Nordic Windpower snags $38M to expand Idaho wind turbine plant
California-based Nordic Windpower announced that it had raised $38 million in a new round of financing to ramp up production, sales and service of its innovative 1-megawatt N1000 wind turbines manufactured at its plant in Pocatello, Idaho.
Reuters.com; Jan. 7
Canada company orders $97M in turbines from Vestas Wind
Vestas Wind Energy Systems, which temporarily halted production at its wind-turbine manufacturing plant in Colorado in December, announced that it had received a $97-million order for wind turbines from Canada-based TransAlta Corp., although company officials did not indicate the effect the order would have on operations in Windsor.
Denver Post ; Jan. 12
Montana landowners band together on community wind-power project
About 30 landowners in Montana's Judith Gap, Golden Valley, Fergus and Wheatland counties are working with Minnesota-based National Wind on a community-based wind-power project.
Billings Gazette ; Jan. 16
Florida company pitches wind-farm plan for Montana state land
Florida-based Sansur Renewable Energy, Inc. requested that 7,256 acres of Montana school trust lands north of Glasgow be opened for competitive bid for the possible construction of a wind farm.
Great Falls Tribune ; Jan. 13
Texas oil baron turns to security concerns to drive gas initiative
For the past two years, Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens has been urging the country to build wind farms to free up natural gas to fuel vehicles, thus weaning the nation off foreign oil, and now Pickens is rolling out an ad campaign that urges the switch to wind and natural gas is a matter of national security.
New York Times ; Jan. 14
Report: Wind-generated power grew 39% in 2009
After a dramatic gain in 2009 in wind-generated power, the United States is closing in on getting 2 percent of its power from wind.
New York Times ; Jan. 26
California solar project collides with habitat for endangered tortoises
Environmental groups believe BrightSource Energy's proposed 400,000-mirror solar power project in California's Mojave Desert is a good one, but it's just in the wrong place because it would cover six square miles of nearly-pristine habitat for the federally protected desert tortoise, as well as the Western burrowing owl and bighorn sheep.
Salt Lake Tribune (AP); Jan. 2
Arizona caught between ample solar, scant water resources
Current technology for solar power projects can use as much as -- or even more than-- coal, nuclear or natural gas plants, making the renewable energy resources problematic in a desert state such as Arizona.
Arizona Republic ; Jan. 17
Nevada water company plans 100-megawatt solar farm
Vidler Water Co. wants to build a 100-megawatt solar farm on a ranch it owns north of Reno in Nevada's Washoe County.
Reno Gazette-Journal ; Jan. 5
Tribe in N.M. poised to build solar-power plant
The Jemez Pueblo will build a $22-million solar-generation plant on 30 acres of the tribe's land in New Mexico that will generate enough electricity to power 600 homes, and provide a source of revenue for the impoverished tribe.
RezNet.org(AP); Jan. 14
Solar installation online at Colorado brewery
New Belgium Brewing Co. announced that it had activated a a 200-kilowatt photovoltaic solar electric system on the roof of its bottling plant in Fort Collins, the largest privately owned solar array in Colorado to date.
The Coloradoan (Fort Collins); Jan. 7
Nevada county approves 100-megawatt solar farm
At its meeting on Tuesday, the Washoe County Planning Commission approved a 100-megawatt solar installation at the Fish Springs Ranch north of Reno, and if no appeal is filed within 10 days the decision will stand after it is reviewed by the Regional Planning Commission.
Reno Gazette-Journal ; Jan. 7
Michigan company to bring 200 solar-power jobs to Arizona
Michigan-based Tower Automotive announced that it would locate a plant to manufacture mirror-assemblies for solar-power installations in Arizona, and while the company declined to say just where in the state the plant would be located, company officials did confirm that it would employ about 200 workers.
Arizona Republic ; Jan. 12
Idaho chipmaker signs deal with Australian solar-power firm
After Boise-based Micron technology and Australia-based Origin Energy inked a deal last month to work together on new solar-power technology, Origin Energy has reportedly been testing manufacturing of unique solar cells at a Micron plant in the Idaho city.
Idaho Statesman ; Jan. 15
Arizona celebrates Suntech's decision to build factory in Goodyear
Chinese solar-panel maker Suntech Power Holdings Co. selected Goodyear for its new factory to make solar panels, a decision Arizona officials said could bring more renewable-energy factories to the state.
