Court Makes Landmark Ruling On Illinois Wind Turbine Dispute

The Appellate Court of Illinois has ruled on a matter that pitted wind energy developers and landowners against the construction industry, law firm Howard & Howard has announced. In a landmark decision, the appellate panel ruled that AUI Construction could not foreclose a mechanic’s lien against a property on which it had erected a turbine after the upstream contractor declared bankruptcy.

According to John Kreucher, an attorney with Howard & Howard, this is the nation’s first case that considered whether commercial-scale wind turbines should be deemed personal property or fixtures in a lien dispute. Kreucher also says the importance of the ruling goes beyond the legal filing.

How Will BLM’s Final Rule On Renewables Impact Wind Energy?

In support of the president’s Climate Action Plan, Secretary of the Interior (DOI) Sally Jewell has announced that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) finalized its rule governing solar and wind energy development on public lands.

According to the BLM, the rule strengthens existing policies and creates a new leasing program that will support renewable energy development through competitive leasing processes and incentives to encourage development in suitable areas.

Proposed Maine Law Change Seeks Balance Between ‘No Turbine Zone’ and ‘A Walk Through a Wind Farm’

The latest round in Maine’s near-constant wind power debate unfolded Monday, during a lengthy legislative committee hearing at which advocates for what they see as clean energy traded arguments with those who say towering turbines endanger Maine’s scenic vistas.

Currently, the Maine Wind Energy Act requires “visual impact studies” for proposed wind development sites located within eight miles of a “scenic resource of state or national significance.”

Proposed legislation, LD 1147, would stretch that sphere to 15 miles, though a developer could appeal the requirement if the proposed facility would be more than eight miles from the vista.

German Law Gave Citizens a Stake in Clean Energy Switch

"What an eyesore, huh?" the man standing next to me on the beach said, nodding in the direction of a little girl flying a kite. The man, in his mid-40s, seemed to enjoy my confusion. He waited a beat before pointing beyond the girl, far out into the Baltic Sea. "There," he said, smiling to make sure I understood his sarcasm. "The 'ugly' wind farm."

Staring hard, it was barely possible to make out the turbines on the horizon. Ten miles from shore, the Baltic 1 Wind Farm seemed as small and insubstantial as the scruffy grass along the coast. But, in fact, each of the nearly two dozen turbines is as tall as a 27-story building and has fiberglass epoxy blades nearly 150 feet long. Work has already begun on wind farms with even larger turbines that will generate twice the power of those at Baltic 1, enough to supply 250,000 households with electricity.

Poland to soon get a new bill on green power generation

Poles could soon be generating their own green power nationwide when a new law on power generation comes into force.

As Alicja Baczyńska reports, Poland’s rural and cityscapes could soon be peppered with petite windmills, solar panels, and turbines, once a renewable energy bill facilitating micro power generation is passed early 2013.

A DIY power generation boom may be possible with the efforts of the Economy Ministry, which seeks to do away with a legal logjam hampering the growth of the small-scale schemes.

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