Invenergy's Camp Springs Wind Farm Slated For 2007 Completion

Invenergy is the wind company that has infested Sheldon and soon to be in Orangeville in Wyoming county.

Chicago-headquartered Invenergy Wind LLC, through one of its wholly owned subsidiaries, has begun erecting wind turbines for its 130.5 MW Camp Springs Wind Energy Center, located in Scurry County, Texas.

JPMorgan Capital Corp. provided an equity commitment through an affiliate as lead investor and arranged for additional commitments from The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co., Prudential Capital Group and Wells Fargo to provide equity financing upon commercial operation.

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Manitowoc Judge Nixes Wind Farm Permit

(AP) MANITOWOC A planned wind farm in rural Two Rivers has hit a snag with a judge's decision nixing a conditional use permit for the project.Manitowoc County Circuit Judge Patrick Willis ruled in favor of five plaintiffs who live near the wind farm proposed by Emerging Energies, LLC.

The county's Board of Adjustment failed to act "according to law" in approving the permit because it didn't apply the most recently amended version of the county's Wind Energy Ordinance, the judge said in a decision dated Tuesday.

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Remember the Reason why Easter brings Salvation

Worship God not Wind Turbines . . . Build Churches, not Wind Turbines

Judge tosses Two Rivers wind-farm permit by Kristopher Wenn

MANITOWOC — A controversial zoning conditional use permit that was granted last year for a new wind farm near the town of Two Rivers was vacated Tuesday by Manitowoc County Circuit Court Judge Patrick Willis.

Willis ruled in favor of five plaintiffs — George Patek, Jeffrey and Anita Roberts, and Dean and Clara Pekarek — who live near the Emerging Energies LLC-proposed wind farm.

The Manitowoc County Board of Adjustment had failed to act "according to law" when the permit was approved because it did not apply the most recently amended version of the Manitowoc County Wind Energy Ordinance, according to the court decision.

"This is a major victory for the plaintiffs and everyone else who was concerned that the proposed wind farm was essentially rubber-stamped by the Board of Adjustment," said Glenn Stoddard, an attorney representing the plaintiffs. "If Emerging Energies reapplies it will have to do so under the amended ordinance and the Board of Adjustment would have to make a rational decision based on the law and the evidence presented."

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Industrial Wind Farms: Where are the savings?

The 'Great Wind Rush' is on! Despite strenuous objections from citizens all over the world, who see the destruction and potential destruction of their landscapes, seascapes and wildlife from industrial wind power plants and no savings in CO2 emissions or dependency on foreign oil, nearly all of the applications from developers have been approved. To date, not one fossil fuel plant has been closed, or even throttled back--despite thousands upon thousands of wind turbines now operating all over the world.

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Newest turbines may float among clouds

Several innovative companies in North America and Europe are looking to the sky as a new place to generate wind power. Sky WindPower, Magenn Power and Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands are all developing airborne wind energy generators, the Economist reported. According to climate scientists, the wind is stronger and more constant in the jet stream than it is at about 200 meters, where the current highest wind turbine is set. Dave Shepard's Sky WindPower in San Diego is an H-shaped, four-rotor flying generator. It's connected to the ground by a long cable, and the power is transmitted through aluminum cables. Frequent maintenance will most likely be required, but Shepard says he thinks that by minimizing repairs electricity could be generated for as little as 2 cents per kilowatt hour. Canadian company Magenn Power has proposed a helium-filled airborne wind generator. Magenn plans to use the turbines in diesel hybrid systems where normal wind generators are not efficient. At DUT, Wubbo Ockels is developing a kite that spins turbine generators as it climbs in altitude. The research and development is being funded by Royal Dutch Shell and natural-gas company Nederlandse Gasunie. Ockels is currently building a prototype.

CWW site experienced hack

Content was altered on the CWW site this morning and was restored and back online later afternoon, this date.

Sorry for the minor hack of the site.

