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Rhode Island
31 Mar 2010
RI regulators reject proposed wind farm contract
Rhode Island regulators have dealt a blow to a proposed offshore wind farm. The Public Utilities Commission voted unanimously on Tuesday to reject a proposed agreement by Deepwater Wind to sell power ...

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Australia
02 Apr 2010
Trouble may be in the air for some landholders
In day two of a Herald investigation, Debra Jopson looks at wind farm leases. There is big money in the wind and the stockbroker-turned-grazier Richard Tanner wants to farm the blustery air above his 400 hectares of country in the state’s north, turning it into power which can be sold, just like his sheep and cattle. But unlike most other farmers who have gone into wind farming, when the big turbines start generating electricity he does not want to sell ...

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Virginia
02 Apr 2010
Virginia governor quits wind energy coalition
Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, a Republican, is removing his state ...

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Wisconsin
03 Apr 2010
Noise complaint generates wind farm fears
A family’s noise complaint against Invenergy LLC and its Forward Energy Wind Center in Brownsville is spooking wind farm developers trying to do business in the state. “I think it would have a devastating effect in Wisconsin,” said Jim Naleid, managing director of Holmen-based AgWind Energy Partners LLC. “People are already avoiding the state because of the political trouble you can face getting a wind farm approved, and now this could just deter them further.” In a complaint filed with the ...

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Minnesota
03 Apr 2010
Turbine turmoil in Goodhue County; Wind project dust-up pits health claims, economic benefits
There’s an ill wind blowing in Goodhue County. It pits wind-farm developers and local farmers whose land wind turbines are expected to stand on against a group that claims the three-bladed turbines could cause a variety of health problems, including insomnia, dizziness and epilepsy. If nothing else, the flap has revealed that Minneapolis-based National Wind plans to purchase 52 of the 333 wind turbines ...

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Texas, U.S.
03 Apr 2010
Wind energy under fire within ERCOT
While Texas continues to enjoy its top U.S. ranking for installed wind capacity, not all power generators operating within the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) are pleased with its growing prominence. In the past year, several initiatives relating to grid interconnection and the operational performance of wind turbines have been pushed through ERCOT’s regulatory channells in an effort to stunt the proliferation of wind development in the state. Such efforts, contend several developers contacted for this story, amount to desperate ...

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Oregon
04 Apr 2010
Windmill neighbors air gripes over noise; County planners grapple with issue
In a dramatic moment during a tense meeting in Boardman Tuesday night, Arman Kluehe stood up and began to drop $20 bills into a pile. “How much will it take to buy you so we can break the noise limit?” he asked the crowd. Several people in the room – close neighbors of the Willow Creek Wind Project – murmured their approval. In January, three of them turned down Invenergy, Willow Creek’s parent company, when it offered to buy noise ...

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Maine
04 Apr 2010
Noise biggest problem for wind power
Organizers of the Fox Islands Wind Project say the three turbines that began turning last fall on Vinalhaven generated more power this winter than residents needed, putting the community on a path towards stable energy costs. However, attempts to lower noise levels that are disturbing some people who live near the towers have yet to make a difference, according to Cheryl Lindgren, one of the residents. “They say it’s going to take time, and that may be,” she said. “We’re always hopeful.” Potential ...

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Opinions
04 Apr 2010
Listening to wind farm noise concerns
Over the past couple of years, wind farm developers in the US, Canada, UK, and New Zealand have faced increasingly vehement resistance ...

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Wales
06 Apr 2010
Uplands inquiry disputes ‘greenness’ of turbines
NEW approaches to secure a future prosperity that also preserve the uplands of Wales have been advocated by Assembly Members, after a seven-month inquiry by the National Assembly’s rural development sub-committee. Their report, The Future of the Uplands, says farming and food production in the uplands of Wales plays a positive role in enhancing the environment, as well as complementing the provision of other services. But the report calls on the Government to carry out an assessment of the effects of wind ...

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France
06 Apr 2010
French feathers ruffled over wind farming dispute
In France, a controversial planned increase in the number of wind farms has rubbed some residents the wrong way. Now a newly commissioned parliamentary report has criticized the way wind farms are financed. France has between 2,000 and 2,500 wind farms, far fewer than its neighbors Germany or Spain. However, the government has ambitious plans to build 8,000 more over the next decade, as part of a strategy to reduce carbon emissions in accordance with the Kyoto climate change agreement. But in ...

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News
06 Apr 2010
Siemens extends 2.3MW turbine investigation amid ‘defect’ concern
UK: Siemens has extended its investigation following the recent incident at the 322MW Whitelee wind farm where a blade broke off of one of the plant’s 3.5MW turbines. The incident, at what is Europe’s largest wind farm, happened in the early hours of March 19. The plant, which is located in southern Scotland, automatically switched itself off. Siemens said an examination of the broken blade revealed a “material defect in the laminate”. The company said there could be the result of changes ...

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Indiana
06 Apr 2010
Wind farm rules gain approval after fee adjustment
With some accommodations made for smaller, household turbines, Tippecanoe County opened the door Monday to industrial wind farms reportedly ready to be planted around Greater Lafayette. Changes made to a pair of ordinances that deal with fees and requirements for wind energy turbines received unanimous approval on its final reading Monday ...

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Utah
08 Apr 2010
Lecture addresses wind turbine danger
Steve Slater watches the future of U.S. energy like a hawk, and he doesn’t like what he sees. Slater is the conservation director of HawkWatch, an international organization that monitors scientific research on the raptor class of birds—or birds of prey—and the larger ecosystem they inhabit. Keeping a close eye on the emerging threats to raptors was a natural move for a scientist who has had a lifelong passion for them—one he brought to the U to share, with a warning ...

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Michigan
08 Apr 2010
BP withdrawing proposal to build windfarm in Manistee National Forest
MASON COUNTY — BP Alternative Energy is withdrawing its application for a proposed commercial wind farm in the Huron-Manistee National Forest along the Lake Michigan shoreline north of Ludington. The special-use application submitted in 2008 by White Pines Wind Farm, a subsidiary of BP Alternative Energy, to the U.S. Forest Service called for construction of 20 to 28 wind turbines on the forest land north of Forest Trail in Mason County’s Grant Township. The 420-foot-tall turbines would have combined to produce ...

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Virginia
08 Apr 2010
Frustration reigns over wind facility, budget in Highland
MONTEREY — The Highland County Board of Supervisors adopted a budget for publication that did not raise taxes, but no one on the board seemed happy about it this week, and concerns about the future dominated the meeting. “We don’t see any light at the end of the tunnel,” supervisor Robin Sullenberger lamented. He said in the coming year he hoped the county could “deflect” any unfunded mandates ...

