• No cause for turbine fire

    Updated: 2012-01-31 14:29:53
    ALTONA — Monday, officials from Noble Environmental Power were still trying to determine the cause of a wind-turbine fire that broke out Saturday evening at the Altona Wind Park. John Bahouth, vice president of human resources and communications, said the company was working to mobilize heavy equipment to the area in order to reach the top of the extremely tall turbine. “We are pursuing the cause with all diligence, and as soon as the company knows more details, we will . . .

  • Kirklees Council suspends turbine planning applications after blades fly off windmills

    Updated: 2012-01-31 14:29:44
    Campaigners last night welcomed a freeze on new wind turbines following safety concerns. Kirklees Council yesterday suspended planning applications for a type of windmill manufactured by Brighouse firm Evoco Energy. The move came after high winds ripped blades from the company’s turbines in Hepworth and Upper Cumberworth earlier this month. Kirklees leader Clr Mehboob Khan said yesterday: “As a responsible council we take these incidents very seriously. No more applications for this model of turbine will be considered until we . . .

  • Delahunt backs off controversial wind energy deal, tells Hull he’ll help for free

    Updated: 2012-01-31 14:29:35
    HULL — Former U.S. Rep. William Delahunt and his consulting firm will help Hull advance plans for offshore wind energy but they won’t accept money for their work. Delahunt, who faced a storm of criticism for nearly cutting a deal that would have paid his firm $90,000 from federal funds he earmarked while still in Congress, told the town Municipal Light Board that he would help the town for free. “It’s a big plus for us,” said Patrick Cannon, who . . .

  • Green electricity finds few customers in Massachusetts; Wind farms bring higher NStar bills

    Updated: 2012-01-31 14:29:11
    Five years after NStar became the first Massachusetts utility to allow customers to buy electricity supplied by a wind farm, its Green program has failed to catch on. Fewer than 1 percent of the company’s nearly 900,000 customers have enrolled. The dismal response resembles lackluster participation in similar renewable energy programs offered by other utilities, worrying state officials as they push toward a goal of generating 20 percent of electricity from renewable energy by 2020. The NStar program has faltered . . .

  • FAA accused of fast-tracking wind farm

    Updated: 2012-01-31 14:28:57
    The FAA has cleared development of a 64-turbine wind farm west of Pratt Regional Airport in Kansas. But the Pratt County Zoning Board is left scratching its collective head after a former FAA employee who’s also a commercial pilot, flight instructor, and expert witness in 60 lawsuits says the FAA screwed up, and building the wind farm could leave the county liable for aviation accidents. The Pratt Tribune reports that on Monday evening, Don Hensley of Safe Sky, LLC told . . .

  • Noise from wind turbines ruins people’s lives

    Updated: 2012-01-31 14:28:28
    I have lived in the Cross area of Mineral County for my entire life and have done so because of the peace and quiet of the area. However, over the past months, things have changed, and the reason is the windmills on the mountain across from my home. The windmills cause an extremely loud disturbance to the point of lying down at night to have a good nights sleep is impossible. I recently attended a Mineral County Commission meeting, hoping . . .

  • Hot air – Wind farms ‘bollocks’

    Updated: 2012-01-31 14:27:49
    The public meeting on wind farms at Naracoorte on Tuesday night sent a strong message to the State Government: Leave the SE alone. Only five of the 22 people at the meeting voiced their opinions on the Development Policy Amendment plan at Naracoorte Town Hall, but it was clear that the prevailing attitude of the meeting was hostility towards wind farms. One opponent described the DPA plan as “complete and utter bollocks”, while another pleaded: “Please do not forget us.” . . .

  • Update: Lewes resident seeks to halt turbine

    Updated: 2012-01-31 14:27:38
    Lewes — A Lewes resident is seeking to halt the wind turbine near the University of Delaware’s College of Earth, Ocean and Environment campus in Lewes. In a federal lawsuit filed Jan. 9 Jerry Lechliter alleges the wind turbine was built on open space lands in violation of law. The action states defendants obtained permits for the wind turbine based on misrepresentations and seeks injunctive relief and damages. Lechliter filed the suit against the University of Delaware, Department of Natural . . .

