Wind power restrictions urged in Garrett

(AP) Some Western Maryland residents are urging the Garrett County Commissioners to impose restrictions on a proposed wind farm near Frostburg. The Cumberland Times-News reported that 39 people signed a petition urging the commissioners to impose setback provisions or other rules to protect families and homes near 24 turbines the Annapolis-based Synergics Group is considering building on Four Mile Ridge and neighboring Big Savage Mountain. Garrett County lacks a countywide land use ordinance enabling it to impose such restrictions. Meanwhile, both houses of the General Assembly passed a bill that would grant Garrett County the authority to impose setback and decommissioning provisions on wind farms.

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Renewable energy in Constellation deal questioned

Posted: Nov 17, 2011 11:26 AM EST
Updated: Nov 17, 2011 11:48 AM EST
By ALEX DOMINGUEZ
Associated Press Writer
BALTIMORE (AP) - Promises to build more renewable energy sites in Maryland as part of the proposed sale of Constellation Energy to Chicago's Exelon Corp. are drawing opposition in western Maryland.

The chairman of the Garrett County Board of Commissioners wrote Exelon President and CEO Christopher Crane this month saying industrial wind-power generation has been a contentious issue in the county.

The board "does not support further industrialization of ridge tops until a prudent and reasonable public policy has been created and enacted that will provide protections to those who will be adversely impacted," Chairman Gregan Crawford said in the letter.

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More wind farms eyed in Western Md.

(AP) Garrett County officials said Clipper Windpower is considering a wind power project called Fair Wind on Backbone Mountain south of Oakland. It would be just south of a 28-turbine wind farm Carpenteria, Calif.-based Clipper built that is owned by Constellation Energy Group. Also, Annapolis-based Synergics is doing environmental and wind studies on Four Mile Ridge, southwest of Frostburg near the Little Savage River. The company said the project would be 60 megawatts, which is 10 megawatts more than a 20-turbine project on Backbone Mountain that Synergics built and sold last year to Gestamp Corp. of Madrid.

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2 more wind farms eyed in Garrett County, Md., home to state's first such projects

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
First Posted: September 20, 2011 - 12:15 am

McHENRY, Md. — Wind-power developers are considering two new projects in western Maryland.

The Garrett County Commissioners are set to hear an update Tuesday.

County officials say Clipper Windpower is considering a project called Fair Wind on Backbone Mountain south of Oakland. It would be just south of a 28-turbine wind farm Clipper built that is now owned by Constellation Energy Group. The company, based in Carpenteria, Calif., didn't respond to inquiries from The Associated Press.

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Delmarva Power wants land-based wind power supply from PA not MD

Delmarva Power wants land-based wind power supply from PA not MD
May 24, 2011

By Mark Eichmann

Power company wants state approval for agreement with Synergics Eastern Wind Energy to move land-based wind farm from western Maryland to central Pennsylvania. The agreement moves the wind farm about 75 miles, and company officials say it will allow the wind power supply to start sooner. Synergics is expected to take ownership of the new Chestnut Flats wind farm is located in Blair County, Pennsylvania later this year.

In 2008, the Delaware Public Service Commission approved a 20-year contract between Synergics and Delmarva Power fo wind energy and renewable energy credits.

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Shifting winds

Despite lowered cost estimates, price tag could sink O'Malley energy plan
by Margie Hyslop | Staff Writer

Cost concerns are jeopardizing Gov. Martin O'Malley's proposal to subsidize development of offshore wind farms — even as advocates hoped new estimates would quell worries.

The Maryland Public Service Commission told the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday that subsidizing a 500-watt wind farm for 25 years would add roughly 92 cents to $3 per month to residential electric bills.

That's a far cry from earlier this month, when the PSC said household electric bills could increase as much as $8.70 per month under the Maryland Offshore Wind Energy Act, which O'Malley (D) is advocating as a way to help meet the goal of generating one-fifth of the state's electricity from renewable sources by 2022.