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Washington
09 Apr 2010
Biologist suspected of abusing former state post; Ethics board says he promised special treatment to firms
A state ethics board says former state wildlife biologist William Weiler used his government job to promise “special treatment” to wind energy corporations in exchange for donations to his nonprofit organization. The Washington State Executive Ethics Board said in a March 10 finding that there is reason to believe Weiler arranged habitat mitigation projects for wind developers in Klickitat County in exchange for donations to the Columbia Gorge Ecology Institute. Weiler founded the Hood River, Ore.-based nonprofit environmental science organization in 1995. ...

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Europe, U.K.
09 Apr 2010
Geese tracked to estimate wind farms’ impact
Barnacle geese have been tagged with satellite trackers amid concern planned offshore wind farms could affect their migration ...

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New York
09 Apr 2010
Alfred holds off on adopting new wind law
Alfred, N. Y. — Alfred town officials held off on adopting a town wind law because of several concerns voiced Thursday night. Negative feedback ...

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Letters, Maryland
11 Apr 2010
What if everything they’re saying is right?
To Garrett County Commissioners: Holliday, Glotfelty, and Gregg: Well, I bet you three guys are mighty sick of the wind issue, and here I am bringing it up again, dagnab it! Now I’m curious. What if all the stuff you’ve heard in opposition to the turbines is correct? (Please refer to and watch http://vimeo.com/10558108 on your computers). Now I’m sure you’d like to just brush off my request like it’s a pesky fly, but I really am curious … and Fred, ...

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Illinois
11 Apr 2010
Debate grows over setback requirements in Adams County wind ordinanc
The debate continues over whether the Adams County Board should make changes to the wind energy ordinance it adopted in January. The ordinance sets guidelines for establishing wind farms in rural areas, contains provisions to ensure that any development of wind-powered electricity is safe and effective, and spells out criteria for the placement of giant wind turbines. (The entire original 12-page wind ordinance is available by clicking here.) Since it was adopted with little public notice or comment, board members have been hearing ...

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New York
11 Apr 2010
Wind farm plans on Lake Ontario causing little stir in area
The New York Power Authority’s proposal to locate wind farms in the waters of Lake Ontario and Lake Erie has created a stir in communities all along the two lakes’ shorelines — except in the Rochester area, where it’s been largely a nonissue. That may be about to change. Power Authority officials are due in Rochester on Monday to pitch their year-old plan to local businesses and the local media, a move likely to focus attention on the issue. At the same ...

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Maryland
11 Apr 2010
Garrett County wind project deal finalized
DEER PARK — Baltimore company Constellation Energy has finalized its acquisition of a Garrett County wind project, closing a deal for the $140 million, 70-megawatt Criterion wind farm with California-based Clipper Windpower? Inc. The project, now under construction, is scheduled to go online by the end of 2010. The deal was first announced in November and closed Wednesday. As part of the agreement, Constellation will also purchase 28 of Clipper’s Liberty wind turbines, which will be installed along the top of Backbone Mountain ...

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Scotland
11 Apr 2010
Sir John Chilcot in MoD lobbying row
Sir John Chilcot, chairman of the Iraq war inquiry, successfully lobbied the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to drop its opposition to a lucrative £150m wind farm project of which he is a director. Chilcot was among a group of three of the company’s directors who met MoD officials in a private home in London in January 2009. The MoD was blocking the whole scheme because it said the 410ft high turbines would interfere with military radar. Chilcot, who is a non-executive director ...

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Illinois
11 Apr 2010
Evanston to consider proposals for turbines
Could an offshore wind farm be blowing in Evanston’s future? City of Evanston officials have endorsed a plan to look for partners to build offshore wind turbines six to nine miles east of the Northwestern University campus. If built, the wind blades not only would be the first on Lake Michigan but the first offshore farm in the United States. The City Council is expected to consider the proposal Tuesday night. Citizens for a Greener Evanston — a volunteer advocacy group — developed the ...

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Maine
11 Apr 2010
The Economics of Wind: What’s behind the interest, and what’s it mean for jobs
As Maine inches toward its goal of more wind power development, the financial justifications for and against are almost as hard to grasp as the wind itself. Environmental activist Jonathan Carter, for example, wrote in a recent newspaper opinion piece that up to 60 percent of the cost of wind power projects is covered by federal subsidies. That figure’s important, with wind power opponents saying wind shouldn’t rely on high government subsidies and proponents saying it deserves the same treatment as ...

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Montana
11 Apr 2010
Invenergy plans two additional central Montana wind farms, buys capacity on proposed transmission line
Chicago-based Invenergy Wind Development LLC, the owner of Montana’s second-largest wind farm, is planning to construct two additional wind facilities in the Great Falls region and has agreed to co-develop and co-finance a new transmission line needed to ship the power to market. Invenergy’s Mark Jacobson said the company has agreed to a “cooperation agreement” with Tonbridge Power Co. of Toronto, which is developing a transmission project called the Green Line between Great Falls and Townsend. Under terms of the agreement, Invenergy ...

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New York
11 Apr 2010
Final public hearing held on Hardscrabble wind project
Fairfield, N. Y. — Close to 20 people attended a public hearing Friday that marked the final opportunity for public comment before county officials make a final decision on whether or not to support the proposed Hardscrabble wind farm project. Atlantic Wind LLC is proposing to build 37 wind turbines in the towns of Fairfield and Norway, an interconnect facility in the town of Little Falls and other project infrastructure. Having gained necessary project approval ...

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Europe, U.K.
12 Apr 2010
Fresh blow for wind farms as possible flaw is scrutinised
Hundreds of offshore wind farms are being checked for a construction fault after a flaw was discovered in one of the Europe-wide industry standards. The problem that has emerged is over the turbines’ “monopile” foundations. The issue is centred on the grouting in the transition piece linking the turbine to its foundation, and the towers that are affected have shifted several centimetres under the impact of harsh offshore conditions. The fault is not associated with a particular turbine model or manufacturer. ...

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England
12 Apr 2010
Don’t call us Nimbys, insist Staffordshire wind turbine protesters
For residents of Brineton, Staffordshire, the fight against a wind farm on their doorstep is more than a battle to protect the view ...

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Editorials, Oregon
13 Apr 2010
Wind power is not benign
In an example of what is certain to become a familiar conundrum, the Oregon-California Trails Association is concerned that wind turbines may adversely impact how people experience the Oregon Trail. The association wants the Oregon Department of Energy to close a loophole in current regulations. If not a free pass, wind power still gets a fairly strong presumption of social benefit. As the U. S and the world seek ways to produce more electricity without putting more greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, ...

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Nevada, U.S.
13 Apr 2010
Recommendations made on curbing effects of wind farms
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today delivered to Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar recommendations on minimizing wind farms’ impacts on wildlife and its habitat. The recommendations were developed over two years by a 22-member Wind Turbine Guidelines Federal Advisory Committee. The committee’s report includes guidance on policy issues and science-based technical advice on how best to assess and prevent adverse impacts to wildlife and their habitats while developing wind farms. Among the recommendations is the development of a tiered evaluation ...

