Federal regulators approve Energy East merger

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved Thursday afternoon the merger between Energy East Corporation and Spanish utility company Iberdrola, S.A.

According to FERC spokeswoman Barbara Connors, the government regulating agency assessed the acquisition for its consistency with public interest, effects on competition, rates and regulation, and the potential for cross-subsidization of a non-utility associate company.

Because Iberdrola’s operational facilities are independent of New York and New England, where Energy East also has electric utility operations, FERC officials determined that the merger would not “harm competition”

In terms of its effects on wholesale rate customers, the government agency said in a statement that “nothing in the application indicates that rates to customers will increase as a result of the transaction.”

A spokesman for Energy East could not immediately be reached for comment.

Residential Electricity Offers for COHOCTON, NY

(Click on link to review rate pricing from electric suppliers)

Glenn Schleede response to the compromised "energy tax"

The Chairmen of House Ways & Means(Rangel, D-NY15) and Senate Finance (Baucus, D-MT) apparently have agreed on a compromise "energy tax" bill that would extend the wind production tax credit through 2012. Now would be a good time to tell your Congressman and Senators, once again, that:

a. Wind energy is not in the national and public interest
b. Subsidizing wind energy with tax breaks is not in the national and public interest
c. You are tired of having tax burden shifted from "wind farm" owners to you.

Please also be aware that another "energy" bill would impose a national 15% RPS.

Glenn Schleede

*****************************

Pasted below is a press release of the agreement between Chairmen Rangel and Baucus on the energy tax title. Key provisions of the bill include:
· Extending the placed-in-service date for the renewable production tax credit (PTC) for 4 years (through 12/31/2012). Includes new category of qualifying facilities that generate waves and tides. Caps the aggregate amount of credits to an amount that has a present value equal to 35% of the facility’s cost (similar to the House Ways and Means provision).

· Extending the 30% investment tax credit for solar property, and includes the removal of the utility exclusion for solar and geothermal property.

· Reducing depreciable lives for smart meters from 20 to 7 years (further details are not yet available on sunset dates or net metering).

· Extending the Transco provision for two years (applies to sales before 1/1/2010).

· Providing $2 billion of tax credits for creation of advanced coal electricity projects and certain gasification projects that demonstrate the greatest potential for carbon capture and sequestration.

· Establishing a new tax credit for individuals that purchase plug-in hybrid vehicles. Base amount of the credit is $3,000 for the individual.

· Extending the tax credit for energy-efficiency improvements to existing homes for one year (through 12/31/08).

· Extending the energy-efficient commercial buildings deduction for five years (through 12/31/2013).

· Extending the credit for residential solar property for six years (through the end of 2014).

We will keep you advised as more details are released.

House Committee on Ways and Means

For Immediate Release:
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Contact:
Carol Guthrie (Baucus) 224-4515
Matthew Beck (Rangel) 225-8933

House, Senate to Consider Energy Tax Legislation
Baucus, Rangel unveil $21 billion package of incentives for renewable energy, capture of carbon emissions, energy efficiency in business and at home

Washington, D.C. – Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and House Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) today unveiled a package of energy tax legislation for consideration by Congress this year. The $21 billion package, on which the House is expected to vote this week, advances the development of advanced electricity infrastructure, contains incentives to mitigate carbon emissions, promotes the production of alternative energy and the security of our domestic fuel supply, supports the use of alternative vehicles, and encourages energy savings and efficiency. Its cost is fully offset.

"Our country needs to make a big turn in terms of energy policy, and this tax package will help to steer the ship. This legislation will help America to use more carefully the resources we have today, and to balance our energy incentives toward the fuels of tomorrow," said Baucus. "An economically strong, globally competitive future for America just won’t run on the fuels of the past. It’s high time to focus our energy efforts on sources that will be available and affordable for Americans decades from now. And it’s appropriate to pay for these new energy incentives by closing loopholes in our current energy tax policy. I am sure the Senate will have a robust debate on some provisions of this important legislation, but I expect that we will all work together to see it passed."

"This legislation helps ensure that our tax code is a partner in moving our energy policies into the 21st century," said Rangel. "By creating and expanding incentives for the use and production of renewable energy and conservation, we help break our dependence on foreign oil and promote America’s energy independence. Investments in cutting-edge renewable energy technologies will also help keep American manufacturers and producers at the forefront of technological developments internationally."

