Wind Power News: June 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.
Britain can’t afford to throw money at wind power
We make no apology for returning once again to the subject of wind power – as our Letters page illustrates, it is a topic that greatly concerns Sunday Telegraph readers, some of whom find themselves at the sharp end of the controversy when wind turbines are proposed or erected in their neighbourhoods. As we have emphasised before, we wholly sympathise with the laudable objective of making energy provision environmentally friendly; although ”green’’ activism may have been hijacked by the Left, . . . Complete story »
Jousting over wind farm extends beyond court
A $56 million court battle over costly delays to the Mehoopany Wind Farm last year has a contractor sparring with BP Wind Energy in two states, with subcontractors and area landowners caught in the crossfire. Colorado-based RES Americas filed suit against BP Wind and a related firm in Wyoming County Court, seeking $56,189,303 that the contractor says it is owed for work done to ensure that the $250 million wind farm went on line by Dec. 31. That deadline was . . . Complete story »
County seeks rehearing in turbine case
The Champaign County prosecutor and a group of area residents filed separate documents this week asking that the Ohio Power Siting Board reconsider parts or all of its decision approving a wind turbine project in Champaign County. Earlier this year, members of the siting board approved the second phase of the Buckeye Wind project, allowing as many as 52 turbines to be built across six townships in the county. Combined with an earlier phase that received an earlier approval, it . . . Complete story »
New tack in turbine fight
Wind turbine opponents on Amherst Island are taking a new tack in their five-year fight to block a large-scale energy project in their community, questioning the environmental fallout of the supposedly green technology. The Association to Protect Amherst Island accuses the Ontario government of not having a plan to deal with the massive turbine blades, steel columns and cement bases that will have to be disposed of when the machines are eventually decommissioned. “They’re in the midst of creating an . . . Complete story »
Garlic farmers battle wind turbines; Reluctant activists say they’re not ready to give up
Anti-wind activists are like the modern rural Ontario equivalent of the Minutemen of 1700's Massachusetts, showing up with signs when Premier Kathleen Wynne travelled to Sarnia recently, and picketing outside of Health Minister Deb Matthews' garden party. "We go like this," Brooks said, snapping her fingers. "If we hear of a politician in the neighbourhood, we get a phone tree going, we get enough people and we move." Complete story »
Deepwater Wind is a product of greed and politics
For the past four years, I have monitored and participated in the regulatory process that has governed the advancement of Deepwater’s proposed windfarm planned in state waters just 2.5 miles to the Southeast of Block Island. I have done so because I personally don’t like our island’s need (a cable to the mainland) being leverage by capitalists (Deepwater and DE Shaw) at the expense of the island’s preservation history and natural condition. In some cases, I have participated as a . . . Complete story »
Evidence that wind farms may well kill off wildlife tourism
The disastrous encounter between a rare white-throated needletail with a wind turbine on Harris was not a good omen for wildlife tourism in Scotland (“Birdwatchers see rare swift killed by turbine”, The Herald, June 28). It’s also another headache for Energy, Economy and Tourism Minister Fergus Ewing. How can he square this deadly contradiction between his tourism and energy portfolios? Alex Salmond has argued that Scotland’s commitment to renewable energy makes it more attractive to ecologically-minded visitors. Ministers routinely tout . . . Complete story »
Scituate’s wind turbine owners see little impact from case against Chinese manufacturer
Owners of Scituate’s wind turbine say that federal charges against employees of its Chinese manufacturer won’t significant affect the local turbine. According to a June 27 release from the US Department of Justice, three employees from China’s Sinovel Wind Group Co. Ltd. are being charged with stealing trade secrets from AMSC, a United States-based company formerly known as American Superconductor Inc. “Today, we announce charges against Sinovel and three individuals for stealing proprietary wind turbine technology from AMSC in order . . . Complete story »
Acting alone
Recently, LD 616, a bill allowing citizens in Unorganized Territories to have a voice in zoning wind towers, which the Baldacci administration stripped from the public through the 2008 Wind Energy Act, was pulled from the omnibus energy bill. Senate Democratic Leader Seth Goodall of Richmond said the reason he was pulling the bill was, “These are very complicated issues. We need to look at these issues comprehensively, look at all the moving parts to strike the right balance between . . . Complete story »
Interior Department gives OK for wind-power project in Mohave County
WASHINGTON – The Department of the Interior on Friday approved a 500-megawatt wind-power farm near Kingman, a project that could cost up to $800 million and bring hundreds of construction jobs to the Mohave County area. The proposed facility, on 38,000 acres of federal land near Squaw Peak, would ultimately have a full-time operations staff of about 30 once it started generating power, supporters said. “We are grateful to have it in Arizona, to bring renewable resources and also economic . . . Complete story »
