Wind Power News: Tennessee
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.
ETSU to hold free public discussion on wind energy
On Tuesday, Nov. 18, at 7:30 p.m. in the Brown Hall auditorium, East Tennessee State University will host a free public discussion about “Wind Energy: Prospects in East Tennessee.”
Brandon Blevins and Hilary Dixson of the Tennessee Wind Working Group, a coalition of organizations and individuals promoting wind power in the Volunteer State, will discuss plans to erect a wind monitoring device on Buffalo Mountain in Johnson City. They will take questions and lead discussion about the prospects for wind . . .
We don’t know all the costs of wind power
I was disappointed by your editorial of Sept. 9 titled “Wind power deserves the investment.”
I expected to find the kind of real cost information on wind power I’ve been looking for.
In the end, I was irritated by its total failure to support the contention implicit in its title.
Why is it, for instance, that the Tennessee Valley Authority has a “confidential agreement” with Invernergy where costs aren’t disclosed (per your paper of Sept. 3)? Why the secrecy? Shouldn’t . . .
Councilman works to regulate wind towers; Proposal would limit size, capacity of windmills
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Wind power has started to become a popular way for homeowners to generate their own energy, but some new rules in Nashville could limit how green homeowners can get.
One resident in the city is already using a wind tower on his property to pump power into his home.
As more people decide to go green by using wind power, Metro councilman Charlie Tygard said he doesn’t want some people’s efforts to save money to alter other people’s quality . . .
Wind power gains popularity, but senator isn't sold
As a clean, renewable and realistic source of alternative energy, wind power has emerged as a favorite technology among policymakers over the past 30 years.
So much so that wind energy has billowed into a growing $7 billion industry, according to figures from the American Wind Energy Association.
In the South, however, where six of the nation’s 10 largest carbon-dioxide-emitting coal-fired power plants are located, and stiff breezes are often scarce, lawmakers have been less willing to embrace the promises of wind . . .
Senator speaks out against windmill power
U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander has gone on the offensive — against windmills.
But unlike Don Quixote, Alexander’s complaints are economic, and he says the windmills will cost Tennesseans $410 million a year in higher bills.
The energy-producing alternative to coal plants would also ruin scenic sites in Tennessee, says Alexander, a Republican, in a press release.
Alexander told the Senate on Tuesday as it began debate on a new energy bill that a proposed renewable-energy standard involving wind power would “raise our taxes . . .