Key provisions in the Clean Renewable Energy and Conservation Tax Act of 2007 include:

1) Long-term extensions of tax credits for renewable electricity
2) Tax credits for carbon capture and sequestration demonstration projects
3) Tax credits for production of biofuels, including cellulosic ethanol
4) Tax credit bonds for renewable energy and conservation
5) Extensions of energy efficiency tax incentives

The package also includes revenue-raising provisions affecting the oil and gas industry. However, the provisions have been designed to prevent any retroactive effect on the industry and to avoid negative impacts on production that may generate increased consumer prices. The main oil-and-gas-related provisions repeal the domestic manufacturing incentive for the top five integrated producers while freezing the deduction at 6% for all others in the sector. The Act also tightens rules governing the payment of taxes by oil and gas producers on foreign-earned income.

The package was developed in close consultation with Senate Energy Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman, who is also a member of the Finance panel.

Click here to view a summary of the Clean Renewable Energy and Conservation Tax Act of 2007

Ron Paul on Global Warming

"I strongly oppose the Kyoto treaty. Providing for a clean environment is an excellent goal, but the Kyoto treaty doesn't do that. Instead it's placed the burden on the United States to cut emissions while not requiring China - the world's biggest polluter - an other polluting third-world countries to do a thing. Also, the regulations are harmful for American workers, because it encourages corporations to move their business overseas to countries where the regulations don't apply. It's bad science, it's bad policy, and it's bad for America. I am more than willing to work cooperatively with other nations to come up with policies that will safeguard the environment, but I oppose all nonbinding resolutions that place an unnecessary burden on the United States."

(Click on link for several You Tube Videos)

(Click link for Ron Paul banner site)

Turbine blade shredded in PA

The blade to one of the turbines at a wind farm in Wayne County, PA shredded in high wind conditions.

Don’t Ask Me About My Business

“I first heard about carbon trading at a conference more than 10 years ago. I got up and said ‘If I was the financial adviser to the Mafia, I would advise them to get into carbon trading.’ Nothing that has happened since then changes my opinion - rather the reverse..."

The words are those of Auckland energy consultant, Bryan Leyland, who is Chairman of the Economic Panel of the New Zealand Climate Science Coalition [as reported by: ‘Carbon Trading Open Invitation To Fraud’, Scoop, November 22].

You can just imagine the scene, can’t you (‘The Godfather Part IV’)?

Bryan ‘Energy’ Leyland, the new Tom Hagen: “Well, I say yes. There’s more money potential in global carbon trading than anything else we’re looking at. Now, if we don’t get into it somebody else will. Maybe the Tattaglia Family, maybe all of them, and with the money they earn they’ll be able to buy more police and political power. Right now we have the gambling and we have the unions and those are the best things to have. But carbon trading is a thing of the future. If we don’t get into it now we risk everything we have. Not now but ten years from now.”

Back in the real world, Leyland summarizes trenchantly the potential dangers of carbon trading, again as reported in the Scoop story:

“So, to my knowledge, carbon trading is the only commodity trading where it is impossible to establish with reasonable accuracy how much is being bought and sold, where the commodity that is traded is invisible and can perform no useful purpose for the purchaser, and where both parties benefit if the quantities traded have been exaggerated.

It is, therefore, an open invitation to fraud and that is exactly what is happening all over the world."

Fascinatingly, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), at its annual conference in London today and tomorrow, will use a new ‘Climate Change Report’ to claim that the price of carbon must rise from about 24 euros per tonne to somewhere between 60 euros and 90 euros. The mafia would be raising a Sicilian toast!

Richard Lambert, the Director-General of the CBI is reported by The Times as saying:

“The Government must ... keep the pressure on our international partners to commit to agreements that deliver a robust world price for carbon.”

Oh dear! I’m beginning to feel a bit like Kay Adams, Michael Corleone’s second wife:

“Michael Corleone: ‘Don't ask me about my business, Kay.’”

And with good reason. All along I have argued that carbon trading will actually increase carbon dioxide emissions while lining the pockets of the traders. It is an ‘open sesame’ for abuse and corruption. As Mr. Leyland comments:

“The amount of greenhouse gas emissions from an industrial plant can be measured to an accuracy of, at best, +/-10%. If you are purchasing carbon credits from, for instance, a forest, the accuracy of measurement is probably something between +/-100%. If it is a tropical forest, it could be minus 150% because there is reasonable evidence that some tropical forests are net emitters of greenhouse gases."