Arizona Republic ; Jan. 28
Concerns that geothermal energy projects could trigger earthquakes led the U.S. Department of Energy to impose new safeguards on such projects, including monitoring of ground-motion sensors.
New York Times ; Jan. 16
Biomass company said to be interested in Montana linerboard plant
As operations continue to wind down at the Smurfit-Stone Container Corp. plant near Frenchtown, a company that has developed biomass projects in other states is reportedly interested in the Montana facility.
Missoulian ; Jan. 2
Federal biomass program crimps wood composite business
The Biomass Crop Assistance Program, a small provision in the 2008 Farm Bill designed to funnel taxpayers' dollars to sawmills and lumber wholesalers to convert their waste wood into biofuels, has clamped down on the cheap supply of sawdust and waste wood needed by composite wood manufacturers to make a wide range of inexpensive furniture and cabinets.
Washington Post; Jan. 10
Utility: Closed linerboard plant in Montana perfect for biomass facility
At a meeting last week with Montana legislators, NorthWestern Energy officials said that since the shuttered Smurfit-Stone Container Corp. near Frenchtown already has a biomass boiler that converts waste wood into electricity, the plant may be a potential site for a biomass facility for the utility.
Missoulian ; Jan. 11
- Montana school's biomass boiler cuts heating costs
The biomass boiler installed a few years ago at Glacier High School in Kalispell needed a few tweaks and a change in biomass fuel, but now the system is running well, and has cut natural gas bills at the Montana school in half for this school year.
Kalispell Daily Inter Lake ; Jan. 15
- Montana works to pump biomass into state's energy picture
Listen online to Brian Kahn's interview of Angela Farr, Biomass Utilization Coordinator for Montana's Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, for his HomeGround series on Yellowstone Public Radio. You may have to download a media player to listen to the interview.
Home Ground on Yellowstone Public Radio ; Jan. 12
Idaho plant producing ethanol again
After nearly a yearlong shutdown, Pacific Ethanol Inc. announced its ethanol plant in Burley is again up and running, and that the company will be hiring at least 35 workers at the southern Idaho plant.
Idaho Statesman (AP); Jan. 8
Opinion
Biomass energy comes at too high a cost
Power generated from the burning of waste wood is getting a lot of attention in Montana these days, with Sen. Jon Tester's Forest Jobs and Recreation Act touting the "renewable energy," and Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer backing a proposal to create a biomass generation facility at the Smurfit-Stone Container Corp. linerboard plant near Frenchtown, but biomass energy pollutes, creates more carbon emissions than coal, is inefficient and puts our forests at risk. A column by George Wuerthner.
NewWest.net; Jan. 13
Price may be too high on Montana biomass project
The proposal by NorthWestern Energy to use the existing Smurfit-Stone Container Corp. facility, which already has a biomass burner in it, for a wood-generated power plant may make some sense on paper, but such a plant would pump more smoke into the Missoula Valley where air quality is already a problem and require large amounts of wood fuel, which will increase logging of Montana's forest lands. The text of a commentary of Tom Power originally broadcast on Montana Public Radio.
Montana Public Radio (mtpr.net); Jan. 18
BLM releases EIS on Wyoming CO2-sequestration plant
Cimarex Energy Co. is planning an open house in February to discuss the Bureau of Land Management's environmental impact statement on the Denver-based company's plan to build a $100-million carbon sequestration plant in southeast Wyoming.
Casper Star-Tribune ; Jan. 26
BLM picks possible paths for Wyoming-Idaho transmission line
The Bureau of Land Management announced the routes the agency will analyze for the proposed $2 billion, 1,150-mile Gateway West Transmission Line Project that will stretch from Glenrock, Wyo., to a proposed substation near Melba, Idaho.
Casper Star-Tribune (AP); Jan. 5
Transmission line project could power up Montana wind industry
Toronto-based Tonbridge Power Co. was the first company to snag a portion of the U.S. government's $3.25 billion in federal stimulus funds for low-cost loans to build transmission projects, and work is beginning on Tonbridge's Montana-Alberta Transmission Line project that will provide a conduit for wind-produced energy in the Big Sky State.
