Two wind turbines along County Road 650 south of Helena were damaged earlier this month, though the cause of the damage still is under investigation. Bryan Garner, director of communications at NextEra Energy Resources, said in an email the turbines at the Skeleton Creek Energy Center were damaged on Aug. 11 and 12.

Safety Structural Failure Oklahoma

“I am not someone whose nerves get on edge very easily, but I didn’t want either myself or my people close to it. What I saw gave me fear,” said Wreath. “I left with many more concerns and questions than I had arrived with.” The 120-megawatt capacity project — located along the Oklahoma-Texas state line between Guymon and Hardesty — went operational in 2012 and contains 60 towers within Oklahoma. About nine towers show signs of catastrophic failure, where portions or entire blades are missing or nacelles at tower tops have burned. Dozens of other towers are locked down, either because of internal damage that can’t be observed without a detailed inspection or because of other problems that could be impacting their operations.

Safety Structural Failure Oklahoma

A Tulsa federal refused to reverse part of a Magistrate Judge’s opinions against Osage Wind, LLC in a lawsuit filed 7 years ago over its installation of 84 wind turbines in Oklahoma’s Osage County.

Legal Oklahoma

JOHNSTON COUNTY, OKLAHOMA (KXII) - A wind farm turbine in Johnson County caught fire, after it was struck by lighting during Friday night’s storms. 

Safety Structural Failure Oklahoma

U.S. District Judge James Payne’s ruling that the work did not constitute mining was overturned by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Subsequently, Osage Wind LLC contended it did not trespass and violate laws based on its argument that it had acted on legal advice which said a mining permit was not necessary.

Legal Oklahoma

RINGWOOD, Okla. — Developers are nearing the construction stage of Maverick Wind Energy Center, a wind farm to be built in eastern Major County.

General Oklahoma

On July 2, the Public Utility Commission of Texas denied a request by AEP affiliate Southwestern Electric Power Co. to use its Texas customers' rates to finance the acquisition of a giant wind farm complex in Oklahoma ...The three-member Texas commission said the project didn't lay out clear enough benefits to consumers to justify their up-front investment. While some big companies have championed renewable energy, the farm had been opposed by major Texas consumer groups.

Energy Policy Arkansas Louisiana Oklahoma Texas

AEP has received three of the five necessary approvals for its planned $2 billion investment — from Oklahoma, Arkansas and FERC — and expects decisions in May or June from regulators in Louisiana and Texas.

General Arkansas Louisiana Oklahoma Texas

AEP will need approval from regulators in all four states where the new wind generation will serve customers, as well as sign-off from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. But to bolster its case, the company said it can scale the amount of generation acquired by PSO or SWEPCO, subject to commercial limitations, "to align with individual state resource needs as determined by the respective state commissions."

General Oklahoma

Renewable energy companies and Rep. Kevin West (R-Moore) are set to hold an Aug. 1 meeting at the Oklahoma State Capitol in an attempt to formulate a standardized property tax valuation system for wind farms. School districts and county officials are also expected to participate in the ongoing negotiation process, which seeks to put an end to the disagreements over wind project valuation that routinely cause lawsuits.

General Oklahoma

A new rule takes effect Aug. 1 that will provide the Oklahoma Corporation Commission with additional dollars to help regulate the development of wind energy resources in the state.

Taxes & Subsidies Oklahoma

“Most failure incidents of wind turbine towers are due to a combination of factors, among which extreme wind is identified as the most common,” says a detailed study of 48 tower collapses between 2000 and 2016 soon to be published by academics from the engineering department at the University of Birmingham in the UK.

Safety Structural Failure Oklahoma

The latest incident follows the collapse in February of a GE turbine at the Casa Mesa Wind Energy Center in eastern New Mexico, which only entered commercial operation in the fourth quarter of last year. The US OEM said then that it would investigate what it believed to be “an isolated incident”.

Safety Structural Failure Oklahoma

A wind turbine at the Chisholm View wind farm near Hunter, Okla., collapsed Tuesday May 21, 2019. Enel Green Power North America, which owns the turbine, is working to determine why it fell. Access to the site was blocked for safety reasons as of Wednesday May 22, 2019.

Safety Structural Failure Oklahoma

The developer pulled the plug on the 220MW Minco V project near Hinton and the 250MW Crowder project in Washita County. NextEra had already agreed with the Oklahoma Attorney General’s office in October that it would stop construction of Minco V.

Safety Oklahoma

Plans were dropped Friday to build two west-central Oklahoma wind energy projects, including one that had been paused by potential litigation over concerns it would interfere with low-level military training air routes, their developer announced Friday. ...Scrapped projects are the 220-megawatt Minco V wind farm and a 250-megawatt Crowder wind farm.

Safety USA Oklahoma

House Bill 2118 updates existing law by adding language that prohibits a wind developer from building turbine towers or other structures that also need federal approvals until those have been issued and filed with appropriate authorities at both the Oklahoma Aeronautics Commission and the Oklahoma Corporation Commission. It also authorizes the Corporation Commission to assess an administrative penalty of up to $1,500 a day, per violation, against any developers who violate that prohibition.

Safety Oklahoma

A Determination of No Hazard and mitigation plan for any adverse impacts to military airspace must be submitted to the Corporation Commission and the Oklahoma Aeronautics Commission before wind turbine construction starts. The bill specifies a $1,500 penalty per day, per turbine, for any new construction that doesn't meet the new guidelines, and sets administrative rules for resolving disputes over turbine projects.

Safety Energy Policy Oklahoma

According to the Duke Energy managing director of business development, Graham Furlong, 105 locations for the turbines have been approved by the FAA. The plan is to narrow it down to a more specific plan by the summer, and begin installation by the fall. However, many residents who are nestled in between the proposed sites or live in the surrounding area are finding out about the planned farm for the first time.

Impact on People Oklahoma

Once the five years of exemptions are over, wind companies have been sending lawyers to county courthouses to file tax protests and lawsuits contending the value of their equipment is worth hundreds of millions of dollars less than the values assigned to them by county assessors. Wind industry representative claim they have good cause for their tax protests. 

Taxes & Subsidies Oklahoma