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 and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of National Wind Watch.
Dead bat impacts turbine proposal
WINDBER — Federal regulators are taking another look at the Shaffer Mountain Wind Project, a 30-turbine wind farm proposed by Gamesa for ridges along the Somerset and Bedford county lines. The re-evaluation comes on the heels of the September discovery of a dead endangered bat beneath an operating wind turbine near Lilly. There is no direct link that the dead Indiana bat may have been part of the Shaffer Mountain maternity colony and died while on a flight for food. . . .
Wind farm builder gets $12.7M grant
SOMERSET — A windmill farm planned for southern Somerset County received a financial boost Thursday with the announcement of a $12.7 million grant from the state Department of Community and Economic Development. The Twin Ridges Wind Farm is an EverPower Wind Holdings Inc. project planned for Northampton, Southampton, Larimer and Greenville townships. The 68-turbine farm has a $239 million price tag. “It (the grant) really is a significant factor in our decision to build in Pennsylvania,” said Jim Spencer, EverPower . . .
Faced with notice of ESA violations, FWS agrees to reconsider biological opinion for Shaffer Mountain Wind Project
On November 3, 2011, we submitted a detailed notice letter on behalf of several conservation groups pointing out the serious scientific and legal errors with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s 2011 Biological Opinion to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which would have allowed construction and operation of an industrial wind farm in the midst of a critical maternity colony of endangered Indiana bats. In issuing its opinion, the Service ignored the views of the nation’s leading bat biologists who . . .
EverPower and Converteam get state grants for energy projects
The Twin Ridges Wind Farm project in Somerset County, which is being developed by part-New York, part-Pittsburgh-based EverPower Wind Holdings Inc., got a serious boost with a $12.7 million grant from the state. This is a 139-megawatt wind farm that is expected to generate a fifth of Pennsylvania’s wind power when operational by the end of next year. The total cost of the project is $238.8 million. This was part of the Commonwealth Financing Authority’s energy funding program. Closer to . . .
Mehoopany wind park gets green light
WASHINGTON TWP. – The proposed 88-turbine Mehoopany Wind Park LLC of BP Alternative Energy got a green light Monday night that will one day facilitate getting harnessed wind power to an electrical power grid. The approval process came in two steps. First, Washington Twp. supervisors had to consider a conditional use of the installation of transmission lines in an area already zoned for industry. Second, the Washington Twp. Zoning Hearing Board had to consider whether granting a dimensional variance was . . .
Construction begins on 70-megawatt wind farm in northern Lycoming County
WILLIAMSPORT — Seven years after the project was announced, a subsidiary of Duke Energy has started construction on a 70 megawatt wind farm on Laurel Hill Ridge off Route 14 in northern Lycoming County. Half the pads for the 30 turbines have been poured, and Laurel Hill Wind Energy of Rutland, Vt., anticipates the more than $150 million project will be in production by late summer, spokesman Robert Charleboif said Tuesday. The turbines will generate enough electricity to serve a . . .
Going against the wind
NOXEN TWP. – As the $220 million Mehoopany Wind Farm project proceeds in southern Wyoming County, fears and concerns among some residents persist. Flatbed trucks have been hauling massive rotors and towers to a staging area in Monroe Township since November. Roads are being built along the sides of the Endless Mountains in neighboring Noxen Township to accommodate nearly 90 wind turbines that British Petroleum will erect there and in three nearby towns later this year. The wind farm project . . .
Deal finished for Patton wind farm
PATTON – A deal has been closed for a proposed new wind farm in Cambria County. OwnEnergy and EverPower Wind Holdings Inc., a subsidiary of Terra Firma, announced the deal Tuesday where EverPower will buy and construct Patton Wind Farm LLC in Elder, West Carroll and East Carroll townships. The project will be 30 megawatts and will be fully operational by the end of 2012, OwnEnergy said in a news release. OwnEnergy has been working on the project with Patton . . .
EverPower buys 15-turbine wind farm in Cambria County
A New York investment firm with an office in Pittsburgh has acquired the development rights to a 15-turbine wind energy farm in northern Cambria County, the company said today. EverPower Wind Holdings Inc. said it acquired the rights to develop the 30-megawatt Patton Wind Farm from OwnEnergy, another New York firm, for an undisclosed price. EverPower is a subsidiary of the private equity firm Terra Firma. OwnEnergy has been developing the project, which is expected to be operational by the . . .
Green dreams dashed
As the federal Energy Department blew billions of dollars on green-energy pipe dreams, the Labor Department shoveled away its share, too, dumping $162 million into so-called “green” jobs. That is, for 1,336 people as of October. That’s more than $121,000 per job created, reports Sean Higgins of Investor’s Business Daily, based on findings from Labor’s inspector general. The IG said millions of dollars in unspent funds should be returned to the Treasury. “(T)here is no evidence that grantees will effectively . . .
