Living In New York - Legal

UPC Wind changes its name to First Wind

Tue, 13 May 2008 09:15:53 -0400

A Newton wind-power company says it has changed its name from UPC Wind to First Wind to better reflect its approach to building, owning and running wind farms in North America.

First Wind officials said the name change, already in effect, would have no impact on the day-to-day operations, organizational structure or the ownership of the company, and the firm plans to remain focused on projects in the Northeast as well as on the West Coast and Hawaii.

PUC Chair resigns for wind-power job

Tue, 13 May 2008 09:14:48 -0400

Kurt Adams has resigned as chairman of the Maine Public Utilities Commission to join the wind-power company behind the Mars Hill and Stetson Mountain wind power projects.

Adams, who has served as chair of the PUC since 2005, will become senior vice president of transmission for First Wind, formerly known as UPC Wind, a wind development company based in Newton, Mass., according to a press release from the company.

Committee researches legalizing backyard wind turbines

Wed, 11 Jul 2007 12:28:11 -0400

ITHACA — Current code in the Town of Ithaca makes it impossible for individual homeowners to install wind turbines on their property, but that may change soon, said Cathy Valentino, town supervisor and a member of the Codes and Ordinances Committee.

The committee has been researching the issue of small wind-energy facilities for around four months, Valentino said, and committee members have a draft of a law to make installation and ownership of the facilities legal.

Article X to be Topic for July Session

Tue, 03 Jul 2007 11:00:05 -0400

The New York Legislature ended its regular session Friday without passing legislation that would allow expedited siting of power plants. Utilities, power producers and the New York Independent System Operator have said the measure is needed to attract investment in plants and avoid electricity shortages.

The legislature could possibly take up the matter again as early as July, when he expects lawmakers will reconvene for a limited, special session. At issue is the Article X law, which provided a single process for obtaining all permits, and guaranteed a one-year limit to the review process. Article X also gave the state authority to override local objections to plants.

U.S. adopts limits on clean water law enforcement

Thu, 07 Jun 2007 10:51:24 -0400

WASHINGTON The landmark U.S. law to fight water pollution will now apply only to bodies of water large enough for boats to use, and their adjacent wetlands, and will not automatically protect streams, the U.S. government said on Tuesday.

Environmental groups said they fear the new policy will muddy the purpose of the federal Clean Water Act and put many smaller bodies of water at risk. Democrats in Congress have introduced legislation mandating protection of creeks, estuaries and other watersheds.

Lawmaker Backs of Rules for Wind Energy

Thu, 07 Jun 2007 08:28:40 -0400

By H. JOSEF HEBERT

WASHINGTON (AP) - A House committee chairman from a coal-producing state backed away Wednesday from requiring regulations for the wind energy industry to protect birds and bats, rules the industry said would halt development of wind farms as an alternative to coal.

Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., had put into an energy bill a requirement that the Interior Department regulate the siting and operation of energy wind turbines to ensure the safety of wildlife.

His action unleashed intense lobbying by the wind industry and renewable energy advocates, who argued that such restrictions would stop wind farm development at a time when wind is viewed as the most viable renewable alternative to fossil fuels and nuclear power for producing electricity.

As his committee began final crafting of the energy package Wednesday, Rahall relented and agreed to support, instead, a less-sweeping measure offered by Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass. It calls on the Interior Department to develop "guidelines" for protection of wildlife from wind turbines, not regulations.

"I think it was a good compromise. It will allow the development of wind and still allow for a process" to protect wildlife, Rahall said after his committee recessed for the day. A final vote on the energy package was expected Thursday.

This "will allow wind power to continue to thrive," said Markey. Rahall said he expects Markey's amendment to get final approval, although it must still go through a formal committee vote.

The turnaround also shows the increasing political clout of the wind industry, which includes such corporate giants as General Electric Co. (GE) The industry's trade association has more than 1,000 members, compared to a few hundred five years ago.

Electricity from wind turbines serves some 3 million homes, although wind power still accounts for less than 1 percent of the total electricity produced. Coal is burned to produce more than half of the country's electricity, and nuclear reactors account for about 20 percent.

As Congress prepares to consider legislation that would require utilities to produce 15 percent of their electricity from renewable sources, wind is viewed as increasingly critical and likely would be used to meet the largest portion of that mandate.

"We turned around what was a very bad provision," said Jaime Steve, legislative affairs director for the American Wind Energy Association, referring to getting Rahall to back away from his original proposal. It would have required the Interior Department to develop regulations affecting surveys, siting, operation and monitoring standards for wind energy projects to determine their impact on migratory birds, bats and other wildlife.

The industry cited a National Academy of Sciences study that said wind turbines accounted for only three of every 100,000 bird deaths. Domestic cats kill 1,000 times as many birds as wind turbines, Steve said, citing another study.

The wind energy industry has been growing at more than 25 percent a year. It installed more than 2,400 megawatts of capacity last year with an expectation of 3,000 additional megawatts this year.

Republicans on the Natural Resources Committee attacked the broader energy legislation that the committee is expected to approved Thursday, saying it does nothing to produce more energy and, in fact, rolls back some measures approved by Congress two years ago that were aimed at streamlining the permitting process for oil and gas development on federal lands.

