Wind Power News: January 2017
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.
Wind farm rules left to counties
WATERLOO – The wind energy industry is colliding with a mixed bag of zoning laws as it seeks to erect hundreds of new turbines across Iowa’s rural countryside. Without a uniform state law governing location, height, setbacks and other factors, many of the state’s 99 counties have adopted individual zoning standards that will play a key role in where those turbines go. The Courier examined how several Northeast Iowa counties regulate commercial wind energy projects after RPM Access said it would . . . Complete story »
Zoning lapse allows ‘illegal’ wind farm
FAIRBANK – The Iowa Supreme Court has been asked to intervene in an ongoing dispute over three wind energy towers in Fayette County. Attorneys for Mason Wind and Optimum Renewables turned to the state’s high court this month after a district court judge deemed three turbines in a farm field just east of Fairbank are “illegal and void” and must be removed. As Iowa’s wind energy industry gears up for a major expansion over the next three years, this high-stakes legal . . . Complete story »
Revealed: Cumnock to become Scotland’s first fully ‘Green Town’
The Ayrshire mining community of Cumnock is poised to get become Scotland’s fully ‘Green Town’. The plan is to make Cumnock carbon neutral town, creating a blueprint that can be rolled out across the rest of Scotland. The plans include proposals for the community to run its own hi-tech renewable energy system – based on sun, wind and water power – and make use of cutting edge digital and smart technologies. The regeneration proposals which have been put forward by . . . Complete story »
Solar vs. wind in Central Mass.
Two years ago, when I would receive a press release about a solar farm, I’d assign a story. We’d shoot photos, interview the participants, and lay out where the power would flow, and who would benefit. Now, a new solar farm is hardly worth a short business story. Solar has become ubiquitous, and by that, I mean solar panels are sprouting up everywhere: in fields, on top of industrial buildings, on top of single-family homes, on retired dumps and polluted . . . Complete story »
Site visit will weigh concerns about windmill noise
READSBORO- On Tuesday, January 31, the Public Service Board will conduct a visit to the site on Bailey Hill where Star Wind Turbines LLC proposes placing a small scale turbine. The visit is part of the board’s attempts to investigate resident Debra Pavin’s concerns about the effects the company’s windmill could have on the aesthetics and noise levels near Pavin’s home as well as other regulatory issues. A technical hearing that will consider the information gathered during the site visit, . . . Complete story »
Not ‘Hatfields and McCoys’: Almer woman scolds commissioners
An Almer Township resident took two Tuscola County commissioners to task for their comments about wind-turbine debates among residents of Almer and Ellington townships, criticizing one commissioner’s reference that the situation resembles the “Hatfields and McCoys” and hurts the county financially. Almer Township resident Jan Daniels told commissioners at their 8 a.m. Thursday meeting that she read an article that morning from Wednesday’s Advertiser – a report including comments from commissioners Kim Vaughan and Craig Kirkpatrick – and “was so taken aback . . . Complete story »
A deadly double punch: together, turbines and disease jeopardize endangered bats
Wind turbine collisions and the deadly bat disease known as white-nose syndrome (WNS) can together intensify the decline of endangered Indiana bat populations in the midwestern United States, according to a recently published U.S. Geological Survey study. “Bats are valuable because, by eating insects, they save U.S. agriculture billions of dollars per year in pest control,” said USGS scientist Richard Erickson, the lead author of the study. “Our research is important for understanding the threats to endangered Indiana bats and . . . Complete story »
A win for us: Judge says ‘No’ to Dan’s Mountain wind farm
The modern version of an ancient proverb holds that “The wheels of justice turn slowly, but grind exceedingly fine.” How slowly do they turn? As slowly as the blades on a wind turbine, perhaps? Some days, in our neck of the woods, the blades don’t turn at all … during what mariners in the age of sail would have described as “a dead calm.” More than a year and a half after the process began, a Maryland public utility law . . . Complete story »
Rights of Plymouth residents
I read Frank Mand’s Jan. 25, 2017, article on the Plymouth Advisory and Finance Committee’s overwhelming rejection of a plan to allow 15 acres of open space near a residential area to be used for a solar array. I now have at least a little bit of hope for the residents of Plymouth. I read Frank Mand’s Jan. 25, 2017, article on the Plymouth Advisory and Finance Committee’s overwhelming rejection of a plan to allow 15 acres of open space . . . Complete story »
98 wind turbines in 10k area
Clare County Council’s decision last Friday to grant planning permission to Brookfield Renewable Ireland Ltd for 11 wind turbines, will mean that a total of 98 turbines will be located within a 10km radius in Connolly, Kilmurry-Ibrickane, Lissycasey and Kilmihil. Up to 131m in height, permission was given subject to 27 conditions. Fifty six separate submissions were received by the council, with 53 of them listed as objections from local residents and community groups. In a detailed submission, the Conserve . . . Complete story »
