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Wind Power News: March 2013
These news and opinion items are gathered by National Wind Watch in its noncommercial educational effort to help keep readers informed about developments related to industrial wind energy. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of National Wind Watch. They are the products of and owned by the organizations or individuals noted and are shared here according to “fair use” and “fair dealing” provisions of copyright law.
Donald Trump brands Alex Salmond ‘two-faced’ over wind turbines
US billionaire Donald Trump has branded Alex Salmond “dishonest” and claimed that “generations of Scots will curse him” for his support of wind energy. The terse remarks, issued through a spokesman, are the latest shot in the war of words between the two men after the Scottish Government approved the European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre (EOWDC) wind farm off the shore of Mr Trump’s golf resort at the Menie Estate in Aberdeenshire. The tycoon threatened to sue the Scottish Government . . . Complete story »
Massachusetts Clean Energy Center commits to Kingston turbine flicker review
The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center has agreed to commission a shadow flicker study of Kingston’s wind turbines. Massachusetts Clean Energy Center spokesman Catherine Williams confirmed there will be a study. “We’re developing the scope for the shadow flicker study,” she said. “We’ll be providing basic data about the number of homes affected by flicker and the times during the year when they might be affected. We will provide that data to the town and to the turbine owners so that . . . Complete story »
BP files preliminary scoping statement for Cape Vincent wind farm
The preliminary scoping statement for the proposed Cape Vincent Wind Farm was filed Friday, triggering a three-month countdown to BP Wind Energy’s anticipated application to the state siting board. Under the state’s Article X siting process, BP can submit an application for a certificate of environmental compatibility and public need for its 124-turbine wind project 90 days after filing the PSS. The wind developer has yet to make public the exact size of the proposed project, and continues to use . . . Complete story »
Lee County keeps rubber stamp in storage; Wind company faces another big hurdle for turbine plans
DIXON – Lee County does not plan to use the rubber stamp this time. Historically, wind energy companies have driven the county’s process in reviewing proposed wind farms. In 2006, the county’s zoning board approved a company’s proposed findings of fact, word for word. That has opened the county to charges that it’s the tool of the wind industry at the expense of residents. The county’s Zoning Board of Appeals has scheduled nine meetings next month to draft the findings . . . Complete story »
Mixed feelings blowing in wind
The turbines at the Broken Bow Wind Farm are drawing mixed reactions from those who have them on their land. Dave Haumont was on the committee negotiating wind development in Custer County. Now that four turbines are on his property he’s not entirely sure they were a good idea. “Really, there isn’t anything about them I can say I like except they will help me pay some bills,” Haumont said. “The turbines were going to be around me whether I . . . Complete story »
Mannix calls for hiatus on wind talks
NARRAGANSETT – Freshman council member, Matthew Mannix, called for a suspension of negotiations with Deepwater Wind sending a formal motion to suspend and supporting memorandum to Town Clerk Anne Irons for placement on the April 1 town council agenda. “There’s a presumption that there’s an agreement that this is going to go through,” he said in a phone interview on Wednesday. “There should be no presumption. We, as a council, have a duty to make sure that the Deepwater Wind . . . Complete story »
Plymouth Planning Board: Algonquin Heights objects to Stop & Shop turbine
PLYMOUTH – Stop & Shop officials say building a wind turbine behind the Samoset Street supermarket will help them go green. But an attorney representing Algonquin Heights, the apartment complex located some 600 feet from the proposed turbine, says the chain’s attempt to go green will decrease the value of his client’s property and impact the health and well being of its tenants. The Stop & Shop Supermarket Company LLC needs a special permit from the Zoning Board of Appeals to . . . Complete story »
Overlapping federal subsidies let some projects get multiple grants, credits — GAO
Federal subsidies for wind energy sometimes overlap, letting some projects take several dips into the government’s coffers, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office. The Republican-requested report outlines the various federal initiatives that support wind energy, identifying areas of duplication amid the more than $4 billion in grants and tax credits that go to wind-related activities. Seven initiatives overlapped in support for wind projects, according to the report: three tax expenditures and a grant from the Treasury . . . Complete story »
Town, residents undertake separate studies on Scituate turbine
As Scituate officials embark on a study to measure the turbine’s noise, residents have announced that they will conduct their own analysis of the machine. Residents, the town, and turbine developers initially were planning to undertake a study together. However when town officials decided to conduct a study with a relatively small scope, residents objected. In an announcement late March, members of the resident group opposing the turbine announced that they would do their own study, to happen concurrently with . . . Complete story »
Taxing decision: Local biomedical firms hopeful for repeal of device tax
U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., proposed the device tax repeal, and he plans to make up the state’s lost tax revenue by cutting a $12.1 billion tax credit that subsidizes wind turbine production, with the goal of repealing both provisions without increasing the federal debt. “This amendment is about ending two damaging tax policies that are costing Americans billions of dollars, and costing Tennesseans good jobs,” Alexander said in a recent statement. “It gets rid of a 20-year-old, multibillion-dollar subsidy for unreliable, expensive wind energy that stands no chance of powering our nation’s 21st century economy, and it repeals the Obamacare (Affordable Care Act) tax on life-saving medical devices – Tennessee’s top export and an important source of good jobs.” Complete story »
