Thursday, December 31, 2015

Alexandria NY~ Workers Claim Boss Ordered Them To Work In Unsafe Building


 Five workers with the Alexandria Town Highway Department are claiming their boss, Highway Superintendent Jerry Durand, made them work inside a building without the proper safety equipment even after the workers found what they believed was asbestos. Continue reading via this link to WWNY

St. Lawrence Seaway navigation season ends



MASSENA — The 57th St. Lawrence Seaway navigation season came to a close Wednesday with the passing of the upbound Canadian-flagged CWB Marquis through Eisenhower Lock. Continue...

Tuesday, December 29, 2015

THE WESTINGHOUSE SMALL MODULAR REACTOR


The Westinghouse SMR is a >225 MWe integral pressurized water reactor with all primary components located inside the reactor vessel.

It utilizes passive safety systems and proven components - realized in the industry-leading AP1000® reactor design - to achieve the highest level of safety and reduce the number of components required. This approach will provide licensing, construction and operation certainty that no other SMR supplier can match.

Link here to read more

Ambit Energy to refund nearly $1M to 1,500 New Yorkers


SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- One of the state's largest independent suppliers of electricity and gas for residential customers has agreed to refund nearly $1 million to New Yorkers to resolve complaints about its billing practices. Continue reading via this link to Syracuse.com


Monday, December 28, 2015

Law requires IDAs to ensure projects produce economic benefits



Watertown Daily Times Editorial

PUBLISHED: MONDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2015 AT 12:30 AM

A state law that will take effect in six months will compel industrial development agencies to hold companies more accountable for producing tangible economic benefits in exchange for financial incentives Continue reading via this link to the Watertown Daily Times

Saturday, December 26, 2015

Paper covers only negative events in Cape



Letter to the Editor Watertown Daily Times
12/26/2015

The Cape Vincent I know is the embodiment of small-town America, charming and welcoming. Yet the Watertown Daily Times seems to only see the negative when it comes to reporting the news here.Continue...

Wednesday, December 23, 2015


Avangrid ~ formerly known as (Iberdrola)  aims to take advantage of PTC extension


Avangrid – the recently launched, Iberdrola-backed US utility – will bring 746MW of new wind capacity online by the end of 2017, and build out as much of its 5.9GW pipeline or projects as possible under the newly-extended production tax credit (PTC), executives said Tuesday.
Continue reading via this link to RECHARGE


Will they be resuscitating the Horse creek project?

State legislation to hold IDAs more accountable for offering financial benefits


WATERTOWN — Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has signed a bill into law that will compel industrial development agencies to use standardized criteria for financial assistance, ensuring applicants face consequences if they fail to create promised jobs. 

Continue via this link to the Watertown Daily Times

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Rural upstate town votes to go 100 percent renewable in four years


ALBANY — A rural town outside of Albany plans to disconnect from the electrical grid, both to increase its reliance on renewable sources of energy and to gain some energy independence. Continue...

Monday, December 21, 2015

Editorial Page Roundup: Get serious, Gov. Cuomo


Editorial pages across New York state are demanding Gov. Andrew Cuomo get serious about ending corruption in Albany. The call comes after Cuomo vetoed two good government bills in the dead of night, while issuing his own, weaker executive order.

The governor's actions came on the heels of two recent convictions of powerful state leaders, former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and ex-Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos. Continue reading via this link to the Rochedter D&C


Town of Somerset seeks state rejection of document in company’s wind power application

SOMERSET – The attorney for the Town of Somerset has asked the state Public Service Commission to throw out a key document filed by the promoters of a proposed wind power project, contending that it lacks necessary information.
Former state Attorney General Dennis C. Vacco, who was hired to fight the project, said... 
continue reading via this link to the Buffalo News  

Saturday, December 19, 2015


APEX new owner of Galloo ~ Morphs Maryland Wind project into Solar, due to Community opposition

filed:  December 19, 2015 • Maryland

Wind project converting to solar  

CHESTERTOWN — The company planning a controversial wind farm in Kent County went back to the drawing board and came up with a new proposition — a 330-acre solar array.
Apex’s mission is to accelerate the shift to clean energy, and we are always trying to design the best projects possible for the specific communities in which we work. For the past year, we have been listening closely to community feedback about our proposed wind energy project,


