Wind Power

(07/26/11) Wind power projects have been controversial in the North Country ever since the Maple Ridge Wind Farm started turning in Lewis County more than five years ago. One of the big questions remains: how do wind turbines affect the local economy?

Now a team of researchers at Clarkson University has some answers. Assistant professor Martin Heintzelman and PhD student Carrie Tuttle found that wind projects can depress property values by as much as 17-percent. But, they can also have a positive effect on real estate.

The researchers collected information about 10,000 property sales in three counties, including Lewis, between the years 2001 and 2009. They mapped the sales of these properties. They mapped all the wind turbines. And they considered every factor they could think of that might be a variable in the sales price: the size of the property, the house, whether it's in a village, what was happening with the general real estate market. Professor Heintzelman spoke with Julie Grant about what they found. more

(07/20/11) Small communities across the North Country, from Burke in the east to Hammond in the west, have been deeply divided over wind power development.
The disputes pit neighbor against neighbor, and can go on for years.

That's the case in Cape Vincent, situated just where Lake Ontario flows into the St. Lawrence River.

The picturesque town fills up in the summer with boaters, fisherman and summer residents with homes on the water. But the community's tourism and second home economy has come into conflict with the prospects for up to 137 wind turbines being built there by BP and a Spanish company called Acciona.

That's put enormous pressure on the town council and town planning board. In recent weeks, three of the Planning Board's five members have resigned.
Joanna Richards reports. more

(04/14/11) After a farmer found an injured Golden eagle in New York this winter, wildlife veterinarians in Massachusetts treated the bird. And a biologist outfitted it with a GPS tracking device before releasing it in Connecticut. The goal is to map its migration north to Canada. The data is designed to help site wind turbines in places that are safe for these birds. WNPR's Nancy Cohen reports from a windswept hilltop where Golden eagle was released into the wild. more

(03/28/11) A skeptical public greeted wind power representatives Saturday in St. Lawrence County. Iberdrola Renewables says it's in "the earliest stages" of developing an industrial wind farm in the towns of Parishville and neighboring Hopkinton. As David Sommerstein reports, this weekend's open house puts the communities on a familiar - and contentious - path. more

(03/25/11) The owner of the Northeast's largest wind farm - on the Tug Hill Plateau - is looking into a new project in St. Lawrence County. Iberdrola Renewables is holding an informational meeting tomorrow in Parishville. David Sommerstein reports. more

(03/16/11) The Spanish-owned company that wants to build 75 wind turbines in the St. Lawrence County town of Hammond has put the project on hold. Iberdrola says it's waiting for Hammond to finalize its zoning laws for wind power. David Sommerstein has more. more

(11/12/10) The wind debate hasn't been very civil in communities across Upstate New York.
The Innovation Trail's Emma Jacobs and Ryan Morden visited East Meredith and Litchfield in Central New York. Both have populations just over a thousand people. Both have been approached by wind power developers. And both have residents are at odds. Emma Jacobs reports.

(11/12/10) Towns across the North Country have been consumed by commercial wind farm projects. Wind power has divided neighbors, even families. It's turned the results of elections in places like Hammond and Cape Vincent. A recent planning board meeting in Cape Vincent dealing with wind power devolved into a physical altercation.

The town of Henderson, on the shore of eastern Lake Ontario in Jefferson County, has side-stepped future wind clashes. It's become the first North Country town to ban all wind turbines - industrial ones, private ones, even wind test towers.

Henderson town supervisor Ray Walker voted with the 4 to 1 majority passing the law Wednesday night. He told David Sommerstein a mostly anti-wind citizens' group came up with a set of zoning regulations after a year of research.

(10/19/10) A recent report from the agency that monitors New York's electric grid says the state can quintuple the amount of wind power pulsing through the system by 2018. But wind developers say the chances of hitting that mark are slim.

Wind farms are having trouble making profits for their owners. As the Innovation Trail's Zack Seward reports, more incentives may be needed if the state wants to meet its renewable energy goals. more

(07/07/10) A recent study of bird and bat mortality at Wolfe Island's 82-turbine wind farm is raising concerns among environmentalists. Wolfe Island is Canadian territory, located where Lake Ontario empties into the St. Lawrence River. The report found 600 birds and more than a thousand bats were killed by the windmill blades in a six month period. Nature Canada called the numbers "shockingly high." Ornithologist Bill Evans says the real question is which species of birds died. Evans directs Old Bird, Inc. in Ithaca and has consulted for both wind power companies and environmental groups. He told David Sommerstein Wolfe Island is a designated important bird area, so ornithologists predicted high fatalities. Evans says the number of hawks, owls, and other raptors was the most alarming.