Wind Power News: Texas
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.
West Texas ranchers sue ERCOT over wind farm connected to Chinese billionaire
A pair of West Texas ranches are suing ERCOT, claiming the state’s power grid operator violated a 2021 law when it failed to stop a Chinese billionaire’s wind farm from moving forward in Val Verde County. It’s the latest battle over the Blue Hills wind farm, a 46-turbine project planned near Comstock and started by Houston-based GH America Energy, whose parent company is owned by Chinese businessman Sun Guangxin. In response to the project, the Legislature passed the Lone Star . . . Complete story »
Solar and wind companies are coming to rural Texas. These residents are trying to keep them out.
In Franklin County, a group of locals are concerned about potential environmental harm from renewable energy facilities and support a bill that would impose more regulations on solar and wind. The industry says it’s being unfairly singled out. Volunteer firefighter Jim Emery grew emotional as he spoke to the crowd at an anti-solar development town hall meeting in his northeast Texas community. Emery, who worked for decades at the nearby coal power plant before it closed in 2018, didn’t worry . . . Complete story »
Property owners, conservationists, wind energy: Tension grows in West Texas
Every night, just after the sun sets over his expansive West Texas ranch, Dell Dickinson can see bright, blinking lights flashing across the night sky. Nearly 500 feet high, the red dots illuminate the once-natural skyline, frustrating the rancher enough to close his blinds. For almost 80 years, very little development surrounded the Dickinson ranch – a 7,000-acre spread deep within Val Verde County. It had been with the family since 1942, when Dickinson’s grandfather settled the land and called it . . . Complete story »
Tax abatement for NextEra’s wind farm to come before the county Ben Shaffer
The tax abatement for NextEra’s wind farm is on the Midland County Commissioners’ Court agenda Monday. In November, county commissioners approved a reinvestment zone for the planned location of the wind farm, the first step toward granting a tax abatement, but the abatement discussion itself was postponed to a later date. NextEra is developing the facility, a 141-megawatt facility comprised of 47 3-megawatt turbines. They will be placed on surface acreage Pioneer owns on the Hutt ranch in southeast Midland County. . . . Complete story »
Gulf shrimpers brace for offshore wind
VENICE, La. – Trae Cooper risks punctures to the fiberglass hull of his grandfather’s boat every time he pulls out into the gray waters at the mouth of the Mississippi River. Trawling for shrimp that swim along Louisiana’s muddy coast means coexisting with the forgotten pipelines, corroded steel, gnawed plastic and bits of iron that the oil industry left behind as it marched gradually through these marshes and out to sea. And that’s why Cooper, 39, and many shrimpers in the . . . Complete story »
Old windfarm blades causing problems in Nolan County
Sweetwater, Texas – The wind farms in Nolan County brought big bucks into the area, but with those turbines needing new blades after a few years, finding a place to store the old blades was becoming a challenge. However, one company approached offered a possible solution and the city of Sweetwater was all ears the company would store the old blades in two facilities and then break the fiberglass blades down and sell them to other companies. But, according to Miesha . . . Complete story »
The Gulf’s first offshore wind energy zones prompt concerns from Texas, shrugs from Louisiana
Federal regulators have heard little from Louisiana about a wind energy zone proposed in the Gulf of Mexico near Lake Charles, part of a push by President Joe Biden’s administration to generate 30 gigawatts of offshore wind power by 2030. The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has been asking the public to weigh in on the Gulf’s first two proposed wind energy zones: the 188,000-acre area south of Lake Charles and a 547,000-acre area near Galveston, Texas. The Lake . . . Complete story »
Wind turbine disintegrates in Texas after a lightning strike
CROWELL, Texas – A North Texas wind farm is one turbine down thanks to what officials believe was a devastating lightning strike to one of the massive structures on Friday afternoon. Videos from witnesses and firefighters showed the wind turbine generator ablaze and disintegrate in the sky over Crowell, Texas. Doppler radar indicated there were plenty of lightning strikes around the Foard City wind facility before firefighters received the call about the high-altitude fire. Crews with the Crowell Volunteer Fire . . . Complete story »
Texas wind turbine turbine catches fire after lightning strike
A Texas wind turbine caught on fire after reportedly being struck by lightning, according to a man who began recorded video of th incident. Brent Havins told Fox News Digital that he was working at a cell tower in the area when he saw a lightning bolt hit the wind turbine in Crowell, Texas, and pulled out his cell phone to begin recording. The wind turbine then caught on fire while it was spinning, creating circles of smoke in the . . . Complete story »
‘It just disintegrated’: Lightning strike sparks massive wind turbine fire in North Texas
CROWELL, Texas – A lightning storm caused quite a shocking scene after it zapped a massive wind turbine in North Texas, setting it ablaze before it came tumbling down. Shortly after being struck, the wind turbine continued to spin, sending the flames in a loop and leaving rings of smoke behind. Videos of the fire were captured Friday and were posted to Twitter by Chris Lopez. You can watch this in the video player above. There's a big lightning storm . . . Complete story »
