Related Posts for wind
November 16, 2011
By Morgan Smith of the New York Times: BLACKWELL, Tex. — When people complain about the weather here, Abe Gott, the school superintendent, just smiles. A visit to the campus of the school district of about 160 students shows why. Behind the 1930s-era facade of the Blackwell school 30 miles south of Sweetwater looms a distinctly 21st-century sight: a wind turbine.
Energy development capitalizing on the high winds in the area — which quickly turned sunshine to chill rain one afternoon in late October — has injected sluggish rural communities with new economic lifeblood. More than one local resident has called it the “windfall,” and it has bestowed hundreds of millions of dollars on West Texas schools.
By the 2018-19 school year, Mr. Gott’s district will have received about $35 million from a deal it brokered with a wind farm company in 2005. On the school grounds, $15 million from a combination of bond and wind farm revenue has paid for a new football stadium and academic complex attached to the original school building. About $28 million sits in a foundation earmarked for scholarships; graduates receive $3,000 for each year they have spent in the district, which they can put toward any type of professional advancement, from a beauty school certificate to a bachelor’s degree.
The influx of wealth has also enabled the district to buy an iPad for every student, starting in the seventh grade.
“What I wanted is, if you grew up in a town of 350 people in West Texas, that should not work against you,” Mr. Gott said. “We can send you to Harvard, we can send you to Baylor, we can send you to Texas Tech — we can send you anywhere because we have the pathway to get there.”
About 69 districts across Texas — mostly rural, tiny schools — continue to benefit from a now-extinct quirk in the state’s school finance law that has led to what some consider an embarrassment of riches. How they spend the money, however, could be a valuable experiment in innovation in public education. Read more
November 14, 2011
Richard Cockle of The Oregonian: GRASS VALLEY — Every household in windswept Sherman County will soon get a Christmas gift in the mail: a $590 check.
The lonesome 831-square-mile county may lay to rest the adage about an “ill wind blowing nobody any good.” This is the third consecutive year that checks will go out for the people’s share of annual wind-energy revenues.
No other Oregon county makes similar payments and the $416,540 cash outlay may be unprecedented in the United States, says John Audley, spokesman for Renewable Northwest Project. His Portland-based coalition of companies and groups promotes renewable energy.
The checks are loosely modeled after dividend payments to Alaskans for oil gurgling through the Trans-Alaskan Pipeline. The county also gives its four tiny towns — Wasco, Moro, Rufus and Grass Valley — annual checks of $100,000 each.
Wind companies will pay Sherman County about $9 million this year in wind turbine revenues in lieu of property taxes. The companies pay another $3.3 million to about 35 wheat farmers who have turbines on their land, an average of $6,000 per turbine.
The county will pay out $100,000 each to its four towns and $416,540 to residents ($590 to 706 households). That’s a drop from $426,570 last year, when 723 households received payments. Also, the county uses some of the money for capital improvements.
Roughly 550 wind turbines rearing 300-plus feet into the breezy high desert sky have brought dramatic changes here. Twelve wind farms are now on line, producing 1,000 megawatts of alternative energy — enough to power 100,000 homes — and providing the county government with $9 million annual revenues.
Under the county’s agreement with the wind companies, the payments will continue until 2025.
Officials in nearby counties sometimes express “shock that we are giving that much money to residents,” says Judge Gary Thompson, chairman of the county’s governing commissioners.
But the county leaders figured regular folks deserved a cut of the windfall for having to look at the gigantic structures — not just the 35 or so landowners who reap payments from the companies for allowing wind turbines on their wheat farms. The property owners receive an average of $6,000 a year per wind turbine — and some have up to 30 on their wheat farms.
“We felt if you are going to live with these wind turbines, people should benefit from them somehow,” Thompson says.
Read more
November 7, 2011
Matthew Ryan Williams of The New York Times: For decades, electric companies have swung into emergency mode when demand soars on blistering hot days, appealing to households to use less power. But with the rise of wind energy, utilities in the Pacific Northwest are sometimes dealing with the opposite: moments when there is too much electricity for the grid to soak up.
So in a novel pilot project, they have recruited consumers to draw in excess electricity when that happens, storing it in a basement water heater or a space heater outfitted by the utility. The effort is rooted in some brushes with danger.