LACKAWANNA WIND TURBINE KAIZEN

The abandoned Bethlehem Steel facility rests like detritus amongst mountains of slag.- wily cottonwoods and eight new Clipper turbines spout up from the debris - the old steel site is so large - 1500 acres – running several miles along the shore of Lake Erie, that it would be easily feasible to install more than 100 turbines here. This is a perfect location for turbines.

I had to talk my way into the private property – shared with gravel, lumber, concrete and other heavy businesses. I spoke with Stanley Tehee, the Commissioning Engineer from Clipper, who at first told me no go (insurance regs, construction haz, the usual obfuscation stuff), but I knew enough about turbines to convince him that this was an opportunity for PR for Clipper and wind energy. This is Clipper’s (a Calif. Company) first installation anywhere, and they are probably a bit concerned that their machines get up and christened and shaken out before they really let in the public. Any mechanical problems or failure here will be critical to Clipper’s business prospects. Clipper has implemented a novel generator configuration in the nacelle: instead of one generator, Clipper has four smaller generators connected to a gear system which divides the turbine's input torque. My bet is that this complex gear train will have maintenance issues.

Although there was a 35 knot wind blowing this morning, none of the machines were turning. With my taxi cab waiting with its meter running at $50 – I couldn’t get into the details of what was holding the machines off the grid. What I did learn is that Clipper is desperate for towers – these eight came from Chattanooga. Clipper is interested in any type of tower – ie concrete or steel – or a hybrid. Business opp. here.

Meanwhile, back in Cleveland, Ronn Richard, Steve Dever, Dave Nash, Lisa Hong, William Mason, and the other members of the Cuyahoga County Wind “Task Force” are recommending “installing about 10 turbines about 3 miles off Cleveland in Lake Erie in about 6 years”. Several things are wrong with the Cleveland picture. In six years Cleveland will be toast when it comes to wind experience. Buffalo and Lackawanna have the pedal to the metal. Cleveland needs to attract wind component manufacturing and erect wind turbines on land within the next 12 months. That’s what will provide jobs in NEO and clean energy into the grid.

Iconic turbines out in the Lake is a goal for Cleveland way down the road. Cleveland doesn’t need iconic, Cleveland needs jobs and practical objectives for the county taxpayers' dollars. I bet no one on the Cuyahoga wind "task force" has visited Lackawanna. Tell me I'm wrong...

No wifi at the Buffalo Greyhound station. So I post from Toronto instead. On the road reporting. Pretty cool Realneo web 2!

Questions, not answers, at Howard wind hearing: Steuben County IDA hears mostly from speakers opposed to project by ROB MONTANA

HOWARD - It was a true public hearing in Howard Wednesday night.

The Steuben County Industrial Development Agency conducted the hearing - during which no questions were answered - at the Howard Fire Hall for the purpose of obtaining public comment on the draft Environmental Impact Statement for a wind project in the town. Though many of the speakers posed questions for the record, none were answered, as is the purpose of the meeting, cited SCIDA Executive Director James Sherron. About 70 people attended the session.

“It's not going to be a discussion,” he said in his opening remarks. “We're not here for a question-and-answer period.”

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Photos of the intentional burn of a historic site on Lewis Road, Cohocton

Increasing distance between home and turbines would end development

Increasing the distance between wind turbines and residences to two kilometres would effectively end the development of a proposed windfarm on the Gulf Shore.

“Without question if the municipality enacted bylaws requiring two kilometres we would simply just terminate further work on the project,” Atlantic Wind Power Corporation president Charles Demond said after speaking to Cumberland municipal council. “Two kilometres would be at the absolute extreme of anything that’s being contemplated around the globe.”

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Wind-farm noise 'harms health'- Report suggests illness link and says: Keep away from homes

A STUDY of noise generated by wind farms has found they can cause significant health problems, including stress, anxiety and depression.

August 7, 2006 by Simon Bristow in Yorkshire Post Today

The report on the study also highlights a possible link between low-frequency noise of the type transmitted by wind farms and a rare condition called vibroacoustic disease – a complex illness that can lead to epilepsy and cancer.

But the report, commissioned by the UK Noise Association, is not opposed to wind farms, instead recommending that they should not be sited within a mile of residential areas.