And, as Tom Hagen would surely have said: “There’s more money potential in global carbon trading than anything else we’re looking at.”

This could prove to be the classic example of Obese Capitalism eating up its Greens.

And the impact on climate? You might as well have Prohibition.

“I’ll drink to that!”

SCIDA Pubilc Hearing Notice UPC Prattsburgh - 10:00 AM Dec. 18, 2007 - Prattsburgh Town Hall

11/27/2007 11:50 15854198817 HARRIS BEACH PLLC 2C PAGE 03/06

NOTICE OF PUBLICHEARING NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN

that a public hearing pursuant to Article 18-Aof the New York Genera] Municipal Law will be held by the Steuben County Industrial Development Agency (the "Agency") on Tuesday, December 18~2007, at 10:00 a.m., local time, at the PrattsburghTown Hall, 19North Main Street,Prattsburgh,New York, 14873,in connection with the following matter:

Windfarm Prattsburgh, LLC, for itself or on behalf of an entity to be fonned (the "Company"), has requested the Agency's assistance with respect to a certain project (the "Project")consisting of (i) the acquisition by the Agency of an interest in various parcels of land consisting of approximately 2,500 acres of land in which the Company has a leasehold or other interest (owned by the Company and/or approximately 40 individual landowners)located off of Stanton Road, State Route 53, Fisher Road, Emerson Road, McMichael Road, Davis Road, Dillenbeck Road, Block School Road, Gay Road, Cook School Road, and Rosy Hill Road, all within the Town of Prattsburgh, Steuben County, New York (collectively, the "Land"), (ii) the construction and equipping on the Land of a wind energy generation facility consisting of approximately thirty-six (36) wind turbines generating approximately 54 megawatts of power~ together with related construction of one (1) meteorological tower, a system of gravel access roadst underground electrical interconnect lines, an operations and maintenance building, and related improvements on the Land, all for the production of wind-generated electricity (the "Improvements"), (iii) the acquisition of and installation in and around the Improvements of certain additional items of equipment and personal property necessary for the operation of the wind energy generation facility (the "Equipment" and, collectively with the Land and the Improvements, the "Facility"). The Project will also consist of an interconnection substation located in the Town of Italy, Yates County~for which the Agency will not provide assistance or take title or take a leasehold interest.

The Agency will acquire title to or a leasehold interest in the Facility and lease the Facility back to the Company. The Company will operate the Facility during the tenn of the lease. At the end of the lease term, the Company will purchase the Facility from the Agency or, if the Agency holds a leasehold interest, the leasehold interest will be terminated. The Agency contemplatesthat it will provide financial assistanceto the Company in the fonn of sales and use tax exemptions and a mortgage recording tax exemption consistent with the policies of the Agency,and a partial real property tax abatementthrough a payment-in-lieu-of-taxagreement.

A representative of the Agency will be at the above-stated time and place to present a copy of the Company'sproject applicationand hear and accept written and oral comments from all persons with views in favor of, opposed to, or otherwise relevant to the proposed financial assistance.

Dated: November 15,2007
STEUBEN COUNTY INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT AGENCY
By: James P. Sherron, Executive Director

Town of Malone wants say in wind ordinances

Malone%20Tel%20%2012-3-07.pdf

Naples Valley Bristol Hills Association - Web Site

Visit the web site of the new organization that has been formed to address the proposed RG&E/NYSEG electric transmission line that would go through Naples and South Bristol.

RSS feed appears at the bottom of the CWW header section.

Iberdrola sees US acquisition as platform for wind

http://www.environmental-finance.com/onlinews/0628ibe.htm

New York, 28 June: Iberdrola is to acquire US utility Energy East, in a move that the Spanish energy giant says will underpin an expansion into the US renewables market.

On Monday, Bilbao-based Iberdrola agreed to acquire Albany, New York-based Energy East, in a friendly transaction, for €3.4 billion ($4.5 billion) and the assumption of €3 billion in debt. US and state regulators must approve the deal, which the companies expect to close by mid-2008.

Iberdrola already owns more than 17,500 MW of renewable generating capacity, including large-scale hydro, and has acquired some US wind projects. But Energy East would give it a larger presence in the country.