O'Malley's proposal could lead to construction of about 120 wind turbines roughly 11 miles off the Eastern Shore. Legislators have yet to vote on the plan, which asked lawmakers to mandate that Maryland's four investor-owned utilities — Pepco, Delmarva Power, Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. and Allegheny Power — purchase 400 to 600 megawatts of offshore wind energy capacity for at least 20 years.

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Clean may not always be green where wind power is concerned

Finding a balance between need for renewable energy and protecting landscape and wildlife is a sensitive issue when choosing sites for turbines

By Lara Lutz
Hundreds of people recently gathered at an Annapolis rally to promote offshore wind power, energized for change. A wind "superhero" in a blue and silver costume roamed the crowd with a flowing cape, while a grungy coal-costumed man symbolized the dismal alternative.

The crowd's mood was upbeat and the message was clear: Wind power can transform the world.

But wind power transforms the landscape, too.

As plans for the nation's first offshore wind farms take shape, 21 wind farms churn the air on plateaus and ridge tops of the mid-Atlantic region. More are in the queue.

Industrial-scale wind farms have altered the rural landscape in places where the natural environment and quiet living are high priorities. Some local residents and conservationists say wind turbines are an assault on both.

The American Wind Energy Association, a trade organization representing wind developers, utility companies, manufacturers and researchers, says that wind is a largely untapped national resource that generates renewable energy and combats global warming. Its impact on humans and the environment is minimal - with far fewer drawbacks than other electricity sources such as coal, natural gas and nuclear power.

The Mountain Institute, a nonprofit organization based in West Virginia, is about to release a new study on the opportunities and barriers to wind installations in the mid-Atlantic highlands. Researcher Brent Bailey said that state and federal policies are driving an increase in wind farms, but site-specific decisions are complex.

"A lot of nuance about this hasn't made it to the public," Bailey said. "It still seems to be a case of all or none, you're for it or against it. What we're more likely to find is that in some places you'd be for it, and other places you'd be against it."

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Hearings' Outcomes Will Impact GC Commissioners' Power Over Turbines

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Feb. 10, 2011

Two public hearings have been scheduled that will have an "impending impact" on the Board of Garrett County Commissioners' authority over the placement of potential wind turbines, county administrator Monty Pagenhardt announced on Tuesday.
The Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing for Sen. George Edwards' SB 252 on Tuesday, Feb. 15, at 1 p.m. in Annapolis. The proposed legislation would give the Garrett County commissioners the authority to enact ordinances regarding setbacks and the decommissioning of commercial wind turbines.

The commissioners asked Edwards and Del. Wendell Beitzel in December to introduce the legislation in this year's General Assembly session, which began last month.

Commission chair Gregan Crawford, Commissioner Bob Gatto, county administrator Monty Pagenhardt, and Director John Nelson, Garrett County Department of Planning and Land Development, plan to testify on the Board of Garrett County Commissioners' support for this enabling legislation.

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Maryland Wind Farms Nearing Completion

by Mark Del Franco on Tuesday 23 November 2010

The first Maryland wind power projects are nearing completion and are expected to begin commercial operation by the end of the year, according to Frank Maisano, a wind industry spokesperson.

Two Garrett County, Md., wind projects are expected to begin commercial operation in a matter of weeks, even as opponents consider taking legal action against the facilities.

Constellation Energy is nearing commercial operation of a 28-turbine wind project, which is slated to become commercially operational by the end of December. Synergics will also begin testing a 20-turbine wind farm atop Maryland's Backbone Mountain.

However, heavy opposition could mean delay, as opponents are considering legal action under what they claim are violations of the Endangered Species Act.
Save Western Maryland, an environmental advocacy group, says the wind projects will adversely affect Indiana bats and Virginia big-eared bats, both classified as federal endangered species.

Despite the opposition, both wind energy projects are big developments for Maryland - a state with no operating wind farms, Maisano says.
"The state of Maryland has been trying to move off its zero for years, and the legislature has been pushing [for the development of wind energy]."

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