Great Falls Tribune ; Jan. 17
Wyoming-Oregon natural-gas pipeline to cross through Nevada
The Texas company that wants to build the 675-mile Ruby Pipeline proposed to move natural gas from Wyoming to Oregon would cross under 358 miles in Nevada, and environmental groups are fighting the proposal because of their concern about the effect on sage grouse populations in the path of the pipeline.
Reno Gazette-Journal; Jan. 4
Schweitzer wants Montana oil shipped in Alberta-Texas pipeline
Gov. Brian Schweitzer has asked the state Public Service Commission to find out if the state can force Alberta-based TransCanada provide a portal for Montana oil in its 1,980-mile Keystone XL Pipeline that ships oil from Alberta to the Gulf Coast.
Helena Independent Record (AP); Jan. 21
Arizona governor touts nuclear power at Western business summit
In a speech at the Business Summit of the West, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer pinned her state's hope of economic recovery on development of renewable- and nuclear-energy projects.
Arizona Republic ; Jan. 6
Nuclear power plant proposal in Utah sets of volley of questions
Utah-based Blue Castle Holdings' proposal to build a nuclear power plant in Utah would use Green River water to cool the plant, although critics of the plan said the 50,000 acre feet of water needed annually for the plant puts water supplies at risk; the lack of a national repository for nuclear waste would leave spent radioactive rods stored onsite; and it's still uncertain if the project is economically feasible.
Salt Lake Tribune ; Jan. 25
U.S. Energy Dept. handling 31 nuclear-power plant proposals
It's been 25 years since the U.S. Department of Energy has licensed a new nuclear-power plant in the country, but since then-president George W. Bush approved new incentives for such plants in 2007, the federal agency has received, and is reviewing, applications for 31 nuclear-power plants.
Tri-City Herald (McClatchy Newspapers) ; Jan. 25
Wyoming's coal production in 2009 slips to near 2006 levels
A downward trend across the nation in demand for coal helped cut production levels at Wyoming's coal mines to 427.4 million tons, near 2006 levels.
Casper Star-Tribune ; Jan. 10
BNSF wants utilities to pay for limiting coal dust from trains
After two derailments in 2005 on the Powder River Basin joint line, on which 40 percent of the nation's coal travels, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway determined that coal dust from trains can build up and prevent water from draining away from track beds, which can then push rails out of gauge and cause derailments, and BNSF told the owners of most of the cars that they must determine how to limit coal dust emissions and pay to do so.
New York Times ; Jan. 25
Investigation: States overwhelmed by oil, gas activity
ProPublica's investigation of 22 states found that there are too few workers to oversee the oil and gas wells and that the states' capacity to enforce environmental laws is weakening. Part of a series.
ProPublica.com; Dec. 31
Interior Secretary rolls out new oil, gas leasing plan
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar released new Bureau of Land Management protocol for onshore oil and gas leasing that includes a focus on leases in already developed area and a more thorough review of the impacts of oil and gas development before leases are set for sale.
New York Times ; Jan. 7
Alberta oilsands project roars to life
Just as rising costs and declining prices slowed work at Alberta's oilsands projects over the past couple of years, now cost declines and rising oil prices are spurring development, with ConocoPhillips Co. COP-N and Total SA announcing that production at their Surmont project south of Fort McMurray will expand from current levels of 27,000 barrels a day to 110,000.
Toronto Globe and Mail ; Jan. 20
Companies file applications for oil shale leases in Colorado, Utah
ExxonMobil officials confirmed they have filed an application to develop oil shale resources in Colorado and Arizona-based AuraSource Inc. officials said they filed an application to do so in Utah.
Grand Junction Sentinel ; Jan. 26
Opinion
United States needs to think twice before snubbing Alberta oil
Before California and other states get too set against using oil from Alberta's oilsands fields, the governors of those states need to take a hard look at just where they'll get oil if they deem Alberta's product too dirty. A blog by Jeff Rubin in his Smaller World column.
Toronto Globe and Mail ; Jan. 20
Wyoming panel works to integrate wind power into transmission grid
The Wind Collector and Transmission Task Force, formed last summer by the Wyoming Infrastructure Authority, will release its plans next week on how best to collect electricity from wind farms in the state and then move it to export hubs.
Casper Star-Tribune (AP); Jan. 27
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