National Wind/AWA Goodhue PPAs ARE public record!
June 23rd, 2010
As seen on Hwy. 52 between the Zumbrota exits
Goodhue County is considering modifications of their wind ordinance, and have formed a committee to look at it with county planning staff.
And here is the draft ordinance, in pdf’d Track Changes:
Here is the report from the Rochester Post Bulletin:
First draft of Goodhue County’s new wind regulations proves unpopular
And from June 15th Beagle:
We were there to address specifics about proposed changes, and the discussion was wide ranging.
Ben Kerl, National Wind/AWA Goodhue (or whatever their name may be today!) made some astounding statements yesterday. He actually said, regarding Goodhue County’s ordinance proposal for wind projects, where they proposed to require a copy of the Power Purchase Agreement, to demonstrate it’s not a vaporware project, to help assure “they wouldn’t build an empty building,” and he had the audacity to say that he objected to this requirement, and that he’d have to check with Xcel to see if it could be disclosed. IF IT COULD BE DISCLOSED!!!
EXCUUUUUUUUSE MEEE?!?! It’s already public information (redacted a tad-bit), it’s already a public document:
The PPA provided in the PPA dockets would be sufficient to satisfy the county’s concerns.
That statement of Kerl’s was SO egregious I just couldn’t sit there and let it slide.
These PPAs above are from the Goodhue PPA dockets at the PUC. To review the full PPA dockets:
- Go to www.puc.state.mn.us; and
- Click on “search documents;” and
- Search for dockets 09-1348 and 09-1350 (they’re pretty much identical).
Oh, and we were discussing a Property Protection Plan as has been established in other jurisdictions, where the developer essentially guarantees that the property values will not be lower. Steve Groth raised that issue, and of course Ben Kerl objected, and thought it essentially a black hole of liability that would quash funding. I raised the “Buy the Farm” provision for transmission as something that is used in transmission to assure that if a landowner wants out, that they could do so.
CLICK HERE for Minn. Stat. 216E.12 — “Buy the Farm” and go down to Subd. 4.
There’s more, but that requires a little background work, so stay tuned. In the meantime…
Shame on you, Ben Kerl…
AWA Goodhue Wind at PUC tomorrow
April 14th, 2010
Tomorrow there are FOUR AWA Goodhue Wind dockets at the PUC, a siting docket where a Draft Permit is proposed, a Certificate of Need docket, and two Power Purchase Agreement dockets.
MOES Reply Comments – Siting Docket 08-1233
So in response to that:
Goodhue Wind Truth – Siting Docket Comment 08-1233
Goodhue Wind Truth Comment – CoN & PPA 09-1186, 09-1349, 09-1350
To look up the dockets, go to www.puc.state.mn.us and then “Search eDockets” and then search for the docket numbers, as above.
And check out the Goodhue Wind Truth site.
What’s the big deal? Well, they want to site this project when the maps provided in the application are way way off, as in claiming land rights where they have none, “forgetting” to put homes on the map, that sort of thing. No environmental review has been done and it’s a BIG project, the “Environmental Report” won’t be done until June — so why is this before the PUC now? And they claim it’s a C-BED project which has some preference in the scheme of Power Purchase Agreements and fulfilling the renewable energy mandate when it’s not exactly local ownership — remember those T. Boone Pickens articles last week? Pickens comes to Goodhue?
Goodhue Wind Truth in the news
March 9th, 2010
AVA Goodhue Wind has applied for a Certificate of Need and a Routing permit, and there are two Power Purchase Agreement dockets open at the PUC. To see what’s been filed:
- Go to www.puc.state.mn.us
- Click on “Search eDockets“
- Search for:
- 08-1233 – Wind Siting Permit
- 09-1186 – Certificate of Need
- 09-1349 – Power Purchase Agreement
- 09-1350 – Power Purchase Agreement
The EIS Scoping Meeting was held by the MN Dept. of Commerce MOES last Thursday, and here’s the report from the Red Wing Republican Beagle:
Weighing in on wind
MAZEPPA – Larry Hartman threw a question out to the large crowd gathered Thursday to learn and comment about a proposed 52-turbine wind farm in rural Goodhue.
“What is wind?” the Minnesota Office of Energy Security staffer asked.
Mumbles from the crowd highlighted what has divided some neighbors and friends the past few years since wind energy companies came knocking, offering landowners money to house turbines.
“An investment.”
“Energy.”
“A scam.”
More than 30 residents provided a wide variety of opinions and comments during a three-hour meeting to gather input for an environmental review required as part of AWA Goodhue’s certificate of need application filed with the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission.
The company, managed by National Wind, also has filed a site permit application with the PUC, the state agency that handles such large-sale projects.
Some Goodhue County residents remain skeptical of the proposed 32,000-acre project that some of their neighbors and wind energy company advocates say will stimulate the area’s economy and help the state meet renewable energy demands.
Hundreds of project opponents – dubbed Goodhue Wind Truth – have submitted a petition to the Goodhue County Board asking for a “safe renewable energy plan.”
The petition asks commissioners to implement a one-half mile setback between wind turbines and homes to help reduce the health and safety threats residents say turbines pose.
“The safety and health of people is a priority over money,” said Steve Groth, a Belle Creek Township landowner and member of Goodhue Wind Truth. “The government is there to protect you. When you sidestep that issue, everything falls apart.”
Economic opportunity
Chuck Burdick, senior wind developer with National Wind, said his company’s project will bring 100 to 200 jobs to the area during construction and two to five permanent jobs.
