Wind Power News: Oklahoma
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 creates energy, problems for Oklahoma
Wind turbines in Oklahoma may be good for producing clean energy, but they are bad news for bats and the lesser prairie chicken.
As government officials try to harness the Oklahoma wind as a practical power source, they must also be mindful of the birds and bats most affected by wind farms.
Western Oklahoma is home to bat colonies and the lesser prairie chicken, but the area also has some of the best real estate for wind farms.
“It just so . . .
Commissioners hear concerns from landowners
Nine landowners concerned about OG&E putting transmission lines in bar ditches along their land voiced complaints to the Woodward County Commission Monday, saying the county needed to hold the energy company accountable.
Both District Attorney Hollis Thorp and Sheriff Gary Stanley were present at the hearing.
According to landowner Jeff Klick, the area where OG&E is putting the poles in bar ditches rests at a public right of way located at the intersection of county roads North-South 204 and East-West 48.
“They’ve decided . . .
OG&E land plan stirs debate; Some don't want transmission line
Oklahoma Gas and Electric Co. has won the first two skirmishes in a legal battle with northwestern Oklahoma landowners over the utility’s authority to have private property condemned for a high-voltage transmission line.
The 112-mile-long, 345-kilovolt transmission line would be used to move electricity to the Oklahoma City area from wind farms near Woodward.
Associate district judges in Blaine and Dewey counties ruled in similar cases Monday that the transmission line would serve a valid public purpose and condemnation should . . .
OG&E, landowners in power struggle
Conflict is brewing between Oklahoma Gas & Electric Co. and some northwestern Oklahoma landowners over OG&E’s attempts to condemn property for a high-voltage transmission line to transport wind-generated electricity.
“I have a neighbor with a pacemaker. He told me he will never be able to go on his property again,” said Jimmie Purvine, 61, who is fighting condemnation of a 1 1/2-mile-long strip across his Dewey County property. “That could be me in another four years.”
Some landowners say they are concerned . . .
Property owners voice concerns about OG&E’s transmission line plan
Conflict is brewing between Oklahoma Gas and Electric Co. and some northwestern Oklahoma landowners over OG&E’s attempts to condemn property for a high-voltage transmission line to transport wind-generated electricity.
“I have a neighbor with a pacemaker. He told me he will never be able to go on his property again,” said Jimmie Purvine, 61, who is fighting condemnation of a 1½-mile long strip across his Dewey County property. “That could be me in another four years.”
Loss of value
Some landowners . . .
Possible construction traffic for Blue Canyon Wind Farm causing concern
Comanche County — Some homeowners near the Comanche-Caddo County line are not happy. They have just found out that their roads will be used for construction traffic for the Blue Canyon Wind Farm. While wind turbines may be the future for sustainable energy, they are causing old-fashioned headaches homeowners near the farm.
A new batch of turbines is set to be constructed later this month, but road improvements are being made before work begins so heavy equipment can be . . .
Wind turbine noise fuels frustration in Oklahoma
Roger Mills County resident Scott Shillingstad said the noises emitted by wind turbines on a neighbor’s property are worse than annoying.
They’re unbearable.
“It sounds like we have an international airport next door to us,” Shillingstad said. “Our health is being threatened. We’re about ready to abandon our property.”
Shillingstad said he lives within 2,000 feet of the nearest turbines, which emit both high- and low-frequency sounds.
“We hear the thumping and swooshing all night long,” he said, adding that some . . .
Lawyers advise taking care in wind-turbine contracts
Wind farm leasing in Oklahoma is a little like the Wild West. Experts say there’s virtually no regulation and lots of opportunity for landowners to either profit or make deals they’ll later regret.
“It’s very much a wildcatter’s environment with a lot of speculation going on,” said former Oklahoma Corporation Commissioner Jim Roth, who now handles alternative energy legal issues in his job as an attorney with the Phillips Murrah law firm.
Being prepared and knowing the provisions a landowner wants . . .
Wind turbine project gauges state prospects
JAY, Okla. — Gusts of wind pushed across Leon Whiteside’s property, creating a low-pitched whirring noise as it cut against taut guy-wires stabilizing a nearly 200-foot tower rising from his pasture.
Several wind-measuring devices attached to the tower spun like pinwheels as dozens of cows nibbled on the yellowed grass below.
Whiteside and more than 200 of his rural neighbors stand to gain financially if the tower confirms there’s enough wind in the area to warrant building an electricity-generating wind farm there.
Last . . .
Major Oklahoma utilities plan to supply 10 percent of their electricity from turbines
Public Service Co. of Oklahoma Thursday announced it has signed long-term agreements to buy about 198 megawatts of wind energy from two new wind farms planned for western Oklahoma.
The announcement means Oklahoma’s two largest electric utilities, PSO and OG&E Energy Corp., each soon expect to pass a major milestone by generating more than 10 percent of their electrical power from renewable wind energy.
“As the state’s largest provider of wind power, PSO is proud to bring even more clean, renewable . . .
