What to Know

Impact on Views New Jersey

What does it say about New Hampshire government priorities that it adds a new and unnecessary office (see related editorial today) but can’t provide its Site Evaluation Committee with someone to open the mail and inform the public about public hearings?

General New Hampshire

The bill, hotly debated throughout the session, would have created some statewide regulations for wind and solar projects and provided some financial incentives from developers for counties that choose to give a green light to such projects. But tough opposition from representatives of local governments, as well as grassroots citizen groups, kept pushing the local control alarm that ultimately may have led to the bill’s demise.

Zoning/Planning Indiana

Ocean City Councilman Michael DeVlieger said, “I believe that the wind turbines are an existential threat to numerous wildlife species off our coast, in particular the Atlantic sturgeon, the North Atlantic right whale and the horseshoe crab. They should be protected under the Endangered Species Act.” He noted that the project would also likely adversely affect the real estate, hospitality, tourism, and fishing industries which keep the Cape May County economy strong. “This is our livelihood here,” DeVlieger said

Offshore Wind New Jersey

The Worth County Board of Supervisors passed a "temporary moratorium" on commercial wind projects in the county on Monday, though it's unclear what effect it will have on an ongoing project.

Zoning/Planning Iowa

Proposed areas to the west can provide "more than enough" wind-energy capacity to meet the region's need without having to develop the off-Hamptons areas, named Fairways North and Fairways South. Public officials and fishing groups oppose windfarms in the Fairways areas, which at 15 miles from shore would be visible from beaches and some of the nation’s most expensive houses.

Impact on People Offshore Wind New York

They knew that power from the Block Island Wind Farm would be expensive but were willing to pay the price in the hopes that the project would spur creation of a new clean-energy industry in the state. What they didn’t bargain for was that the wind farm would become a gold mine for an energy company that already had a dominant presence in Rhode Island: National Grid.

Impact on People Energy Policy Rhode Island

But several counties and towns are finding out they are getting less revenue out of the wind projects than they had expected when they were wooed in the 2000s and 2010s by developers looking to erect turbines several hundred feet tall along local remote, elevated ridgelines. In some cases, the developers are arguing that recent advancements in wind turbine technology have made newer models so efficient that older, less efficient turbines erected nearly a decade or more ago have lost much of their taxable value.

Taxes & Subsidies Maine

“The select board will write a letter to the SEC, voicing concerns from the people,” Robertson said. Richard Block, one of the residents who lives near the windmills, said he is pleased that the board is getting involved, though he wants to see results. “It remains to be seen if the board will be proactive enough, but we’ll be watching,” Block said.

Impact on People Noise New Hampshire

John Robertson, chairman of the select board, said the board has been hearing from residents who have problems with the noise generated by the $60 million Antrim Wind project. Residents have been complaining about the wall-shaking noise the windmills make, and the near-constant flashing lights.

Impact on People Noise New Hampshire

Falmouth wind turbine project to plague taxpayers for decades

Impact on People Zoning/Planning Massachusetts

The Utility Committee seems to have heeded Huhn’s word. Senator Mark Messmer drafted what was referred to as Amendment Three, significantly changing the bill. This amendment grandfathers in counties that have more restrictions on renewable energy systems than the standards in the bill, like Henry County’s current wind energy conversion systems (WECS) ordinance. This amendment also reduces the noise limit a wind turbine can make to 50 db (it was higher in the original draft) and increases setbacks from municipalities and state parks to one mile. But most notably, the amendment does away with mentions of home rule, and changed the appeals process – instead of appealing to the IURC, complaints would be filed with the local circuit courts. This was done in an effort to keep more local control.

Energy Policy Zoning/Planning Indiana

“The SEC meeting yesterday was perhaps the most frustrating I have ever witnessed and I’ve been intervening before the SEC for 15 years,” Linowes related in an email on March 26th. “The problem is tied to a Chair who cannot seem to keep track of the facts in front of her, Committee members who are disengaged, ignorant about the SEC, and easily confused, and a bureaucratic body that is feeling beat up by the public and afraid to act. The only outcome of yesterday was that the Nov 23 meeting and acceptance of the Antrim Wind monitoring report meant nothing beyond the Committee taking the report in hand."

General New Hampshire

If Sun’s project comes to fruition, Chinese-owned wind turbines reaching hundreds of feet into the air will be in close proximity to a U.S. military base. As Daniel M. Hoffman, a former chief of station with the CIA, wrote in the Washington Times (Aug. 14): “GH America would use the cover of a windmill farm renewable energy business to spy on behalf of China’s ruthless dictatorship.” Whether carrying out cyber attacks from afar or spying from up-close, America’s adversaries have a lot to gain from the expansion of wind power.

General USA

President Biden’s $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan would supercharge an already booming clean-power sector by expanding subsidies and addressing key bottlenecks impeding the shift to a greener grid. The plan, unveiled Wednesday, calls for the creation of a new tax credit to support the construction of high-voltage transmission lines, a major roadblock for the build-out of renewable energy.

Energy Policy USA

The fees are included in a bill that is the most wide-ranging response yet to pass the Texas Senate dealing with the power outages from the winter storms. Beside the fees on solar and wind producers, the legislation would create an alert system to warn Texans about impending power outages, and would require all electricity providers to weatherize their facilities and transmission lines — a major source of the midstorm power outages. It would also prohibit the wholesale electric index plans that resulted in astronomical bills for some consumers.

Energy Policy USA Texas

The fees are included in a bill that is the most wide-ranging response yet to pass the Texas Senate dealing with the power outages from the winter storms. Beside the fees on solar and wind producers, the legislation would create an alert system to warn Texans about impending power outages, and would require all electricity providers to weatherize their facilities and transmission lines — a major source of the midstorm power outages. It would also prohibit the wholesale electric index plans that resulted in astronomical bills for some consumers.

Energy Policy Texas USA

Ohio Northern University's wind turbine burns in early morning hours on Friday, March 26th 2021. It appears that the brake failed causing an over-speed event that started the fire in the nacelle.  

Safety Structural Failure Ohio

President Joe Biden is expected to unveil his massive infrastructure plan on Wednesday, but it could surprise to the upside.

Energy Policy USA

Ada-Liberty Township Fire Department was called to a wind turbine fire reported at 4:31 a.m., Friday morning (March 26), according to the Ada police report. 

Safety Structural Failure Ohio