  • Clean energy coalition won’t make ballot in 2012

    Updated: 2012-01-31 14:27:18
    The group attempting to advance a citizen initiative that would increase energy efficiency and a requirement that electricity providers derive a certain amount of power from renewable sources announced Monday that it’s waiting until 2013 to bring the issue to voters. The announcement by Maine Citizens for Clean Energy came several hours after the group canceled a news conference that was supposed to accompany its presentation of signatures to the Secretary of State’s Office to put a citizens initiative on . . .

  • Turbine dispute hinges on legal standing

    Updated: 2012-01-31 14:27:15
    ORLEANS — Orleans District Court Judge Brian Merrick heard arguments Monday about whether a woman who opposes a wind turbine at a Dennis shellfish hatchery has legal standing in the case. Aquaculture Research Corp., wants to install a 242-foot wind turbine on its 39 acres of beachfront property near Chapin Memorial Beach. The Dennis Old King’s Highway Historic District Commission approved, issuing a certificate of appropriateness for the project in August 2010. But the regional board of the multitown historic . . .

  • Island band wants wind projects delayed

    Updated: 2012-01-31 14:26:52
    I was driving through M’Chigeeng the other day and wondered how long it will be before the two industrial wind turbines are up and running. Nothing much has happened since they were erected on the bluff. They don’t even have any lights on them. (I hope they aren’t on anyone’s flight path.) The big wind project on MacLean’s Mountain, near Little Current, is awaiting approval from the Ministry of the Environment. Two things have happened that may have impact on . . .

  • Call to halt turbines over MoD fears

    Updated: 2012-01-31 14:26:35
    Senior planners are calling for a moratorium on the development of wind turbines in rural Buchan because of Ministry of Defence concerns that renewable energy schemes are interfering with vital defence surveillance systems. Members of the Buchan area committee of Aberdeenshire Council are today expected to reject plans for three single turbine schemes because of the threat they could pose to operations at RAF Buchan. RAF Buchan, near Peterhead, ceased operations as a key part of Britain’s strategic defences eight . . .

  • Selectmen withdraw wind turbines studies from warrant

    Updated: 2012-01-31 14:26:19
    DUXBURY — Selectmen Monday night officially withdrew from the Town Meeting warrant consideration of an article seeking funding for wind turbine studies.

  • Burnham wind farm protest group challenges developer over photos

    Updated: 2012-01-31 14:26:05
    Campaigners fighting a proposed wind farm on the outskirts of Burnham-On-Sea have this week released a new photomontage showing how the controversial turbines will tower over the countryside – and they have challenged the developers to produce their own image. The No Pilrow group released the photo on Monday (January 30th) to show how the four 130-metre tall turbines would look if they are built on land near Pilrow Farm at Rooksbridge, with Brent Knoll in the background. The group’s . . .

  • Public hearing on ridge line bill January 31 at FCHS

    Updated: 2012-01-31 14:25:51
    Floyd — Floyd County Supervisors, facing public concern and misunderstanding on the intent of an ordinance banning ridge line construction of structures higher than 40 feet above the ridge, Tuesday night began looking for ways to modify the ordinance even before a public hearing next week. At their first nighttime meeting under a new two-meetings a month schedule, supervisors heard from citizens opposed to construction of 490-feet high wind turbine generators while still questioning whether or not the proposed ordinance . . .

  • Why we don’t trust you

    Updated: 2012-01-31 14:25:38
    Residents of Twin Oaks asked Kern County Planning Department officials repeatedly if the City of Vernon had a wind energy project in the wings and were unequivocally told “no.” Yes, it does. And Kern planning officials have known about it all along. Lying is bad enough from anyone, but when it comes from the very people you’re paying to make sure projects are done correctly, it’s unacceptable. Someone ought to be fired for this. Seriously. “Chris Mynck (one of Planning’s . . .

