LOCATION/TYPE

NEWS HOME

[ exact phrase in "" • results by date ]

[ Google-powered • results by relevance ]


Archive
RSS

Add NWW headlines to your site (click here)

Get weekly updates

WHAT TO DO
when your community is targeted

RSS

RSS feeds and more

Keep Wind Watch online and independent!

Donate via Paypal

Donate via Stripe

Selected Documents

All Documents

Research Links

Alerts

Press Releases

FAQs

Campaign Material

Photos & Graphics

Videos

Allied Groups

Wind Watch is a registered educational charity, founded in 2005.

News Watch Home

Spitzer sets out energy plan to cut use and raise renewable sources 

Gov. Eliot Spitzer unveiled a new energy strategy yesterday that relies on reducing the state’s energy use by 15 percent by 2015, investing $300 million in renewable and “clean” power projects and increasing supply by enacting a law to expedite power-plant siting.

Simultaneously, the state gave a big boost to wind power by awarding performance-based grants to nine new “wind farms,” including three in Steuben County in western New York and one in Herkimer County in the north-central section of the state.

These sites, which state officials predict will open next year, will significantly increase the state’s use of wind. There are now just four large-scale wind power sites that supply power to the electricity grid, state officials said.

The Democratic governor delivered his plan just days before Earth Day and, at first blush, seemed to please many sides in the energy debate. Environmentalists hailed Spitzer’s call for conservation and more renewable energy. Energy lobbyists said they’re encouraged that the governor apparently wants to break the gridlock on power-plant siting – an issue that has languished for four years.

“Clearly, he’s tried to appease a lot of constituencies,” said Gavin Donohue, head of the Independent Power Producers of New York. He called it a “balanced” approach.

“The conservation and clean-energy (initiatives) will resonate with the public,” Donohue said, “and at the same time, he recognizes that energy generation, reliability and transmission are important.”

Highlights of the plan include:

– Reduce electricity consumption by 15 percent by 2015 – what Spitzer calls the “most aggressive target in the nation” – by strengthening efficiency standards, rewriting laws that discourage utilities from conserving energy, and committing state government facilities to use wind and other “clean” energy sources.

– This part of the plan is likely to meet the most skepticism. The New York Independent System Operator, which runs the state’s electricity grid, has projected a 1.2 percent annual growth in electricity demand. Spitzer wants to not only stifle that trend but actually reverse it.

– Increase supply by enacting a law to expedite sites for new power plants. The law, known as Article 10, expired in 2003 and Gov. George Pataki and legislators were never able to agree on how to renew it – with environmental and energy groups sparring over various proposals. Because of that, just a small amount of power supply has been added to the grid while demand has climbed.

– This idea will hinge largely on how Spitzer structures a bill to accomplish it.

– Allocate $295 million for 21 contracts for “clean,” renewable power projects – especially wind. The governor estimated the state incentives could attract about $1.4 billion in private investment and that new sites could be ready to operate by the end of next year.

– Notably, the Democrat did not promote the use of ethanol as an automobile fuel – a departure from his Republican predecessor, Pataki, who had encouraged the production and use of the corn-based additive.

– “Nowhere is the need for a creative new approach more apparent than in our energy sector,” Spitzer said in a speech to a business group in Manhattan, according to a copy provided by his office. “We have some of the highest electricity costs in the nation and our thinking on energy policy is as outmoded as our aging power plants. But we can make real progress toward economic and environmental goals with a comprehensive program that focuses on energy efficiency and conservation and investment in new technology.”

The governor said his plan would reduce costs and pollution.

“The result will be lower energy bills, a cleaner environment that addresses climate change and thousands of new jobs fueled by a new industry born from clean power,” Spitzer said. “I want to be clear that this clean energy strategy, as critical as it is, represents only part of our broader energy policy. There are several additional actions we must take to increase investment in our energy infrastructure – including a focus on investment in transmission and gas supply – that will help drive down New Yorkers’ energy bills.”

Under Pataki, New York adopted a “Renewable Portfolio Standard” that requires the state to be getting 24 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2013. Currently, about 19 percent comes from renewables, almost all hydropower.

That has spurred the interest in wind power. Besides the nine projects awarded grants, at least 30 more have been proposed to the NYISO.

“This is a big boost for the (wind) sector and, frankly, something New York needs to do to meet the” renewable energy goals, said Jason Babbie of the New York Public Interest Research Group.

Some communities, however, have balked at the prospect of hosting large-scale windmills. Opponents say they are noisy, harmful to birds and a blight on the landscape.

By Yancey Roy
Albany news Service

thejournalnews.com

20 April 2007

This article is the work of the source indicated. Any opinions expressed in it are not necessarily those of National Wind Watch.

The copyright of this article resides with the author or publisher indicated. As part of its noncommercial educational effort to present the environmental, social, scientific, and economic issues of large-scale wind power development to a global audience seeking such information, National Wind Watch endeavors to observe “fair use” as provided for in section 107 of U.S. Copyright Law and similar “fair dealing” provisions of the copyright laws of other nations. Send requests to excerpt, general inquiries, and comments via e-mail.

Wind Watch relies entirely
on User Funding
   Donate via Paypal
(via Paypal)
Donate via Stripe
(via Stripe)

Share:

e-mail X FB LI TG TG Share


News Watch Home

Get the Facts
CONTACT DONATE PRIVACY ABOUT SEARCH
© National Wind Watch, Inc.
Use of copyrighted material adheres to Fair Use.
"Wind Watch" is a registered trademark.

 Follow:

Wind Watch on X Wind Watch on Facebook

Wind Watch on Linked In Wind Watch on Mastodon