Energy East owns utilities in New York and New England that operate mainly as distribution companies, owning little generation. But with its steady utility revenues, Energy East will become "a platform for further growth in the US," said José Luis del Valle, Iberdrola's director of strategy and development. There is strong support for wind in the US, he said, from federal tax benefits and state Renewable Portfolio Standards that require utilities to obtain a percentage of their power from renewables.

Strong drivers are the Production Tax Credit (PTC), which provides 1.9 cents/kWh for renewables, and accelerated depreciation for equipment. But companies may only claim the credits if they have taxable US income, which Iberdrola would gain in Energy East.

"The profitability of wind energy can only be maximised by taking advantage of the tax credits," said Iberdrola CEO Ignacio Galan, during the webcast. The Energy East acquisition will "enable tax optimisation of Iberdrola's renewables business in the US".

Iberdrola obtained 1,600MW of operating or planned US wind farms when it acquired Scottish Power and its PPM Energy subsidiary in April. That same month, it bought CPV Wind Ventures, with 3,500MW in development.

These deals followed Iberdrola's 2006 purchase of Community Energy, which is developing 2,000MW of wind and which markets green energy. Iberdrola will also gain up to 1,000MW of US wind farms to be built by Spanish turbine manufacturer Gamesa. And it signed a contract to buy 2,700MW of Gamesa turbines – an advantage in a market where turbine shortages have hampered some developers.

Proposed RG&E Transmission Line Routes Through Naples and South Bristol

Neighbor's windmill lowers property value, civil board rules

DERBY — Being close to a windmill lowers the value of a property, says Derby’s Board of Civil Authority (BCA). After inspecting property belonging to George and Doris Buzzell, the board decided to lower its appraised value by 10 percent from $242,300 to $227,600.

The BCA is made up of Derby’s selectmen, justices of the peace and town clerk. It hears appeals of property assessment grievance decisions made by town listers.
According to the minutes of recent BCA meetings, the Buzzells objected to the recent revaluation of their property on Ridgehill Drive off Shattuck Hill Road. The couple was represented at meetings on October 29 and November 7 by Trevor Evans and Raymond Toolan.

Mr. Toolan argued that noise and light from a windmill within 300 feet of the Buzzells’ house lessens the home’s value. The Buzzells say noises, vibrations and lights from the windmill, owned by Senator Vince Illuzzi and located on his property, interfere with the enjoyment of their home. Mr. Buzzell’s "quality of living is far different today than when he purchased the property," Mr. Toolan said.
The effects of the windmill on the property vary from day to day, Mr. Toolan told the BCA. Some days the glare from the blades requires the Buzzells to close their blinds. On windy days the noise is very loud.

Derby listers G. Tom Cyr, Nancy Gosselin and Tom Roberts said they were unwilling to lower the property’s value without the results of noise studies. Mr. Cyr said everyone’s tolerance of noise and light is different, and the only way to determine the level of either is with a scientific study.

Such a study would cost between $3,000 and $4,000, the listers said. Mr. Evan’s asked who would bear the cost of such a study.

The BCA decided to send a committee composed of justices of the peace Beula-Jean Shattuck, Shirley Fournier and Elizabeth Bumps to visit the Buzzells’ property and see the situation for themselves. Ms. Shattuck is also a selectman.

The committee went, looked and listened. They reported back to the BCA on November 7, saying that they noticed constant sound from the windmill and flashing lights from its blades.

Mr. Buzzell told them the property, which is distant from the village and traffic, was purchased for peace and quiet. He said the lights and noise are totally distracting.

Members of the committee recommended that an "8 percent economic depreciation" be applied to the property. They said they feel that the windmill could deter some buyers from purchasing the property, and thus it affects fair market value.

Ms. Bumps said she spoke with a local private appraiser who said that a windmill on neighboring land would decrease a property’s value.

Brian Smith, the chairman of Derby’s Board of Selectmen, moved that the property value be reduced by 10 percent. The motion was seconded by Ms. Bumps and was carried. Derby Selectman and Justice of the Peace Karen Jenne abstained from the vote.

by Joseph Gresser
The (Barton) Chronicle
Nov. 28, 2007

New rural view: Area wind projects in various states of approval SCIDA looking at several next month by BOB CLARK

BATH - As Cohocton wind turbines are being built skyward, local projects are still on the road to final approval.

