Wind Power News: Americas
These news and opinion items are gathered by National Wind Watch 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.
Turbine ‘graveyard’ removal underway near Ellsworth
Workers are in the process of cutting hundreds of discarded wind turbine blades into pieces and hauling them from their highly visible piles along U.S. Interstate 35 near Ellsworth. “They’re progressing, as they say, and that’s all that we care about,” said Rick Young, a Hamilton County supervisor who lives near the blade stacks that have sat idle most of this year. “Obviously, it was distressing to a lot of people.” Most of the blades were formerly used by MidAmerican . . . Complete story »
Some Boothbay residents angered by wind power developments, including drill tests on private property
The developers of a wind-energy turbine off Monhegan Island are apologizing to Boothbay residents angered by unannounced work in town last month, some of it on private property. And the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences is taking heat from locals as well, for signing a deal to allow cable from the turbine to come ashore on its waterfront property there. The New England Aquaventus project aims to use deep waters off Monhegan to test an 11-megawatt wind turbine based on . . . Complete story »
The N.H. Department of Energy wants more data on the impact of offshore wind
Offshore wind development in the Gulf of Maine could impact New Hampshire’s economy, environment, and energy system. The state’s new Department of Energy has released a Request for Proposals to find a consultant to help the state assess what those impacts could be. Offshore wind development has produced controversy in other places. But the East Coast will likely see a major development of the renewable energy source in the coming years. Though New Hampshire is likely years away from offshore . . . Complete story »
Energy companies accused of bid rigging and racketeering in US lawsuit
A cybersecurity company filed a $110m lawsuit in New York this week, accusing the Spanish global energy company Iberdrola and its US subsidiary Avangrid of bid rigging and racketeering. The 72-page federal court complaint outlines an elaborate scheme by Iberdrola executives to generate millions of dollars in wasteful equipment expenditures in order to turn a profit from its utility customers in New York, Connecticut and Maine. The lawsuit further alleges that much of this equipment was never put to use . . . Complete story »
Rapp sponsors solar, wind tear-down bill
Rep. Kathy Rapp, R-Warren, wants solar panels and wind turbines installed in Pennsylvania to be taken down responsibly. House Bill 2104, which Rapp introduced recently in the state House of Representatives, would require companies installing alternative energy equipment be responsible to take the equipment down no later than 18 months after the facility has stopped producing electricity. “With solar and wind farms continuing to permeate our landscape, we must assure that long-term sustainability and reclamation concerns are addressed before it . . . Complete story »
East Boothbay residents worried wind turbine cable could damage property
There continues to be controversy over Maine’s offshore wind project. A test wind turbine is planned to be installed off of Monhegan Island with a cable running to a substation in East Boothbay. One of the proposed cable routes is on two streets in East Boothbay. Those who live in the neighborhood are worried the drilling and construction of the cable will damage their property. “All of these are unique plants that derive color for me in the spring, which . . . Complete story »
Wind farms seek extensions to deadline for light mitigation
Several North Dakota wind facilities are asking for more time to meet a deadline in state law that requires them to have functioning light-mitigating technology by the end of this year. The law requires wind farms sited before June 2016 to have functioning technology in place by the end of this year. Wind farms sited since June 2016 were required to have the technology by the end of 2019. Light-mitigating technology includes aircraft detection lighting and light intensity dimming at . . . Complete story »
Wind turbine blades stir up trouble for Milton-Freewater recycling operation
MILTON-FREEWATER – A longtime businessman here has appealed a recent fine of $57,282 by Oregon’s Department of Environmental Equality. Sam Humbert was issued a finding for establishing a solid waste disposal site without a permit, officials said in a letter sent out Sept. 1. Humbert appealed the finding on Sept. 22. The illegal dump is located off Eastside Road and was started in 2019, DEQ spokeswoman Laura Gleim said this week. Humbert reported the operation to the U.S. Army Corp of . . . Complete story »
PSC to hear lighting request for wind farm in Morton, Stark counties
The North Dakota Public Service Commission has scheduled a hearing on the latest request from a wind farm operator seeking more time to comply with a year-end deadline to install light mitigation technology. The commission has received eight requests from companies hoping for either an extension or a waiver from the requirement, which takes effect at the end of 2021. Without an extension or waiver, companies must equip their wind farms with technology that keeps the red lights atop turbines . . . Complete story »
Wind turbines proposed near a Japanese American incarceration camp prompt outrage
David Sakura was 6 years old when the U.S. government imprisoned his family at the Minidoka incarceration camp in the high desert of south-central Idaho. He remembers his mother attempting to create a sense of normality for her children by taking him and his brothers for walks – through sagebrush and past rattlesnakes, armed guards and barbed wire – to picnic in the shade cast by a guard tower. Now, energy developers are eying those same windy plains. Magic Valley Energy, an . . . Complete story »
