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 are the products of the organizations or individuals noted and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of National Wind Watch.
County gives approval for reinvestment zone
After hearing from several county residents, Matagorda County Commissioners voted 4-1 to approve the nomination of an area of the county designated as a reinvestment zone, with proposed zone area slated for a wind farm. Precinct 4 Commissioner Charles “Bubba” Frick voted against the measure. The formation of the reinvestment zone now allows E.On to begin negotiations with Matagorda County on the wind farm. The project was tabled a year ago and brought back to the table after the reinvestment . . . Complete story »
An uncertain future for America’s wind energy capital
SWEETWATER, Texas – Rory Barnes used to rush home from work each evening to sit on his front porch and watch the sun set over the copper canyons of the Brazos River Valley. But after 13 years of living in his dream home in central Texas, Barnes decided to move when he learned his neighbors had agreed to have several giant, white metal turbines installed on the edge of his property line, decreasing the value of his land and ruining his . . . Complete story »
Forum panelists: Wind farms, subsidies would be bad business for Brown, Coleman counties
About 150 residents packed the Adams Street Community Center in Brownwood Monday night for a forum on whether wind turbine farms – and in particular, tax abatements that would attract wind farm owners – would be good or bad for Brown and Coleman counties. The answer, argued the six-person that hosted the forum: they would be bad. “When I first got into this, my first view of wind and solar was that it was a positive thing,” said May landowner Jeff Tucker, . . . Complete story »
Wind energy will be topic of Monday night forum in Brownwood
For the second time in a week, a forum will be held in Brownwood on the controversial topic of wind farms. The forum will be from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Monday at the Adams Street Community Center. According to the Facebook page Save South Brown County: Concerned landowners and residents will join policy experts from Texas Public Policy Foundation to discuss wind development in Brown and Coleman counties. The event will cover how wind projects are developed, how the . . . Complete story »
Public hearing for wind farm project set
For the second time this year, Matagorda County Commissioners will once again revisit an ordinance for the establishment of a reinvestment zone for tax abatement upon request of Peyton Creek Wind farm. The public hearing has been set for Monday, Oct. 8 at 9:45 a.m. Back in July of this year, the proposed $184 million wind farm was presented to the court. The plan was to place 44 to 75 wind turbines on 12,000 to 15,000 leased acres south of . . . Complete story »
Brownwood High School forum on wind energy draws speakers, mostly against wind farms
Brownwood High School’s Ag Issues Forum team hoped to elicit public comments at a forum Monday night on the controversial topic of wind farms in Brown County. The team got its wish. About 40 attended the forum at the Brownwood High School auditorium, and several went forward, at the invitation of moderator and Brownwood Mayor Stephen Haynes, to give opinions – mostly against – on wind energy. May landowner Joe Guidry was an exception, saying those opposed to wind farms “have a . . . Complete story »
Fryar touts business experience in one-sided debate
Fielding the first question, Fryar said he’d prefer that wind farms “never show up in Brown County.” Fryar is the president of PF&E Oil Co. and Freedom Distributors, the owner of Southside Joint Venture, a real estate holding company and a partner in Fryar Energy. “I’ll give you full disclosure: I sell a lot of lubricants to wind farms. I don’t want to sell any, not one drop p, of lubricants to a wind farm in Brown County. I don’t want them here.” Complete story »
Devils River landowners say wind farms threaten wild character of Texas’ last untamed river
Conflicts between energy producers and conservationists are nothing new in Texas, but a recent fight in Val Verde County centers around wind farms and whether they belong in one of the wildest natural areas left in the state. Members of the Devils River Conservancy, whose group includes landowners with property on the Devils River, have launched a campaign called “Don’t Blow It,” to advocate against wind development along the Devils and Pecos rivers north of the Texas-Mexico border. They fear . . . Complete story »
Appraisal district files lawsuit over wind farm property
Val Verde County Appraisal District Chief Appraiser Cherry Sheedy has filed a lawsuit asking a state district judge to set aside a decision by the Val Verde County Appraisal Review Board to lower the appraisal of a Val Verde County wind farm. As directed by the Val Verde County Appraisal District board of directors, Sheedy filed the suit through the appraisal district’s attorneys, McCreary, Veselka, Bragg & Allen of Round Rock, Texas. The lawsuit was filed Sept. 13 against Rocksprings . . . Complete story »
Utility seeks go-ahead for transmission lines near Rio Hondo
RIO HONDO – For power to flow, wind farms need more than just wind. Acciona Energia’s second Cameron County wind farm, the $200 million Palmas Altas facility near its already operating San Roman wind farm, should be up and running by November 2019. To move electricity generated by this wind farm and others in the area, the South Texas Electric Cooperative has filed a proposal with the Texas Public Utility Commission for around six miles of high-power transmission lines running north-south . . . Complete story »