He said leaseholders and participants will receive more than $20 million over the life of the project.
“We think that’s a significant economic injection into the area,” Burdick said.
Some area landowners agree.
They say harvesting wind gives farmers another way to supplement their income and that wind energy is another part of the changing rural lifestyle.
Larry Fox, a Belle Creek Township landowner, said he hears the hum of corn driers and can smell manure when the wind blows just right.
“I don’t complain,” he said. “We just adapt and know this is a farm community.”
Fox said he would receive $30,000 over the next 20 years for housing a wind turbine.
“That’s a tremendous amount of revenue for these small communities,” Fox said. “I think revenue outweighs a lot of factors here.”
Other farmers say they’re excited to house alternative energy on their land.
Sara Linker Nord lives in Minneola Township and has land in AWA Goodhue’s project footprint. She said she found the wind turbines just outside Palm Springs, Calif., “aesthetically pleasing and majestic” and was disappointed when she found out others did not feel the same.
“It gives farms another crop with little land loss,” she said. “Alternative energy created on American soil increases our energy independence.”
Health concerns
But opponents argue the dangers associated with wind turbines outweigh any alleged financial benefits.
“When you put these turbines up and call yourself and environmentalist, I’d like you to do some soul searching,” said Tom Schulte, a rural Goodhue County landowner who said he recently built a geothermally heated and cooled energy efficient home.
“Because you’re probably not doing it for the environment, you’re doing it because you’re profiting.”
Schulte and other opponents said the environment and rural landscape are at risk if wind energy is not developed properly and responsibly. Livestock, water supplies, agricultural land, bald eagles and other birds need to be protected and studies need to be completed to analyze wind farm impacts, several residents told state officials.
Opponents also argue the state-required setbacks between homes and turbines are not great enough to minimize safety and health issues associated with turbine shadow flicker and noise.
Minnesota law requires a minimum 500-foot setback from residences or the state noise standard, whichever is greater. Minnesota’s noise standard restricts wind turbines from exceeding 50 decibels at night.
In practice, meeting that standard often means placing wind turbines at distances of 700 to 1,200 feet, according to a recent report by the Minnesota Department of Health.
The DOH’s scientific study found that noise from wind turbines “generally is not a major concern for humans beyond a half-mile or so,” because of design innovations to reduce noise.
Goodhue Wind Truth members want at half-mile setbacks. AWA Goodhue is doing voluntary 1,500-foot setbacks (just over one-quarter mile) from non-participating residents, Burdick said.
Zumbrota Mayor Richard Bauer also asked state officials to consider two-mile setbacks from Zumbrota and Goodhue’s corporate limits to make sure the cities are able to grow in an “orderly manner.”
Comments for the environmental report will be accepted until March 26. They can be sent to Larry Hartman, Minnesota Department of Commerce, 85 Seventh Place E. Suite 500, St. Paul, MN 55101. Comments can be sent by e-mail to larry.hartman@state.mn.us.
Photo from the Country News – Does MOES’ Larry Hartman have a headache? Is he dreaming of retirement? He IS holding on to the microphone, word has it that people such as the speaker here, Dean Bungum, weren’t given the microphone to speak. It was standing room only for the MOES public meeting for the wind project going up on Dexter.
On March 4, Thursday, it was the same scene in Mazeppa for the Goodhue Wind Project… Oh, the AVA Goodhue Wind Project, the names have been changed to protect … nevermind. We don’t know why the name was changed. But there are new people involved. How does that change in ownership affect the already questioned C-BED status of this project?
They held the Goodhue meeting in Mazeppa? Why? Why not in Goodhue County? Why not at the Goodhue Lions Club? Why not at the Zumbrota school? Or the Legion on 58 in the middle of town…
There are some significant deadlines in the Goodhue Wind Project. Oh, first, to look up the dockets on PUC site:
CLICK HERE FOR PUC DOCKET SEARCH
Search for 09-1186 (Certificate of Need); 08-1233 (Siting) and 09-1349 & 09-1350 (Power Purchase Agmts)
IMPORTANT DATES:
March 15 – Comments in PPA Dockets on Xcel’s request for amendment – send to stuart.mitchell@state.mn.us and burl.haar@state.mn.us and file on eFiling if you can.
March 26 – Comments for scope of Environmental Report for Siting & Certificate of Need – send to larry.hartman@state.mn.us
March 29 – Reply Comments in PPA Dockets about others comments on Xcel’s request for amendment – send to stuart.mitchell@state.mn.us and burl.haar@state.mn.us and file on eFiling if you can.
Holler if questions!
Deadline for Comments on Wind Dept. of Health Report
September 15th, 2009
Tomorrow is the deadline for Comments on the PUC’s docket regarding setbacks and the Department of Health’s report on wind turbine placement, noise and public health:
Here’s the PUC’s Notice:
To see the docket, and there have been a lot of comments thus far which might help you in writing up yours:
- Go to www.puc.state.mn.us
- Click on “eDockets” (the blue button)
- Scroll down and enter docket 09-845.
The PUC Notice says that Comments should be filed electronically. To do that:
- Go towww.puc.state.mn.us
- Click on “eFiling” (the orange button)
- Register
- Follow the directions to file.
- If that doesn’t work, email Comments to burl.haar@state.mn.us
Send your comments in before tomorrow at 4:30 p.m. There are many, and we need many more. It’s all about responsible siting that works, reasonable setbacks, sufficient to prevent unreasonable noise and flicker and other impacts to those who live near turbines. Once more with feeling, we need energy we can LIVE WITH!!!