"I call this the national energy suicide bill," declared Rep. Don Young of Alaska, the ranking Republican on the committee. "This bill does nothing for coal. It does nothing to get more natural gas or about our ability to produce any more oil on shore and off shore. It discourages it."

Rahall said the legislation corrects some of the "excesses" given the oil and gas industry by Congress in 2005 when Republicans were in the majority.

Jordanville Wind Project

Sun, 27 May 2007 23:56:07 -0400

Town of Warren and Town of Stark are holding a meeting on 5/30/07 and 5/31/07 repectively.I attended the Warren meeting on 5/21/07, which they used a divide and conqueror tactic as Town of Stark was the same night. I was appalled with what I heard.So I wrote a letter to the towns of Stark & Warren board members and supervisor's. I also have been going door to door handing out my letter to as many Town of Warren residents that I can because I wanted to community to be aware.

Bethany Open House passes without incident

Thu, 17 May 2007 12:07:16 -0400

(Disclaimer: I speak for myself in this op-ed article, not anyone else).

The Bethany Open House passed without incident last night. Very few residents showed up to view the available report, so there are many copies left at the Town Hall (hint, hint, go get one while they're free).

TAXES

I will say I was unhappy with the cover letter that accompanied the reports last night -- it listed the tax inflation over the next twenty years as being 50%. Well, sure, but due to inflation EVERYTHING will go up 50% over the next twenty years. That does not necessarily mean that we need turbines to survive.

Wind Power Struggles in Cohocton

Mon, 14 May 2007 02:12:29 -0400

Bath, N.Y. -- Judge Marianne Furfure heard arguments on May 8th brought by Cohocton Wind Watch, an anti-windmill group that says the Town of Cohocton did not comply with the State Environmental Quality Review Act when it changed its zoning regulations to make way for a project propsed by developer UPC Wind.

UPC Wind wants to build fifty 500-foot wind turbines in the hillsides scattered in and around Cohocton. They will lease farmland from local farmers and then sell that power to local energy distributors.

German Dilemma: Who Owns the Wind?

Fri, 11 May 2007 10:38:36 -0400

With a growing number of wind power stations in Germany, a new kind of legal case is rearing its ugly head. The crime: stealing wind.

It's an offense not mentioned in the bible or the statute books. But in a broader sense it is about theft, even when the booty itself is invisible. But it is still a major problem for the German legal system, including a court in Leipzig that is currently hearing a case involving a dispute between the operators of two wind turbine facilities. Who owns the wind?

Group goes to court over wind farm

Mon, 07 May 2007 10:35:04 -0400

BATH – A legal action aimed at stopping a Town of Cohocton wind energy project will be heard Tuesday May 8 in state Supreme Court in Steuben County.

Judge Marianne Furfure is scheduled to hear arguments brought by Cohocton Wind Watch. The anti-windmill group contends that the Town of Cohocton did not comply with the State Environmental Quality Review Act when it modified its zoning law to allow a project proposed by developer UPC Wind.

"It's Your Wind" says Golisano

Thu, 05 Apr 2007 19:38:04 -0400

Amid references to his hockey team and jokes that fired up the nearly 200 in attendance, billionaire Tom Golisano, owner of the Buffalo Sabres and founder of the successful Paychex company out of Rochester, promoted his newest entrepreneurial endeavor, Empire State Wind Energy, on Monday night at the Albion Senior High School.

It wasn’t the first occasion politicians and residents of Orleans County had gathered to hear heads of companies pass on details related to the often controversial topic of wind turbines. But, according to Golisano and his business partner Keith Pitman, their plan is different.

Arkwright Residents Organize Energy Group

Thu, 05 Apr 2007 19:36:05 -0400

Larry Wilcox is co-chairman of a group of Arkwright residents who have organized themselves under the name Neighbors Informed about Clean Energy to support the development of wind turbines in Arkwright.

Wilcox said the group also wants to help Chautauqua County residents become knowledgeable about wind projects and help them become better informed about clean alternatives to growing energy demands.

Centerville Citizens Challenge Wind Farm Law

Thu, 05 Apr 2007 19:29:42 -0400

A group of landowners in the Town of Centerville filed suit Friday alleging the town board worked hand-in-hand with Noble Environmental Power, LLC, to craft a local law that accommodates Noble’s proposed Centerville Windpark, but without looking at the environmental impacts. The project would add at least 60 wind turbines, each about fifty stories high, to Noble’s Bliss Windpark in the Town of Eagle. Sixty-seven wind turbines have already been approved in Eagle. A comparable wind farm is planned by Noble in the Town of Farmersville in Cattaraugus County.

Town extends wind delay

Tue, 27 Mar 2007 17:02:48 -0400

Approximately 100 people attended the Meredith Town Board meeting Tuesday, where Sue Bailey presented petitions with 770 signatures opposing industrial wind turbines, Supervisor Frank Bachler said Friday.

Bachler said the crowd overflowed the town meeting room, which can only accommodate about 50 people.

The board passed a resolution to extend the moratorium on the erection of wind turbines for three months after the current one-year moratorium expires April 3, Bachler said. A public hearing on the extended moratorium will be held at 7 p.m. March 27 at the Meredith Town Hall.