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Australia
13 Apr 2010
Ballarat turbines whip up debate
A Victorian anti-wind-farm group has branded a Brumby government minister as arrogant for refusing to meet them. Agriculture Minister Joe Helper – who holds the marginal seat of Ripon by 4.3 per cent – has not met the group, opposed to the wind farm to be built outside Ballarat, for three years. This month, the minister told a local newspaper he would not meet the Western Plain Landscape Guardians because ”I have no respect for them”. The group and the minister have ...

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Australia
13 Apr 2010
Residents voice opinions about wind farm plan
More than 60 concerned locals last night attended a council meeting to voice their opinion about a proposed wind farm near Beaufort. The Beaufort Community Development Centre was packed, with some people forced to stand, as council chaired a consultation meeting between residents and representatives of Future Energy. The proposed project will see three 80m turbines built in Chepstowe, 25km west of Ballarat, making it the fifth of its kind for the Pyrenees Shire. More than 90 objections were received after the company ...

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England
13 Apr 2010
Plans for wind monitoring mast in Nympsfield are rejected
Campaigners are celebrating what they have dubbed a ‘victory for common sense’ after plans for a wind monitoring mast were thrown out by councillors. An application for a 90 metre high monitoring mast in Nympsfield was turned down by members of Stroud District Council’s development control committee today. Councillors had grave concerns about the safety of the mast, which would have been placed in the flight path of the Bristol and Gloucester Gliding Club, fearing it could cause a fatal accident. Cllr ...

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Kansas
13 Apr 2010
ITC power line raises questions
STOCKTON — No one voiced outright opposition to the construction of a 345,000-volt power line, but residents along the way raised several questions and concerns. More than 100 people turned out Monday night in Stockton for a two-phase public hearing into the second phase of a massive power line project stretching ...

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Michigan
15 Apr 2010
U.S. Fish and Wildlife goes for birds, against Muskegon County’s wind turbine plan
MUSKEGON COUNTY — Muskegon County’s effort to “go green” is running up against an unlikely foe: the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which says the county’s proposal to erect wind turbines would endanger birds. County officials are considering installing three commercial-size turbines on a capped landfill at the county’s massive wastewater site. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials have written a letter opposing the proposed project. The debate centers around the prospects of migratory and resident birds being struck and killed by the ...

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Wisconsin
15 Apr 2010
Family files wind farm complaint
OAKFIELD – A former Town of LeRoy family has filed a formal complaint April 1 with the Wisconsin Public Service Commission against Invenergy, a Chicago based energy company that owns the Forward Wind Energy Center located in Dodge and Fond du Lac Counties. Jason and Ann Wirtz and their four children used to reside in a home on Highway YY in the town of LeRoy that was situated within the FWEC. According to the complaint, the Wirtzes suffered both physical and ...

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Oregon
15 Apr 2010
Air Force concerns about radar interference stall huge Oregon wind energy farm
The Air Force is holding up construction of an Oregon wind farm that would be the largest in the country amid concerns that the farm’s 300-plus new turbines will interfere with transmissions ...

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Maine
16 Apr 2010
Lincoln Lakes group fights wind plan
The Lincoln Appeals Board ignored judicial precedent when it improperly denied Friends of Lincoln Lakes a chance to appeal a town permit of a proposed $130 million industrial wind site on Rollins Ridge, the group’s attorney said in a brief filed with the state’s top court. Click here to read a .pdf copy of the brief. In the 13-page argument she filed with the Maine Supreme Judicial Court on Monday, attorney Lynne Williams of Bar Harbor said that the board ignored several ...

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Wisconsin
16 Apr 2010
Town raises taxes to challenge wind farm proposal
Morrison residents are skeptical that a proposed wind farm will be an economic generator for the town, so they are raising their taxes to find out for themselves. “In order to get something, you’ve got to have some money,” said Morrison resident Beverly Kocian. “This project needs more investigating. They say there’s going to be jobs, but you can’t tell me the people around here are going to be working on these turbines.” Kocian said she opposes Chicago-based Invenergy LLC’s proposal for ...

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Maine
16 Apr 2010
Bluster over allegedly Yale-backed windmills in Maine
When the town selectmen of Highland Plantation, Maine, population 52, learned that a developer wanted to build 48 wind turbines atop the mountains surrounding Highland, their immediate reaction was relief. The developer, Independence Wind, promised to not only bring Highland 340,000 megawatt hours of clean, renewable energy, but also to pay for 90 percent of the plantation’s taxes. Given the opportunity to lift what has become an ever-growing tax burden on Highland’s population of retirees and low-income families, residents supported the ...

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Vermont
16 Apr 2010
Lowell, Vt. utility make deal for wind power
Vermont’s second largest electric utility is going to pay the town of Lowell between $13 million and $15 million over the next 25 years in exchange for support of a wind-power project. The Lowell Selectboard signed the deal with Green Mountain Power on Tuesday. Last month, Lowell voters approved a referendum supporting GMP’s plan to install up to 24 wind turbines on a ridge line. In exchange for the payments, the board agreed to support GMP’s application for state permission for the project. The ...

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Massachusetts, Opinions
16 Apr 2010
Set free the land
Public conservation land isn’t free land. It is land set free. To have any conservation meaning, it must be immune ...

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Ontario
17 Apr 2010
Regulations needed before wind power projects begin
Kingston was approved for Ontario’s first offshore wind power project last week, yet no regulations exist governing where turbines can be installed or how far they must be ...

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England
20 Apr 2010
Delight as Grange Wind Farm appeal thrown out
Windfarm campaigners are celebrating after an appeal to overturn a planning refusal to build seven wind turbines was turned down. Developers, Grange Wind Farm Ltd, has lost its appeal to overturn a decision made by North Lincolnshire Council, which refused the construction of seven wind turbines at Flixborough Grange windfarm. As reported, North Lincolnshire Council refused planning permission twice last year, after more than 600 Burton residents raised concerns about the effect it would have on the area. But this latest refusal comes ...

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Maine, Opinions
20 Apr 2010
The theft of Damariscove Island
Over the Christmas holiday, I wrote an column titled “The Treasure of Our Coast” that described Damariscove Island, which is part of Southport and off the coast of Boothbay Harbor. It is within sight of Southport and takes less than a half hour by boat to get to there ...

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Spain
20 Apr 2010
Denuncian la pérdida de 16.000 empleos en negocios eólicos en toda España
Los sindicatos y los empresarios han dado la voz de alarma. Se han perdido más de seis mil empleos directos y diez mil indirectos. El sector del viento está parado y por ello piden al Gobierno que adelante los cupos para la instalación de molinos de viento para este año y el próximo. El sector eólico español no está de enhorabuena. La bonanza económica de otros años ha sufrido un parón, y también la instalación de aerogeneradores. Los fabricantes y proveedores ...

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Colorado, Emissions
20 Apr 2010
Gas-industry report claims wind-energy standards lead to pollution
A new report ...

