Spain Ejects Clean-Power Industry With Europe Precedent: Energy
Written by Alex Morales and Ben Sills, Bloomberg Businessweek, www.businessweek.com | 
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May 30, 2012
Spanish renewable-energy companies that once got Europe’s biggest subsidies are deserting the nation after the government shut off aid, pushing project developers and equipment-makers to work abroad or perish. From wind-turbine maker Gamesa Corp. Tecnologica SA (GAM) to solar park developer T-Solar Global SA, companies are locked out of their home market for new business. These are the same suppliers that spearheaded more than $69 billion of wind and solar projects since 2004 that today supply more than 50 percent of Spain’s power demand on the most breezy and sunny days.
Saddled with a budget deficit more than twice the European Union limit and a ballooning gap between income and costs in its power system, Spain halted subsidies for new renewable-energy projects in January. The surprise move by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy one month after taking office helped pierce investor confidence in stable aid for clean energy across Europe. “They destroyed the Spanish market overnight with the moratorium,” European Wind Energy Association Chief Executive Officer Christian Kjaer said in an interview. “The wider implication of this is that if Spanish politicians can do that, probably most European politicians can do that."
Pickens May Drop Troubled Wind Deal
Written by Mark Anderson, Windpower Monthly Magazine, www.windpowermonthly.com | | |
June 1, 2012
UNITED STATES: An expanding list of problems plaguing a 78MW southern Minnesota wind development backed by T Boone Pickens has spawned reports that the billionaire Texas oil tycoon may be attempting to sell out of the $180 million deal. The AWA Goodhue project has been seeking state approval since 2008 - dividing Goodhue County opinion over turbine setback distances, road-use agreements, wildlife protection, permitting issues and disputed contracts. In late April, developer AWA Goodhue Wind filed a lawsuit against a handful of landowners, alleging illegal termination of their leases.
Presidential Projections on Wind Power Flawed According to New Book, "Green Illusions"
Written by PR Newswire, www.digitaljournal.com | | |
May 30, 2012
Presidents Bush and Obama both supported wind power development by publicly referencing a Department of Energy (DOE) study that contains serious flaws, according to a new environmental book by UC Berkeley visiting scholar Ozzie Zehner. GREEN ILLUSIONS (University of Nebraska Press, June 2012) draws upon previously unpublished interviews with the DOE. According to Green Illusions, the DOE report renders a picture of wind energy that is up to six times more impressive than the department’s own field experience would indicate.
Fifty environmental groups and research organizations formally backed the report, including the Sierra Club and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. However, during his investigation, Zehner found that an appendix in the DOE report contains projections that are incongruent with DOE field data. The report therefore greatly underestimates wind turbine costs and overestimates wind power yields.
Iberdrola Makes Further Comments to PSC Regarding Organized Opposition
Written by Eric Thumma Director, Policy and Regulatory Affairs Iberdrola Renewables, LLC | | |
Crohnote: Sounds like Somebody's Upset... Iberdrola Comments on Those "Nasty NIMBY'S...
May 29, 2012
Dear Secretary Brilling:
Iberdrola Renewables submits this letter in supplement to its comments dated April 25, 2012. In these previous comments, Iberdrola Renewables suggested modifications to the proposed provisions of 16 NYCRR § 1001.31(e). The proposed modifications establish sensible review standards that would allow the Siting Board to consider New York siting precedent and override unreasonable or belated local requirements.
These suggestions reflect actual experience with the evolving siting challenges in the State. While New York has enacted strong policies favoring development of renewable energy sources (including wind) and numerous projects have been successfully and compatibly constructed, a determined nucleus of opposition to such projects has formed. A strategy which has been increasingly followed by these groups is to focus on key towns, with the aim of revising laws to thwart project development altogether, rather than establishing appropriate guidelines for development. The following are some examples of these efforts, which are cropping up with increasing frequency and which should be quickly rejected in the Article 10 process.
Critics Say Wind Act Lacks Turbines’ Noise Evaluation
Written by Jaegun Lee, Watertown Daily Times Reporter, www.watertowndailytimes.com | | |
MAY 30, 2012
The public comment period for Article X of the 2011 Power NY Act ended Tuesday with the exception of municipalities, which have two more weeks to get their statements in. In one of the many last-minute public comments submitted to the state Public Service Commission, local acoustical consultant Charles E. Ebbing argued proper impact studies on low-frequency noise for wind farms should be required under the Article X siting process.