The Steuben County Industrial Development Agency will discuss projects in Cohocton and Howard at its next board meeting, Dec. 20, according to Executive Director Jim Sherron.

The board will mull over the final project resolution on the 51-turbine Cohocton and Dutch Hill projects at the meeting, and Sherron believes the board will put it to a vote.

“(UPC Wind) completed their final environmental impact findings,” Sherron said, adding only the Payment in Lieu of Taxes agreement is left before the board can look at approving the final resolution.

The PILOT agreement was discussed at the September board meeting, but was tabled after local union officials filed complaints that the lead contractor on the project, Mortenson Construction, was not hiring local workers for the project.

The SCIDA board also will look at results from a state environmental quality review study at the meeting from the 62.5-megawatt Howard Wind Project being developed by EverPower Renewables. EverPower signed a 10-year agreement with the Steuben Rural Electric Cooperative in the end of October to purchase power from the turbines when they are constructed.

One project that has been quiet lately is the proposed Airtricity project in Hartsville and Hornellsville. According to Sherron and Airtricity Project Manager Bob Sherwin, the project is currently stalled.

“The project is in hold for development,” Sherwin said, adding the company is still looking at the feasibility of the project.

“It's been pretty much inactive,” Sherron said. “They completed the scope of the review, but there has been no environmental impact statement.”

Airtricity, an Irish company that operates wind farms in the United States and three other North Atlantic countries, sold its North American division to E.ON, a German utility, for $1.4 billion in early October.

Worldwide rush for wind power could result in massive debt

As told in a recent ad, a Johnsburg farmer who will host wind turbines now has many regrets.

He regrets having been the "lure" to draw in other unsuspecting landowners. He regrets that he has allowed fields to be subdivided, road base to be spread on land once picked bare of rocks, costly tiling to be cut up. He regrets that he's no longer the person who controls his own land and is now told where to go by security guards. He regrets the divide he has created between friends, between neighbors and between family members.

He regrets not having looked into all the ramifications first. That farmer is now locked in to a binding contract. But there are many landowners who have not yet suffered this fate.

Calumet County Citizens for Responsible Energy asks that landowners considering a contract first step back and study the issues. As with any financial transaction, don't put a lot of trust in those who stand to gain financially.

Look for Web sites and information from those experiencing the effects of this worldwide "gold" rush for wind power. People across world are rebelling. They're finding that they've lost control of their land and their lives. And they're in danger of financial hardship if these companies dissolve.

Our irresponsible government representatives are forcing this "windfall" for wind investors on us. Their knee-jerk reaction to the global climate change alarms will cause billions of dollars to be wasted, lives to be ruined, and environments degraded for what is, in actuality, a very inefficient energy source.

With a declining tax base and state and U.S. legislators driving us further into massive debt, taxpayer subsidies for wind will be impossible to maintain.

And with the subsidies gone, what will you be left hosting?

Don Bangert,
Chilton

Giants rising: Towers going up in Cohocton by BOB CLARK

COHOCTON - Despite snow, rain and mud, wind turbine towers are starting to go up on top of Dutch Hill.

So far, contractors Mortenson Construction has only started assembling sections of one tower, but more are going up shortly, according to UPC Wind Public Outreach Coordinator Rick Towner.

“Three of the four main sections are up,” Towner said.

The tower sections on the site started going up Nov. 19. Site 2A is on top of Dutch Hill near the intersection of Dutch Hill Road and Fleishman Road.

Additional tower parts and rotor blades are being delivered daily to the sites, according to Towner, and most of the parts on-site already are at the 15 turbine sites on Dutch Hill. The parts have been stored off-site for months, with many turbine blades and tower sections sitting behind the 4M Complex in Dansville.

Most of the large concrete pads the 51 turbines will be anchored to have been poured, and some of the pads are ready for tower construction, according to Towner.

“I heard last week they will be done in three weeks,” he said.

The pads are 57-feet across and up to 15-feet thick in the center, according to Towner. Only a part of the pad, 16-feet across and two-feet high, will be above ground when topsoil is replaced.

Work on the sites began Sept. 18. Despite progress on the project and limited delays since the project began, there is no firm date for the completion of the work.

“Everybody asks that question,” Towner said, “and I have no date.”

The unpredictability of weather slows down construction, Towner said, adding high winds make it impossible to install rotors and upper tower sections.

“The plan is to continue all through winter,” Towner said.