Town of Sanford board members delivered a stinging blow Tuesday night to prospects for a 124-megawatt wind farm in eastern Broome County. By adopting a new land use law that lengthens and redefines setback requirements for the wind turbines, the project sponsor may have to redesign the project to fit the new regulations, or, more likely, ditch it entirely.

Zoning/Planning New York

In a Town of Sanford board meeting, new restrictions were introduced to limit the distance turbines can be placed from personal property, and noise frequencies. Those restrictions passed, giving residents a new hope for the future. "I'm totally against it, I'm hoping that these restrictions will limit the amount, and my hope is that they will go away," said McGibney.

Zoning/Planning New York

Alle-Catt Wind Farm opponents spent the weekend addressing envelopes to Invenergy leaseholders pointing out plans to scale back the number of turbines in the 340-megawatt project spanning five towns. The letters being sent out by members of Farmersville United and Freedom United say as many as 46 of the 117 turbines in Freedom, Farmersville, Rushford, Centerville and Arcade “would be completely eliminated.”

General New York

In the letter, health officials will recommend that all cities, towns and villages within the county pass a proper wind law that restricts industrial wind towers, or IWTs, from being constructed within a mile and a half of any residence and generate 35 or fewer decibels in sound frequency. 

Impact on People Noise New York

The board, following a public hearing Monday in which no one from the public attended, adopted Local Law 3-2019 and Local Law 4-2019. The first established a yearlong moratorium on the construction of wind energy and commercial solar collection facilities within the town. The second opts the town out of tax exemptions granted by the state for wind and solar energy projects.

Zoning/Planning New York

Ever notice how many of the wind turbines on the old Bethlehem Steel property along Lake Erie don't rotate, even on windy days? Now we know why. The company that manufactured parts for the turbines went bankrupt, and the owner of the turbines in Lackawanna and Hamburg can't get replacement parts. 

General New York

Owners of the 14 turbine Steel Winds project o a portion of the former Bethlehem Steel property, are planning to upgrade the 328-foot tall wind power generators including installation of new 116-foot long blades.

General New York

Offshore wind power is the most expensive alternative-energy source, and Cuomo has boosted these projects’ costs by requiring union labor. To hide the bad news, ­NYSERDA has to play games. Maybe that’s why, as the Empire Center also reports, its officials have the highest average pay of any state authority.

Taxes & Subsidies Offshore Wind New York

Alle-Catt opponents were elected in three towns on Tuesday: Farmersville, Freedom and Rushford. Farmersville and Freedom elected majorities of candidates who are opposed to the wind farm due to setback issues, shadow flicker and infrasound concerns. The 2018 Freedom wind law was struck down in state Supreme Court in Cattaraugus County ...The new wind laws increased the maximum height of the turbines from 450 to 600 feet at Invenergy’s request.

General New York

A coalition of local organizations opposed to the 106-square mile Alle-Catt wind farm proposal took majorities on two host towns and the supervisor’s position in a third host town in Tuesday’s elections. ...As a result of Tuesday night’s vote count, members of project opponents Freedom United and Farmersville United became the majority on their town boards.

General New York

LIPA in a briefing paper said the 20-year average cost for energy from the 130-megawatt project will be 14.1 cents a kilowatt hour, compared to 8.3 cents from the state-contracted projects that will deliver some 1,700 megawatts. The LIPA figure appeared in a footnote of a comparison of costs for various projects, including the nation's first, the Block Island wind farm, at 37.6 cents a kilowatt hour, LIPA said.

Offshore Wind New York

Gov. Andrew Cuomo just can’t seem to resist slamming Upstate simply to pander to the greens. The latest pain: His drive to build vast “wind farms” off Long Island will zing upstaters’ electric bills to the tune of more than $1 billion — and that’s just for the first round of subsidies.

Energy Policy New York

Erie County Legislator John Mills explained he and his colleagues in the Legislature formulated a resolution to prevent putting wind turbines in Lake Erie. He noted there needs to be a permanent moratorium on these structures in the lake so the environment cannot be disturbed any more than it already has been. “We’ve got to get on the bandwagon with this and stay on the bandwagon because this reared its ugly head 10 years ago, and now it’s back again,” he added. “Do not disturb our freshwater, period. It’s really simple.”

Impact on People Offshore Wind New York

Pending appeal, a decision handed down in state Supreme Court Monday could spell the beginning of the end of the proposed $775 million Alle-Catt Wind Farm. State Supreme Court Judge Terrence Parker ruled the Freedom Town Board acted illegally in approving its new wind law at the urging of Invenergy, the developer of the proposed 340-megawatt wind farm spread across five towns.

Legal New York

The suit was filed Tuesday and names EDP Renewables, Arkwright Summit Wind Farm LLC, Horizon Wind Energy LLC, Tetra Tec EC Inc., Tetra Tech ES Inc., Tetra Tech Construction Inc., URS Corp., West Inc. Fisher Associates P.E., L.S., L.A. of New York, P.C., Fisher Associates, P.E., L.S., L.A., D.P.C., White Construction of Indiana LLC and any other corporations who may be liable to the plaintiffs. No court date has been set yet, though an answer by the companies is due in either 20 or 30 days depending on how the companies are served paperwork.

Legal New York

There is no formal proposal to install wind turbines in Lake Erie waters off Western New York. But nearly 100 people showed up at an Erie County Legislature meeting on Thursday anticipating or fearing that day is coming soon. Clean energy advocates pressed legislators to be open-minded about wind energy use. Though there are currently no freshwater wind farms in the United States, a six-turbine project is expected to be installed eight miles off the Lake Erie shores of Cleveland.

Impact on Views Offshore Wind New York

The Board of Supervisors has voted to opt out of state tax exemptions for solar, wind, and farm waste energy systems. The board on Sept. 9 voted to approve a local law allowing Fulton County to “capture tax revenues” from the development of solar energy facilities and to ensure such facilities are “treated equally” with other commercial properties.

Taxes & Subsidies New York

With Lake Erie as his backdrop, state Sen. Chris Jacobs used Sturgeon Point Marina in Evans to introduce legislation establishing a moratorium, or halt, to the construction or placement of wind turbines along any fresh water body in the state.

Offshore Wind New York

State Sen. Chris Jacobs will hold a conference on Wednesday morning to announce new legislation that would establish an indefinite moratorium on the construction of wind turbines in any freshwater body in New York State.

Offshore Wind New York

“I’m petrified of them,” said Mark Phillips, one of the most experienced commercial fishermen on Long Island and one of the last operating out of Greenport. His chief concern, he said, is the turbines’ potential impact on the region’s vital squid fishery. Despite assurances that fishing will be allowed in the turbine fields, Phillips said, “Even with the mile spacing, I’m not going to take the chance.” He’s also read reports that vibrations from the turbines could affect whether squid will still move through their traditional spawning grounds. “The potential to lose the whole inshore squid fishery is real to me,” he said.

Offshore Wind New York