Wind Power News: Connecticut
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.
Mills joins push for region’s electric grid operations to reflect state climate goals
Gov. Janet Mills has joined four other New England governors to press the operator of the region’s electric grid to do more to accommodate a future in which most people will be encouraged to heat their homes and drive vehicles powered with electricity generated by renewable resources. In a statement issued Wednesday to grid operator ISO-New England, the governors of Maine, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont and Rhode Island said operation of the grid and the current wholesale electricity market must be . . . Complete story »
Lamont must attend to New London wind project before it falls apart
The state provides PILOT money — payment in lieu of taxes — for its properties, but only a fraction of what would be paid if the land were taxed privately. Reportedly, Ørsted-Eversource has agreed to supplement the PILOT revenues to make the city whole. But the mayor wants assurances that if PILOT money does not grow with the development, or is cut by the state, the developers will make up the difference, a request they haven’t been willing to grant. Complete story »
Eversource shames the politicians courting it
You don’t have to look much further than New London to see the way that Connecticut politicians have coddled Eversource, the state’s electric utility Goliath. Poor New London Mayor Michael Passero, our outmatched David, has been trying since February to get Eversource and its wind partner, the Danish utility giant Ørsted, to reimburse the city for the $157 million in improvements for wind development at State Pier that the city can’t tax. It was Gov. Ned Lamont who left Passero . . . Complete story »
What is up with the Lamont administration and freedom of information?
When you submit a Freedom of Information Act request to a state agency for public documents, sometimes you get a response saying officials searched the records but found nothing “responsive to your request.” Usually that response is true, but not always. Take, as an example, what happened when The Courant asked the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection July 9 for any written communications received or sent since March 1 by DEEP Commissioner Katie Dykes with regard to a controversial . . . Complete story »
CT’s long road to replace nuclear power with wind and solar
As Gov. Ned Lamont toured Waterford’s Millstone Power Station in April 2019, after resolving an impasse over the nuclear plant’s electricity rates, Rob Kaye was flipping the switch on a new solar array on the roof of his Nod Hill Brewery in Ridgefield. Cut to this week during the noon hour on a sunny day: Those solar panels soaked up enough sun to cover 60 kilowatt hours of power used by the brewery. Across much of the rest of Connecticut, . . . Complete story »
New London and Connecticut Port Authority again at odds on funding
Mayor Michael Passero has been frustrated about New London being sidelined from discussions surrounding the $157 million development of State Pier into an offshore wind hub and a lack of a substantial state funding commitment to offset costs of hosting a massive offshore wind facility that does not pay taxes. State Pier is located on land formerly owned by the state and recently transferred to the Connecticut Port Authority. Tenants at State Pier, including two commercial fishing outfits, are being displaced to make way for the start of construction. Complete story »
Neighbors escalate legal fight against 646-foot wind turbine approved without public hearing
Neighbors of a proposed 646-foot-tall wind turbine on a northwestern Connecticut hilltop are escalating their legal fight against the project they claim is dangerously close to them and was unlawfully approved by the Connecticut Siting Council in March. Property owners and environmental activists filed a formal petition Monday with the council seeking a “declaratory ruling” under which the agency would, in effect, admit it acted illegally in March – when, without a public hearing, it approved a request from BNE Energy . . . Complete story »
In New York and New England, wind energy projects are “like siting landfills. Nobody wants them.”
The politics of renewable energy can be seen as left versus right. But when it comes to siting large renewable-energy projects, the divide is increasingly about rich versus poor. “Wind developers don’t target the tony communities, like near Hillary Clinton’s house in Chappaqua, or Westchester County,” says Joni Riggle, a resident of Chautauqua County, who opposes the Cassadaga project. “The people who live in those places have the financial clout to fight Big Wind.” Complete story »
Portion of New England offshore wind could be curtailed by 2030: ISO
ISO New England analysis made public Wednesday estimated about 10% of the total 2030 offshore wind power portfolio connected into southeast Massachusetts and Rhode Island would be “spilled,” or curtailed, under certain assumptions due to transmission constraints and a glut of supply. Transmission developer Anbaric requested ISO-NE perform a study reviewing the impact on energy market prices, air emissions and regional fuel security of three offshore wind power scenarios for target year 2030: 8,000 MW, 10,000 MW and 12,000 MW. An ISO-NE presentation . . . Complete story »
Family fights turbine turmoil
The low-profile but high-powered Connecticut Siting Council wields heavy statewide authority to approve energy and telecommunications projects in municipalities without having to abide by local zoning. It’s had this extraordinary ability since its 1972 creation by legislators convinced that town-by-town restrictions were stalling expansion of the region’s electric grid. But such broad discretion has a flip side: Sometimes people living near council-approved projects say they’re being stepped on. This is one of those times. Here’s what’s happened in recent weeks: . . . Complete story »
