Like all power-generation facilities, wind energy turbines have a lifespan, and at the end of that time, the companies that built them are required to decommission the sites. There is no minimum requirement for what decommissioning entails under Nebraska law, however, leaving those agreements up to the wind energy providers and landowners who agreed to have turbines erected.

Energy Policy Nebraska

A recently expired statewide moratorium not only delayed his plans for more than a year, but also nixed Renewable Energy System’s proposal for Tyrrell County in 2017. And new legislation could have an even bigger impact – as it, once again, would essentially prohibit wind farms from being built in eastern North Carolina.

Energy Policy North Carolina

 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

Last fall, Keith Uhles, an engineer with the oil-and-gas firm CrownRock Minerals, invited other young West Texas professionals to join him at a popular Midland Mexican restaurant for a conversation about renewable energy subsidies.

Energy Policy Texas

“In light of the recent PSC decision on the Grain Belt Express, the General Assembly will act to protect Missourians from private companies trying to seize their land through eminent domain.  The legislation the House is moving forward is vital for many Missourians who otherwise would be forced to allow unreasonable restrictions on their family farms, damaging the value of their land and taking away their private property rights,” Haahr wrote in an official statement this week.

Energy Policy Transmission Missouri

Increasing quantities of renewable energy result in increasing electricity prices because they are more expensive than conventional sources of electricity, like coal. Additionally Minnesota would still need backup sources of electricity, like coal and natural gas plants, to be available when the wind is not blowing, like during the Polar Vortex, or when the sun is not shining. As a result, Minnesotans must pay twice for electricity they use once.

Energy Policy Minnesota

“We’re asking our Missouri farmers and rural areas to give up their land and their rights so that people further east can save on their energy bills? I don’t think that’s good for Missourians,” said Republican Rep. Dean Plocher, the chairman of the committee that advanced the eminent domain legislation. ...At a legislative hearing this week, Marilyn O’Bannon vowed that she and her relatives never would agree to provide easements for the transmission line to pass through about 5 miles of her family’s farmland near Madison.

Energy Policy Transmission Missouri

Once again, officials in eastern North Carolina say they were not consulted about a just-filed bill that could halt a multi-million dollar project in its tracks.

Energy Policy North Carolina

The price of our leaders’ green virtue will fall particularly hard on working-class Californians who already suffer the nation’s highest rate of people living in poverty. They also tend to live in less-temperate geographies such as the Inland Empire, the high desert and the Central Valley. Expect the recent moves to expand the ranks of the million Californians who suffer from “energy poverty,” defined as spending 10 percent or more of their household income on energy-related expenses.

Energy Policy California

While developers have applied for space on the regional grid’s interconnection queue, further development will depend on regional activities. Massachusetts, the biggest destination for clean energy, has mandated aggressive targets for clean energy and called for projects throughout the region. It mostly has been preoccupied with offshore wind and eventually, Canadian hydropower.

Energy Policy Maine

As the debate about wind power  continues in West Central Indiana, proposed legislation could limit small towns’ ability to regulate turbine construction near their community. A bill reducing extraterritorial powers goes to the House Committee on Government Reduction for a vote Tuesday.

Energy Policy Indiana

“This major legislation doubles the amount of time citizens have to prepare for and resolve issues during wind evidentiary hearings,” said PUC Chairman Gary Hanson. “It gives citizens a stronger negotiating position, and guarantees that all parties to a docket are entitled to an evidentiary hearing. The new law also provides local governments with more influence in wind and solar development.”

Energy Policy South Dakota

"Eminent domain for a private purpose was something I did not believe should be in law, especially if it's going to be a particular industry benefiting from it," he said. "I think it's worth discussing again." While it would apply throughout Nebraska, the bill especially had been sought by residents of the Sandhills, some of whom said a neighbor should not be forced to allow a feeder power line to pass through their land to reach a bigger transmission line, such as the Nebraska Public Power District's R Project.

Energy Policy Nebraska

Some Illinois lawmakers want to rush through legislation that would change the dynamic for a plan to erect dozens of wind turbines in central Illinois. ...The measure would restrict wind farm regulations outside of a municipality to the county alone, excluding townships.

Energy Policy Illinois

The Sierra Club’s founder, John Muir, founded the group in 1892 to help protect the environment. Muir must be rolling over in his grave at the current Sierra Club’s diversion away from the group’s intended mission. The Sierra Club’s support of industrializing vast swaths of land with industrial wind sprawl is directly opposed to their Mission Statement “to protect and restore the quality of the natural and human environment.” 

Energy Policy New York

Owners of wind and solar farms in Australia’s main National Electricity Market are being warned that they face another significant de-rating of their output as a result of the increasingly congested grid. ...Under the draft calculations for 2019/20, some wind and solar projects have been significantly derated, and face losses of output of 20 percent or more, undermining their economic viability.

Energy Policy Australia

State commission member Chris Nelson said escrow arrangements provide financial protection in case a wind farm's owner goes bankrupt. The money would be returned to companies if it isn't needed. "It's a good bill for landowners and a good bill for developers," Nelson said.

Energy Policy South Dakota

I think it’s natural that those of us who became active on climate change gravitated toward renewables. They seemed like a way to harmonize human society with the natural world. ...But it’s high time that those of us who appointed ourselves Earth’s guardians should take a second look at the science. Now that we know that renewables can’t save the planet, are we really going to stand by and let them destroy it?

Energy Policy Europe USA

By the evening of Jan. 30, there was less than 550 MW on the MISO North grid, supplying just 2.5 percent of the region's power. The temperature, which had bottomed out an hour earlier, had fallen to minus 21 F with a minus 31 F wind chill. That dip in wind output during last month's deep freeze is now fueling debate about the nation's embrace of renewable energy. The polar vortex arrived as calls grew on the left for a "Green New Deal" to transition to renewables and tackle the threat of climate change.

Energy Policy USA

It was heart-wrenching for Brewer, he said, to see the Sandhills residents in the balcony, who were there for probably the fifth time on the issue, watch as senators who were elected to represent their districts be unwilling to listen to the debate. And then walk in at the end and not vote, or vote against it. "It really doesn't leave a very good taste in their mouth about what this unicameral's all about," he said. 

Energy Policy Nebraska