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Maine
21 Apr 2010
PUC chairman took equity stake in wind company
Augusta — While he was Maine’s chief utilities regulator, Kurt Adams accepted an ownership interest in a leading wind-energy company. One month later, in May 2008, he went to work for that company, First Wind, as a senior vice president. A “summary compensation table” in a recent SEC filing shows that Adams’ 2009 compensation of $1.3 million included $315,000 in salary, $658,000 in stock awards, $29,000 of “other” compensation and $315,000 in “non-equity incentives.” It’s not clear yet how much the ownership ...

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Massachusetts
21 Apr 2010
Residents try to beat down North Harwich wind turbines
HARWICH – A boisterous crowd of residents came to the community center on Saturday charging town officials are trying to use “a shoehorn” to place two commercial wind turbines on public lands surrounding their neighborhoods in North Harwich. Many of the nearly 200 people attending a wind turbine information forum sponsored by town officials raised objections to the proposal citing health, safety, environmental and property devaluation concerns. Sheila Bowen, President of Harwich Neighborhood Alliance, expressed dissatisfaction at her organization’s inability to make ...

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New Zealand
21 Apr 2010
Wind farm call closer
The decision on whether there should be a ban on wind farms being built on the Tararua Ranges is a step closer. A further 20 submissions have been received on Horowhenua District Council’s proposed District Plan change 22, which would prevent wind turbines, each about 65 metres tall, ...

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Letters, Massachusetts
22 Apr 2010
Vinalhaven, Wellfleet, Harwich – lessons to spare!
Last Wednesday, Film Truth Productions hosted a screening of select clips and two guests ...

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Editorials, U.S., Economics
23 Apr 2010
Poll Backs Renewables, But …
Good news came for the renewable energy industry came on Earth Day when the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) released a poll that shows overwhelming support for clean energy and the policies the organization favors. Energy independence, clean energy manufacturing and support for a renewable energy mandate all scored highly across the political spectrum. But the “but” part, at least in my mind, is a question that seemed to be beyond the scope of the survey and hard to quantify. In short, ...

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Ontario
24 Apr 2010
Charter of Rights may be weapon against turbines
Arran-Elderslie may invoke the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in its latest attempt to block unwanted wind turbine development. At a special meeting of council Thursday, Coun. Mark Davis circulated a draft bylaw calling for protection of life, liberty and security of the person under section 7 of the charter, claiming wind turbines cause serious health effects and are a blight on the rural landscape. “We owe it to our people to maintain their health and well-being . . . We ...

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Opinions, U.S.
24 Apr 2010
Five myths about green energy
Americans are being inundated with claims about renewable and alternative energy. Advocates for these technologies say that if we jettison fossil fuels, we’ll breathe easier, stop global warming and revolutionize our economy. Yes, “green” energy has great emotional and political appeal. But before we wrap all our hopes — and subsidies — in it, let’s take a hard look at some common misconceptions about what “green” means. 1. Solar and wind power are the greenest of them all. Unfortunately, solar and wind ...

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Wisconsin
24 Apr 2010
Wind council members reject bias allegations
Members of the state’s Wind Siting Council are deflecting allegations the group is biased toward development. “I think it’s a fairly well-balanced group,” said council member Dwight Sattler, a Fond du Lac County resident and neighbor of the Blue Sky Green Field Wind Farm. “If anything, vocally, it seems slanted against development right now.” But five Calumet County residents aren’t convinced and have sued the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin. The lawsuit seeks to have the Wind Siting Council’s 15 members reselected ...

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New York
24 Apr 2010
Orleans wind panel report set for release
LAFARGEVILLE — The Orleans wind economics committee will have a report in the next month on the effects of a commercial wind power development on different aspects of the town. The Town Council created the committee in February to help it understand the economics of wind power projects. “We are making progress,” said Leslie T. Henry, a committee member and real estate broker. “We’ve got a lot of information.” The committee is looking into the economic effects for the school districts, participants and ...

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England
24 Apr 2010
Turbine plans halted after resident complaints
Plans to build wind turbines near a village have been scrapped after residents vowed to fight the scheme. East Bridgford Community Energy Industrial and Provident Society had wanted to install the turbines 460 metres ...

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Wisconsin
25 Apr 2010
Battle over proposed Brown County wind farms continues
The fight over whether Brown County should be home to Wisconsin’s largest wind farm continues as state regulators debate rules over such energy-producing facilities. “Our purpose is to give our towns a voice,” said Steve Deslauriers, who lives in the town of Holland. He also is a member of the Brown County Citizens for Responsible Wind Energy, a volunteer group fighting the proposed widespread installation of turbines in the towns of Morrison, Wrightstown, Glenmore and Holland. Kevin Parzyck is the development manager ...

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Vermont
25 Apr 2010
For towns, energy issues prove vexing
Poultney’s planning commission had a handful of issues it wanted to look at when a five-year rewrite of the town plan began earlier this month. One particular issue, though, was at the top of the list. “The first thing we’re going to be talking about is energy,” commission member Ernest DeMatties said. Poultney, a small town southwest of Rutland, has several potential turbine locations tied to a proposed wind farm, and the commission plans to pay careful attention to renewable energy issues in ...

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Opinions, Virginia
25 Apr 2010
Wise wind energy needs a deep green location
Like a small Christo installation, Charley’s mist net unfurled into dusk along my forest road in the Appalachian Mountains. The net traps birds — in this case, a northern saw-whet owl — lured in by tape-recorded calls. The persistent high-pitched beeps of saw-whets sound like a dump truck backing up. Saw-whets inhabit much of North America. Some migrate south in winter, as this one was trying to do, along mountain ridges. “We think they must fly fairly low, to hear our ...

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Montana
25 Apr 2010
Not in our back 40
TOWNSEND — Depending on the perspective, a wheat and hay field five miles south of this rural town is either a field of dreams or a field of nightmares. It’s in this field adjacent to Highway 287 that NorthWestern Energy wants to build a $127 million electrical substation on a minimum of 52 acres. To connect the substation with electricity consumers, they’ll erect power poles anywhere ...

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England
27 Apr 2010
Lincolnshire wind farm rejected to help autistic boys
A North Lincolnshire wind farm plan has been rejected because of the “serious effect” it would have on eight-year-old autistic twin boys living nearby. Anita and Trevor Glathorne, whose Burton upon Stather home is already overlooked by one wind farm, said the rotating blades affected their sons. The planning inspectorate dismissed the appeal solely because of the impact the farm would have on Lewis and Ross. Developer Ridge Wind said it was disappointed with the decision. ‘Spinning objects fixation’ The developers appealed to the planning ...

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New Hampshire
28 Apr 2010
Plan for 24 turbines submitted
GROTON – An application to place 24 wind turbines on Tenney and Fletcher Mountain ridge lines west of Plymouth has been submitted to the state for review. The $120 million Groton Wind Project would produce 48 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 20,000 homes. The application was filed Friday with the state Site Evaluation Committee, which must give an up or down vote in nine months. The developer, Iberdrola Renewables, is operating the 24-megawatt wind farm in Lempster, the first wind project approved ...

