WindAction EDITORIAL (21 Mar) USA - Windaction.org has updated its database of US wind production and capacity factors to include the years from 2011 through to 2015. The data are based on monthly energy output figures released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Aggregate annual capacity factors for each state and for the nation can be found here.... → MORE Recent Articles (20 Mar) Nova Scotia - When D’Eon, who lives near the Pubnico Point Wind Farm, came outside to investigate what he heard, he saw that one of the blades on a turbine was “in distress.” → MORE (20 Mar) Wisconsin - An open record request by residents of Brown County, Wisconsin, has exposed documents showing that former Brown County Health Officer Chua Xiong experienced severe migraine headaches when around the utility-scale wind turbines at the Shirley wind facility. The emails between Ms. Xiong and her intern can be accessed by selecting the... → MORE (20 Mar) New York - Pamela R. Atwater, the president of Save Ontario Shores, a citizen group opposing the project, said she is not sure Apex would have signed the code of conduct if opponents hadn’t publicized its failure to do so. “I think they were shamed into it,” she said. “Why should the citizens... → MORE (18 Mar) New York - Scott Gray chairs the Jefferson County Legislature says the county will not give tax deals to any wind projects in the county. "We look at it and say what are the benefits that it's bringing and in this case many people don't believe there is any benefit." He says wind projects don't bring... → MORE (18 Mar) USA | New York - The area known as the New York Bite is especially important for scallops. There’s staunch opposition from an industry which warns 100-plus wind turbines will interfere with scallop beds. → MORE (18 Mar) Ontario - “It’s not a matter of ‘if’ someone gets killed, it’s ‘when’ someone gets killed,” said Wilson. He said a flight school at the airport may be forced to close. He’s planning to bring a private member’s bill asking the government to restore local autonomy when it comes to the placement of... → MORE (18 Mar) Nebraska - “When it’s all said and done and the suits are all gone and the pockets will be lined, where does that leave us?” asked JoJen Allder of rural Cortland. “We’ll be surrounded by these noisy, ugly turbines with lower property rights and health issues. I want to be able to... → MORE (17 Mar) Ontario - The costs may be high and the need questionable, but Ontarians signed up to buy a lot more renewable power last week when Ontario’s Independent Power System Operator (IESO) announced the results of the province’s latest procurement. → MORE (17 Mar) USA - The study found that half of red bats killed in the area were not local residents and probably summered at locations far from the wind turbines, whereas nearly all of the hoary bats summered locally. The red bats represented a single, massive breeding population in the hundreds of thousands to... → MORE (17 Mar) UK - I think the fact that our overwhelming emotion is relief is probably an indication of how much we have been affected just by the threat of this terrible development, and over a prolonged period. This means the application is dead in the water. → MORE (16 Mar) Ireland - The public interest in ensuring alternative non-carbon based energy sources are brought to the market cannot give this, or any other wind farm, “a licence to breach the planning laws”, he said. There is a public interest in ensuring those laws are adequately enforced and judicial failures to make mandatory... → MORE (16 Mar) Vermont - “The goal of the public meetings … is to share information gleaned from site-specific evaluations of the Stiles Brook tract by the experts ...But opposition groups in both towns are criticizing that format. Rather than the informational booths Iberdrola is planning, Grafton Woodlands Group and Friends of Windham have lobbied... → MORE (16 Mar) Alberta - “TransAlta is very interested in repowering this site. Unfortunately, right now, it’s not economically feasible,” Wayne Oliver, operations supervisor for TransAlta’s wind operations in Pincher Creek and Fort Macleod, said in an interview. “We’re anxiously waiting to see what incentives might come from our new government → MORE (15 Mar) UK - The idea to end the renewables obligation (RO) early is included within the Energy Bill, which received an unopposed third reading from MPs and will return to the Lords for further scrutiny. ...Alongside changes to subsidies, the Bill also seeks to give people the final say on new onshore wind... → MORE (14 Mar) Indiana - The fight against the proposed wind farm project has been picked back up again, by a large group of Fayette County citizens, with the filing late this week at the Fayette County Clerk’s Office of a civil plenary complaint against both the Fayette County Commissioners and NextEra Energy Resources, the... → MORE (14 Mar) Ontario - Wind turbines tear apart communities and relationships, causing animosity that lingers for years, warn farmers. → MORE (13 Mar) Michigan - In the space of about a week, three Sanilac County townships put a stay on wind energy development, and a fourth is considering the same possibility. Marion Township, one of the future sites for a planned Exelon wind project, approved a moratorium on wind energy development ...On Tuesday, voters in Argyle... → MORE (11 Mar) New York - Under a proposed amendment to the town’s zoning