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Ministry of Defence says ongoing wind farm construction lacks permission
The Ministry of Defence has told ERR that attempts to construct a wind farm in the northeast of Estonia lack the required permits. However the copmany carrying out the work denies it is construction work they are doing, and simply involves ‘storage’ activities. The company in question, Aidu Tuulepark OÜ, a holding of businessmen Oleg and Andres Sõnajalg, is continuing with the construction of the wind farm in Ida-Viru County, according to the Ministry, something they are not allowed to . . . Complete story »
An ill wind
The details of the threat are recorded. If he was not so scared of the repercussions, it could all be laid bare. But he is. He is deeply concerned that family members would be petrified if they knew that less than two months ago his support for the Blueskin Bay wind turbine project resulted in him being threatened with physical violence, and his property threatened with vandalism. He does not want his name or identifying details to be used. He . . . Complete story »
Wind project in southern Minnesota gets pushback
GLENVILLE, Minn. – The vista from Dorenne Hansen’s kitchen window features corn and soybean fields specked with barns and tree groves. It may also one day include three wind turbine towers and a power line – not if she can help it, though. Hansen and other residents are fighting to stop the Freeborn Wind project in Freeborn County south of Albert Lea. “I want quiet and dark nights, not the noise and red flashing lights on top of wind towers,” she . . . Complete story »
No appeal on wind turbine
The group behind a contentious wind turbine proposal has announced it will not appeal an Environment Court decision to stop it because of death threats and mounting legal bills. Blueskin Energy Limited project manager Scott Willis said opposition to a proposal to build a 110m turbine on Porteous Hill, near Blueskin Bay, had grown “out of hand” and death threats had been made. “Direct threats against members of our team have been made, and that has been distressing. Obviously some . . . Complete story »
Wind farm proponents ‘should just let it go’
Opponents of a wind farm near Blueskin Bay say ”common sense has prevailed” with the Environment Court decision on Monday but the ruling comes too late for one former resident who moved away in protest. On Monday, the court rejected an appeal of the Dunedin City Council’s 2016 decision to decline consent for a 110m turbine on Porteous Hill. Former Pryde Rd resident Jamie Pickford said he moved from his former home, which was about 800m from the proposed site, . . . Complete story »
Environment Court rejects Blueskin turbine
The Blueskin Bay skyline is to remain void of wind turbines following an Environment Court decision to decline one on Porteous Hill. However, the group behind the proposal to build a 110m turbine is not ruling out appealing the decision to the High Court. The Environment Court said the proposed turbine was in “considerable tension” with the Dunedin City Council’s proposed district plan for energy resilience which considered matters including values of significant natural landscapes and adverse effects on the . . . Complete story »
Judge questions landscape architects about wind turbine
The character and value of the landscape and the likely effects of a single large wind turbine above Blueskin Bay were the focus of a lengthy Environment Court sitting in Dunedin yesterday. Judge Jane Borthwick and two commissioners are hearing an appeal by Blueskin Energy Ltd (BEL) against the Dunedin City Council’s refusal to allow a 110m turbine to be erected on Porteous Hill, on the north side of the bay. Four landscape architects were called as expert witnesses to . . . Complete story »
Single turbine sought for wind farm
The backers of a plan for a wind farm near Blueskin Bay are now arguing for one turbine, not three, on Porteous Hill north of Dunedin. The Dunedin City Council resource consent committee last year declined consent for three 90m wind turbines on the hill. That decision is being appealed by Blueskin Energy Limited. At an Environment Court hearing in Dunedin today, one of the lawyers representing Blueskin Energy told Judge Jane Borthwick the proponents of the wind farm were . . . Complete story »
Critics see Cuomo power play at the PSC
ALBANY – Gov. Andrew Cuomo has refashioned the Public Service Commission, the state’s powerful utility regulator, into an organ of executive power in ways that critics find unprecedented and potentially troubling. The PSC’s board is nominally a bipartisan commission created by the Legislature. But Cuomo has filled it mostly with allies who rarely if ever defy his wishes on energy policy. “It’s an agency that carries out the governor’s orders regardless of the impact on the ratepayers,” Earthjustice attorney Chris Amato . . . Complete story »
Pole to stay grounded
The trust proposing a wind farm near Blueskin Bay says it does not plan to re-erect a 30m pole with data collection equipment toppled in an act of vandalism recently. The Blueskin Resilient Communities Trust says it has enough data to head to the Environment Court to appeal a consent decision released last year that denied consent for the wind farm. Project manager Scott Willis said he still hoped police might catch the perpetrator. ”At some point – this is . . . Complete story »