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Australia
28 Apr 2010
Council cracks down on wind farm road use
Contractors for Roaring 40s Wind Farm developers at Waterloo made such a mess of nearby rural roads that the local council had to step in. Clare and Gilbert Valleys Council staff held a site meeting with wind farm management in February, regarding the traffic management plan. Major issues were dust and unapproved routes being used by contractors. “There has been a serial and systemic failure to implement traffic management plans,” council chief executive officer Roy Blight said. “One of the requirements is that Main ...

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Texas
28 Apr 2010
Military officials say wind turbines can stir up problems for bases
AUSTIN — Giant wind turbines dotting the Texas landscape have made the Lone Star State the nation’s leader in the development of wind power, but they may also pose a hazard to military installations by interfering with crucial radar operations, state lawmakers were told Tuesday. Standing 250 feet high with 150-foot-long blades, the wind turbines could cause false signals on radar and endanger aerial maneuvers or produce erroneous information about storm conditions, several military officials told the House Committee on ...

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England
28 Apr 2010
New bid for turbine scheme at Crimp sparks fury
Furious residents of an idyllic corner of North Cornwall are waiting to hear whether an application to site three wind turbines there will be approved tomorrow. West Coast Energy was granted permission at appeal two years ago to place three turbines at Crimp, near Morwenstow. The time limit for that plan has expired but now the company has applied to put larger turbines, producing less electricity, on the site. John Moxey, chairman of Morwenstow Against Turbines (MAT), said: “When the inspector ...

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Ontario
28 Apr 2010
Dunlop and PCs calling for moratorium on wind energy projects
The Progressive Conservatives will be tabling a motion at Queen’s Park on Wednesday asking the Liberal government to restore green energy planning decisions to municipalities. Under the Green Energy Act, which was established in 2009, the province established parameters that made it easier for green energy proponents to further projects without consulting municipalities in an attempt to avoid delay tactics, Simcoe North MPP Garfield Dunlop said recently. “What we want is all planning responsibilities happening at the local level,” Dunlop said. “It’s ...

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New York
28 Apr 2010
Orangeville anti-wind lawsuit ruling detailed
ORANGEVILLE — A state Supreme Court justice ruled against all of Clear Skies Over Orangeville’s major arguments in his decision to dismiss the group’s lawsuit. Judge Patrick NeMoyer ruled Town Board members did not act unlawfully when they approved the town’s 2009 zoning ordinances. He also found no conflicts of interest among the voting councilmen. A copy of the ruling is available at the Wyoming County Clerk’s Office and was viewed Monday by The Daily News. It provided more details into NeMoyer’s decision. The ...

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Massachusetts
28 Apr 2010
Cape Wind ruling expected today
WASHINGTON — U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has made his choice about whether to approve the nation’s first offshore wind farm and will make the announcement today in Boston with Gov. Deval Patrick, a supporter of the project, a Massachusetts Statehouse official said yesterday. Salazar plans to brief the governor and other officials today before making his decision public at a Statehouse news conference, the official said. The official spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was ...

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Oregon
28 Apr 2010
Developers face federal headwinds
Construction of new wind farms in Oregon usually begins in springtime, when developers hope for dry weather. But this spring, developers are concerned about more than just rain. The Federal Aviation Administration last month sent a notice of presumed hazard for Caithness Energy’s Shepherd’s Flat wind farm in Arlington, saying one of the project’s 303 turbines could interfere with transmissions ...

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New York
28 Apr 2010
Wind farm still hasn’t paid PILOT; Lewis County attorney says company’s ‘arrogance’ wears thin on taxing jurisdictions
LOWVILLE — Nearly a month after the Maple Ridge Wind Farm regained Empire Zone certification, local taxing jurisdictions are still awaiting the balance of last year’s annual payment. And the municipalities plan to resume legal action against Flat Rock Windpower, the company under which Maple Ridge was developed, if the $6.7 million isn’t released soon. “They’ve demonstrated a level of arrogance that I’ve not seen in commercial transactions dealing with taxing jurisdictions,” Lewis County Attorney Richard J. Graham said. “They are behaving ...

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Minnesota
28 Apr 2010
Mower planning commisison gets wind-farm feedback
Numerous citizens voiced support and opposition Tuesday night for the proposed Pleasant Valley Wind Project, mostly being planned in north-central Mower County. Members of the Mower County Planning Commission took public comment but did not vote on six requests for conditional use permits ...

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Vermont
30 Apr 2010
Waitsfield PC to discuss wind energy on Northfield Ridge
A look at how alternative energy systems are permitted by the state: When the Vermont Public Service Board permits the installation of alternative energy systems, the review process is relatively simple. Applicants fill out a form explaining the location, size and specifics of their proposed system. Anyone proposing a photovoltaic project on pedestals – such as the solar trackers that have recently been installed at Yestermorrow and the Kingsbury Farm – must notify all abutters and the town in which they are ...

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Massachusetts, Video
29 Apr 2010
Off-shore wind farm approved in Massachusetts
This report on the Interior Dept. approval of Cape Wind features energy expert Robert Bryce and excerpts from a 2005 interview with Cliff Carroll of Windstop.org.  ...

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New York
30 Apr 2010
Wind-turbine project on hold causes concern in Allegany
An EverPower Renewables wind-turbine project that has been put on hold in the community of Howard has caused concern for town of Allegany officials where a similar EverPower wind-turbine farm has been proposed. An article printed earlier this month in The Evening Tribune in Hornell said EverPower was notified April 1 by the New York State Energy and Research Agency that Howard Wind LLC’s proposal for Renewable Energy Credits from the project was not accepted by the state agency. Consequently, EverPower ...

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Letters, Minnesota
30 Apr 2010
Counties should stand up against wind farms
Doesn’t it warm one’s heart that those billionaires from Texas are willing to invest money in turbines in southern Minnesota to generate electricity for big cities many miles away? The unselfish benevolence of the Goodhue County residents, who are willing to sacrifice the peace and tranquility and possibly the health and safety of their neighbors to provide electricity for people in far off areas, is truly generous. Do people realize the scheme is to make all of Southern Minnesota and most of ...

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New Brunswick, Opinions
30 Apr 2010
Go slow on wind power
Jane announced to her family, as she had every day that week, “Dinner will be some time between six and nine. It depends when the electricity will be available to run the stove. In the meantime, you can watch TV. I’m sure it will be on often enough that you can understand the program.” If their electricity came only from wind turbines, this is a scenario that they would face regularly. Exaggeration? No. A wind turbine generates power only when the wind is ...