law, the Wind Energy Facility Overlay District would be removed from the town’s southern end, where Iberdrola Renewables is planning its project. Turbines are currently permitted within the overlay district if they comply with permitting rules and the current wind law, but... → MORE (11 Mar) Europe - The Polish government's proposed new regulations governing the safe siting of wind energy facilities has triggered a firestorm with the Polish and European wind industries crying foul. This important report attempts to correct the record on the law which is intended to protect residents from poorly sited wind facilities. → MORE (10 Mar) Ontario - Huron County, Ontario is home to hundreds of wind turbines, and while this form of renewable energy generation may be a plush for the environment, a number of residents have reported negative health impacts from living close to industrial wind turbine farms. An investigation into the reported health effects is being... → MORE (7 Mar) Maryland - On Monday, February 29, 2016, Allegany Neighbors & Citizens for Home Owners Right Limited (ANCHOR) filed a Motion to Intervene in the Dan’s Mountain Wind Force’s petition. → MORE (7 Mar) Colorado - McCann said he was hired to appraise a house in June 2011 in Mason County, Michigan, where representatives from the Lake Winds Energy Farm Project had been negotiating leases with property owners; however, they had not yet applied for permits with the county. ...A 476-foot turbine was built 1,139 feet... → MORE (7 Mar) Vermont - The “Vermont Energy Rebellion” has grown to 118 towns, according to Energize Vermont. One of the latest towns to join is Hardwick. When Hardwick adopted the Rutland Resolution in February, gaining control over energy siting was on the minds of many Selectboard members. → MORE (6 Mar) Massachusetts - Following a decision-making flow chart prepared by Falmouth special counsel Mark Bobrowski, board members weighed the existing turbine’s consistency with the 2010 town bylaw that was in place when Wind 1 was erected. ...board chairman Kimberly A. Bielan argued that neighbors testified in the hearing that curtailment would not lessen... → MORE (5 Mar) Ontario - When the stewards of our environment are arguing to kill threatened species to facilitate development, something's clearly out of balance. → MORE (5 Mar) Nebraska - Why are they so determined to force industrial wind turbines into every Nebraska county with no regard for the property rights of those who do not wish to live beneath them? → MORE (1 Mar) California - Strong arguments drive the development of solar and wind power. Many have to do with “protecting the environment.” Ironically, it's this last point – the big “E” – that seems to make the reduction of deserts into rural-industrial wastelands acceptable to many people. → MORE (29 Feb) Germany - The accident is now under investigation and a construction has been ordered stopped until the cause of the accident is determined. → MORE (29 Feb) Michigan - Plans for a wind farm in central Clinton County that has been mired in controversy and legal battles for years appear to have been canceled. → MORE (25 Feb) Ireland - Mr Justice Bernard Barton ruled the permission must be quashed after finding that the process under which An Bord Pleanála had decided relevant issues concerning compliance with two European Directives - the Habitats Directive and the Environmental Impact Assessment Directive - did not comply with Irish law. → MORE (25 Feb) Michigan - A wind turbine located in Huron County fell over during a winter storm that brought wind and heavy snow to much of the state, but the cause of the collapse is unclear. The Harvest I wind project, commissioned in 2008, includes 32 Vestas V82-1.65 MW turbines. → MORE (25 Feb) New York - Norris said the law requires wind developers to pay for a baseline study of the health of residents who want to take part. Developers would have to pay reimbursements to property owners whose land values fall because of turbines within two miles, and sets rules for decommissioning unused windmills. Quarles said... → MORE (24 Feb) Ontario - Testing by Swallow generated acoustic sound levels of between 37 and 57 decibels outdoors and 20 to 40 decibels indoors. Infrasound levels measured between 57 and 88 decibels outdoors and 53 to 72 decibels indoors. He said the increase in sound from wind alone is staggering and should be explored... → MORE (23 Feb) Rhode Island - Ratepayers are expected to pay an above-market price of $440 million for Deepwater’s energy over the next two decades, according to a 2015 filing with the state Public Utilities Commission. Critics say total tab will be more than $500 million, due to added costs, like laying the cable linking Block... → MORE (23 Feb) Africa - Investors in the Kinangop Wind Park (KWP) have given up on the project, citing depletion of funds arising from delays and hostilities from the community. → MORE (20 Feb) Illinois - Work slowed in July 2013, when a lawsuit was filed by 60 residents against Lee County and the previous owner, Mainstream. The court challenges cited nonconforming land-use issues, the turbines' effect on property values, and concerns about noise and shadow flicker. The delays have led to the expiration of special-use permits... → MORE (20 Feb) USA | Ohio - Where the wind developer can use these unleased properties for nuisance noise and safety easements free of charge, they have no reason to approach the neighboring