Read more...  www.myeasternshoremd.com


Apex could easily convert their proposed Galloo Island wind project into a Solar project and here is why they should.
Ten Best Reasons for Apex to Use Solar Instead of Wind on Galloo Island.
  1. Article 10 reasonable alternatives to the facility are required by PSL 164(i)
  2. Apex won't have to do a visual simulation for negative scenic impacts, since there are none.
  3. Bald eagles, other raptors and migrating waterfowl won't be chopped, diced and blended.
  4. Solar has no risk from a turbine failure fire destroying the entire and unique Galloo Island habitat.
  5. No blinking light disturbance from nighttime turbine lighting for lake-shore property owners.
  6. Solar is New York and Gov. Cuomo's preferred renewable energy alternative while wind is waning.
  7. No potential wind turbine infrasound health effects for lake-shore residents.
  8. No lake-shore property devaluation from degraded sunset views from 30, 500+ ft spinning turbines.
  9. Town of Hounsfield still gets their money without pissing-off neighboring towns.
  10. Even fewer jobs created so no PILOT will be granted by Jeff County and more tax revenue for taxing authorities.


Thursday, December 17, 2015

CEO Reviled for Drug Price Gouging, Arrested


Martin Shkreli, the boyish drug company entrepreneur, who rocketed to infamy by jacking up the price of a life-saving pill from $13.50 to $750, was arrested by... Continue

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Galloo Island Wind Project Sold


The proposed Galloo Island wind project is changing hands.

 Don Alexander & Bill Moore

Apex Clean Energy announced Wednesday it is purchasing the "development assets" for the project from Hudson Energy, the current developer. Link here to Apex Galloo Island Website

Continue reading via this link to WNYTV 

Speaker Ryan Announces Bipartisan Budget Deal That includes 5 year extension of  Wind Welfare Tax Credit

Republicans managed to secure a few wins in the negotiations, including lifting the ban on exporting domestic crude oil and placing a two-year delay on Obamacare's medical device tax. Democrats managed to use their leverage to rid the legislation of language making it harder for refugees to come to the United States and they secured a five-year extension of renewable energy tax credits. Continue reading via this link to TPM

The Air We Breathe ~ How Much Is It Worth?


Canadians are selling cans of fresh air to China  

What started as a joke, now has Founders Moses Lam and Troy Paquette laughing all the way to the bank...CNBC


Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Repower turbine collapse


FRANCE: Preliminary results of an investigation into a turbine collapse in France indicate a fault in the machine's shaft caused the rotor to fall to the ground.


Monday, December 14, 2015


The Anti-Science, Anti-Nuclear Left

 Atomic energy is indispensable in reducing greenhouse gases, but climate-change activists don’t want to hear it.

Among the favorite claims of climate-change activists is that anyone who dares to disagree with their worldview is a “denier,” and that those who reject their orthodoxy about the workings of the Earth’s atmosphere are “anti-science.” Continue reading via this link to National Review

Sunday, December 13, 2015

Trump Fights Wind-Farms Because They’re ‘Ugly Monstrosities’

Donald Trump expects a court to rule next Wednesday in his legal fight against a planned wind farm that borders a golf resort he owns in Scotland.

Trump says that  new wind farm will spoil the view of a nearby luxury golf resort he owns. Continue reading via this link to the Daily Caller



Cuomo vetoes bills for transparency

ALBANY — Gov. Andrew Cuomo vetoed two bills Friday that were on the top of reformers’ wish lists to increase transparency at a time when corruption convictions have eroded trust in state government.

Saturday, December 12, 2015

Officials join against wind project



 Somerset  Pro Versus Con

BARKER — Speaking to a crowd of a few hundred people inside the Barker Fire Hall, Jim Simon went from being a member of the audience to a leader addressing them.

Simon will become the town of Yates supervisor in January, putting him Tuesday on the same level as Somerset Supervisor Dan Engert; incoming Yates Councilman John Riggi; and former state attorney general Dennis Vacco.Continue...

Friday, December 11, 2015


New York Electric Energy Demand in the Next Decade


With all the recent buzz associated with wind farm development, transmission line planning, nuclear generation closing, and lowering natural gas prices the New York Independent System Operator published a recent report titled, Power Trends 2014: Evolution of the Grid.The report discusses future demand for electric energy in New York for the next decade.

Question: How much growth do you think NYISO is projecting for New York in the next decade?