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New York
30 Apr 2010
Panel readies wind law outline
MORRISTOWN — A working draft of the town’s wind energy law could be presented to the Town Council for review and approval as early as May 11. Seven representatives of the 10-member wind committee met Wednesday at the town hall for what may be the final time. The group reviewed recommendations made by the St. Lawrence County Planning Office, which had been asked to review the draft law. While some of the county’s suggestions involved language adjustments and consistency issues with the ...

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Australia
30 Apr 2010
Public demand more say on wind farm planning
The Ballan Mechanics Institute was filled to capacity last night for a special meeting on the planning process for wind farms. The Moorabool Council held the meeting in response to residents’ concerns about several wind farm proposals for the region. Mayor Pat Toohey says up to 400 people attended the meeting and 40 made presentations. He says they want to have more of a say. “The people are very concerned about the planning process for wind energy facilities,” he said. “It’s a strong voice from ...

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Australia
30 Apr 2010
Moorabool residents unite against wind farms
Moorabool residents turned out in force last night to voice their anger at two proposed wind farms in the shire. About 250 people packed the Ballan Mechanics Institute for a special council meeting, with the majority of speakers raising concerns at the proposed Greendale and Yaloak South wind farms. Health issues were the major talking point, but decreasing land values, visual amenity and the environment were also debated. Third-generation Evansford farmer Donald Thomas showed visible emotion as he explained health ...

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Scotland
30 Apr 2010
Residents have say against turbines plan
Residents up in arms at proposals to erect two giant wind turbines at Dundee docks have again come out publicly to oppose the plan. The Courier yesterday received a stream of correspondence from individuals incensed by Forth Energy’s plan to permanently site two wind turbines at Stannergate. The letters and emails followed a packed meeting of the Residents Against Tay Turbines (RATTs) group at Craigiebank Church on Wednesday night at which local people were urged to register their objections. More than 12,000 ...

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Maine
30 Apr 2010
Union plans to regulate wind farms
The Knox County town of Union is the latest in Maine to try to regulate development of new wind farms. Although there has been no apparent interest expressed in Union as a potential commercial wind farm site, town selectmen and residents say they wanted to be ready, just in case. The town’s Land use Ordinance Renew Committee has developed an ordinance to regulate wind power. Committee members say they studied ordinances in Dixmont and Thorndike, the ordinance written by the state ...

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Texas
30 Apr 2010
14,500 acres in Randall targeted for wind farm
Local landowners are joining a Minnesota firm to develop 14,500 acres in Randall County into a wind farm. National Wind, based in Minneapolis, is the managing member of Buffalo Wind Energy, a Texas company running the project. It’s trying to create a community wind project that could allow landowners to not only profit from leasing wind rights but also by investing in the wind farm. “We want to take our land and not change our farms and ranches, and make additional income,” said ...

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Ontario
30 Apr 2010
Community council supports ban on industrializing Scarborough’s waterfront
Speakers alluded to wind energy and used euphemisms for wind turbines as they waded through a verbal mine field at Scarborough Community Council. More than 20 delegates were on hand Tuesday, April 27, afternoon to share their thoughts about Scarborough East Councillor Paul Ainslie’s motion requesting city council ask the provincial and federal governments not to “industrialize” any crown lands or adjacent waterways along the Scarborough Bluffs. The goal of the motion was to prevent a wind farm from being erected offshore ...

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Oregon, Washington
30 Apr 2010
Residents concerned power lines will hurt property values
TROUTDALE, Ore. – Opponents of a new, high-voltage power line set to run from Castle Rock, Wash. to Troutdale, Ore. were planning a protest Thursday. Protesters said they would meet in front of the Bonneville Power Administration’s offices on NE 41st Street in Vancouver, starting at 11 a.m. They said the rally will bring attention to the problems related to the huge power lines and the towers that hold them in place. Organizers handed out thousands of flyers in Camas and Vancouver, explaining ...

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Ontario
30 Apr 2010
Major wind energy project proposed
ZURICH — About 60 residents attended an open house April 21 at the Zurich arena to learn more about a proposed 37.5-megawatt wind project in the Zurich area that could power up to the equivalent of 9,000 homes. The project is slated to take place on private land in Bluewater. The location map for the project, dubbed The Zurich Wind Power Project by Acciona, the company behind the project, shows it situated on mostly agriculture land between Babylon Line and Highway ...

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Kansas
30 Apr 2010
Wind farm insiders accused of shenanigans
A bankruptcy trustee claims insiders in a wind power venture took the company for millions of dollars, sticking it with $6 million in debt while taking the $13 million in sales for themselves. On behalf of Generation Resource Holding Co., bankruptcy trustee Eric Rajala filed the federal complaint against Lookout Windpower Holding Co., and Forward Windpower Holding Co.; president of both companies is alleged “insider” Robert Gardner of Leawood, Kan. Also named ...

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New York
30 Apr 2010
Legislature approves wind farm PILOT agreement
Herkimer, N. Y. — Having previously approved a payment in lieu of taxes agreement with Iberdrola Renewables subsidiary Atlantic Wind for the Hardscrabble wind farm project, the Herkimer County Legislature Wednesday voted to authorize the contract’s execution. “We did not acquiesce on many of the things that the company wanted us to agree to, but rather we stood firm” said District 15 Legislator Patrick Russell, chairman of the county’s Ways and Means Committee. “I am very proud of how this legislature stood ...

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Wales
30 Apr 2010
Windfarm would ‘damage’ Blaina’s tranquility – inquiry hears
The tranquility and remoteness of areas around Blaina would be damaged by the building of a mountainside wind farm, a landscape expert told a public inquiry yesterday. Landscape architect Simon White said people visit various relatively unspoilt viewpoints around Mynydd James to “get away from it all” and the wind turbines would have a detrimental impact upon their tranquility. The public inquiry is taking place after developers Pennant Wind Energy Ventures Ltd and Eco2 Ltd appealed against Blaenau Gwent council’s decision to ...

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Idaho
30 Apr 2010
Local residents react to proposed power line plan
CANYON COUNTY — A few dozen Canyon County residents attended an open house meeting at Purple Sage Elementary School Wednesday to learn about or weigh in on a planned Idaho Power transmission line. The proposed route for the line, one of two needed to connect the planned Langley Gulch power plant to the electricity grid, runs along the east side of Old Highway 30 between Oasis and Willis roads. The route was established after a public comment period and an open house ...

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Scotland
30 Apr 2010
Calls for energy firms to cough up more cash for community benefit
Communities across the Borders are being “short changed” by wind farm developers, according to Scottish Borders Council leader David Parker. Mr Parker made the comments after Paul Docherty, a representative for Oxton and Channelkirk Community Council, proposed that renewable energy firms should be made to hand over 10 per cent of the generating capacity of a wind farm to community ownership, or if not practical, 10 per cent of the operating profit over its lifespan. Mr Docherty put forward his ideas ahead ...