  • Wind power industry could lose sails if key subsidy is not renewed

    Updated: 2012-01-31 14:25:21
    Near Lake Benton, Minn. — On the crest of Buffalo Ridge in southwest Minnesota, the blades of a 300-foot-tall wind turbine can be heard better than seen as they slice through a thick fog. The machine in one of Minnesota’s breeziest locations went on line last spring, and helped boost the state to a record wind energy year in 2011. Minnesota’s wind power production capacity grew by more than 500 megawatts last year, half the output of the Prairie Island . . .

  • Local farmer’s presentation to OFA contributes to policy statement

    Updated: 2012-01-31 14:24:58
    A recent presentation to the Ontario Federation of Agriculture board by two HEAT (Huron East Against Turbines) members contributed towards a recent OFA position statement calling on the provincial government to “suspend the invasion of rural Ontario with industrial wind turbines.” Mark Wales, OFA president, said in a phone interview last week that a power-point presentation by St. Columban farmer Tom Melady and his sister Jeanne is an example of what he’s been hearing from farmers across Southwestern Ontario. “I . . .

  • Horizon is surveying the city again!

    Updated: 2012-01-31 14:24:36
    The following survey was recorded and transcribe by a local resident and provided to our group [Nor'Wester Mountain Escarpment Protection Committee], we do not know the personal stance of this individual on the proposed project. For statistical purposes what year were you born. Does anyone in your family or household work in the following areas? • Public Opinion Research Advertising and Public Relations, Media, Television, Newspaper, Radio? 1. I would like you to tell me what you feel is the . . .

  • Wind-turbine fire under investigation

    Updated: 2012-01-30 14:30:31
    Structure in Altona Wind Park found in flames; cause uncertain ALTONA — A wind turbine in the Altona Wind Park caught fire Saturday evening, but the cause of the blaze is still under investigation. According to a press release from Noble Environmental Power, the company responsible for building the wind turbines dotting the Altona landscape, there was no damage incurred to anything besides the turbine, and there was no risk to people. But that doesn’t mean no one noticed. As . . .

  • Public hears ill wind blows from turbines

    Updated: 2012-01-30 14:30:21
    SHELBURNE FALLS — “For two years, we haven’t enjoyed our beautiful backyard, or even been able to clean it up, because of my husband’s severe pressure headaches.” Annie Hart Cool of Falmouth blames three 492-foot wind turbines, the closest a quarter-mile from her house, for health problems she, her husband and several neighbors have experienced since the first of the turbines went up in 2010. She said her husband moved out of the master bedroom (the closest to the turbines), . . .

  • Braeshore residents oppose wind turbine proposal

    Updated: 2012-01-30 14:30:04
    CARIBOU – “Not here!” Those are the words that Eldon MacDonald repeated Saturday morning as he listened to a windfield developer speak about a proposed wind turbine project in the Braeshore area. Andy MacCallum with Wind Prospects Inc. is looking at putting up one or two towers, which will have a capacity of 1.6 megawatts, on a piece of property formerly owned by Hughie MacDonald. The proposal would see the wind field developed through the ComFit program, which requires 25 . . .

  • Group to appeal court OK of Wasatch wind farm in Wyoming

    Updated: 2012-01-30 14:29:48
    A group of opponents to new power lines and wind farms in part of the Laramie Range will appeal to the Wyoming Supreme Court a lower court’s approval of a wind farm proposed south of Glenrock. A Wyoming District Court judge on Jan. 19 affirmed state and county permits for the 62-turbine, 100-megawatt Pioneer Wind Park wind farm proposed by Wasatch Wind of Park City, Utah. The Northern Laramie Range Alliance appealed the permits granted by the Converse County Commission . . .