In June 2010, for example, a violent storm in the Northwest caused a simultaneous surge in wind power and in traditional hydropower, creating an oversupply that threatened to overwhelm the grid and cause a blackout.
As a result, the Bonneville Power Administration, the wholesale supplier to a broad swath of the region, turned this year to a strategy common to regions with hot summers: adjusting volunteers’ home appliances by remote control to balance supply and demand.
When excess supply threatens Bonneville’s grid, an operator in a control room hundreds of miles away will now dial up a volunteer’s water heater, raising the thermostat by 60 more degrees. Ceramic bricks in a nearby electric space heater can be warmed to hundreds of degrees.
The devices then function as thermal batteries, capable of giving back the energy when it is needed. Microchips run both systems, ensuring that tap-water and room temperatures in the home hardly vary.
“It’s a little bit of that Big Brother control, almost,” said Theresa Rothweiler, a teacher’s aide in the Port Angeles, Wash., school system who nonetheless signed up for the program with her husband, Bruce, a teacher.
She said she had been intrigued by an ad that Bonneville placed in the local paper that asked consumers to help enable the grid to absorb more renewable energy, especially wind.
“We’re always looking at ways to save energy, or be more efficient or green, however you want to put it,” said Ms. Rothweiler, who worries about leaving the planet a livable place for her 21-year-old daughter, Gretchen. Bonneville paid for the special technology, which runs around $1,000 per home.
Read more
October 25, 2011
Some good news from Golden Valley Electric Association. They’ve ordered the turbines for their Eva Creek wind farm near Healy. The utility plans to have the turbines up and running by 2012. The wind farm will be one of three on the Railbelt grid, which stretches from Homer to Fairbanks. In addition to the 24.6-megawatt Eva Creek project, there already is a 1-megawatt wind farm operated in Delta Junction by Alaska Environmental Power, and Chugach Electric Association and CIRI Inc. plan to have an 17.6-megawatt wind farm on Fire Island up and running by the end of 2012. Alaska currently has about 15 megawatts of installed wind power so these two new projects combined will more than triple the amount of installed wind power in Alaska. In addition, several other wind projects are ongoing in Alaska, including in Kotzebue where the utility is adding an additional 1.8 megawatts of power to its existing wind farm.
PRESS Release from REpower Systems REpower Systems: REPower has signed a contract with Golden Valley Electric Association (GVEA) for the delivery of a total of 12 wind turbines. The turbines are destined for the Eva Creek Wind Project near the community of Ferry, for what will become the largest wind project in Alaska to date. The wind farm will generate a total output of 24.6 megawatts (MW). This will also be the first project with REpower turbines in Alaska.
The Eva Creek project will use 12 of REpower’s Cold Climate Version (CCV) MM92 turbines, each with a rated power of 2.05 megawatts (MW) and a hub height of 78.5 metres. They are specifically designed for the harsh Alaskan climate. Commissioning of the wind farm is scheduled for fall 2012.
Andreas Nauen, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of REpower Systems SE, comments: “This project demonstrates REpower’s core competency in supplying extreme cold climate capable turbine technology. Our Cold Climate Version of the successful two-megawatt-series has been designed for sites with heavy temperature fluctuations and humid weather, and has already proven itself in projects in Québec, Canada and in Inner Mongolia, China. ”
Eva Creek is the first project between GVEA and the German-based wind turbine manufacturer. Steve Dayney, Managing Director of REpower USA, states: “We are happy to be working with the team of GVEA for the first time and proud to install our first REpower turbines in Alaska. Eva Creek once again showcases our powerful turbine plant technology is well suited for all climatic conditions in the United States.”
REpower USA Corp., headquartered in Denver, Colorado, has now installed or sold more than 400 wind turbines with a total power of more than 800 MW in the USA. Wind farms with REpower turbines have been constructed or installed in the states of Washington, Oregon, California, Michigan, Indiana, New York and now Alaska to a diverse group of customers.
