Wind Watch: Industrial Wind Energy News
These news and opinion items are gathered by National Wind Watch to help keep readers informed about developments related to industrial wind energy. They are the products of the organizations or individuals noted.
Prevailing against anti-wind sentiment
Turning anti-wind sentiment into permits requires organization, strategy and plain ol’ grassroots politics.
By Ben Kelahan, North American Windpower, July 2009
Community relations may be the road to reputation, but understanding practical local politics paves the way to permits. Opposition groups are sophisticated, organized and well funded. They have borrowed the highest-priced tactics from corporate public relations and masterfully use the Web to circulate misinformation about the impacts of wind farms.
Understanding how the opposition plans to stop your wind farm may be . . .
Wind bylaw stands as is
COHASSET — When all was said and done at Special Town Meeting last week, the wind energy bylaw stood as it was approved at the 2008 Town Meeting and will remain so for the foreseeable future.
Last Thursday (June 25) – on the first sunny evening all week – a crowd of 317 voters turned out to vote on a citizen’s petition proposed “moratorium” on the wind energy bylaw and an article amending the previously approved article on the high school’s . . .
New company considering Kakanui Mountains for wind farm site
The Kakanui Mountains in North Otago are being investigated by a new company for a wind farm to generate electricity.
Waitaki Wind, set up recently by former Meridian Energy Ltd chief executive Keith Turner and former Waitaki mayor Alan McLay, is negotiating with landowners on the Kakanui Mountains to get access to start monitoring, according to evidence at the Environment Court yesterday.
The company, in which Mr McLay and Dr Turner are sole shareholders and directors, has pre-empted a similar move by . . .
Sage grouse decision delayed to 2010
Federal officials are again delaying a decision whether to list sage grouse in 11 Western states as threatened or endangered — leaving in limbo until at least 2010 a spate of industries that could face sweeping restrictions if the bird is protected.
The chicken-sized grouse ranges from Montana to California alongside livestock grazing, oil and gas drilling and an increasing number of wind power turbines.
Its population has been in decline for decades, but how many remain is unknown.
For the Obama administration, . . .
Rural wind turbine plan rejected
Six wind turbines will not be built at a rural beauty spot in north Dorset after councillors unanimously voted to throw out the plans.
Ecotricity wanted to build the 394ft (120m) turbines in Silton.
Hundreds of people packed the meeting in the Olive Bowl conference centre, in Gillingham, while another 100 who could not get in waited outside.
North Dorset District councillors went against their own planning officer’s recommendation to approve the scheme.
Save Our Silton campaigners waved banners and placards reading “No giant . . .
Welshpool wind turbines fight: Turbines protest goes to AMs
Civic leaders were travelling to Cardiff today to take their fight to prevent thousands of lorries from “destroying” a Mid Wales town to the Welsh Assembly.
Welshpool Town Council has been fighting to stop any windfarm transportation from travelling through the town.
Town mayor Ann Holloway, Councillors Estelle Bleivas and John Meredith and council clerk Robert Robinson were making the trip.
Mr Robinson said a petition seeking a public inquiry would be delivered to the Assembly.
He said: “We hope that by handing in . . .
Wyoming requires marking of wind-measuring towers
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — The state is working to prevent low-flying aviators from crashing into the hundreds of wind-measuring towers popping up across Wyoming.
Wind-energy developers erect meteorological towers — known as met towers — to measure a location’s wind speed, direction and turbulence.
Met towers generally range from 164- to 197-feet tall, which means they’re not subject to federal marking requirements.
A new state law requires all new met towers over 50 feet tall to be marked so they’re visible in daylight . . .
Wind farm fury mounts
Hundreds of concerned residents crowded into a meeting about controversial plans for a windfarm on greenbelt land near Stone.
Severn Trent Water staged a public exhibition at Aston Village Hall on Saturday to showcase its proposals to install three wind turbines at Aston Hall Farm, between Aston-by-Stone and Burston.
But protesters put up posters on the opposite side of the room and set up a stand outside — with the permission of Severn Trent Water — and collected more than 300 names . . .
State government to buy much more wind power
CONCORD — Gov. John Lynch announced today an agreement for the state government to get a quarter of its energy from wind power. The competitively bid deal with ConEdison Energy Solutions runs through July 1, 2010.
ConEd buys the wind from nationwide sources and gets renewable credits to balance out pollution from other power plants throughout its grid.
The agreement marks a big downpayment on the state goal of getting 25 percent of New Hampshire’s power from renewables by 2025.
nashuatelegraph.com . . .
Commission eyes $24M wind farm
The Jackson Utilities Commission has expressed interest in installing a $24 million dollar municipal wind farm upon the recommendation of a 16-year-old.
Tanner Hummel, who serves the city in the official capacity of junior councilperson, met with utilities commissioners Monday at City Hall to pitch the idea of a 12-unit wind farm he says could be built without raising taxes, could pay for itself in less than a decade and could eventually become a serious source of revenue for the increasingly . . .