residents to negotiate a fair price for their loss of amenity. Trespass zoning has deprived wind plant neighbors of all economic bargaining power. Trespass... → MORE (19 Feb) Michigan - Blades breaking aren’t an anomaly in Huron County. → MORE (12 Feb) New York - There were two big booms when it happened, one when it hit and then another when it probably flipped over,” said Fenner resident Dick Foringer, who lives about 900 feet away. ...Editor's note: Mr. Foringer confirmed by phone that the initial impact crater was 323 from the base of the turbine.... → MORE (12 Feb) South America - Suzlon has confirmed local reports of the collapse of a wind turbine in Brazil ...In a local TV video taken after the crash, a tower section appears to have severed and the nacelle and rotor are splayed on the ground, in the sand dunes. → MORE (4 Feb) Europe - Spain, the U.K., Italy and others have cut incentives for renewable-energy projects, citing efforts to reduce government spending and electricity rates during a period of economic turmoil. In turn, the number of new projects receiving approval has fallen as investors turn away from an industry that offered the assurance of... → MORE (22 Jan) USA - Eagles just scored a big victory in the courts. This week the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service dropped an appeal it was pursuing in support of 30-year “take” permits that allow wind farms and other industries to disturb and kill Bald and Golden Eagles, as long as they take steps... → MORE (21 Jan) UK - Fears for the future of renewable energy in the North East have been expressed after the withdrawal of plans for a massive wind farm. E.ON has withdrawn its proposals for the Isles Wind Farm near Newton Aycliffe in County Durham, citing changes to Government energy policy as one of the reasons... → MORE (18 Jan) Vermont - The Vermont Department of Public Service, for the first time, acknowledged that wind farm neighbors sometimes experience severe negative effects from turbines spinning, she says. The department’s Dec. 23 filing describes the McLanes’ complaints as “credible and serious” and states there is evidence “of a significant impairment of the quality of... → MORE (16 Jan) Australia - The confidence that everyone had expected to return to the renewable energy sector following the demise of Tony Abbott, is yet to come to fruition. Investors spent just $15 million since February 2014 on big wind, solar or other clean energy projects that were not otherwise supported by government programs. → MORE (15 Jan) Massachusetts - The enforcement notices went out Thursday, January 14, one day after the board of health decided to take action during a marathon session that did not end until close to midnight Wednesday, January 13. At that meeting, several residents affected by the turbines criticized the town for not moving fast... → MORE (30 Dec 2015) Illinois - The ZBA explicitly found the standards for granting the permits had not been met and to the contrary, the turbines “would be detrimental to or endanger the public health, safety, moral, comfort, or general welfare.” Further, the turbines “would be injurious to the use and enjoyment of those who own... → MORE (24 Dec 2015) Europe - A Vestas wind turbine fell over during Christmas Eve morning in Lemnhult, Korsberga in Sweden. The model belong to one of the tallest land-based wind turbines with a height of 185 meters ...and weighed about 400 tons, according to Stena Renewables CEO Peter Zachrisson. → MORE (15 Dec 2015) North Carolina - Administrative Law Judge Melissa Owens Lassiter on Monday denied a request to dismiss the lawsuit filed by two residents of Perquimans County, where the 104-turbine energy project is several months into construction. → MORE Recent Documents (1 Mar) - In this paper, acoustician Steven Cooper explains how traditional methods of recording noise emissions fail to account for infrasound coming from wind turbines. The Abstract and Conclusions of the paper are provided below. The full document can be accessed by clicking the links on this page. → MORE (14 Jan) Massachusetts - This letter written by William Hallstein, MD, a practicing psychiatrist with over 40 years of experience, was delivered to the Falmouth Zoning Board of Appeals. Dr. Hallstein is also a resident of Falmouth Massachusetts. In his letter he explains the very real impact the Falmouth turbines on human health. → MORE Recent Pictures (25 Feb) Michigan - A wind turbine located in Huron County fell over during a winter storm. The turbine was part of the Harvest I wind project commissioned in 2008. Harvest I includes 32 Vestas V82-1.65 MW turbines. → MORE (19 Feb) Michigan - A 160-foot, 7-ton blade on one of DTE Energy’s wind turbines sited in Sigel Township, Huron County MI was destroyed. The turbine was one of 40 GE 1.6-100 towers. DTE's Sigel Township installation was placed in-service in October 2012. → MORE (14 Dec 2015) Europe - The rotor sheared off a Repower MD77-1500kW turbine in northeast France. → MORE Recent Videos (25 Jan) Wisconsin - Joan Lagerman of Wisconsin explains how wind turbines near her property have produced serious health impacts on her family. WE Energies, a utility in Wisconsin, operates the Blue Sky Green Field facility consisting of 88-turbines across 10,600 acres located between the townships of Calumet and Marshfield in Fond du Lac County and not far from... → MORE
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