Golden Valley Electric Association is a member-owned cooperative owning and operating five power plants that provide power to nearly 100,000 Interior residents. According to GVEA, the 24.6 megawatts project Eva Creek will meet its board’s renewable energy pledge of having 20 percent of the system’s peak load generated by renewable resources by 2014. Read more
October 23, 2011
By Shane Iverson of KYUK
Once operational these low power turbines in Kwigillingok will be the first step towards energy stability for three coastal villages.
The Caniinuq Wind Group is among the largest award recipients at the Alaska Marketplace competition. The energy cooperative emerging in Kwigillingok, Kongiganak and Kipnuk won $25,000 for their business plan to haul freight over the tundra in winter months. Several other Bethel area upstarts are also in the money. The results were announced Thursday at Alaska Federation of Natives annual convention. Hear more
October 14, 2011
Alex DeMarban of Alaska Dispatch: A state regulatory agency has essentially given the green light for a large-scale wind power project on Fire Island.
Three of the five commissioners with the Regulatory Commission of Alaska — Paul Lisanskie, Robert Pickett and Jan Wilson — issued a ruling late Monday saying the state’s largest electric utility, Chugach Electric Association Inc., can purchase power from Fire Island Wind Inc., a subsidiary of a regional Native corporation.
Under the deal blessed by the RCA, Chugach will purchase 48,500 megawatt hours of electricity from 11 turbines to be built by Fire Island Wind, at a 25-year fixed cost of 9.7 cents a kilowatt hour. The $65 million project in Turnagain Arm, three miles west of Anchorage, will provide about 4 percent of Chugach’s power, enough to power 6,000 homes, and reduce its reliance on natural gas.
Fire Island Wind parent company Cook Inlet Region Inc. had argued that the deal would die if it didn’t get a favorable decision this week, because it needs to build the wind turbines’ gravel pads as soon as possible in order to secure $19 million in federal funding and make the project economically viable.
Construction, with concrete bases and turbines set to rise next summer, will employ dozens of workers, said CIRI spokesman Jim Jager. Chugach has estimated the project would save the company nearly $3 million over 25 years, or about $20 a ratepayer. It currently has more than 60,000 customers.
Read more
October 14, 2011
By Tim Bradner of the Alaska Journal of Commerce: The Regulatory Commission of Alaska has approved an agreement for Chugach Electric Assoc. to purchase wind power from Fire Island Wind LLC, a subsidiary of Cook Inlet Region, Inc. in a decision issued late Oct. 10.
It’s not a done deal yet, however.
Under the contract Chugach would purchase 48,500 megawatt hours of electricity per year at a cost of 9.7 cents per kilowatt hour with a 25-year, fixed-price contract.
Fire Island Wind would spend $65 million to initially install 11 wind turbines on Fire Island, which is in Cook Inlet near Anchorage. Eventually the project is to be expanded, said Jim Jager, spokesman for Cook Inlet Region, an Alaska Native regional corporation that is Fire Island Wind’s parent company and which owns most of the land on Fire Island.
The contract was opposed by another Southcentral Alaska utility, Anchroage’s city-owned Municipal Power and Light, which argued it would cost Chugach $12.9 million more over 25 years than if Chugach were to continue with its present fuel sources, mainly natural gas but including some hydro.
The decision also requires Chugach to repay other utilities in the region for the cost of integrating wind power into their systems. Chugach spokesman Phil Steyer said the utility to studying the RCA order. The utility’s board will meet Wednesday to decide whether to accept the terms ordered by the regulatory commission. Read more
October 10, 2011
By STEVE CLEARY in the Anchorage Daily News:After years of talk, research, negotiation, back and forth and back again — Chugach Electric’s board unanimously approved a contract to buy power from CIRI’s Fire Island wind farm this past June. Since no other utility signed up for the power, the project has shrunk to just one-third of its original size. Chugach has been studying wind generation, at Fire Island and other areas, for the past 15 years. Its decision was carefully made and well-researched.
Yet one big hurdle remains before this important project can move forward. On Monday, the Regulatory Commission of Alaska (RCA) will approve or disapprove the contract. All regulated utilities are subject to the RCA. Look at your gas, water and electric bills and you will see a modest regulatory cost charge each month. For those three bills last month, my family paid a total of 87 cents to have the RCA put its fine-tooth comb to a variety of matters, including the Fire Island wind power purchase agreement.