25%
18%
11%
5%
<2%

The answer is on page 4 of NYISO’s report: “ ...overall electric energy use is forecast to grow at an average annual rate of 0.16 percent over the next decade.” (1.6% for 10 years).  Growth in peak demand is a bigger concern because of Downstate’s appetite for staying cool during summer heat waves. Growth in peak demand is forecast for less than 10%, however, growth in average demand will be stagnant for the next decade and presumably beyond then as well. 

Governor Cuomo Announces Winners of 1.5 Billion in Economic Development Resources.


The North country was awarded


0 dollars

Bernie Sanders Reveals his plan to ensure energy security

Sanders' plan is to repeal billions in tax subsidies to oil, gas and other fossil fuel producers, and develop a 100 percent clean-energy system sustained by wind and solar power. Continue reading via this link to The Idaho statesman

Thursday, December 10, 2015


Cuomo the Great Manipulator

Governor Cuomo continues to revise his role in creating the Moreland Commission. He now says the defunct commission was never intended to investigate to prosecute anyone.  Continue reading via this link to WMAC~

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Cuomo Must Embrace New York's Nuclear Power


In the midst of the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP21) in Paris, Governor Andrew Cuomo has directed the State Department of Public Service to design and enact a new Clean Energy Standard that requires half of all electricity used in New York State to be produced from clean and renewable energy sources by 2030.

The state has also vowed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 40 percent by that same year. Continue via this link to Forbes/Energy

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Upstate New York's nuclear plants support 25,000


SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The four nuclear power reactors in Upstate New York, including three in Oswego County, are responsible for $3 billion in economic activity and nearly 25,000 jobs, according to a consultant's report paid for by nuclear operator Exelon Corp. and three unions fighting to keep the Upstate plants alive.


The report is unlikely to prevent Entergy Corp.'s shutdown of the FitzPatrick nuclear plant in Oswego County roughly a year from now. But it might bolster support for Gov. Andrew Cuomo's plan to support the other three Upstate reactors with new payments tied to the carbon-free benefits of nuclear power. Continue...Syracuse.com

Saturday, December 5, 2015

Cuomo cites nuclear energy as ‘bridge’ fuel


Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposed plan to include nuclear power in a broader low-carbon energy policy recognizes the reality that we need all nonemitting sources of electricity as we transition to a cleaner power grid.

Maria Korsnick
Washington, D.C.
The writer is chief operating officer of the Nuclear Energy Institute.

 Continuue reading via this link to the Watertown Daily Times

Thursday, December 3, 2015

Maine’s high court rejects Bowers Mountain wind power project


 The project in Penobscot County was first proposed six years ago, but never won regulators' approval – a decision affirmed Thursday by the Maine Supreme Judicial Court.

In the 12-page decision written by Chief Justice Leigh Saufley, the court examined portions of the 2004 Wind Energy Act, which allows for expedited permitting zones – areas naturally suited for wind power generation – to help head off challenges by groups that oppose wind turbines because they are unsightly.

The legislation stipulates that a project must not compromise views from scenic resources of state or national significance. 

Continue reading via this link to the Portland Press Harold

Wednesday, December 2, 2015

State Audit Criticizes Lowville School District


  A state audit is criticizing the Lowville Academy and Central School District for the way it handles its money.



According to Office of the State Comptroller, the district failed to effectively manage its fund balance as it receives payments in lieu of taxes from the Maple Ridge Wind Farm.


WNYFTV



Entergy rejects Cuomo idea, says FitzPatrick nuclear plant will close for sure

SCRIBA, N.Y. -- Entergy Corp. today dismissed Gov. Andrew Cuomo's tentative scheme to save the FitzPatrick nuclear plant, saying there is no doubt the reactor will shut down by early 2017. Continue reading via this link to Syracuse.com

Monday, November 30, 2015


Henderson residents fear proposed wind farm

will be an eyesore

 Simulation of Galloo Industrial Wind project
An energy developer out of Albany is considering building a 32-turbine wind farm on Galloo Island, six miles offshore, on Lake Ontario. But residents in the Jefferson County town of Henderson, on the shores of the lake, say all they would get out of the project is a ruined view.
If you’ve ever visited Henderson you know that the homes along the harbor are big and beautiful, with sweeping views of the Lake Ontario. The town is small and quiet. 

