Lyme planners drafting new law for personal wind turbines

By JAEGUN LEE
TIMES STAFF WRITER

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2012

CHAUMONT — Lyme town planners are drafting a new law limiting the placement and height of personal wind turbines with a goal to submit their final recommendation to the Town Council by the end of December.

Lyme Planning Board Chairman Frank J. Congel said town officials hope to get the new rules in place — not only for small wind, but also for solar and biomass energy development — by March 1, before the 2013 construction season.

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Henderson to focus on formulating “small wind law”

By JAEGUN LEE
TIMES STAFF WRITER

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2012

HENDERSON — Formulating a new wind law for personal turbines has been on the Town Council’s back burner for months.

But Supervisor Raymond A. Walker said now that the town has got a few things out of the way — such as adopting its 2013 budget — the “small wind law” is next on the council’s agenda.

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State siting law a form of Eminent Domain

  Letter to the editor ~ Watertown Times
by Steve Rutigliano 
 Three Mile Bay
~~~~
 In 2008, I wrote a letter to the Times on a form of eminent domain by foreign wind companies right here in Jefferson County.
The dictionary defines eminent domain as the inherent power of the state to seize a citizen’s private property without owner’s consent.

“In simple terms that the government can take privately owned land, as long as the land will be used by the public and the owner is paid a fair price for the land, what the amendment calls just.” Used by the public being the key phrase...  Link to the original .

Clarkson prof works to modernize NY state's energy grid

A big reason the electrical grid needs to get smarter is to incorporate energy from renewable sources like the wind and sun. 
In practice, that would mean controlling the grid so that it uses renewable energy sources as its first choice, and relies on traditional sources as a backup when the sun isn't shining or the wind isn't blowing. 

by Joanna Richards

Potsdam, NY, Nov 27, 2012 —Governor Andrew Cuomo recently announced New York would invest $250 million to develop smart grid technologies to modernize the state's energy grid. 

 IBM has just awarded a Clarkson University professor working on smart energy grid systems a $10,000 grant to help him continue his research, and develop coursework for students to train the next generation to use this hot technology.

http://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/story/20959/20121127/clarkson-prof-works-to-modernize-ny-state-s-energy-grid

BP holds open house in Cape Vincent

By JAEGUN LEE
TIMES STAFF WRITER

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2012

CAPE VINCENT — New York state is broke and it is now up to municipalities to find new sources of revenue to stay afloat — such as hosting a wind farm, according to a town of Eagle official.

“This state is dead. Towns, they’ve got to find new money sources,” Eagle Supervisor Joseph Kushner said Saturday at BP Wind Energy’s open house at the Cape Vincent Recreation Park, where dozens of residents streamed through to learn about the large wind farm proposed for the town. “I’m not telling Cape Vincent what to do because our circumstances are different, but if the project moves ahead, try to get the best deal out of it.”

Continue reading via this link to the Watertown Times

Property owners briefed on details of Fort Drum training area buffer program

The post has shifted its focus to the south because of concerns about wind turbines.

By GORDON BLOCK
TIMES STAFF WRITER

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2012

COPENHAGEN — As Fort Drum and affiliated groups push their land conservation focus to property south of the installation, farmers received a pitch on a program that would purchase their long-term development rights.

The Army Compatible Use Buffer program, a partnership among the post, the Tug Hill Tomorrow Land Trust and Ducks Unlimited, has spent more than $3 million in the past few years to limit development in areas deemed important by the post. Eleven projects have been included in the program, which covers about 2,430 acres around the post, primarily on its western side. [Watertown Times]