Wind Power News: Editorials
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.
The real price of wind and solar
First pay for renewables. Then pay again to pick up all the slack. A billion here, a billion there, and soon you’re talking about real costs from politicians’ headlong rush toward net zero carbon emissions. United Kingdom households received a reminder of this truth recently with the latest data on how renewables drive up their energy bills. The British electric-grid operator spent £4.2 billion in 2022 balancing supply and demand on the network, a record amount. This works out to . . . Complete story »
We are researching Lava Ridge Wind Project to form an opinion. Are you?
The Lava Ridge Wind Project would change the landscape of south-central Idaho. Arguably, forever. This isn’t us embellishing the facts, or speaking in hyperbole. It would be the reality of blasting into the Earth to stand up as many as 400 wind turbines across up to 114 square miles between Twin Falls and Shoshone that would, in many cases, be taller than even the Space Needle that serves as the centerpiece of the Seattle skyline. The gigantic, mostly steel structures . . . Complete story »
The spinning of Virginia’s wind farm
Now that their climate spending bill has been signed by President Biden, Democrats might go to bed dreaming of wind farms. What they’re sleeping through is the green logrolling and corporatism already evident in the clean-power transition. A good example is an offshore wind farm that Virginia regulators approved recently under obvious duress. Dominion Energy plans to build 176 wind turbines 27 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach. That’s enough to power about 660,000 homes. The capital cost is . . . Complete story »
Editorial: We must have a say in offshore wind-energy plans
Few dispute the need to develop alternative ways to generate electricity that don’t produce greenhouse gases, but our local response to a proposed floating offshore wind farm isn’t a straightforward “yes.” Similar complications arise regarding floating wind turbines off the southern Oregon coast. These prompted the Astoria City Council and the Port of Astoria Commission to recently ask the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the Oregon Department of Energy to take their time before granting permission. Clatsop County . . . Complete story »
Let’s call it what it is
For those of us who dwell in the city, it’s easy to say, ‘bring on the wind power.’ When you’ve got 150-foot towers bringing 4,000 megawatts of electricity by your house, some reluctance is bound to bubble to the surface. You have to feel for those property owners who find themselves in the path of the Grain Belt Express transmission line. These aren’t NIMBYs or people who automatically oppose green energy. Most of them live close to nature and have . . . Complete story »
Tri-Cities and other Eastern WA towns need control over where to put wind turbines
Considering the community outcry last year over the massive Horse Heaven Hills wind farm proposal, we imagine many Tri-Citians are upset by news that the project is a step closer to reality. The Washington state Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council (EFSEC) decided this week that Scout Clean Energy’s application to build the wind farm cleared its first hurdle and can move forward. Council members had to determine whether the application was consistent with Benton County’s land use plans at the . . . Complete story »
There’s hidden costs with renewables
Debate over Rep. Kathy Rapp’s legislation to require proper bonding and reclamation of solar and wind energy facilities last week in the state House of Representatives Environmental Resources and Energy became contentious. In his zeal to discredit Rapp, Rep. Greg Vitali, D-Delaware, actually made Rapp’s point for her. Rapp wants to have any alternative energy agreement include a decommissioning plan and proof of financing from a banking institution to pay to remove the solar panels and turbines. The plan would . . . Complete story »
Ball Hill Wind project mistake casts doubts on feasibility of freshwater turbines
The hills of Chautauqua County were alive with the sounds of, well, blasting, late last week. Such noise was necessary because the Ball Hill Wind project in Hanover and Villenova was created on defective foundations that have to be broken up and replaced. The project is a 100-megawatt wind energy project consisting of 25 turbines now faces as much as $15 million in remedial work while serving as an object lesson for wind power advocates. Of course, the Ball Hill . . . Complete story »
State’s green energy goals come home to roost in your BPU bills
The cost of New York’s clean energy program continues to go up for Board of Public Utilities users – though the state is doing its best to make sure customers don’t know it. The cost of renewable energy credits and zero emission credits has increased from $1.6 million in 2019 to $2.6 million in 2022, a 62.5% increase. And that cost is only going to keep going up each year as the state works to reach the levels included in . . . Complete story »
Treatment of wind farm neighbours a disgrace
It’s been like watching a train wreck in slow motion from day one. From the time that the host-landowners, the authorities and the developers of the Bald Hills Wind Farm first unveiled their proposal, you could see it was going to create problems for uninvolved, neighbouring landowners. It stands to reason. The proposal trampled all over the unwritten code for farming neighbours, the time-honoured system of cooperation, co-existence and reciprocity whereby you don’t do something to them that you wouldn’t . . . Complete story »