Sunday, November 29, 2015


BREAKING: Iberdrola the Target of Multiple Fraud and Corruption Investigations in Europe


It seems Iberdrola’s chickens are coming home to roost, not only in Grafton and Windham, but also in Connecticut and across Europe. The Spanish- and Arab-owned megacorporation into whose bed Meadowsend Timberlands has crept, while offering Grafton and Windham money to do the same, is the target of multiple fraud and corruption cases across Europe, according to CT’s Public Utilities Regulatory Authority.Continue reading via this link to GWG.org

Thursday, November 26, 2015


Thanksgiving... Food For Thought

The Pilgrims Were the Original Refugees

They were the first immigrants to come to America fleeing persecution—and their spirit of gratitude is also an obligation that extends forward throughout the generations.

Long before Syrians fled ISIS and Jews fled the Nazis and Irish fled the famine, the Puritans fled persecution to become the original refugees to alight on our shores.

In gratitude for having found refuge and for the assistance they received from the Native Americans after landing at Plymouth Rock, the Puritans we call Pilgrims held what we know as the first Thanksgiving.

Tuesday, November 24, 2015


Senate candidate McGinty's role in energy industry is questioned

Democrat Katie McGinty’s bid for U.S. Senate is being powered by a longtime commitment to clean energy and natural gas. But skeptics say the way she’s moved between the public and private sector puts her resume under a cloud.

Prior to leaving the government sector and taking a position at Iberdrola USA , the head of  Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection. Katie McGinty wrote a letter to Governor Mr. Rendell, notifying him that Iberdrola hoped he’d put in a good word for the company with New York’s then-Governor,David Paterson.

Saturday, November 21, 2015

Boldt Castle Generates $40 Million in Economic Activity for the 1000 Islands Region

Boldt Castle, a premier  attraction in the 1000 Islands International Region, announced that a recent independent study estimates it to generate nearly $40 million annually in regional economic activity. Additionally, the historic site generates over 600 jobs in the regional economy. Commissioned by the Thousand Islands Bridge Authority, and completed in November 2015 by WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff, Washington, DC, the report statistically identifies Boldt Castle’s economic impact.

Continue reading via this link to  the Boldt Castle Website

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

NY’s Reforming the Energy Vision Lacks Good Jobs Vision

 This letter to the editor was written by

 Ted Skerpon Chair of the 15,000 member NYS Utility Labor Council and a board member of the 60,000 member NYS Electrical Workers Association.
 
Politicians are led by polls and this is the case with Energy Reform in New York State.
In a poll conducted by Clarity Campaign Labs, 77% of New York voters think the government should do more to support renewable energy and 10% of are already using renewable energy in their private lives with 60% wanting to in the future.
Basically, 2 out of 3 of us believe that being 100% reliant on renewable energy is possible. This is going to sound crazy, but 2 out of 3 of us have no idea what we are talking about.
Our desire to do is good is great, but our knowledge on how energy is created, stored and delivered lacks basic understanding. 

Tuesday, November 17, 2015


U.K. Government Expected to Shift Policy on Support for Renewable Energy

Speech by Amber Rudd will set out new energy policy with central role for nuclear and natural gas
By
Selina Williams
 LONDON—The U.K. government will make keeping the lights on the top priority with natural gas and nuclear power playing a central role in that goal, Energy and Climate Change Secretary Amber Rudd is expected to say in a major speech later Wednesday setting out a new energy policy for the country.

The move appears to mark an end to previous governments’ policy of supporting renewable energy, such as wind power and solar, with generous subsidies...
Continue reading via this link

Sunday, November 15, 2015

Lewis County modifies their budget due to uncertainty over Maple Ridge PILOT


Welcome to the real world of wind.

Within days of the announcement that the Madison County Wind farm cannot pay their fair share of taxes when their PILOT agreement expires. Lewis county has submitted a tentative budget for Legislative review that is tailored to offset anticipated losses over the expiration of the Maple ridge wind PILOT.(link)

In light the uncertainty as to whether or not a wind developer will honor their agreements, any municipal authority would be nuts to even consider entering into a PILOT agreement with a wind developer.




 

Saturday, November 14, 2015

WIND THE BIG CON!


Perry White City Editor of the Watertown Daily Times:  



“It was a good deal for some, but for the people it was the Big Con.”


As it turns out, the wind-power shell game has nabbed its first municipal victim, in a big way.