Another Call for a Moratorium on Wind Development Along the St. Lawrence
Written by Gerald Smith & William Evans | 
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August 12, 2010
This letter expresses our deep concern about the potential impacts on birds, specifically raptors (eagles, hawks, owls), grassland birds, the Purple Martin (and other aerial insectivores), as well as bats from industrial wind energy development in the vicinity of northeastern Lake Ontario and the upper St. Lawrence River.1 The impetus for this letter is the results from the July-December 2009 bird & bat fatality study at the Wolfe Island Wind Project, which provide the first concrete evidence substantiating these concerns.
In only six months of study, part of which occurred during a cyclical low in raptor numbers, the raptor fatality rate at the Wolfe Island Wind Project was already among the highest documented in eastern North America. What is especially troubling about this high raptor fatality rate at the Wolfe Island Wind Project is that one third of the fatality study was conducted during November-December 2009 during a cyclical low in raptor numbers. The winter of 2009-2010 had very low numbers of most species of winter raptors on Wolfe Island and in much of the grassland region around northeastern Lake Ontario and the upper St. Lawrence River valley. There is a complex 3-5 year cycle of raptor abundance in this region that corresponds with vole population cycles, i.e., high raptor abundance linked to high vole density.4 An even higher raptor fatality rate at the Wolfe Island Wind Project appears inevitable during winters when raptors are more abundant on Wolfe Island.
Please click on the pdf link below to read the rest of the letter...
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 Gerry Smith:Bill Evans Final moratorium letter081210.pdf |
Hopkinton Drafting Wind Turbines Law
Written by Larry Robinson, Daily Courier-Observer | | |
August 21, 2010
HOPKINTON – The Hopkinton Town Board is drafting a law governing the installation of wind turbines, and a handful of residents have reportedly inked deals with Iberdrola Renewables, Inc. to allow turbines to be placed on their property should wind farm development take place. Supervisor Stephen J. Bory said Thursday a draft local law on the development of wind turbines is now in the hands of St. Lawrence County Planning officials and that he expects the Hopkinton Town Council to vote on adopting the law within the next three months.
Renewables Investors Fear Withdrawal Of Subsidies
Written by Wall Street Journal, Business Section | | |
August 19, 2010
European Governments Are Finding Themselves Forced to Scale Back Amid Budgetary Pressures and High Power Prices
[...] Spain saw a boom in photovoltaic installation in 2007 and 2008, before a regulatory change in September 2008 lowered subsidies for future installations. Capacity installed prior to this change receives a highly subsidized feed-in tariff of as much as €440 per megawatt hour of electricity produced, which is roughly 10 times the price utilities pay for power produced from conventional sources—gas, coal, nuclear and hydro power. The government gives priority to renewable power, mandating that this must go first into the electricity pool every day. But while it forces utilities to use this expensively produced power, the government has been unwilling to raise the prices charged to consumers to keep pace. Utilities are expected to put up with the cost temporarily, stating the deficit between regulated prices and production costs as a "tariff deficit" in their books. In 1997, a law gave a guarantee to utilities that their production costs would be covered while prices remained regulated. The government therefore has an obligation to reimburse them for the tariff deficit, which now amounts to about €16 billion. But it has yet to say how exactly it intends to do this.
All Acciona-Cape Vincent Town Planning Board FEIS Questions Discussed and Resolved in 7 Minutes
Written by Jefferson Leaning Left Blog | | |
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Yup! I was timing how long it would take the members of the Cape Vincent Town Planning Board to discussed their concerns about the completeness of the information in the two giant binders that contained the document that will impact our community with important concerns that will never be resolved in my lifetime. It took a total of seven minutes for the four members to resolve all the questions they had before voting their approval. The actual meeting took twenty minutes, much of which was used by Chairman Edsall as he and Bryan Stumpf of Acciona worked out the details of how to deliver the document to the proper agencies.Planning Board member, Karen Bourcy was absent because she is listed as a public official having a financial conflict of interest with Acciona.
Click here to read the rest of the blog article....
Town accepts final impact statement
Written by Robert Brauchle, Watertown Times Staff Writer | | |
ST. LAWRENCE WIND FARM: Cape Vincent approves study day after vote to suspend development fails
AUGUST 19, 2010
CAPE VINCENT — The town Planning Board unanimously accepted the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the St. Lawrence Wind Farm as being complete Wednesday night, a day after the Town Council here lacked the votes to suspend all wind power development. During the roughly 20-minute meeting, board members asked for an explanation from the developer, Acciona Wind Energy USA, as to why the project was reduced from 53 turbines to 51 and whether that change affects the studies performed for the larger project.
Click here to read the rest of Robert's article...
Blown in the Wind: The U.S. Should Stop Wasting Billions to Subsidize Unreliable Wind Energy Projects
Written by Robert Bryce, Slate | | |
August. 16, 2010
They like everything big in Texas, and wind energy is no exception. Texas has more wind generation capacity than any other state, about 9,700 megawatts. (That's nearly as much installed wind capacity as India.) Texas residential ratepayers are now paying about $4 more per month on their electric bills in order to fund some 2,300 miles of new transmission lines to carry wind-generated electricity from rural areas to the state's urban centers. It's time for those customers to ask for a refund. The reason: When it gets hot in Texas—and it's darn hot in the Lone Star State in the summer—the state's ratepayers can't count on that wind energy. On Aug. 4, at about 5 p.m., electricity demand in Texas hit a record: 63,594 megawatts. But according to the state's grid operator, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the state's wind turbines provided only about 500 megawatts of power when demand was peaking and the value of electricity was at its highest.
Cape Declines Halt on Wind
Written by Robert Brauchle, Watertown Times Staff Writer | | |
MEASURE NOT DEAD: Re-vote likely when all councilmen present
AUGUST 18, 2010
CAPE VINCENT — A special meeting expected to temporarily halt wind power development in the town ended anticlimactically Tuesday, with the Town Council failing to pass a resolution. The measure, presented by Supervisor Urban C. Hirschey, would have suspended all actions pertaining to wind development until a state Attorney General's office investigation is complete. With council members Mickey W. Orvis and Marty T. Mason on vacation, the town board would have needed all three members present to vote in favor of the resolution for it to pass.
Click here to read the rest of Robert's article...
Town of Orleans Denies Iberdrola Test Towers
Written by Patty Borras-Miller, ECCO | | |
Aug 18, 2010
TOWN OF ORLEANS Planning Board held a public hearing last evening. On the agenda were applications by Barb Thompson Route 181 and David Lawton Co Route 15 to have Iberdoala/AKA Atlantic Wind to erect two Wind Test (MET) Towers on their lands. Residents attending including myself were ready to make public comments BUT there was no need to speak. When it came time for Planning Board Chair David Morse to open up the public hearing, Town Attorney James Burrows intervened and took the floor. Mr. Burrows explained to the Planning Board that these two applications for variances for wind test towers are outside of the town’s current wind district and they are not allowed. Wind test towers are part of the process to place an industrial wind farm application and the town’s present rule is that any wind farm application will apply only the use of the current wind district. Mr. Burrows informed the planning board that these applications are voided and there is no voting process here. Mr. Burrows explained to Iberdola AKA Atlantic Wind representatives at the meeting Mr. Dan Murdie and Ms. Jenny Burke that the process for them is to take their applications to the zoning board to apply for rezoning of the wind district.