  • ‘Giant’ disturbs slumber

    Updated: 2012-01-30 14:29:20
    BAILEY’S BROOK – Kristin Overmyer can’t sleep at night and he says the giant in his backyard is to blame. Kristin and Susan Overmyer were two of the members of the Eco Awareness Society, which fought against the construction of wind turbines in Bailey’s Brook, but lost an appeal in the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia to block Sheer Wind from constructing the wind field because they were too late. The couple spoke about their experiences living in the shadow . . .

  • Joy as reporter blows away appeal over wind turbine plan for Broadmeadows

    Updated: 2012-01-30 14:29:07
    There was jubilation this week after a Scottish Government reporter threw out the appeal from energy company Greenpower over the refusal to let it erect eight turbines in one of the most picturesque landscapes in the Borders. Greenpower has spent almost eight years trying to gain consent for the group of 112m-high turbines at Broadmeadows Farm in the heart of the Yarrow Valley. The company’s proposals for the Broadmeadows site, which lies close to the Southern Upland Way, were scaled . . .

  • MOD urges councillors to reject wind turbines plans

    Updated: 2012-01-30 14:28:53
    The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is trying to block new plans for wind turbines in rural Buchan, it has emerged. Officials say an overabundance of masts in the north-east could cause serious problems for surveillance equipment at RAF Buchan, south of Peterhead. Councillors will be asked tomorrow to reject three applications for single-turbine developments after objections from the ministry amid concerns that the number of turbines in the area has reached “saturation point”. Defence bosses have objected to an application . . .

  • Goodhue wind farm doesn’t make sense

    Updated: 2012-01-30 14:28:27
    Even if the proposed Goodhue County wind farm never killed a bird or a bat, it wouldn’t make sense. The Prairie Island nuclear plant provides 50 times the electric power that T. Boone Picken’s 52 excess wind turbines. In 2010 and 2011, U.S. wind farms had a capacity factor of 27 percent, which suggests the Goodhue project would provide a measly and intermittent 20-25 megawatts. Our nation’s largest proposed wind project is off Cape Cod. U.S. Rep. William Delahunt, D-Mass., . . .

  • Turbine plan threat to drivers, say protesters

    Updated: 2012-01-30 14:28:18
    Opposition is growing to plans for a windfarm near Inverness amid claims that it could distract drivers on the main trunk road through the Highlands. A petition has been set up against West Coast Energy’s plans for 13 turbines on the hills above Daviot and the local community council is also preparing to lodge a formal objection. If given the go-ahead, the windfarm would be the closest yet to Inverness and turbines would operate just a few hundred yards from . . .

  • Businesses concerned about wind farm

    Updated: 2012-01-30 14:28:07
    Businesses along Bournemouth’s iconic seafront have expressed concern at plans to build an off-shore wind farm at Poole Bay. Eneco plan to build around 150-240 wind turbines, several times taller than Old Harrys Rock, which will be visible from Bournemouth beach. Councillor Mike Greene, a member of a Task and Finish group set up to investigate the proposals, said: “Potentially, we’ve got some real damage to the sea view, which is the whole reason people come to Bournemouth. “Evidence suggests . . .

  • Plymouth Planning Board backs Hedges Pond wind turbine

    Updated: 2012-01-30 14:27:50
    PLYMOUTH — The Rev. Bob Stott thanked them ahead of time for bearing the burden of it, but many abutters to the proposed 302-foot-tall wind turbine off Hedges Pond Road weren’t keen on the sentiment. “I don’t believe in taking one for the team when it comes to my property, when it comes to my biggest investment,” Michelle Angelides of Dyer Pass said. Cheryl Newall, also of Dyer Pass, said she and her husband are anticipating their first child, but . . .

  • Unneeded wind turbines can’t help environment

    Updated: 2012-01-30 14:27:34
    We knew this day was coming but still somehow hoped a voice of reason would provide a solution to a dilemma now faced by power companies. Washington voters approved an initiative in 2006 that required power companies to create green energy or buy credits from others who do. And the first mandate, requiring many utilities to purchase 3 percent of their power from renewable sources, kicks in this month. Unfortunately, hydropower isn’t considered renewable under the initiative. If it were, . . .

