Wind Power News: California
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.
TANC opponents decry meeting cancellation
North state opposition to a proposed high-voltage power line stretching from Lassen County to the San Francisco Bay area is still fully charged.
The day after the biggest municipal utility among those planning the 600-mile Transmission Agency of Northern California (TANC) line pulled out of the project, those opposing it said their fight is long from over.
Donna Caldwell — leader of the North State Landowners Committee, which has more than 400 members from Maxwell to Oak Run — said she and . . .
TANC the wrong way to go green
Renewable resources are what all Californians should be working toward for our energy needs. But connecting proposed solar and wind power sources in Lassen County with distant needy users through 600 miles of transmission lines on huge towers is shortsighted and not logical.
Why should anyone who cannot use this energy have to suffer decreased property value, land taken by eminent domain, possible health consequences or having to look at huge towers and electrical lines?
Why should the quality of life be . . .
SMUD rethinks project
Sacramento’s power company dropped its support for a $1.5 billion electric transmission project, casting doubt over plans to crisscross much of Northern California, including San Joaquin County, with new high-voltage lines and substations.
Increasing doubts over the project’s financial feasibility and possible new regulation led the Sacramento Municipal Utility District to that decision, said Elisabeth Brinton, SMUD’s director of communications.
Project sponsor Transmission Agency of Northern California, a partnership of 14 municipal utilities and special districts including the city of Lodi and . . .
Project pullout leaves SMUD scrambling to fill power needs
The Sacramento Municipal Utility District’s withdrawal this week from a major Northern California power-transmission project complicates its transition to renewable energy.
SMUD planners foresaw using the new high-voltage lines to carry power to Sacramento from new wind, solar and geothermal energy projects envisioned for Lassen County and northwestern Nevada. SMUD cited financial uncertainties for the pullout.
Together, the projects could have provided nearly all of the new renewable energy SMUD needs to line up over the next decade to meet state . . .
Setback for controversial TANC project
A controversial power transmission line project faces a major setback. The TANC project is a proposal to build hundreds of miles of transmission lines from Lassen County, across the North State to the Bay Area. But Thursday night, Action News learned that a major participant in the project has pulled out. The Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) has withdrawn from the $1.5 billion dollar project. SMUD was expected to fund a large share of the project.
Land . . .
Power line plan fizzles with residents; Board of Supervisors hears concerns on energy pipeline
Six hundred miles of high-voltage power lines would mar farms and country homes simply because that’s cheaper than a less disruptive option, a Stanislaus County leader charged Tuesday.
A claim of pursuing renewable energy options “is just a front to sell power up and down California,” Supervisor Bill O’Brien told energy officials, prompting vigorous applause from landowners upset at the proposal at a county Board of Supervisors meeting.
A partnership including the Modesto and Turlock irrigation districts wants to run power lines . . .
Power line debate pits green against green
The Western Area Power Administration and the Transmission Agency of Northern California have teamed up to build a new high-voltage transmission line. There are two primary reasons for this. The first is that they currently have only one transmission line from the Pacific Northwest to serve their customers. As a matter of reliability, a second line is needed.
The second reason is to meet California renewable energy standards. Renewable energy comes in several forms. Wind, geothermal, solar, hydroelectric, ocean waves and . . .
Power line foes charge ahead
Northern California residents say they are in the fight of their life.
The Transmission Agency of Northern California’s proposal to build more than 600 miles of high-voltage transmission lines has residents fearing the worst: reduced property values, high power rates, interference with agriculture operations and negative impacts to the environment and public safety.
“These are all things that cannot be mitigated away,” Shasta County resident Steve Kerns said at a community meeting in Maxwell on Wednesday. “If we went into Willows and . . .
No decisions on wind energy and heritage tree ordinances
TEMECULA —- The Temecula City Council wants to take a closer look at a wind energy ordinance and another proposed ordinance that would offer protection for the city’s heritage trees.
During Tuesday’s meeting, the council postponed a hearing on the heritage tree ordinance until its next meeting in mid-July and voted 3-0 to create a subcommittee to look more closely at the proposed regulations on the harnessing of wind energy.
The council has previously held up adoption of the heritage tree ordinance . . .
Big power line controversy
Underneath the way it’s been handled lies question: Is it needed?
The word “huge” aptly describes just about everything about the proposed electrical transmission line that would run from northeast California down the Central Valley into the Modesto and Turlock irrigation districts and over to the Bay Area.
The 500-kilovolt line would stretch more than 600 miles, through more than a dozen counties and across thousands of privately-owned properties. The towers would stand up to 150 feet high. And the estimated . . .
