The Grain Bell Express high-voltage line, one designed to carry wind-powered electricity from Southwest Kansas to East Coast states recently won approval from the Illinois Commerce Commission. The ICC issued a final ruling granting a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity to Invenergy of Chicago to build the line to carry the electricity across …
Category: Wind Energy
Oklahoma House okays bill targeting disposal of wind farm blades
A bill requiring financial security by a renewable energy recycling operation won support this week in the Oklahoma House of Representatives. HB 2359 targets businesses that might dispose of or recycle wind turbine blades and was passed in the House on a 93-0 vote after its title was struck in committee. The measure will …
Wind farm planned for Nowata County in NE Oklahoma
A new wind farm is planned in northeast Oklahoma near the state line with Kansas. Apex Clean Energy plans to lease 45,000 acres of Nowata County land for the Hickory Creek Project which will entail between 100 and 150 wind turbines along with solar and battery components reported News on 6 TV News. The project will …
More U.S. power capacity to come from wind and solar
All of those wind farms in Oklahoma helped increase the amount of planned new electric-generating capacity from wind, solar and battery storage in the U.S. this year. The U.S. Energy Information Administration reports the three technologies account of 825 of the new, utility-scale generating capacity that developers plan to bring online in the nation. …
Texas governor says solar and wind projects need not apply for state tax breaks
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is 100% behind a new state program to give tax breaks to businesses but not for wind and solar energy projects. “I support [the program] not providing economic incentives for renewables,” Abbott said during a news conference in Austin. “There’s already federal incentives for renewable projects, and those will continue …
Fast reads of other energy stories
** Nearby residents were asked to shelter in place after a Norfolk Southern train derailed near a highway in the Springfield, Ohio, area on Saturday. Norfolk Southern confirmed in a statement to CBS News that 20 cars of a 212-car train derailed. The railway company said there were no hazardous materials aboard the train, and …
Growing focus on wind turbine blade graveyards
The growth of wind farms across the nation, including Oklahoma, the second-highest wind power state in the country, created a problem —how to dispose of the old turbine blades that have a life-span of about 20 years. A study made a few years ago and published in the Waste Management scientific journal claimed an …
GOP governors push for energy diversification
It would appear Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt’s call for more energy diversification, one he made in his early February State of the State address to the state legislature, isn’t a lone call in the wild. Other Republican governors have made similar calls even as GOP legislators are pushing anti-ESG acts and laws. Bloomberg recently …
Kansas moves closer to restricting wind farm lights at night
The idea of putting restrictions on the night-time red lights flashing on wind farm towers is gaining ground in Kansas where such a bill won early support. At the same time, wind farm operator NextEra Energy agreed to employ radar-activated lights that remain off unless an aircraft approaches. The agreement involved wind farm operations …
Quick energy reads
** President Biden may be close to issuing the first veto of his presidency as Congress is expected to pass a resolution disapproving of a Department of Labor (DOL) rule allowing retirement plan managers to factor environment, social and governance (ESG) into their investment decisions. ** Power from zero-carbon sources made up a full 41% of the …