  • New York town’s battle over wind power makes it to the big screen

    Updated: 2012-01-30 14:27:30
    MEREDITH, N.Y. – President Obama got bipartisan applause during his State of the Union address when he called for an all-out clean-energy initiative. But a new film serves as a cautionary tale. Like many of her neighbors in Meredith, a small town near Oneonta, filmmaker Laura Israel was thrilled to learn developers wanted to build 40 industrial wind turbines in and around the town. The more she and the townspeople learned about the possible harmful impact on health and safety . . .

  • Berkshire environmentalist to speak at Feb. 7 Fairhaven Windwise forum

    Updated: 2012-01-30 14:27:03
    FAIRHAVEN — The co-founder of Green Berkshires, an environmental advocacy group that has opposed a large scale wind energy project in the Berkshires, will speak in Fairhaven next week at the request of Windwise. Eleanor Tillinghast, executive director as well as co-founder of Green Berkshires, will be the main speaker at Windwise’s Feb. 7 wind forum, according to spokesman Ken Pottel. Pottel said Windwise invited Tillinghast because she is known as a dynamic speaker who can address many of the . . .

  • Proposed changes could help those who live near Woodford Co. wind farms

    Updated: 2012-01-30 14:26:54
    EUREKA — Some proposed changes to the Woodford County zoning code will help landowners who live near wind farms, but whose properties are not involved in the projects. “We are trying to protect people who live in and among these (wind farms) without (the turbines) interfering in their daily life,” said Shannon Rocke, a member of the Conservation, Planning and Zoning Committee. “It’s about property rights. These (turbines) are going to be up for 30 years.” CP&Z member Duane Kingdon . . .

  • Issue won’t blow away

    Updated: 2012-01-30 14:26:30
    Local communities are being reminded to make sure their views are heard on the NSW Government draft Planning Guidelines for Wind Farms. Member for Goulburn Pru Goward is urging residents to review the draft wind farm guidelines which are on public exhibition until March 14. “The draft Guidelines strike a balance between providing opportunities for investment in wind farms and protecting local communities from potential impacts of new developments,” Ms Goward said. “The former NSW Labor Government left communities like . . .

  • A brewing storm about wind power

    Updated: 2012-01-30 14:26:21
    Filmmaker Laura Israel follows the installation of wind turbines as sources of energy in two rural towns in New York State, and discovers there are downsides to the source of energy generally thought to be a clean, green and sustainable alternative to the dirtier resources of oil and coal. In Meredith, New York, residents welcome the proposal made by wind power developers to build 40 industrial wind turbines in their town, believing that the project will inject a flow of . . .

  • Renewable energy should come clean with its details

    Updated: 2012-01-30 14:26:12
    I do not like having the “wool pulled over my eyes.” I like straightforward deals which are out in the open for all to see. I am sure most of you out there feel the same way. The more I read about “renewable energy” scams in Maine, the more it irks me. Why can’t the wind industry just come clean and tell the average Joe what is going on behind the scenes? I think I know the answer to that . . .

  • Lenox turbines bad for town, tourists

    Updated: 2012-01-30 14:26:03
    Wind turbines on Lenox Mountain are a bad idea. In Berkshire County we are about conserving our natural resources. In Richmond we even have adopted the Scenic Mountains and Scenic Roads acts. Does everyone realize what this is going to do if the turbines get approved? It doesn’t seem so. What about the people who live nearby? Every time I go near Jiminy Peak all I hear is a constant “whoosh” noise from the turbines. More studies need to be . . .

  • Reject plan for wind mast, urge councils

    Updated: 2012-01-30 14:25:54
    Three parish councils are voicing strong objections to a new wind measuring mast in a landscape fast becoming dominated by wind turbines. The application for the 80m anemometer – one of the tallest in the country – has been put forward by RWE Npower Renewables which recently submitted plans to East Riding Council for a further 17 turbines at Goole Fields wind farm. The mast is earmarked for farmland to the west of Welham Bridge, a hamlet on the A614, . . .

