Oklahoma Forestry Services reports that on March 28 a wind turbine two miles south of Weatherford caught fire, throwing sparks to the ground. The sparks caused a grass fire that was contained after growing to approximately five acres. Eight fire engines responded to the scene and were able to contain the fire.

Safety Structural Failure Oklahoma

Across 300,000 acres (121,206 hectares) utility giant American Electric Power Co. is trying to pull off something no other company has attempted at this scale: It wants to build the nation’s largest wind farm -- and it wants up-front guarantees from regulators that customers will pay the bill.

General USA Oklahoma

"This legislation goes a long way toward protecting and enhancing our number one asset, which is our airspace," Cooper said. "It wasn't about having no wind power. It was about protecting our airspace." Cooper said the bill was crafted with close cooperation between the military, wind industry and Legislature.

Safety Oklahoma

Several residents near Weatherford caught video of a wind turbine on fire on Wednesday afternoon.

Safety Structural Failure Oklahoma

Safety Structural Failure Oklahoma

Thick, black smoke fills the sky as a turbine burns in Weatherford Oklahoma. The turbine is part of NextEra's Weatherford Wind Energy Center commissioned in 2005. The project consists of 98 GE1.5sle (1.5MW) turbines for a total nameplate capacity of 147 MW.         

Safety Structural Failure Oklahoma

If the state has been reimbursing county school districts for wind’s ad valorem taxes, then this has not expanded the total funds to school districts at all; it has just forced the state to transfer dollars from the General Revenue Fund that otherwise would have been earmarked for school districts across the state to those rural districts near wind facilities. Robbing Peter to pay Paul does nothing to help education.

Taxes & Subsidies Oklahoma

A clean energy company dropped out of The Wind Coalition this year after a legislator made accusations about a tracking device found on his pickup, The Oklahoman has learned.

Legal Oklahoma

Legislative panels on Thursday passed House Bill 3710, which would put a $35 million cap on the zero emission tax credit. Last year, lawmakers decided to sunset the tax credit in 10 years for new production. The clock began ticking July 1.

Taxes & Subsidies Oklahoma

Two bills, one in the House and another in the Senate, have proposed capping the state's zero emission tax credit. In 2016, Oklahoma paid $74 million in zero emission tax credits, which the legislature is proposing to cap at $5 million or $10 million.

Taxes & Subsidies Oklahoma

The company has agreed to buy energy from PSO’s Wind Catcher project to power many of its stores

General Oklahoma

Yates said the legislators don’t understand that the tax credits were built into the business models when the wind industry companies won state approval to build wind farms in Oklahoma. “These projects are not profitable for the first 12 years of existence,” he explained. The Wind Coalition leader said for the state to go back and change the rules “of the game so dramatically after these projects are already up and spinning, the investment is there and now to go back in and change is devastating.”

Taxes & Subsidies Oklahoma

Public Service Company of Oklahoma filed a 23-page exceptions report Feb. 23 in response to an Oklahoma Corporation Commission administrative law judge's recommendation earlier this month against pre-approval of PSO's request to allow the company to charge ratepayers to help fund the project.  

Legal Oklahoma

United States of America v. Osage Wind, LLC et al., 871 F.3d 1078 2017 WL 4109940 (10th Cir. Sept. 18, 2017). Causing heartburn for project applicants developing on tribal land, the Tenth Circuit reversed the District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma’s grant of summary judgment and determined that the defendants’ large-scale excavation project, involving site modification and the use of excavated rock and soil in the installation of wind turbines, constituted “mining” under federal regulations addressing mineral development on Native American land. Id. at *1. This decision creates new obligations for developers, which could result in delay and additional costs.

Legal USA Oklahoma

I’ve spent a portion of the past decade engaged in various efforts to encourage development of alternative energy resources in Arkansas, motivated by two factors – a belief that climate change is real and must be addressed and a desire to position Arkansas to capture a big chunk of the trillions of dollars that will be spent solving this problem.

Energy Policy Arkansas Oklahoma

The OSBI has determined a longtime Texas political consultant known as “Dr. Dirt” hired the private investigators who put a tracker on a legislator’s pickup, court records show. The consultant, George C. Shipley, 70, has been subpoenaed to appear next week before the Oklahoma multicounty grand jury “to provide testimony.”

General Oklahoma

The fossil fuel and renewable power industries have fought a low-grade conflict for years, maneuvering in state capitols and Congress to gain advantage in tax and energy policies that might increase or protect market share.

Energy Policy Oklahoma

OKLAHOMA CITY - A $581 million tax bill has failed after voting remained open late into Monday evening after lawmakers spent the afternoon debating.

General Oklahoma

An Oklahoma Corporation Commission administrative law judge is recommending against preapproval of Public Service Co. of Oklahoma's request to allow it to charge its ratepayers to help it own part of a wind farm and to use some of that power.

General Oklahoma

The Oklahoma Tax Commission has refuted claims by wind industry representatives that state incentives have expired for the renewable energy source. The state has already paid out more than $63 million in tax credits connected to wind power in the current fiscal year; The state will be refunding credits for at least the next 10 years, Mastin said

General Oklahoma