"It would be a mistake to see this as an anti-wind farm report," its author, John Stewart, said."But there is a real danger that, in the enthusiasm to embrace clean technology, legitimate concerns about noise are being brushed aside."

Mr Stewart carried out a comprehensive review of research done into wind- farm noise.

In his conclusion he writes: "Research by doctors has unearthed persistent complaints from people saying they not only hear the noise but can 'feel' disturbance in their bodies. This has led to complaints of illness. The symptoms are very similar to those associated with vibro-acoustic disease.

"The suggestion is that the unique combination of noise (containing an element of low frequency) and the strobing effects of the flickering blades is having a physical effect on some people."

Mr Stewart says the noise can be a particular problem in rural areas where background noise levels are low.

The report calls for a "constructive discussion" on the issue with the wind power industry and recommends that Government guidelines on the siting of wind farms are revised.

The report has been welcomed by campaigners concerned about plans to build a series of wind farms across the region.

Planning applications have been submitted for turbines to be erected at sites including Goole Fields, Roos, Twin Rivers and Pollington, in the East Riding, Rusholme, in Selby, Normanby and Keadby, in North Lincolnshire, at Thorne in South Yorkshire and at Todmorden Moor in the West Riding.

Cherie Blenkin, spokeswoman for South Holderness Opposes Wind Turbines (SHOWT), said: "We are not against renewable energy but the siting of these turbines is a critical issue.

"We have said for some time that siting turbines close to people's homes can be an invasion of privacy. It's not just noise, but blade flicker as well that concerns us. They have to take this into account."

Ann Walker, spokeswoman for Humberhead Against Turbines (HAT), an umbrella organisation representing bodies in East and South Yorkshire, called for more research into the noise issue.

"We have been saying that there isn't enough research into the effect of noise from wind turbines," she said.

"It's very much the case that the people who live close to them have become guinea pigs through no fault of their own.

"These things are put up before we know fully what their effects will be."

A Department of Trade and Industry spokesman said developers were obliged to consider the impact of turbines as part of the planning process.

He said: "The Government is committed to the development of cleaner energy and we outlined plans in the recently published energy review to have 20 per cent of electricity coming from renewable sources by 2020.

"Much of this will be produced by wind farms, both on and offshore. However, we are aware of some concerns on noise but there is a robust planning system in place which requires developers to make an environmental impact assessment examining issues such as this."

Irreconcilable Differences Upset Cohocton’s “Old Guard” by James Hall

How upsetting it must be for the Zigenfus administration that democratic competition has come to Cohocton. When office holders run unopposed, they become so comfortable in their own self worth and importance that they can’t imagine that they are doing wrong. That’s the charitable assessment for the reason why town officials refuse to hear the voice of the residents.

But in Cohocton the record is far more sinister. The joy of passing out patronage favors and appointments for boards or paid political jobs has turned into a theater of the absurd. It would be a comedy if the tragedy was not so evident.

The corrupt dealing by the Town Board is for all to see. Residents who never before attended planning board meeting are coming out to see for themselves why the staged “dog and pony” show is the laughing stock of the entire town.

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Senator seeks strict wind farm guidelines by MARY PERHAM

A proposed 18-month moratorium on all wind farm development in the state has received mixed reviews locally.

State Sen. James Alesi, R-Perinton, said he expects to introduce legislation aimed at halting the construction of wind farms across the state until uniform standards can be set.

Alesi, chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Economic Development and Small Businesses, said he will introduce the bill in the Senate within the next few weeks.

“This is not an argument about whether wind farms are good or bad,” Alesi said. “This is about setting up a uniform approach.”

Alesi said different towns and developers now use a variety of standards to allow wind farm development.

And cash-strapped towns may set up wind farms with little regard for the effect the projects will have on their neighbors, he said.

“It's like if a town builds a major landfill on say, the western edge of a town,” he said. “The town can make a lot of money, but the other town is saying ‘What about us?'”

Alesi said there are also concerns the wind farms would have a negative impact on Finger Lakes tourism.