Stakeholders representing wind developers, on the other hand, have argued that assessing C-weighted, or low-frequency, wind turbine noise impacts in addition to A-weighted, audible spectrum, sound analysis is an unnecessary expense. “The wind turbine applicants should provide the information needed to evaluate the noise impact on the adjacent community. The largest impact, in my opinion, is inside the occupants’ homes. They cannot estimate this without knowing a rational estimate of the expected dBC outside their homes,” Mr. Ebbing, president of Ebbing Acoustics, LaFargeville, wrote. “Low-frequency noise problems cannot be anticipated or prevented from dBA data.”
Concerned Residents Post Comments to Public Service Commission Regarding Article X Regulations
Written by Mary Hamilton, Concerned Residents of Hammond, www.croh.org | | |
Concerned Residents of Hammond
PO Box 55
Hammond, NY 13646
May 28, 2012
Honorable Jaclyn A. Brilling, Secretary
New York State Board on Electric Generation Siting and the Environment
Three Empire State Plaza
Albany, NY 12212-1350
Re: Case 12 – F – 0036. Rules and Regulations of Board on Electrical Generation Siting and the Environment, contained in 16NYCRR, Chapter X, Certification of Major Electric Generating Facilities.
Dear Secretary Brilling,
We appreciate the opportunity to once again comment as a registered stakeholder regarding proposed regulations to implement provisions of Article X of the Public Service Law. As a group of New York residents and taxpayers living in a small, rural town targeted for a renewable energy project, collectively we have invested countless volunteer hours researching the pros and cons of the complex issues that come with such development. While our initial goal was simple… assuring the local government implemented laws protecting all residents of the community... and became reality in October 2011 when our local law was passed, the Article X reauthorization no longer guarantees our town officials can meet that goal.
Admittedly, we are laypeople in that we are not on anyone’s payroll, but we are fortunate in that we are comprised of individuals from a multitude of backgrounds and experiences who have invested their own time and money to research and investigate the volumes of material that continues to be documented and published. Much of it is information that will be “glossed over” or not even acknowledged by industries who profess to be concerned but have a better understanding of the potential money they stand to make rather than the potential harm they stand to inflict on the unsuspecting. We have many concerns with the impending regulations but will limit our comments to the following areas: 1) local laws, 2) noise, and 3) decommissioning.
Click below to download the rest of the letter...
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CROH Letter to PSC.pdf 7326K View Download |
Coalition on Article X (COAX) Submits Comments to Public Service Commission
Written by Robert E. Aliasso, Jr, Coalition on Article X, www.coaxny.org | | |
May 28, 2012
Hon. Jaclyn A. Brilling
Secretary, New York State Public Service Commission
Three Empire State Plaza
Albany, New York 12223-1350
VIA First Class Mail and Email (
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Comments to the New York Board on Electric Generation Siting and the Environment
Case 12-F-0036 – In the Matter of the Rules and Regulations of the Board on Electric Generation Siting and the Environment contained in 16 NYCRR, Chapter X, Certification of Major Electric Generating Facilities
Dear Secretary Brilling:
Enclosed for filing are the comments of Coalition on Article X (“COAX”), regarding the draft regulations of Article 10 of the Public Service Law. In a thorough review by COAX members, all New York State taxpayers and ratepayers, we have collected and assembled comments of the draft regulations as they relate to siting of energy facilities.
COAX is a statewide grassroots coalition, which connects municipalities on a unified position to keep “Home Rule” strong, in force and as intended by the New York State Constitution since 1894. We have connected dozens of towns and counties throughout New York State to submit Resolutions that oppose the loss of any “Home Rule.”
Since the New York State Public Service Commission is employed by and for New York State taxpayers and ratepayers, we expect the regulations for Article 10 to both enforce and strengthen the PSC posted Mission Statement, "to ensure safe, secure, and reliable access to electric... services for New York State’s residential and business consumers, at just and reasonable rates." We also stress that justice and reason is applied to the regulations of Article 10, especially in the following areas of the draft regulations: Local Laws and Ordinances, Noise and Vibration, Decommissioning, Socioeconomic/Property Value Guarantee and Public Comment Period.
We thank you for the opportunity to express our concerns and offer comments to protect and preserve Home Rule throughout New York State.
Sincerely,
Robert E. Aliasso, Jr. – Member COAX
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8748 State Route 178
Henderson, NY 13650
Town of Cape Vincent Comment Letter to NYS Public Service Commission
Written by Pandora's Box of Rocks Blogsite, www.pandorasboxofrocks.blogspot.com | | |
