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Wind Power News: Indiana
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.
Appeals court revives $1.5 million lawsuit against Randolph Eastern Schools
WINCHESTER, Ind. – The Indiana Court of Appeals has revived a lawsuit that sought more than $1.5 million in damages from Randolph Eastern Schools. The suit was filed in 2021 by Performance Services Inc., which in 2009 entered into a contract with Randolph Eastern stemming from the company’s construction and operation of a wind turbine in Union City. The contract called for the school corporation to pay Performance Services $154,000 annually in exchange for giving Randolph Eastern “physical access to the . . . Complete story »
Ind. experiment highlights wind siting challenge
[Dahvi Wilson, Apex Clean Energy Inc. vice president of public affairs] suspects that people didn’t trust Apex. “I think we learned that it can’t actually be someone like us running this process, because people don’t trust us enough to believe we’re sincere about it. People just wouldn’t participate. We simply couldn’t get them to engage, and we really tried.” Wilson believes the answer could be local agriculture extension offices in partnerships with state land grant universities. Complete story »
Indiana lawmakers try again to pass statewide standards for wind, solar
After attempts to establish some statewide standards for renewable energy projects crashed and burned at the end of last year’s legislative session, lawmakers are at it again. Senate Bill 411 would establish some guidelines for siting renewable energy projects and allow Indiana counties to become a solar or wind ready community. Those standards include setbacks from neighboring properties or fencing around projects. But this year’s bill – authored by Sens. Mark Messmer, Eric Koch and Lonnie Randolph – is marked by one . . . Complete story »
Bill encourages counties to be wind and solar friendly — but there’s no mandate
Lawmakers are making another attempt to set standards for new wind and solar projects in Indiana. But this time, the state isn’t making anything mandatory for local governments. The bill, SB 411, would allow Indiana counties to be designated as solar or wind ready communities. Counties would adopt the state’s standards – like how far away a wind farm should be from a home. The state would then give those counties a dollar for every megawatt of energy generated by the . . . Complete story »
Leising’s Clean Energy Land Bill passes Senate
STATEHOUSE – A bill authored by State Senator Jean Leising (R-Oldenburg) that would determine how many acres of farmland are being used for solar and wind energy farms, passed the Senate unanimously Tuesday. Senate Bill 176 requires the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) to include in its annual report the following information concerning a county’s utility-grade wind power and solar energy facilities: · The total number of devices and facilities installed or under construction; · The total generating capacity of the . . . Complete story »
Leising bills pass through senate
Senator Jean Leising (R-Oldenburg) had four bills pass through the state senate this week. Two bills authored by State Sen. Jean Leising (R-Oldenburg) that would help students complete their Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and allow public comment at school corporation meetings passed the Senate on Tuesday, according to a press release. Senate Bill 82 would require students in their senior year of high school to complete and submit the FAFSA. SB 82 is designed to help students . . . Complete story »
Indiana Michigan Power to add wind, solar energy
Specific details about the plan were not released, but I&M said it would issue a request for proposal (RFP) for some 800 MW of wind and approximately 500 MW of solar in the coming months. Half of those should generate energy by 2025 and the remainder by 2026, I&M said. Complete story »
Leising concerned about production ag ground moving to solar
More today from the Indiana Statehouse as the legislative session continues. Senate Ag Committee Chair Jean Leising (R-Oldenburg) highlighted for Hoosier Ag Today some of the bills from the senate impacting agriculture. Senate Bill 129 would provide updates to fees charged by the state seed commissioner for seed testing. “For smaller quantities of seeds, they are going to remove the fee completely, and for larger quantities they’re going to try to do it more at the competitive private market price . . . Complete story »
Some companies want laws to regulate renewable energy ‘farm’ sites
BOONE COUNTY – After months of lining up leases with several property owners to create a more-than-1,660-acre solar farm near Zionsville, NextEra Energy saw the project blocked in August by Boone County officials. Boone County Commissioner Tom Santelli said there were “too many red flags” with NextEra’s plans, which led the county planning commission and board of zoning appeals to deny the company’s variance requests. “They were coming in from Florida; they weren’t from Boone County. And they didn’t have that . . . Complete story »
Lt. Gov. expects General Assembly to revisit solar, wind farm regulations
Renewable energy projects could change the landscape of parts of rural Indiana, but whether that’s a change communities should embrace continues to be debated. Lieutenant Governor Suzanne Crouch serves as Indiana’s secretary of agriculture. “It seems to be a debate between property rights versus quality of life within a community,” she tells WKVI News. “And currently the county commissioners – and I am a former county commissioner – have the ability to weigh in and decide what is best for . . . Complete story »
