Deschutes County Considers Allowing Taller Wind Turbines

Deschutes County May Let More Wind Power Bloom
Keisha Burns – KTVZ.COM – October 7, 2009

Another issue discussed, which has hit a roadblock before, was whether to allow taller wind-energy turbines in the area. Current county restrictions prevent structures over 30 feet in most zoning districts, but that could change as soon as next year.

Planning Director Nick Lelack said many residents are for the idea, but adding wind turbines has its pros and cons.

“Generally we hear that people support them,” he said. “The key issue is when they are proposed on their neighbor’s property, and maybe between the neighbor’s property and view of the mountains, something of that nature.”

Luke said they won’t move forward with an ordinance until they hear from the public about any concerns, starting the public process with the county planning commission.

“That’s the process that I would favor, so the citizens would have the opportunity to comment on it,” he said.

After a proposal is drafted and debated before planning commissioners, commissioners will take up the issue again, to see if the public favors the idea, before moving forward.

The wind-power issues could be part of the ongoing update of the county’s overall land use plan – the first total rewrite in some 30 years – or it could be handled separately, Luke said.

Oregon’s Energy Tax Credits Under Fire

State lawmakers target energy tax credit costs
Benefit to large wind-power projects is likely to be reduced
By Nick Budnick – The Bulletin – September 3, 2009

Lawmakers and state regulators plan to put new restrictions on a state tax credit that has helped Central Oregon’s renewable energy businesses.

Lawmakers for the Senate and House revenue committees met last week in Salem to discuss the state’s budget picture, including the business energy tax credit, or BETC, which encourages investment in alternative energy, recycling and energy conservation measures.

Lawmakers were told that the tax credit is estimated to cost the state $168 million over the next two years. That’s a jump of $24 million over the previous estimate, and about $100 million more than it cost the state in the last two-year budget cycle.

Earlier this year, lawmakers had tried to curb the tax credit, shaving about $20 million by limiting the benefit provided to large wind-power projects.

But that legislation, House Bill 2472, was vetoed by Gov. Ted Kulongoski.

Now, however, legislative observers think lawmakers will muster the two-thirds supermajority necessary to override Kulongoski’s veto when they return to Salem for an expected special session in February.

Christmas Valley Radar Site Interest Increases

Area solar activity heats up
Energy companies eye sites near Christmas Valley
By Keith Chu – The Bulletin – August 28, 2009

While government bureaucracy continues to hold up a proposed solar facility at a former military radar base in Christmas Valley, the proposal has attracted two developers to try and cash in on the solar power potential on other sites just south of the Deschutes County line, according to state and local officials.

About seven companies are interested in the radar site, state officials have said. But those companies, which the state won’t name, have been waiting for more than a year for the military land to become available for development.

Summer Energy News Digest for Central Oregon

Central Oregon News Digest • Summer 2009
Compiled by The Garner Group – August 24, 2009

ENERGY

Hydro plants in the pipeline, literally and figuratively

Federal stimulus grants to two Central Oregon irrigation districts, directed at water conservation, will fund canal piping and construction of small-scale generating plants. The Swalley Irrigation District will receive $2 million to complete enclosing 5.1 miles of its main canal north of Bend, including an 0.75-mW hydro plant near Highway 97. Three Sisters Irrigation District was awarded $1.3 million to initiate a pipeline project that will increase stream flows in Whychus Creek. This project eventually will include a 1.5-mW hydro plant. Both generating plants are “in-conduit” designs that utilize water flow within the pipeline.

County approves wind farm, with conditions

The Crook County planning commission has approved the West Butte Wind Power Project, proposed for a 20-acre site near Millican. Conditions include formation of a technical advisory committee to address wildlife concerns. Access will require a right-of-way permit from the Bureau of Land Management, in turn requiring an environmental impact study. Work on the $220 million project, which will involve from 32 to 54 turbines, is expected to start in spring 2010. The 104-mW project falls below the threshold that would require approval beyond the county level.

La Pine may yet see a biomass power plant

While one company’s plans to build a biomass-fueled power plant in La Pine are on hold, another has moved into the arena. Biogreen Sustainable Energy Co. of St. Helens, Ore., will buy a 10-acre parcel in the La Pine Industrial Park and build a $55-$60 million, 19-mW electricity generating plant fueled by thinnings from private and public forests nearby. The project will support 100 construction jobs and employ 20 people directly upon completion, plus another 80-90 indirect jobs in forestry and transportation. Silvan Power Co. has an option to buy 28 acres in La Pine for a biomass power plant but plans apparently have stalled over fuel availability issues.

