Wind Power News: Pennsylvania
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.
Wind companies hoping to circumvent county regulations
Large-scale industrial wind energy projects moving forward as municipalities adopt more developer-friendly regulations
Although the publicity has died down, two large-scale industrial wind energy projects in northern Potter County are moving forward.
Township governments have been adopting regulations that are accommodating to the wind turbines. By turning to the townships, wind developers have circumvented countywide regulations approved in 2008.
Members of the Ulysses Township Board of Supervisors last week tabled action on a proposed “host community agreement” with international energy giant . . .
FAA reverses course on Shaffer Mountain
The Federal Aviation Administration has determined that the Shaffer Mountain Wind Farm will not pose a threat to aircraft navigation after further studying the turbine siting.
The FAA’s Jan. 21 determination reversed a review in November in which 15 of the 30 turbines planned by developer Gamesa Energy USA were designated presumed hazards.
Gamesa officials said the November review was part of a re-permitting process for the project when an earlier FAA approval expired after 18 months.
“The FAA determination is one of . . .
FAA approves wind farm
JOHNSTOWN — The Federal Aviation Administration is giving its OK to the proposed Shaffer Mountain Wind Farm, two months after voicing concerns that some turbines could potentially create problems for local airports.
The FAA has issued a “determination of no hazard to air navigation” for the wind farm Gamesa USA wants to build on ridges along the Somerset-Bedford county line.
In the review of each of the 30 turbines proposed for the farm, the FAA said the structures do not exceed . . .
Somerset windmills would not be aviation hazard, feds say
The Federal Aviation Administration has determined that a proposed Gamesa Energy USA wind energy project that would put 30 windmills atop an ecologically sensitive ridge on Shaffer Mountain in Somerset County would not create an aviation hazard.
The FAA had issued “notices of presumed hazard” in November for 15 of the 404-foot-tall wind turbines, but subsequent aeronautical studies have determined that the structures would not exceed obstruction standards or adversely impact air space and flight routes above the ridge.
The FAA “determination . . .
Birding groups rap wind turbines; Missed opportunity for public comment
The federal government has concluded that building two wind turbines with 120-foot-long propellers atop Turkey Point does not threaten eagles, other raptors or bats.
But some birding groups that missed the opportunity to weigh in on the project when public comment was invited believe the environmental impact assessment is flawed. They believe the assessment did not consider the area’s important role as a stopover for tens of thousands of migratory shorebirds.
The Lancaster County Bird Club, Audubon Pennsylvania and Don Heintzelman, a . . .
Wind turbines for Pennsylvania?
The winds of change are blowing energy alternatives into central Pennsylvania and stirring up debate along the way.
Central Pennsylvania, with its many blustery ridgetops, is seen as a prime location for wind farms by wind turbine companies and local environmentalists concerned about climate change. But others in the environmental community argue that wind farms would harm forests and wildlife, and local planners worry about sound pollution and blighted landscapes.
Gamesa Energy USA, one of the largest wind turbine companies in the . . .
Local turbine project receives $10 million federal grant
A planned 23-wind turbine project for Fayette County to generate electricity that was put on hold late last year is back on track thanks to a $10 million federal economic stimulus grant.
During a visit to the Gamesa Wind USA plant in Ebensburg, Gov. Edward Rendell announced $22.8 million in grants through the stimulus program that will not only put people to work at Gamesa, but also will create another 257 jobs at three large-scale wind farms.
Among the grants is a . . .
Wind turbines uncertain
BRADY TWP. – Members of the Brady Township Board of Supervisors have passed an ordinance to regulate the wind energy industry. A spokesman for the company interested in locating an industrial wind turbine complex in the township said the rules are too restrictive.
Supervisors Charlie Muth and Brian Hartzfeld voted in favor of the ordinance, while Chairman Darryl Beatty voted against it. Muth said his vote was based on an obligation to protect residents who would be adversely affected by turbines . . .
Wind farm projects to get $23 million
Three in-state wind farm projects received nearly $23 million in federal stimulus act funds, allowing the projects to create 257 jobs.
The funding through the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act also will permit the Gamesa wind turbine manufacturing plant in Ebensburg, Cambria County, to bring back 79 layed off workers and hire an additional 50 people, officials said.
The projects being funded include Gamesa’s Chestnut Flats Wind Farm in Cambria and Blair counties, receiving $7.8 million and expected to create . . .
The windmill sham: Blowing tax dollars
How many U.S. jobs do “stimulus”-funded wind turbines create? The answer, dear friends, is blowing in the wind: precious few.
American University’s Investigative Reporting Workshop found that foreign turbine makers have received about 80 percent of nearly $2 billion in stimulus wind-power funding. The workshop estimates about 6,000 jobs have been created overseas versus just a few hundred here.
The stimulus legislation turned tax credits into cash grants that made it possible to sidestep “Buy America” provisions. But even spending $2 billion . . .
