The Delaware County Board of Supervisors recently denied a request from Con Edison for variances on a proposed wind turbine project. The project calls for three wind turbines along driveways from 230th Street in Prairie Township. The turbines would be connected with an underground collection line that follows east along 230th Street to 167th Avenue.

Zoning/Planning Iowa

Maine fishermen say that Gov. Janet Mills’ plan for a state-led offshore wind project is being rushed. And now news that a developer is considering a new commercial-scale wind project off the coast is adding to their fears.

Offshore Wind Maine

Mario Contreras Jr. died in the incident that was reported just after 11 a.m. Wednesday in an area west of Highway 62, according to the Riverside County Sheriff's Department. The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health reported Contreras fell 100 feet near 59-967 16th Avenue and his death is under investigation.

Safety Injury California

After Massachusetts-based Vineyard Wind asked the Interior Department for a temporary pause in the federal permitting process, which can take years to complete, the department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management terminated the project. Now that the 800-megawatt wind farm is no longer under review, the developer will have to submit a new application. That will kick-start an environmental review that could take up to 18 months, according to various reports.

Offshore Wind USA Massachusetts

After Massachusetts-based Vineyard Wind asked the Interior Department for a temporary pause in the federal permitting process, which can take years to complete, the department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management terminated the project. Now that the 800-megawatt wind farm is no longer under review, the developer will have to submit a new application. That will kick-start an environmental review that could take up to 18 months, according to various reports.

Offshore Wind Massachusetts USA

Advocates believe renewable energy in Ohio and across the United States should get a boost when President-elect Joe Biden takes office in January given his expressed desire to make America’s energy sector carbon-free by 2035. Yet most of the development of wind and solar farms is driven by what’s going on at the state level, and in Ohio the political climate for renewable energy has not been welcoming.

General Ohio

What Antrim residents who complained of turbine noise levels are especially upset about is that the SEC, at this meeting that they missed due to it not being directly noticed to them, adopted a report that they believe is not acceptable under the SEC’s own rules regarding the Conditions of the AWE Certificate.  ...So, to summarize, the Town of Antrim was not directly notified of the meeting, those making the complaints were not directly notified, no transcript of what took place in the November 23 meeting – now a month ago – has been made available, and no meeting to consider the complaints has been scheduled as of yet. 

Impact on People Noise New Hampshire

A proposed wind farm project in West Texas has become a potential national security issue due to its Chinese owner who has ties to the communist regime in Beijing and the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), experts say. ...The first concern is that the wind farm will be generating electricity, hence, it involves critical infrastructure and poses a risk to the Texas electric grid. Potential cyberattacks on the electrical grid could disrupt power utility operations, resulting in large-scale power outages.

General Asia Texas

On one hand, the Las Lomas wind site is an example of US, Chinese and European companies taking action together ...On the other, they are companies whose supply chains run through a part of China where there has been widespread international condemnation, ...human rights violations reported to be taking place there. "If someone is coming to me and saying, 'I'm importing something from this region', I'm telling them, you should review your supply chain and assess potential risks.

Energy Policy Asia USA

With the year 2020 coming to a close, KMA News presents "Project 2020," a series of reports looking back at the top local and regional news stories of the past year. Today's segment features a look at the issue of wind turbines in Page County.

Zoning/Planning Iowa

But it’s also clear that the vast disparity in subsidies being given to solar and wind versus the amount being given to nuclear energy reflects the mismatch between the rhetoric about the possible threat of climate change and the reality of how Congress doles out money to politically connected industries. ...if we are going to have any hope of limiting greenhouse gas emissions we must also preserve and extend the operating lives of existing nuclear reactors.

Taxes & Subsidies USA

Gov. John Bel Edwards has set a goal for Louisiana to be carbon neutral by 2050, but so far, the state is behind its neighbors. Now, Edwards wants to develop offshore wind power in the Gulf.

Offshore Wind Louisiana

MONTICELLO, Ill. — A county board in central Illinois will decide next month whether to approve taller wind turbines despite some residents’ concerns that the loftier structures would become eyesores.

Zoning/Planning Illinois

A special joint meeting of the Winfield Township Board and the Winfield Township Planning Commission featured legal advice on a pending wind energy facility ordinance, as well as conflict of interest scenarios involving township officials and a proposed wind farm project.

Ordinances Michigan

Board member Jim Harrington said it would likely depend on where the turbines were, noting the taller ones could be “more obtrusive,” depending on the layout. “It depends on where they end up,” he said. “If it is a taller structure, it would be more obtrusive to non- and participating structures to that spot, wherever it is.” Oliger said Federal Aviation Administration permits submitted by Apex propose locations of 75 of the towers and assume heights of up to 743 feet. 

Zoning/Planning Illinois

The Energy Act of 2020 includes a two-year extension of the investment tax credit (ITC) used by solar power generators (keeping the ITC at 26% through year-end 2022 instead of falling to 22% in calendar year 2021), a one-year extender for the production tax credit (PTC) used by wind developers, and a new 30% ITC for offshore wind projects that commence construction by the end of 2025.

Taxes & Subsidies USA

Wyoming lawmakers rejected a pair of bills Thursday aiming to raise revenues through the state’s energy industries, one of which would establish an excise tax on electricity production in the state and another that would increase the tax burden for the wind energy industry.

Taxes & Subsidies Energy Policy Wyoming

Judge Karen Owens last week approved a Chapter 11 plan of reorganization by Tonopah Solar Energy, which operated the Crescent Dunes solar plant in Nevada that received $737 million in guaranteed loans from the federal government. ...DOE expected Crescent Dunes to produce up to 482,000 megawatt hours every year, but the plant hasn’t produced that much energy in its lifetime.

Legal USA Nevada

Judge Karen Owens last week approved a Chapter 11 plan of reorganization by Tonopah Solar Energy, which operated the Crescent Dunes solar plant in Nevada that received $737 million in guaranteed loans from the federal government. ...DOE expected Crescent Dunes to produce up to 482,000 megawatt hours every year, but the plant hasn’t produced that much energy in its lifetime.

Legal Nevada USA

Under state law, newer wind farms had to install technology by the start of 2020 to mitigate the lights so that they don't cause an eyesore by blinking bright red all night. The operators have put in radar-based systems meant to keep the lights off unless an aircraft flies in the vicinity. But members of the Public Service Commission, which pushed for the law, say they’ve noticed the lights seem to stay on more often than they had expected. ...The primary culprit seems to be birds, especially those flying south for winter.

Lighting North Dakota