OPB’s Think Outloud Discusses Urban Wind Turbines

The OBP News article on urban wind turbines on August 14 (see article on this blog) triggered sufficient interest that Think Outloud decided to do a segment on the topic. They assembled an excellent panel of guests and recieved a fairly large number of comments posted to the Think Outloud Urban Turbines web page.

While conservation is the most effective way to approach energy our growing energy demands,  Distributed Generation, which urban wind turbines would be considered part of, is a proven key component in future energy production.

The comment that really explored the concept of urban wind turbines was the one from guest Alex Wilson of Building Green.  He provided a link to an article on the Building Green website entitled “The Folly of Building-Integrated Wind” that makes for excellent reading on this subject.

While producing energy from urban wind turbines feels like a good idea the reality of the situation is that unless there is some amazing breakthrough it’s a non-starter.

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Urban Turbines
Think Outloud – OPB News – August 20, 2009

Portlanders may have noticed a new addition to the downtown skyline this week when four wind turbines were added to the roof of developer Gerding Edlen’s new Twelve West Building on southwest 12th Avenue. These small-scale turbines (45 feet tall compared to the massive 400-foot turbines in the Columbia River Gorge) will only produce about one percent of the building’s total energy usage. However, the development company also hopes their presence will help promote renewable energy and help Portland stand out in the field. Portland isn’t the only city to try rooftop wind turbines. Boston, New York and Hampton, New Hampshire have all taken an interest in small scale wind power. Some green building experts have raised concerns about the economic and energy efficiency of urban turbines. Zoning laws would still have to change in Portland before people could install turbines on the roofs of their homes.

While the issues with integrating small-scale wind power into an urban landscape center mainly around questions of engineering and structural integrity, large-scale wind farms are still struggling with integrating their turbines with wildlife. And while urban and rural wind may still be an intermittent power source, the Bonneville Power Administration reported wind power generation was at an all time high earlier this month.

Have you considered putting a wind turbine on your home or business? What factors did you weigh in making your decision? Do you live near a rural wind farm? How has that impacted your life?

GUESTS:

Damin Tarlow: Development manager for Gerdling Edlen Development 
Alex Wilson: Founder and executive editor of Building Green 
Andy Kruse: Senior VP of Business Development and Cofounder of Southwest Wind Power
Brent Fenty: Executive Director of Oregon Natural Desert Association
Chris Crowley: President of Columbia Energy Partners

Urban Wind Power: Actual Potential or Wishful Thinking?

There are so many challenges that confront urban wind turbines it’s sometimes difficult to understand why so much money and energy is put into the concept.  Early efforts using standard “propeller prop” wind turbines failed miserably not because the didn’t produce electricity but rather because they were incredibly noisy and transfered vibrations through the buildings that they were attached to. The noise and vibrations drove the occupants nuts.  Efforts at helix-design wind turnbines do show some potential but many questions remain.

It will be fascinating to follow the efforts of Portland and those of San Francisco’s Urban Wind Task Force.

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Urban Turbines Rise Above Portland
By Rob Manning - OPB News - August 14, 2009

A team of Portland architects, engineers, and builders has now erected what’s believed to be the first production-scale set of urban wind turbines in the country.

They won’t supply a whole lot of electricity. But as Rob Manning reports, the turbines’ significance lies in we can learn from them.

The project at Southwest 12th and Washington is certainly a new approach to wind energy.

Yes, companies have been putting big turbines up all over the western countryside for years. But putting the big metal masts on buildings is new territory.

Renewable Energy Shortcoming: It’s Intermittent

Seeking green power solutions for hazy days
Bend Bulletin – August 2, 2009

Portland General Electric got a lesson in one of the shortcomings of renewable energy last week.

With temperatures above 100 degrees in Portland, the company broke its all-time record for summer power consumption Monday, then again Tuesday, and also on Wednesday.

All the while, the company’s Bigelow Canyon Wind Farm 140 miles east of Portland was producing next to no power. The winds that usually suck cool air up the Columbia River and keep summers mild had ceased, baking Portland and idling the turbines at Bigelow Canyon — just when they were most needed.

If wind and solar are going to play a bigger part in meeting the country’s electrical demand, utilities will need to get faster at reacting every time the wind dies down or a cloud moves in front of the sun. Bend’s PV Powered is working on solving a part of the problem.

The federal government recently awarded the company $3 million to get to work building the machines needed to create a future network of thousands or even millions of small-scale solar generating systems.

