Tag: Wind power
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It Was Bound to Happen Sometime
The govt says the wind industry isn't killing whales, but it is. Here's the proof: another dead one, nicknamed "Faith." They found her yesterday at the @Orsted Southfork Wind site (#517), Rhode Island, right next to the (yellow) turbine base. 71st whale killed since last Dec pic.twitter.com/TeMAUisAsL — Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) September 6, 2023 Click…
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Dominion Hides Huge Offshore Wind Cost-Risk
by David Wojik The offshore wind industry is suffering a runaway cost crisis, but Dominion Energy says the cost of its monster project will not go up. Apparently, there is not even a risk of it going up. This preposterous claim is worth exploring. On the crisis side, I recently wrote about it in general…
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Electric Grid Reliability at Risk by 2030, PJM Says
by James A. Bacon The regional interconnection organization PJM has identified four trends that could put the reliability of the electric grid for Virginia and a dozen other member states at risk by 2030. Dudes, that’s seven years away! According to a new study, “Energy Transition in PJM: Resource Retirements, Replacements & Risks,” the four…
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Heads I Win, Tails You Lose
by James A. Bacon I’m so confused. We’ve been hearing for years that air pollution from fossil fuel plants disproportionately impacts minorities. Take, for example, a 2018 Environmental Protection Agency study which found that African-Americans faced a 54% higher health burden from particulate air emissions like soot compared to the overall population. Systemic racism was…
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Account for All of the Costs
by Bill O’Keefe Opposition to Dominion’s offshore windfarm has come mainly from critics who cite technology, economic, and energy-system concerns and problems. Unfortunately, these have only been persuasive enough to slow down the reckless rush by Dominion and its allies in the General Assembly to obtain SCC approval. What about the impact on human health?…
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Coalition Exploring Lawsuit to Challenge CVOW
The following news release has been issued by the Thomas Jefferson Institute along with other coalition partners. A coalition of public interest groups – The Heartland Institute, the Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT), and the American Coalition for Ocean Protection (ACOP) – announced in late September that it has hired counsel to explore a…
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Wojick on Whales III: The Noisy Driving of Piles
by David Wojick The Virginia wind-versus-whales story has taken a turn for the worse. Worse for the severely endangered Right Whales that is. My research has found what may be some really bad news. Meet Tethys. Not the real Tethys, the mythical Greek Titan of the sea, but the U.S. Department of Energy’s center for…
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Youngkin Endorses Dominion Wind Project
by Steve Haner Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin’s administration has filed a letter with the State Corporation Commission asking the regulators to approve the Dominion Energy Virginia application to build a 176-turbine Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) project. The letter was on Department of Energy letterhead and signed by that agency’s director, John Warren, a holdover…
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Racial Bean Counting for Dominion’s Offshore Wind Project?
by James A. Bacon Dominion Energy expects to create 900 construction jobs and support 1,100 employees in ongoing operations for its proposed $9.8 billion offshore wind farm. Hundreds more jobs could be created if, as hoped, companies in the wind power industry begin manufacturing components and providing ancillary services in Hampton Roads. As part of…
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Virginia, Heed the EU’s Failed Climate Policy
by Bill O’Keefe U.S. climate policy has been heavily influenced by actions taken by European nations, even when it was obvious that many of those actions were fraught with problems. Now the European Union (EU) may be on the verge of taking steps to reverse course and allowing economic and political realities to exert a…
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General Herring: Air All Data in Wind Application
An open letter to Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring: Dear General Herring: As was reported by the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Dominion Energy Virginia filed on Friday its application for approval to build offshore wind turbines with a nameplate capacity of 2,600 megawatts. The very first motion made to the State Corporation Commission was a request to…
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Oops. Wind Farm to Cost $2 Billion More
by James A. Bacon Dominion Energy’s CEO Bob Blue acknowledged yesterday that the cost of the power company’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project will cost $9.8 billion — $2 billion more than previously stated. During an investor conference call, Blue blamed the 25% jump on “commodity and general cost pressures” as well as completion of…
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Bacon Bits: Wind, Rain and Sun Edition
What happens when the wind doesn’t blow? The North Sea, locale of the world’s largest cluster of wind farms, normally delivers strong, consistent wind flows that keeps the turbines spinning. But every once in a while, weather happens and the winds diminish. That’s what’s occurring now. Blame it on global warming, if you will —…
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Nantucket Wind Suit May Have Virginia Echoes
by Steve Haner First published this morning by the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy. A group of Nantucket Island, Massachusetts residents have filed suit challenging the pre-construction environmental review on a massive offshore wind complex planned off its shores. The issues raised may have a direct impact on the similar wind energy project planned off…
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A Cautionary Tale
by Bill O’Keefe The General Assembly, Governor Ralph Northam, and Dominion Energy are proud of their commitment to achieve zero carbon emissions by 2050. Dominion routinely showcases its planned wind farm 27 miles off of the Virginia coast. Before Dominion and the Commonwealth get beyond the point of no return — governments don’t acknowledge sunk…