Archive for the ‘Energy’ Category
Solar suppliers try to find place in the sun
How will Silicon Energy and TenKsolar manage in oversupplied solar panel market?
Improved forecasts for wind farms could save billions
States find new ways to make energy efficiency pay for utilities
Read my story on water scarcity in Twin Cities Business
I spent a few months this spring looking into the potential risks and opportunities for Minnesota companies as development, pollution, population growth and climate conspire to strain our planet’s fresh water supply. The risk may seem distant here in the land of 10,000 lakes, but in an age when global supply chains span the globe, few industries will be unaffected. Some are already feeling the effects. Meanwhile, the Twin Cities is home to a promising cluster of companies and technologies that could play a role in addressing the coming global crisis. Read more in the July issue of Twin Cities Business magazine.
Minnesota wind farm drama may be entering final act
June 28, 2011, Midwest Energy News —
Two fronts have collided before Minnesota utility regulators, and now, observers on both sides are waiting to see which way the wind will blow in what’s been the state’s highest-profile and hardest-fought battle over wind turbine placement.
The proposed $179 million, 78-megawatt Goodhue Wind project would consist of 50 turbines spanning about 32,000 acres of farm land an hour drive southeast of the Twin Cities. The developer is a subsidiary of Mesa Power Group, which is owned by Texas oil-and-gas tycoon T. Boone Pickens.
Last October, about a year after the developer applied for site permits, Goodhue County adopted a setback ordinance that bans wind turbines within 10 rotor diameters, or about half a mile in this case, of any non-participating neighboring home. That’s in stark contrast with state law in Minnesota, which generally requires setbacks between 750 and 1,500 feet based on noise and other factors.
The local ordinance grew out of grassroots opposition from a group of county residents who fear the turbines will upset their quality of life. The developer, which has partnered with about 200 other local property owners, says the project can’t go through under the local setback rules.
Minnesota’s Public Utilities Commission is likely to give its final say on the matter Thursday after months of testimony and discussion. Its decision will be the first major test of a 2007 amendment that gave counties limited authority to adopt more stringent wind setbacks than those spelled out in state law.
“It’s certainly something every wind developer is paying close attention to, because one way or another it affects how they’re going to propose their next project,” said Sarah Johnson Phillips, a renewable energy attorney with Stoel Rives in Minneapolis. Read the rest of this entry »
Are renewable standards driving up utility rates?
Risky Business: How insurers are adapting to climate change
Star Tribune picks up Iron Range “clean coal” story
The Star Tribune ran my Iron Range “clean coal” story today on the back page of the business section. It might be a dying medium, but I still get a little thrill from seeing something I wrote published on newsprint!




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