  • Wind turbine catches on fire

    Updated: 2012-01-30 14:25:36
    Authorities are investigating what caused a wind turbine to catch fire in Northern New York. It happened Saturday night in Altona. Officials say people driving by the windfarm noticed the fire in one of the 400 foot turbines. Noble Environmental, the owner of the windfarm, says no one was injured. The cause of the fire is not known. Two years ago a turbine at the same park came crashing down when the blades spun out-of-control in high winds. An investigation . . .

  • Devlin’s presentation was clearest of all

    Updated: 2012-01-30 14:24:52
    Curt Devlin deserves an apology. Unlike the other presenters at the forum on wind turbines in Fairhaven Tuesday night, he was the only one that presented and demonstrated the supported medical-referenced material at the general populace’s level of understanding. He performed remarkably well in his researching the referenced material, organizing it, and presenting it to the general public … at the concerned level of interest. He may not have had as much education as the other presenters, but he was . . .

  • Wind turbine catches fire; Altona firefighters respond

    Updated: 2012-01-29 00:29:11
    ALTONA, N.Y. — Firefighters said a wind turbine caught fire in Altona, N.Y. saturday night. Clinton County fire officials said people driving by the windfarm called in to report the fire. Altona firefighters responded to the scene. County fire officials said only one wind turbine was on fire, and nobody was hurt. Winds were gusting up to 25 MPH in the area. Investigators said it was too early to determine a cause.

  • Put brakes on wind power?

    Updated: 2012-01-29 00:28:59
    Two Franklin County hilltowns are considering moratoriums on windmill proposals to buy time to adopt specific bylaws governing them. The Shelburne Planning Board is considering whether to ask voters for at least a year-long moratorium, so the board — in Chairman Matt Marchese’s words — can “work at our own speed and cadence” in developing a wind turbine siting bylaw. In Heath, after studying commercial wind and solar farms issues for about six months, that town’s Planning Board hopes residents . . .

  • Windfarm on hold over bird highway row

    Updated: 2012-01-29 00:28:51
    A wind-farm project on the top of an Austrian mountain plateau has not been switched on over fears that it is in the middle of a key bird migration route and that the spinning blades could lead to thousands of bird deaths. Austrian energy company Salzburg AG has invested in building the five giant wind turbines on the Windsfeld at Flachauwinkel in Pongau, part of the province of Salzburg. It confirmed that there were no plans for it to go . . .

  • Fight to stop wind farms continues

    Updated: 2012-01-29 00:28:42
    A village is preparing to fight plans for a wind farm after the proposed developer released a new report to support its case. Developer E.ON by-passed Daventry District Council (DDC) last year with its application for seven wind turbines near Winwick, arguing that the authority took too long to draw up a report on the case. It instead went straight to the Planning Inspectorate which accepted the application and has set the date of March 20 for the start of . . .

  • A response to ‘A Tale of Two Towers’

    Updated: 2012-01-29 00:28:20
    While I agree that the Camden Hills Regional High School Windplanners deserve an “A” in civics for their perseverance in pursuing an alternative energy project for the school community, why does Philip Conkling’s Dec. 15 article: “A Tale of Two Towers” purport to be about the Windjammers success when its primary discussion is about Ragged Mountain and Vinalhaven? Why illustrate this article about the Windjammers’ success with a half-page color photo of Ragged Mountain, which is three miles away from . . .

  • Wind committee advises caution; Most of the group opposes turbines

    Updated: 2012-01-29 00:28:11
    LENOX – The town committee studying a potential municipal wind-turbine installation on Lenox Mountain is flashing some red lights about the project as it completes its final recommendation to the Selectmen. Reflecting agreement among seven of the eight members, the Wind Energy Research panelists studying the impact on health, ecology and town finances have prepared mostly critical draft reports challenging the feasibility of the proposal. Among members studying health impacts, one panelist was opposed to moving ahead and the other . . .

Current Feed Items | Previous Months Items

Dec 2011