Wind Power News: Oregon
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.
What a Supreme Court ruling could mean for contested energy projects
Two controversial energy projects in the Columbia River Gorge area could move forward as the result of a ruling by the Oregon Supreme Court. The court’s ruling on Wednesday concerns administrative rules adopted in 2018 by the state Energy Facilities Siting Council, which oversees and imposes conditions on the construction and operation of large energy projects. The rules would have changed the process for the certification of energy sites and drew a challenge by conservation group Friends of the Columbia . . . Complete story »
Giant wind farm nears approval for new, longer blades
In addition to delivering improved energy production, the repowering could qualify the turbines for another round of the federal production tax credit, which lapses after 10 years of operation. Complete story »
Energy Siting Council is not looking out for public, natural resources
I just attended the Energy Facility Siting Council meeting in Pendleton. Following is what I learned: 1. The Oregon Department of Energy and the Energy Facility Siting Council are restoring the amendment rules that the Oregon Supreme Court determined were illegal. They allowed the public to comment but are not going to act on those comments until 2022. That means the public will have no opportunity to object to their decisions for three years. 2. ODOE and EFSC used the . . . Complete story »
Wind energy project possible for eastern Clatsop County
Clatsop County’s comprehensive plan in 1980 included a goal to promote energy conservation and the development of renewables. “Power systems which utilize solar and wind generated energy are well-suited for the northeast county and shall be encouraged to locate here,” the plan stated. Forty years later, a global wind energy company is exploring a project in the hills above the Georgia-Pacific Wauna Mill. WPD Wind Projects, the onshore wind development arm of German company WPD Group, signed a 45-year wind . . . Complete story »
State finds wind farm abused workers
Oregon Labor Commissioner Val Hoyle’s agency has lowered the boom on Colorado-based RES Construction, a subcontractor on the $590 million Montague wind farm in Eastern Oregon’s Gilliam County. Investigators for the Bureau of Labor and Industries determined RES deprived workers of hundreds of meal and rest breaks earlier this year. BOLI now proposes to fine RES $209,800, the biggest penalty imposed by the agency since it fined legislative leaders $1.1 million in a sexual harassment case. The Montague project qualified . . . Complete story »
Oregon State study says wind turbines threaten migrating bats
BEND – A Pacific Northwest bat that that migrates south for the winter faces a serious threat from wind turbines, according to a study by the by Oregon State University—Cascades. The study concludes that the hoary bat faces an uncertain future because its numbers have declined by 2% per year, the Bend Bulletin reports. Collisions with propellers on wind farms kill bats, said Tom Rodhouse, one of the authors, an ecologist with the National Park Service and a courtesy faculty member . . . Complete story »
Hoary bat numbers decline amid wind turbine expansion
Bats are facing multiple threats in the Pacific Northwest as both white-nose syndrome and wind turbines are threatening to decimate their population numbers, according to a study by Oregon State University—Cascades. The hoary bat – which does not hibernate but instead migrates south for the winter – faces an uncertain future because its numbers have declined at a rate of 2% per year, according to Tom Rodhouse, one of the authors of the study. The cause of the hoary bat decline is . . . Complete story »
Offshore wind energy looks more promising for Oregon
Oregon’s high desert is getting crowded, so wind power advocates are once again looking to the sea. At a conference last week in Portland, ocean energy advocates presented an update on the state of offshore wind power in Oregon. Costs have dropped dramatically since the last failed attempt to harness the wind over Oregon’s Pacific waters, making an offshore, deep-water wind farm once again seem feasible. A stretch of the Pacific Ocean off the coast between Humboldt County, California, and . . . Complete story »
Hoary bat numbers declining at rate that suggests species in jeopardy in Pacific Northwest
The hoary bat, the species of bat most frequently found dead at wind power facilities, is declining at a rate that threatens its long-term future in the Pacific Northwest, according to a novel and comprehensive research collaboration based at Oregon State University—Cascades. The findings, published today in Ecology and Evolution, result from modeling based on field surveys across Oregon and Washington that began in 2003. Bat population declines are problematic for a host of reasons. Bats provide ecosystem services in . . . Complete story »
Oregon Supreme Court invalidates energy facility permit approval rules
The future of two large power projects in Oregon was unclear after the state’s highest court said the process by which they got permission to build was invalid. Oregon Supreme Court justices, in a 6-0 opinion Aug. 1, held the 2017 rules that the Oregon Energy Facility Siting Council used to grant site certificates to developers are invalid because the council failed to adopt a written method of tracking the success of the rules. The court also held that the . . . Complete story »