The Solar Energy Grid Integration System is an initiative of the Department of Energy that seeks to make solar power cost-competitive with other forms of power generation by 2015. Right now, solar power makes up only a tiny fraction of the total energy consumed in the United States, but that could change quickly if current treends continue.

According to a 2007 Energy Department report, 5 to 10 percent of electricity customers could be using some form of solar power within 10 years if homeowners continue adding solar panels to their homes at the current rate.

“Green Jobs” Boom Predicted for Central Oregon

Downturn hasn’t put damper on green jobs in Central Oregon
A boom is expected in the near future, and not just in fields that you’d expect
By Kate Ramsayer – The Bulletin – July 27, 2009

There’s only so many windy patches of Earth — and even fewer patches close to transmission lines.

So for the next five to 10 years, the wind power industry is going to be running full steam ahead, said Mike Costanti, principal with Western Community Energy.

“This industry is growing very quickly — and we feel our company will grow quickly as well,” Costanti said.

He anticipates quadrupling the size of his Bend-based company’s development staff over the next couple of years, with jobs for turbine operators, lawyers, permit writers, electrical engineers, structural engineers, construction workers and more.

“We have a lot of room for growth,” Costanti said.

A study released last month by the Oregon Employment Department found that Oregon had more than 51,000 “green jobs” in 2008. Even with the economic downturn, environmentally friendly jobs were projected to increase about 14 percent by 2010. And in Central Oregon, green employers predict that the area could need people working in a variety of jobs that require a range of skills — from energy auditors to organic farmers to solar electricians.

Oregon is a National Green Jobs Leader

Green and on top
By Andrew Moore - The Bulletin – June 14, 2009

Solar. Wind. Water. Geothermal, biomass and even garbage. With all these opportunities, it’s no wonder Oregon leads the nation in clean energy. And based on the number of alternative energy firms sprouting up in Central Oregon, it seems only natural that growth in green jobs has far outpaced the national average.

Rod Page, who lives just north of Bend, is concerned about the nation’s energy consumption. Accordingly, he drives a biodiesel-fueled car and later this week will have solar panels installed on his roof to help power his home.

He’s wanted to install them for more than two years, but found it cost-prohibitive. Now, thanks to state and federal tax credits, the cost has come down enough to make economic sense for Page.

But this isn’t really a story about solar power. It’s about the demand created by folks like Page who are helping to fuel rising employment in the clean-energy sector.

In other words, green jobs.

According to a report released Wednesday by The Pew Charitable Trusts, a Philadelphia-based nonprofit, jobs in the country’s clean-energy sector grew at a rate of 9.1 percent between 1998 and 2007, compared with total job growth of only 3.7 percent in the same period.

In Oregon, the number is greater. According to the report, jobs in Oregon’s clean-energy sector grew at a rate of 50.7 percent between 1998 and 2007, compared with total job growth of 7.5 percent in the same period. That means Oregon, with upwards of 1,600 clean-energy companies, has more green jobs than any other state.

Micro Wind Farm Company Moves HQ to Bend

Adding “micro wind” to the portfolio of renewable energy companies located in Central Oregon is a positive step forward for the region.  However, like all renewable energy sources, wind has its challenges. A few of them are addressed in “The Blowback” by Eric Flowers that follows the main article.

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The Wind Cries Money
Finding profits and positive vibes in micro wind farms 
Written by Daniel Pearson – the Source – April 15, 2009

Mike Costanti smiles as he cycles through digital images of Nome, Alaska’s Banner Wind Project, completed in December 2008 by his company Western Community Energy. It’s the largest wind farm in Alaska and one that will help lessen Nome’s annual dependence on diesel fuel by 200,000 gallons, and Costanti is proud WCE led the development efforts.

“I didn’t approach this business wearing tie-dye and corduroy saying, ‘Hey man, this is cool,’” Costanti said. “I was in Seattle in the late 1990s when the tech sector was growing and it was palpable – you could feel it growing, and the same thing is happening in renewable energy right now. We’re on the cusp of a new economy.”

Western Community Energy is one of a dozen so-called “green energy” companies headquartered here in Bend. Costanti founded WCE in October 2007 in Boseman, Mont. but moved the company to Bend last year to take advantage of the focus on the renewable-energy economy that continues to evolve in Central Oregon.

“When the wind energy industry was experiencing major corporate consolidation and seemed to be focusing only on massive wind farms capable of generating hundreds of megawatts of electricity, I recognized a niche,” he said. “WCE’s focus is to install wind turbines on property owned by private farmers, schools, cities, counties or other landowners — work that allows the property owner to reap 50 percent of the profits from all electricity sold.”