During a virtual meeting that involved a level of discussion and debate unusual for the Power Siting Board, board members unanimously voted to rescind part of an order they issued last May that approved construction of the wind turbines only if the turbine blades didn’t move at night between March 1 and Nov. 1, on the grounds that they would harm bats and birds.

Legal Offshore Wind Ohio

The Ohio Power Siting Board is preparing to rule that it will not revisit its decision to allow the construction of Icebreaker Wind, the nation’s first freshwater offshore wind farm, in Lake Erie, with restrictions that backers say would doom the project.

Legal Ohio

Pretty Prairie Wind LLC, a subsidiary formed by NextEra Energy to develop an 82-turbine wind farm in the southeast quadrant of the county, filed the suit in July 2019 after it failed to obtain a conditional use permit to build the project.

Legal Kansas

Dr Smith’s conclusion was: It is clear from the investigation that noise from the wind farm is audible within residences although there are noise monitoring reports stating that there is compliance by the wind farm with permit conditions and the New Zealand Standard 1998, and with a noise mitigation strategy in place at the wind farm. The noise was clearly audible in Mr Zakula’s dwelling at night time twice and in the Jelbart residence at night time twice and this is held to be unreasonable in both cases. 

Legal Australia

A group of Lewis crofters are calling for a change to a law it claims is crippling the potential of communities wishing to use land for development. It follows the group losing an appeal in a long-running battle to build community-owned wind turbines on common grazings.

Legal UK

The Fourth Department Appellate Division unanimously ruled on Thursday that state Supreme Court Judge James Dillon’s 2019 decision halting the 29 wind mills was incorrect. Dillon’s decision has been reversed and the residents’ petition dismissed in its entirety.

Legal New York

“Skipjack’s duty to reach out to stakeholders was not contingent on the stakeholders’ enthusiasm for the project,” according to the ruling. “Ocean City is an important stakeholder whose economy is vital to the state. Nor should Ocean City be punished for its lawful advocacy of a bill that would have required offshore wind turbines to be located at least 26 miles from shore.” As a result, the Public Service Commission ordered Ørsted to engage with its stakeholders more, including Ocean City, and provide updates every six months on the company's efforts. 

Impact on Landscape Legal Offshore Wind Maryland

Land owner says the noise from the turbines near his property has caused sleep deprivation for residents.

Legal Australia

A recent complaint filed with the U.S. District Court Southern District of New York by Trireme Energy Holdings alleges that Innogy, former parent company of Cassadaga Wind, LLC, intentionally delayed construction on the project, which was scheduled to be operational by Dec. 31, 2020, in order to avoid making a milestone payment in the amount of $69.7 million.

Legal New York

“The opinion freezes the MBTA in time as a hunting-regulation statute, preventing it from addressing modern threats to migrating bird populations,” she wrote in a decision vacating the opinion, calling it “an unpersuasive interpretation of the MBTA’s unambiguous prohibition on killing protected birds.”

Impact on Birds Legal USA

The lawsuit against Reno County by Pretty Prairie Wind will continue in the local district court after Judge Tim Chambers on Wednesday issued an order denying a motion by the developer for an immediate appeal on an earlier ruling in the case.

Legal Kansas

The board has yet to decide whether or not to grant permission and the case is over its decision to categorise it as a strategic infrastructural development. The challenge is by Paddy Massey, chairman of a local residents group that opposes the proposed development involving a total of 17 turbines on the two sites.

Legal Ireland

A federal judge refused Thursday to dismiss criminal charges against two men accused of scamming investors in a proposed wind farm project at Elm Springs. Jody Douglas Davis and Phillip Vincent Ridings are charged with multiple counts of wire fraud, aiding and abetting wire fraud, money laundering and aiding and abetting money laundering. Both men have entered not guilty pleas. They will be tried together, and the trial is set for Sept. 20 in Fayetteville.

Legal Arkansas

“The project is a dangerous and completely unnecessary industrialization of high-quality wildlife habitat in an area with an extremely high wildfire risk and frequent low-flying military, commercial and private aircraft,” states the suit filed by the nonprofit Backcountry Against Dumps along with Boulevard residents Donna and Ed Tisdale, whose ranch adjoins the project site with a half-mile shared border.

Legal California

ANCHOR has vowed to carry the fight against the wind turbines to Circuit Court, where it has already filed a case against the project. ANCHOR opposes the project, saying the wind turbines create noise pollution, obstruct views and have a negative impact on home values. “We are not giving up,” said Darlene Park, ANCHOR president.

Legal Maryland

The developer of the US’ first freshwater wind farm in the Great Lakes has appealed against over-restrictive operating restrictions on the approval it received last month. After a long permitting journey to satisfy 14 federal, state and local agencies, the 20.7MW Icebreaker in Lake Erie was unanimously approved by the Ohio Power Siting Board (OPSB) in May.

Legal Ohio

The Lake Erie Energy Development Corp. (LEEDCo) has asked the board to reconsider its decision so that the plans to build and operate the six-turbine demonstration project eight miles off Cleveland’s shoreline can move forward.

Legal Ohio

The Denver judge said Fish and Wildlife’s order granting the permit didn’t review possible routes to avoid O’Fallon’s Bluff, despite saying in its final environmental impact statement that running electrical lines over it would have “a long-term, high-intensity indirect (visual, auditory and atmospheric) effect.” Thousands of wagons on the Oregon-California Trail crossed the bluff from 1843 to 1866, cutting deep dips that remain today. It parallels Interstate 80 to the south between Sutherland and Hershey.

Legal Transmission Nebraska

On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge William Martinez revoked a federal permit that would have allowed the Nebraska Public Power District to kill or severely disturb the endangered American burying beetle as a consequence of building its R-Line project. 

Impact on Landscape Legal Transmission Nebraska

A Reno County judge recently ruled on a key element in a lawsuit filed by NextEra Energy over the denial of a permit for its proposed wind farm in the southeast quadrant of Reno County, finding in favor of the county and wind farm opponents. It was not the only issue in the suit, however, so the lawsuit continues.

Legal Kansas