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.
Residents to question proposed North East wind farm tonight
NORTH EAST — A proposed wind farm is at the center of a squall in North East Township. About three dozen residents attended township planning commission and supervisors’ meetings Monday night, many of them to discuss a Texas company’s plan to build 10 to 20 giant wind turbines south of Interstate 90. Matt Putman, of Neighbors for a Responsible North East, asked township planners to consider requiring bigger setbacks between turbines and neighboring properties and to consider turbine “fallout,” including . . .
North East wind farm critics to raise concerns
Residents concerned about a proposed wind farm in North East Township plan to raise those concerns with township officials tonight. Township planners will meet at 7 p.m. at the township municipal building, 10300 W. Main Road. Township supervisors meet at 7:30 p.m. “We’re going to ask a series of questions that really demand answers and so far have not been addressed,” said Paul Crowe, of Neighbors for a Responsible North East. The group’s concerns include setbacks between wind turbines and . . .
North East wind farm critics to raise concerns
Residents concerned about plans to build a commercial wind farm in North East Township say they will raise those concerns with township planners and supervisors Monday. Planners meet at the township municipal building, 10300 W. Main Road, at 7 p.m. Township supervisors meet at 7:30 p.m. “We’re going to ask a series of questions that really demand answers and so far have not been addressed,” said Paul Crowe, of Neighbors for a Responsible North East. Neighbors for a Responsible North . . .
NW Pa. wind farm plan has backers, opponents
Some northwestern Pennsylvania residents want limits placed on the size of wind turbines that can be built in their area and a ban on commercial windmills within a mile of any neighborhood. Neighbors For A Responsible North East also wants developers required to set aside money to cover any depreciation in private property after a wind farm is built and the cost to remove nonfunctional turbines, The Erie Times-News (http://bit.ly/128v41X) said. One of the organizers, Paul Crowe, said members are . . .
Against the wind; Public speaks out on proposed wind farm on Jack’s Mountain
BELLEVILLE – The Union Township Planning Commission listened to concerned residents about potential wind turbines being constructed on Jack’s Mountain at its Monday night meeting. Volkswind, a German wind farm development company, has not submitted anything to the planning commission, Chairman Dwight Yoder said. The company has spoken with private land owners, he added. In 2011 it was reported three representatives from Volkswind presented their visions of constructing wind turbines on Jack’s Mountain to the Mifflin County Planning Commission. Yoder . . .
Wind logic
Finally, a breath of fresh air amid all the stale rhetoric over wind-energy tax credits: The CEO of one of the nation’s largest wind-energy companies says Washington should hold the subsidies, thereby enabling the industry’s innovation and competition. Patrick Jenevein of Tang Energy Group of Texas says the public subsidies are “misguided” and have effectively weakened the industry, which needs to “focus less on working the political system and more on research and development.” To wit: the rising cost of . . .
North East issue isn’t if turbines should be regulated, but how
NORTH EAST — No one at Monday’s North East Township meeting questioned the need to limit where commercial wind farms can be built in the township. Some of the 45 people attending did question the local planning commission’s proposal to allow giant turbines closer to roads and property lines than they’d like. Planners recommend that wind farms be limited to the south side of the township, in an area bounded roughly by Interstate 90, Williams and Sidehill roads, east to . . .
North East group wants tight restrictions on wind farms
NORTH EAST — A group of North East Township residents is urging township officials to strictly regulate commercial wind farm development. The group, called Neighbors for a Responsible North East and led by Matt Putman and Paul Crowe, is lobbying for limits on the size of wind turbines that can be built in the township and a ban on commercial turbines, or windmills, within 1 mile of any neighborhood. The group additionally wants the township to require developers to set . . .
Windmill discussion draws crowd to NE Twp. Supervisors meeting
Development of new windmill regulations drew a standing room only crowd to North East Township Supervisors’ April 1 meeting. The township currently permits windmills to be erected township-wide as a conditional use, zoning administrator Susan Sprague said. “This meeting is not to get into what Pioneer Green Energy plans to do with (a planned project on Sidehill Road); its purpose is to set new regulations for wind farms. We will try to come up with a good ordinance and maps.” . . .
To the bat cave: Game commission tries to improve bats’ slim chances of survival
Furthermore, thousands of bats die each year from conflicts with wind turbines.
“Research has shown that each wind turbine kills 25 bats (yearly) on average,” said Turner. To put in into perspective, the newly created Noxen Wind Turbine project in Wyoming County hosts 80 wind turbines, which amounts to at least 2,000 dead bats per year. That’s just one wind turbine project out of hundreds throughout Pennsylvania.