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Wales
30 Apr 2010
Roads test run for wind farm parts delivery in Wrexham
Highways chiefs have warned that a dummy load designed to test the suitability of main roads for the movement of huge parts for wind farms could cause delays for drivers in Wrexham next month. A vehicle specially designed to simulate one which can carry large components for the farms, such as the massive blades, will be driven along potentially difficult stretches of key routes in the country over the next six months. The aim is to see whether they are eventually up ...

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England
30 Apr 2010
Public inquiry on wind farm proposals for county
An energy company will challenge the “weak reason” given by councillors to reject a wind farm over the potential blighting of the view of a historic country hall. Yelvertoft residents celebrated victory when Daventry District Council dismissed an application by Your Energy to build eight 125m wind turbines. They were concerned villagers’ views of Stamford Hall in neighbouring Leicestershire would be spoilt. However the energy company appealed and has now won a public inquiry by an independent Government planning inspector. Alison Hood, of Your ...

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Massachusetts
30 Apr 2010
Marshfield: Heated debate at town meeting over wind turbine by-law
Some tense moments last night at Marshfield annual town meeting, especially during debate on a article calling for the implementation a new wind turbine by-law. Town meeting votes in favor of the by-law, that includes regulations that cover building mounted and small scale turbines. The by-law is covered in three separate articles. An amendment by Bob Parkis to make it easier for residents to install a small turbine at their homes, without being bound the by-laws stringent and expensive regulations, turned into ...

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Massachusetts
30 Apr 2010
Cape Wind farm suers line up
U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar’s approval of the proposed Nantucket Sound wind farm this week prompted a wave of legal threats from opponents who argue the decision violates the Endangered Species Act and other laws. One possible suit even contends the project could hurt endangered right whales. That suit, however, is only one of several possible challenges to the plan by Cape Wind Associates to build 130 wind turbines in the Sound. Meanwhile, the potential for an administrative appeal remains unclear. Salazar’s ...

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Connecticut
30 Apr 2010
As session winds down, plans for a sweeping energy overhaul emerge
A thaw in one of the General Assembly’s chilliest relationships has produced a sweeping, 11th-hour proposal to overhaul Connecticut’s electric regulatory structure and subsidize solar energy. Setting aside three years of conflict, Sen. John W. Fonfara, D-Hartford, and Rep. Vickie O. Nardello, D-Prospect, are collaborating on what could be the biggest energy bill since deregulation in 1998. The two co-chairs of the Energy and Technology Committee circulated drafts of their legislation this week, setting off a scramble by industry and environmental groups. “It’s ...

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Massachusetts
30 Apr 2010
Cape win?
Boston – Calling Nantucket Sound “long a working landscape,” U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced that he’ll let Cape Wind erect 130 wind turbines there. At a State House press conference with Gov. Deval Patrick April 28, Salazar said he had approved the project – the first offshore wind farm that will be permitted by the U.S. – with modifications that would help protect the historical, cultural and environmental resources of Cape Cod. Salazar said the wind farm would provide about 1,000 ...

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Rhode Island
30 Apr 2010
Bill seeks to ease path for wind power
PROVIDENCE — State lawmakers are attempting to breathe new life into a stalled proposal for an eight-turbine wind farm in waters off Block Island through legislation that would allow the project to bypass a difficult regulatory hurdle. A bill filed late Wednesday would make it possible for developer Deepwater Wind and National Grid, the state’s main electric utility, to enter into a power-purchase agreement without having to win approval from the state Public Utilities Commission. A month ago, the PUC unanimously rejected ...

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Oregon
30 Apr 2010
Legislators push White House on wind
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden and other Oregon lawmakers are putting strong pressure on top military officials to lift the Federal Aviation Administration’s ban on new wind farm construction in the Mid-Columbia region. Wyden met Wednesday with Defense Secretary Robert Gates to “let him know that the delay in starting construction at Shepherds Flat wind farm was creating economic pain in Gilliam and Morrow counties,” said Tom Towslee, Wyden’s Oregon spokesman. Construction on ...

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Massachusetts
30 Apr 2010
Turbine’s still tops on Wellfleet voters’ minds
TRURO — In just under four hours, Annual Town Meeting on Monday dealt with 35 articles on the warrant, approving at the start an operating budget of $16,647,537, up 29 percent over the 2004 budget. It was not an exciting meeting, but it got important business done. Voters approved three projects that deal with stormwater runoff, wastewater planning and the water system. All three will require approval at the ballot box on Monday. They also sent a message to the selectmen that ...

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Rhode Island
30 Apr 2010
Deepwater says bill could revive project
PROVIDENCE – A bill before the General Assembly that would reassign responsibility for approving an offshore wind farm could revive the project proposed off Block Island, developer Deepwater Wind LLC said Thursday. The Senate bill filed Wednesday would give the heads of four state agencies, rather than the three-member R. I. Public Utilities Commission, the authority to sign off on a power-purchase agreement between Deepwater and National Grid Plc. In March, the PUC rejected a contract between the two companies, saying the price ...

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Romania
30 Apr 2010
CEZ to build biggest onshore wind park in Europe
Czech power group CEZ plans to build a 1.1 billion euro ($1.62 billion) wind park in Romania, the largest of its kind in Europe, in a move to offset emissions from dirtier coal-fired power plants. CEZ said the two-stage, 600 megawatt project would be built 17 km (10 miles) from the Black Sea shore, north of the port of Constanta, and would be around twice the size of the next biggest onshore wind farm in Europe. Just over half the wind park ...

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Rhode Island
30 Apr 2010
Legislation would let Rhode Island wind farm bypass PUC
The General Assembly is attempting to breathe new life into an 8-turbine wind farm proposed off Block Island. Legislation filed late Wednesday and announced Thursday morning would allow developer Deepwater Wind and National Grid, the state’s main electric utility, to enter into a power purchase agreement without approval from the state Public Utilities Commission. A month ago, the PUC rejected a contract between the two sides, its members saying that the price of power in the 20-year agreement was not “commercially reasonable.” ...

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Kansas
30 Apr 2010
Hays Wind LLC gets CUP approval
With no public opposition voiced Wednesday night, the Ellis County Joint Planning Commission recommended approval of a conditional-use permit for the installation of 18 wind turbines for Hays Wind LLC. The turbines have been relocated since Hays Wind’s previous CUP application in 2008 as the result of mediation of a lawsuit involving neighboring landowners. In addition to the 85 turbines that were approved through the previous application, the company asked for approval of 18 turbine locations on 1,900 acres southwest of ...

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Rhode Island
30 Apr 2010
Bill would short-circuit PUC on wind; Legislation puts control of offshore power in governor’s hands
PROVIDENCE – Four of the governor’s political appointees rather than the R. I. Public Utilities Commission could approve a wind farm off the coast of Block Island if a bill introduced Wednesday in the General Assembly becomes law. The Senate bill would give the heads of the R. I. Office of Energy Resources, the R. I. Economic Development Corporation and the R. I. Department of Administration the authority to sign off on a power-purchase agreement between National Grid Plc and offshore wind developer Deepwater Wind ...

