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. 

Continue reading via this link to WRVO.ORG

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

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.

Continue via this link to The Daily Beast

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.

Read more at this link to the Pittsburgh Post- gazette

Related stories

Schumer: Energy East Is Violating Its Deal With NYS 

Iberdrola how good is their word?

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

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. 

Continue reading via this link to Oswego County Today

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

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.

 

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. 

Continue reading via this link to Perry White’s Watertown Daily Times commentary

Nothing but hot air: Wind farm would offer little in economic benefits for region

Today’s Watertown Daily Times editorial gets right down to the real nitty gritty concerning the Galloo Island Industrial wind project.  

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"Where are the advantages to approving such a plan?"

 Don Alexander~JCIDA & Developer Bill Moore 

Jefferson County legislators sound like they are leery of the wind farm proposed for Galloo Island. Good. Unless Hudson can show some major benefits for the region, there’s no point in approving the project for anything less than full taxes forever.

Link here to the Watertown Daily Times to continue reading

Canada’s New Government Takes A Dump In The St.Lawrence River

MONTREAL — Canada's new environment minister thinks the St.Lawrence river is Canada’s Toilet. Read about it at this link

Jefferson County could learn lesson from tax break for Madison Wind Farm

By TED BOOKER
Watertown Daily Times reporter
NOVEMBER 7, 2015 

When tax breaks for wind projects expire, will municipalities receive full property taxes to which they’re entitled? 

That’s a murky question that will have to be resolved soon for a seven-turbine, 11.5-megawatt wind project in Madison County, which benefited from a 15-year payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement that will end in 2016.

Don Alexander  & Bill Moore

But town officials say it appears improbable the company will voluntarily pay taxes it owes when the property is on the tax roll

Continue reading via this link to the Watertown Daily Times

Another Reason Why Hudson Energy Might Be Leaving Town

The Watertown Times reported yesterday that Neil T. Habig, a developer for Hudson Energy, said, “We’ve had multiple discussions with other developers that have expressed interest. We could decide to partner with someone or to sell it to them in a year.” One possible cause for Hudson’s rethinking of the Galloo project is lack of support for a PILOT agreement by the Jefferson County legislature. William M. Moore, another principal of Hudson Energy, commented on how important the PILOT was to Hudson’s Galloo Island plans, “No project will be built without a PILOT.”

There is another monkey wrench that could gum up the works and plans for Hudson Energy and add to the incentive to sell their project. In 2009 a federal judge in Maryland halted the expansion of the Beech Ridge Wind Project because it threatened to harm, wound or kill Indiana Bats. In studies conducted by Dr. D. Scott Reynolds of North East Ecological Services for Hudson Energy, Indiana Bats were tentatively identified on Galloo Island this summer (see Exec. Summary below).

Remarkably, results of summer Galloo avian studies were provided at the Henderson meet and greet session, but there was no mention of the Galloo Island Bat Survey, nor was the avian studies representative at the session aware of any bat survey conducted on Galloo this summer. Why the mystery? Why the choice to exclude what could be a serious impediment to Hudson’s plans for Galloo Island?

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July 5, 2015  Galloo Island Bat Survey

North East Ecological Services

Bat Survey of the Galloo Island Wind Project Site

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY (author: Dr. D. Scott Reynolds)

North East Ecological Services(‘NEES’) conducted an acoustic survey at the Galloo Island Wind Project Site from 16 June – 19 June, 2015 to document the presence of potential federally endangered species, specifically the northern myotis (Myotis septentrionalis) and Indiana myotis (Myotis sodalis). NEES utilized U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service protocols to sample for the bats and analyzed all data using federally approved identification software.

In total, NEES sampled at 42 locations within the Project Site. We visually confirmed the presence of little brown myotis (M. lucifugus) at Galloo sland; this was the dominant species on the island during our survey in 2008. The automated species identification software found tentative evidence for both Indiana myotis and northern myotis at the Project Site, but most of this evidence was based on a single call sequence from multiple sampling sites. According to the previous iteration of the US Fish & Wildlife Service Guidelines (USFWS, 2013) and the developer of the EchoClass analysis software (Britzke, 2015), a single call sequences at a site is not allowed to determine presence ofa species. Eliminating these sites (those based on a single call sequence), the current data suggests only three potential sites for further investigation, one of which is a known little brown myotis maternity site.

NEES recommends that Hudson Energy provide the US Fish & Wildlife Service with a copy of this report and re-establish informal consultation to determine the next step. Given the time constraints of this field season, I would recommend a conference call to determine whether additional work is necessary and to agree on a scope of work that will meet the needs of all parties.

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Link here to read the bat Survey

Hudson Energy’s Phony Visual Simulation of their Galloo Wind Project Proposal

 Last evening Hudson Energy began their public involvement program with the Town of Henderson by providing a visual simulation from the Town of Lyme.  What?

Given the concerns that Henderson residence have voiced with the PSC over the Galloo project’s visual impacts on their town, you would think Hudson would have prepared a simulation from the shores of Henderson, not Lyme. What were Moore and Habig (Hudson’s leadership)  thinking?  Perhaps they thought it might deflect more severe criticism of their project from Henderson residents if they provided a simulation from another town, any place other than the shores of Henderson.

Below is a rendition of Hudson’s simulation that might help Henderson residents better gauge visual impacts from Hudson’s project on their community, call this image Phony Galloo Simulation ver. 2.

GALLOO ISLAND WIND MEET & GREET ~ DEVELOPERS ,DOUGHNUTS & DON

 Hudson Energy Development (HED) has submitted an application under Article 10 (A10) in high hopes of building a wind farm on Galloo Island.  As part of the A10 process HED, hosted a turbine meet and greet in Henderson, NY last evening.

The Henderson meeting was a typical  example of a cookie cutter Article 10 meet and greet ,replete with the wind developers ,doughnuts and coffee.  What distinguished last nights meeting from others  I have attended  was the presence of Don Alexander.

Alexander is the CEO of the Jefferson County Industrial Development Agency (JCIDA ). The JCIDA is the entity that negotiates a PILOT deal with the developer.

A PILOT allows a developer to  pay a small fraction of the project’s net worth to a taxing jurisdiction instead of paying their fair share of property taxes.  In the case of Hudson’s Galloo project they would be paying approximately one third or 30 cents on the dollar of what they would be required to pay without a pilot. Last night the developers stated that without a PILOT there would not be a project, but they are hopeful that county legislators would be supportive after they learn more about the project.

Don Alexander  & Bill Moore

Alexander’s presence at last nights meeting was troubling considering he has been at the center of controversy concerning a PILOT for the Galloo project, having been accused of misrepresenting and manipulating legislative support for the project.  Alexander has been told in no uncertain terms that the legislature opposes a  PILOT for the Galloo project. In light of methods deployed by Alexander in the past it doesn’t take much to figure out what he was discussing with Moore does it?  

Entergy to close FitzPatrick nuclear plant in Oswego County

SCRIBA, N.Y. – Entergy Corp. plans to shut down its money-losing FitzPatrick nuclear power plant in Oswego County after the reactor runs out of fuel next year.
Continue reading via this link to Syracuse.com