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 and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of National Wind Watch.
State faces ‘uphill battle’ to avoid Prairie Chicken listing
U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, warned today that the Obama Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) seems poised to go through with a proposed listing of the Lesser Prairie Chicken under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Director Ashe said that Oklahoma faces an ‘uphill battle’ to avoid a listing but that there are still steps the state can take potentially to avoid it. Inhofe’s concerns follow a meeting that he . . .
Wind farm approval contested by Osage Nation
The Osage Nation filed notice Thursday that it is appealing a Tulsa federal judge’s denial of the tribe’s attempt to prevent the construction of a 94-turbine wind farm west of Pawhuska. Chris White, executive director of governmental affairs for the Osage Nation, issued a statement late Thursday that addressed the appeal. “We feel today’s action speaks for itself. We firmly believe the initial ruling was an error, and we continue to believe the legal standing of the Osage Minerals Trust . . .
Missing important point on wind power
The letters by Noel Patten and Andre Snodgrass (Your Views, Dec. 26) concerning “Carmen embraces power of wind to save energy” (Business, Dec. 16) missed an important point: Carmen wanted to save money. They may be saving their money, but the federal grant of almost a quarter of a million dollars is taxpayer money. It’s not being saved. If the windmills produced maximum power for 24 hours a day for nine years, the investment might break even. The city fathers . . .
Is wind energy involved in rate hike?
Could OG&E’s 80-turbine wind farm with its $210 million transmission line be the reason for its request for a $73 million rate hike? Didn’t OG&E tell the Oklahoma Corporation Commission in 2008 that wind energy would save $635 million? What has changed so drastically since then, other than the decline in interest rates, natural gas prices and unit labor costs? What did the Corporation Commission think would happen when it rubber-stamped OG&E’s derailment into wind energy when wind turbines cost . . .
Judge denies Osage’s attempt to stop wind farm near Pawhuska
A federal judge has denied the Osage Nation’s attempt to prevent the construction of a 94-turbine wind farm west of Pawhuska, finding that the tribe’s claim that the development would interfere with its mineral rights was based on speculation. U.S. District Judge Gregory Frizzell ruled Thursday at the conclusion of a two-day trial in Tulsa that the mere possibility that a dispute may arise in the future between the wind farm and those who will be drilling for oil and . . .
Wind farm gets federal judge’s OK despite Osage tribe’s concerns
A federal judge has ruled that St. Louis-based Wind Capital Group LLC’s proposed wind farm in northern Oklahoma can go forward over objections that it would interfere with the Osage Nation’s ability to produce oil and gas from the same lands. The ruling issued Thursday afternoon by U.S. District Judge Gregory Frizzell in Tulsa, Okla., comes just a day after the opening of a trial in the case. On one level, the dispute pitted green power vs. fossil fuels. More . . .
Judge turns down injunction request in Osage County wind farm trial
U.S. District Judge Gregory Frizzell turned down a request for an injuction to stop a proposed wind farm in Osage County. The Osage Nation, through the Osage Minerals Council, filed the complaint on Oct. 18. The lawsuit asserts that the tribe owns all the minerals located “in and under” Osage County and claims that construction of the wind turbines would interfere with future oil and natural gas production, which provides “essential” income for eligible Osage citizens. A Texas petroleum engineer . . .
Testimony begins in Osage County wind farm trial
A Tulsa-based independent oil and gas company plans to drill in an area that is targeted to be the site of a proposed massive wind farm in Osage County, according to testimony heard by a Tulsa federal judge on Wednesday. U.S. District Judge Gregory Frizzell is presiding over a non-jury trial in a lawsuit brought by the Osage Nation, which seeks to stop construction of the potential 94-turbine facility northeast of the town of Burbank. The Osage Nation, through the . . .
Carnahan’s Wind Capital faces legal fight in Oklahoma
In one Northern Oklahoma county, oil and wind don’t mix. That’s where plans by St. Louisan Tom Carnahan’s Wind Capital Group LLC for a large wind farm have run into a roadblock — claims by the Osage Nation that it would interfere with the tribe’s rights to tap oil and gas deposits. The 15,600-member tribe sued Wind Capital in federal court in October to block the project, which would consist of 94 turbines spread across 15 square miles in Osage . . .
Osage County wind farm lawsuit to go to trial Dec. 14, judge rules
A mid-December court date in a lawsuit that aims to stop the construction of a massive wind farm in Osage County will be for a trial on the merits of the case and not merely an injunction hearing, a federal judge has decided. Federal civil cases typically take many months or even years before going to trial, but U.S. District Judge Gregory Frizzell decided this week that holding the trial in this matter less than two months after the lawsuit . . .
