LITUS. The utility-scale batteries, in 96 containers, each 40-feet-long and 8-feet-wide and spaced 15 feet apart, would be charged at night at a lower price, temporarily stored, and sold back to the electric grid as needed at higher price.

Zoning/Planning New Hampshire

A Maryland company that builds and manages natural gas and wind turbine power plants has entered into a long-term agreement to lease about 800 acres on Green Mountain, near the border with Newport, with an eye toward building and operating a wind-power farm.

General New Hampshire

Fred Rice, a retired representative from Hampton, called for the Hampton Beach Village District commissioners at their last meeting to oppose offshore wind, a proposal being examined by a newly formed three-state federal task force.

Offshore Wind New Hampshire

Robertson said that TransAlta paid the Town of Antrim $50,000 for the delay. In the original contract with the town, TransAlta agreed to pay the fee if the turbines weren’t on line within twelve months after the start of construction.

General New Hampshire

This summer, Antrim Town Beach visitors had a prime view of the first three Antrim Wind turbines going up.

General New Hampshire

The mix of clouds and calm ensures that wind turbines and solar cells will produce electricity varying from many megawatts to 0 megawatts. In order to get any specified average amount of green electricity from either sun or wind, or both, 3-5 times that generation capacity must be installed. But when the wind blows and the sun shines, that excess electricity will blow the grid.

General New Hampshire

 Major issues have often divided Democrats and Republicans during this session of the Legislature, but there has been bipartisan agreement on the need to promote renewable energy.

Energy Policy New Hampshire

Lots of arguments have been made against the Green New Deal, and its goal of 100% carbon-free energy, including carbon-free electricity, by 2030. Most of these arguments have been political and economic. But the fundamental argument destroying 100% clean electricity is more basic. The weather won’t allow it!

General USA New Hampshire

The disagreement over Vineyard Wind’s waiver concerns a technicality in New England’s power markets. The company requested an exemption that would have allowed it to bypass a minimum offer price on subsidized energy resources that participate in the grid operator’s annual markets for reserve power. FERC agreed to a fix proposed by ISO New England that would allow Vineyard Wind to qualify for the exemption in the coming years.

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“We decided it would make sense to get started as soon as possible so we can have a baseline bunch of data of infrasound for this area before turbines go into operation,” Block said. “When they do go into operation – which is at least a year off, according to their building schedule – we will be able to chart the differences.”

Noise New Hampshire

ANTRIM NH -- Nearly a decade after Antrim residents first heard the first proposal to put wind turbines on Tuttle Hill and Willard Mountain, ground is being broken on the project next week.

General New Hampshire

It’s unfortunate that wind energy has ever risen in energy discussions, because it suffers a serious, fundamental and likely insoluble problem. This problem is sufficiently serious as to question whether wind energy should ever be considered to contribute meaningful electrical energy to New Hampshire.

General New Hampshire