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England
30 Apr 2010
All clear for wind farm after Martineau deal with MoD
Energy lawyers at Martineau have cleared up a dispute between the Ministry of Defence and a group of power developers that could have derailed plans for five offshore wind farms. The wind farms planned for the Norfolk coast of England had been up in the air because there were fears setting up the massive wind farms could interfere with military airspace and radar at nearby RAF Trimingham because of the large moving structures. The Greater Wash area off the east coast is ...

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Texas
30 Apr 2010
Austin: Utility bills likely to increase next year
Austin utility customers will likely pay higher bills next year, according to a budget forecast presented Wednesday for the city’s water, electricity and trash pickup departments. Budget staffers told the City Council that typical customers will pay $2.73 more a month for water and sewer service, 82 cents more to Austin Energy, and 66 cents more for street repair and public works projects. Those increases — a total of $4.21 per month — would come a year after the council raised ...

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Massachusetts
30 Apr 2010
Cahill ridicules Cape Wind project
A day after the federal government approved Cape Wind, state Treasurer Timothy P. Cahill stepped up his criticism of the venture, skewering it as a feel-good project that could drive up energy costs. “We all think of the Netherlands, and we think of all these windmills,’’ the independent gubernatorial candidate told a downtown meeting of business executives yesterday. “It’s really quaint. And it seems so much nicer than a big, bad energy plant or nuclear power. At the end of the ...

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Massachusetts
30 Apr 2010
Cape Wind developer still faces several key hurdles before work can begin
BOSTON — While the long-awaited federal approval finally arrived for the Cape Wind project, the developer still has several key hurdles to clear before construction can begin on the 130-turbine wind farm in Nantucket Sound. U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar’s endorsement of the project on Wednesday marked the end to a protracted federal regulatory review that lasted nearly nine years. Jim Gordon, the president of Boston-based Cape Wind Associates, said he hopes to start construction on the project by the end of ...

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Delaware, New Jersey
30 Apr 2010
Regional wind farms get boost from Cape Cod approval
Offshore wind developers in New Jersey and Delaware applauded an announcement Wednesday by the Obama administration to allow the Cape Wind project off Cape Cod to go forward. After being mired in bitter battles over its economic benefits and potential environmental harms for nine years, the Cape Wind project of 130 turbines in Nantucket Sound could become the nation’s first offshore wind farm, easing the way for other proposals along the East Coast. “Today’s announcement is encouraging. It begins to address permitting ...

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Maine, Massachusetts
30 Apr 2010
How the wind blows in Vinalhaven
As Martha’s Vineyard residents contemplate the possibility of wind farms, whether modest or extensive developments on land and offshore, it may be useful to turn a curious eye to Vinalhaven, Maine, an island that is home to New England’s largest coastal wind-power facility. With three land-based wind turbines up and running since last November, Vinalhaven offers an example of a finished project and the benefit of lessons learned in hindsight. The Vinalhaven community, at a town meeting, overwhelmingly supported the Fox Islands ...

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Massachusetts
30 Apr 2010
Turbine project may spin on access
MILTON — The proposed town-owned wind turbine will return before Town Meeting next week, this time for a vote on whether to take back land leased to the Granite Links Golf Club at Quarry Hills to allow access to the project’s anticipated site. Last year’s Town Meeting approved zoning changes to allow a wind turbine, and Special Town Meeting voters in February agreed to borrow $6.2 million to pay for the electricity-generating tower. “There’s tremendous public enthusiasm’’ about the turbine project, said ...

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Massachusetts
30 Apr 2010
State nixes Nahant turbine plan
NAHANT – The state has pulled the plug on a plan to install wind turbines on light poles along the Nahant Causeway. This week the state Department on Conservation and Recreation canceled its procurement for the Causeway wind turbine project and rejected any responses it had received. The project would have located wind turbines along the Causeway to power street lights and the Nahant Beach Reservation. According to a press release issued by project manager Stephen D. Brown, the turbines place unnecessary ...

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Ontario
30 Apr 2010
Protest at Queen’s Park
Frankly my dear, they do give a damn. The Manvers Gone with the Wind group made their concerns known at Queen’s Park on Wednesday (April 28), when they joined hundreds of others from across the province in a sea of angry people and placard signs protesting proposed wind projects, three of which are in the City of Kawartha Lakes. The energy of anticipation was palpable through the din of excited chatter on the bus ride to Toronto, as 19 local residents ...

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Editorials, Massachusetts
30 Apr 2010
An ill wind off Cape
Memo to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar: In the immortal words of Yogi Berra, “It ain’t over ‘til it’s over.” The nine-year battle over Cape Wind is far from over – hell, it hasn’t even gone into extra innings yet. Salazar’s anointing of it yesterday isn’t going to make it so. And thank goodness for that. Slap a “green” label on anything and the Obama and Patrick administrations are all over it. The costs to taxpayers and ratepayers be damned. Of course, there are those ...

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Ontario
30 Apr 2010
Wind turbine opponents claim health concerns ignored
As the provincial government moves ahead with its ambitious plan to ramp up wind farm construction, a few hundred residents living in the shadows of turbines turned up at Queen’s Park Wednesday claiming the Liberals’ Green Energy Act is endangering their health and democratic rights. Bruce County resident Norma Schmidt held a sign listing the health problems she’s experienced since turbines were installed 450 metres from her home about a year and a half ago. Those problems include high blood pressure, ...

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Massachusetts
30 Apr 2010
Wind farm plan splits lawmakers
Environmentalists celebrated a federal decision Wednesday to approve the first offshore wind farm in U.S. history, but U.S. Sen. Scott Brown says the move to build in Nantucket Sound is a mistake. “I am strongly opposed to the administration’s misguided decision to move forward with Cape Wind,” Brown said. “While I support the concept of wind power as an alternative source of energy, Nantucket Sound is a national treasure that should be protected from industrialization.” The proposed project has long divided the ...

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Massachusetts
30 Apr 2010
Wind backers and foes traveled long, hard path
There was elation and dejection on the Cape yesterday over Secretary of the Interior Kenneth Salazar’s approval of the Cape Wind project. But there was also some consensus — a rare thing for this controversial proposal — that the road to federal approval was long and hard. That was especially true among people who have been part of the debate from the beginning. “This is a horrendous process that I wouldn’t put any business through,” said Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce Executive ...

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New York
30 Apr 2010
Iberdrola eyes Hammond office
HAMMOND – Though wind laws have not been approved in the towns of Hammond, Morristown, or Oswegatchie and the county clerk’s office reports no new leases for hosting turbines, a spokesman for Iberdrola Renewables says an Iberdrola branch office may be opening in Hammond. When asked via e-mail about plans for such an office, where it may be located and how it would be paid for, Iberdrola Communications Manager Paul N. Copleman kept his answer close to the vest. “We are considering ...

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