A key aspect of the RCA decision is what standard should be used for assessing the power purchase agreement — “just and reasonable cost” or “avoided cost.” Municipal Light and Power (ML&P) and the attorney general have argued for strict adherence to avoided cost — meaning that any new power has to be as cheap as or cheaper than power currently produced. That’s an unreasonable standard. Using avoided cost will tie Alaska’s hands, preventing us from choosing energy sources that in long run will benefit us by being stably priced and more secure. For example, using the avoided cost standard, the Bradley Lake hydroelectric project near Homer would never have been approved. Bradley Lake is now one of the cheapest sources of electricity on the Railbelt, costing about a third less than natural gas. That was not the case when it was built in 1991. Then, the hydropower was roughly twice the cost of natural gas. But natural gas prices have risen and are expected to rise further, while the cost of the hydropower has stayed stable because the cost of the fuel — the water — is free.
Chugach has shown, consistently and carefully, that Fire Island is both just and reasonable to its ratepayers in the long run. Fire Island is not a no-brainer. The energy that will be generated will not be too cheap to meter. But Fire Island will be a solid step forward toward an energy future not overly reliant on natural gas. Read more
October 7, 2011
By Jill Burke of Alaska Dispatch: As the Regulatory Commission of Alaska (RCA) listens to arguments about whether Chugach Electric Association should be allowed to incorporate wind energy into its power portfolio, another government body – the FAA – is taking steps to make sure development on Fire Island won’t interfere with navigation signals beamed to planes flying overhead.
On Thursday, the Federal Aviation Administration announced its plans to replace the island’s existing beacon with a new one. A recently constructed beacon at the Ted Stevens International Airport will provide navigation data for flights in the area once Fire Island’s old beacon is taken out of service.
According to a press release from Murkowski’s office, the announcement “allows the Fire Island Wind Project to proceed” during the transition period to the new tower.
“I’m glad the FAA sees what I see at Fire Island: a project being managed collectively to both help Southcentral Alaska’s energy needs while also addressing safety concerns for air travel in and out of Alaska’s largest city. I continue to support this project and have confidence that the FAA will develop any necessary changes to the navigational system in the most safe and comprehensive manner for Alaskan aviation,” U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said in the press release.
Fire Island Wind, LLC, a subsidiary of Cook Inlet Region, Inc., one the state’s 13 regional Alaska Native corporations, hopes to begin construction on a wind farm on Fire Island this year. The island is located close to Anchorage across from Turnagain Arm.
In 2008, the FAA determined that Fire Island Wind would not be able to construct 36 turbines, as originally planned, because of the turbines’ interference with the radio tower. The FAA concluded that 24 turbines, with some at lower heights than others, would be more realistic. Since then the project has been scaled down even further, adjusted to accommodate the financial constraints of having a lone power buyer — Chugach Electric Association.
The FAA agreed to allow for a replacement beacon. CIRI picked up the $5 million price tag for the upgraded, digital model now located at the Anchorage International Airport, and it did not incorporate this cost into its purchase agreement with Chugach Electric. Read more
September 30, 2011
Jill Burke of Alaska Dispatch: As the Regulatory Commission of Alaska (RCA) listens to arguments about whether Chugach Electric Association should be allowed to incorporate wind energy into its power portfolio, another government body – the FAA – is taking steps to make sure development on Fire Island won’t interfere with navigation signals beamed to planes flying overhead.
On Thursday, the Federal Aviation Administration announced its plans to replace the island’s existing beacon with a new one. A recently constructed beacon at the Ted Stevens International Airport will provide navigation data for flights in the area once Fire Island’s old beacon is taken out of service.
According to a press release from Murkowski’s office, the announcement “allows the Fire Island Wind Project to proceed” during the transition period to the new tower.
“I’m glad the FAA sees what I see at Fire Island: a project being managed collectively to both help Southcentral Alaska’s energy needs while also addressing safety concerns for air travel in and out of Alaska’s largest city. I continue to support this project and have confidence that the FAA will develop any necessary changes to the navigational system in the most safe and comprehensive manner for Alaskan aviation,” U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said in the press release. Read more
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