“That's the second largest industry in the state, farming being No. 1,” he said. “This all goes beyond what any town or village might want for itself.”

Local state leaders said they will study the bill when it is introduced, but question how broad the uniform standards will need to be to include the entire state.

“This isn't a ‘one-size-fits-all' type of deal,” said state Sen. George Winner, R-Winner. “I will certainly read it, I'll talk to (Alesi) about it, but I do have some questions.”

Art Giacalone, attorney for wind farm opponents in the town of Howard, said the legislation is worth studying, but questioned whether the state should impose standards on local governments.

“I am just not sure that's the answer,” Giacalone said.

Other wind farm opponents, such as James Hall, of Cohocton Wind Watch, say Alesi's proposal would be the beginning of an indefinite halt to any development in the state.

Hall recently sent a letter to Gov. Eliot Spitzer saying evidence during the past several years proves severe public safety risks.

“Wind turbine (developers) have abandoned all pretense of responsible development,” Hall said.

Al Wordingham, a member of the Advocates for Prattsburgh, said the group met with Alesi last week to discuss their issues with the projects.

“My own personal feeling is we could have uniform standards for health and safety issues that would take care of it,” Wordingham said.

Alesi said the bill will be introduced after state leaders work out their budget gridlock.

Assemblyman James Bacalles, R-Corning, said he will study the proposal but added the state associations of towns and counties should be directly involved in setting any standards.

“Not everybody is happy when the state gets involved (in local issues),” Bacalles said. “And to tell you the truth, they're usually right.”

Noise Complaints On Rise with New Industrial Wind Power Projects

National Wind Watch calls for minimum 1-mile setbacks

Noise created by commercial-scale wind turbines has become a major concern around the world as wind power development continues to proliferate. Although the industry claims that modern turbines are quieter — even as they grow ever larger — complaints are increasing from people who live near new projects.

While the wind itself may mask some of the noise under some atmospheric conditions, the deep unnatural thumping as the giant blades pass their supporting tower is particularly intrusive. Testimony from hundreds of turbine neighbors confirms this, most recently from Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Wisconsin, Texas, Canada, the U.K., and New Zealand. Reports can be found at www.wind-watch.org/news and www.wind-watch.org/documents.

The noise is especially intrusive because wind energy facilities are often built in rural areas where the ambient sound level may be quite low, especially at night. On the logarithmic decibel (dB) scale, an increase of 10 dB is perceived as a doubling of the noise level. An increase of 6 dB is considered to be a serious community issue. Since a quiet night in the country is typically around 25 dB, the common claim by wind developers of 45 dB at the nearest home would be perceived as a noise four times louder than normal. And because it is intermittent and directional, those affected assert that one can never get used to it. The disruption of sleep alone presents serious health and human rights issues.

The problem is worse than the industry admits. Frits van den Berg, a physicist at the University of Groningen in The Netherlands, studied noise levels around a German facility of 17 turbines. In a 2003 paper published in the Journal of Sound and Vibration, he found that at night, because the surface air is often more still than the air at the height of the blades, the noise from the turbines is 15 to 18 dB higher than during the day and carries farther. He noted that residents 1.9 kilometers (6,200 feet or 1.2 miles) away expressed strong annoyance with noise from the facility.

The French National Academy of Medicine has called for a halt of all large-scale wind development within 1.5 kilometers of any residence, because the sounds emitted by the blades constitute a permanent risk for people exposed to them. The U.K. Noise Association studied the issue and agreed with the recommendation of a 1-mile setback.

In the U.S., the National Wind Coordinating Committee could not avoid the conclusion that “those affected by noise generated by wind turbines live within a few miles of a large wind power plant or within several thousand feet of a small plant or individual turbine. Although the noise at these distances is not great, it nevertheless is sufficient to be heard indoors and may be especially disturbing in the middle of the night when traffic and household sounds are diminished.”

National Wind Watch calls on the commercial wind industry to respect the people who reside in targeted development regions, to honor their right to healthy lives and peaceful enjoyment of their homes, by adopting meaningful setbacks — measured in miles, not in feet.
National Wind Watch, Inc.