“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

Two controversial wind energy bills that could be heard this legislative session calls for stripping companies' tax incentives and making them pay a new tax. Critics say the bills raise red flags for future business in Oklahoma.

Taxes & Subsidies Oklahoma

The legislator has always suspected the president of The Wind Coalition, a trade organization. McBride has been an outspoken critic of the wind industry and has called for wind farms in Oklahoma to pay more in taxes. The Wind Coalition president, Jeff Clark, has denied any involvement in the tracking.

Legal Oklahoma

OSMPC contends the wind farm violates a recent amendment to the Wind Energy Development Act. The changes to the law require a determination by the federal government that planned wind turbine construction has no military impact, or the company must have an approved mitigation plan from the Defense Department, before a wind farm is constructed or expanded.

Legal Safety Oklahoma

The federal government later joined the legal battle on behalf of the tribe, claiming the excavation work was mining and therefore required a lease. It lost its original case but won in the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, which found Osage Wind was engaged in mining without a lease.

General Oklahoma

While people like the idea of wind power, few are eager to have wind farms near their homes. This is true not only in conservative rural Oklahoma, but locations across the nation. Writing at City Journal, Robert Bryce notes that the Republican and Democratic gubernatorial candidates this year in “deep-blue Vermont” favored renewable energy “in principle” but opposed new wind energy development. 

General USA Oklahoma

Officials say the wind farm was being constructed along a route of airspace used by the United State Air Force for training.  Now, the Federal Aviation Administration will complete an investigation to make sure there will be no hazards to anyone involved.

Legal Safety Oklahoma

OSMPC contends the wind farm violates a recent amendment to the Wind Energy Development Act. The changes to the law require a determination by the federal government that planned wind turbine construction has no military impact, or the company must have an approved mitigation plan from the Defense Department, before a wind farm is constructed or expanded.

Legal Safety Oklahoma

Brian Hermanson, the Kay County district attorney, said he was shocked that Rock Falls Wind Farm and Blackwell Economic Development Authority officials came up with the tax avoidance plan in secret and then sprang it on county officials at the last minute. “They didn’t tell us about it until it was all over and the wind farm was built and it was time to assess,” he said. “I was shocked at the manner they did it. I was shocked that they would try to cut the school systems from the money they had coming and the county health system from what they had coming and county government, for that matter.”

Taxes & Subsidies Oklahoma

Pending lawsuits over a northern Oklahoma wind farm’s property tax liability could have more than $1 million worth of implications for state education funding, according to Brady Barnes, superintendent of Newkirk Public Schools. But while the suits await action in court, leaders of Kay and Grant counties, the Oklahoma State Department of Education and a subsidiary of Électricité de France are attempting to strike some sort of agreement that would prevent what Barnes says could be a $550,000 impact on his district come January.

Taxes & Subsidies Oklahoma

Energy company EDF Renewables intends to reverse its controversial Rock Falls Wind Farm bond agreement that had complicated school financial situations for northern Oklahoma districts, according to company representatives. The decision was made after an Oct. 24 meeting with school superintendents and will likely preserve revenues for those districts.

Taxes & Subsidies Oklahoma

A deadline for a mitigation plan for a proposed wind farm near Hinton has been extended a fourth time. Last month, Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter announced an agreement between NextEra Energy Resources and the Oklahoma Strategic Military Planning Commission to halt construction of a wind farm at the moment.

Safety Oklahoma