Legal

A Newton wind-power company says it has changed its name from UPC Wind to First Wind to better reflect its approach to building, owning and running wind farms in North America.

First Wind officials said the name change, already in effect, would have no impact on the day-to-day operations, organizational structure or the ownership of the company, and the firm plans to remain focused on projects in the Northeast as well as on the West Coast and Hawaii.

Kurt Adams has resigned as chairman of the Maine Public Utilities Commission to join the wind-power company behind the Mars Hill and Stetson Mountain wind power projects.

Adams, who has served as chair of the PUC since 2005, will become senior vice president of transmission for First Wind, formerly known as UPC Wind, a wind development company based in Newton, Mass., according to a press release from the company.

ITHACA — Current code in the Town of Ithaca makes it impossible for individual homeowners to install wind turbines on their property, but that may change soon, said Cathy Valentino, town supervisor and a member of the Codes and Ordinances Committee.

The committee has been researching the issue of small wind-energy facilities for around four months, Valentino said, and committee members have a draft of a law to make installation and ownership of the facilities legal.

The New York Legislature ended its regular session Friday without passing legislation that would allow expedited siting of power plants. Utilities, power producers and the New York Independent System Operator have said the measure is needed to attract investment in plants and avoid electricity shortages.

The legislature could possibly take up the matter again as early as July, when he expects lawmakers will reconvene for a limited, special session. At issue is the Article X law, which provided a single process for obtaining all permits, and guaranteed a one-year limit to the review process. Article X also gave the state authority to override local objections to plants.

WASHINGTON The landmark U.S. law to fight water pollution will now apply only to bodies of water large enough for boats to use, and their adjacent wetlands, and will not automatically protect streams, the U.S. government said on Tuesday.

Environmental groups said they fear the new policy will muddy the purpose of the federal Clean Water Act and put many smaller bodies of water at risk. Democrats in Congress have introduced legislation mandating protection of creeks, estuaries and other watersheds.

Town of Warren and Town of Stark are holding a meeting on 5/30/07 and 5/31/07 repectively.I attended the Warren meeting on 5/21/07, which they used a divide and conqueror tactic as Town of Stark was the same night. I was appalled with what I heard.So I wrote a letter to the towns of Stark & Warren board members and supervisor's. I also have been going door to door handing out my letter to as many Town of Warren residents that I can because I wanted to community to be aware.

(Disclaimer: I speak for myself in this op-ed article, not anyone else).

The Bethany Open House passed without incident last night. Very few residents showed up to view the available report, so there are many copies left at the Town Hall (hint, hint, go get one while they're free).

TAXES

I will say I was unhappy with the cover letter that accompanied the reports last night -- it listed the tax inflation over the next twenty years as being 50%. Well, sure, but due to inflation EVERYTHING will go up 50% over the next twenty years. That does not necessarily mean that we need turbines to survive.

Bath, N.Y. -- Judge Marianne Furfure heard arguments on May 8th brought by Cohocton Wind Watch, an anti-windmill group that says the Town of Cohocton did not comply with the State Environmental Quality Review Act when it changed its zoning regulations to make way for a project propsed by developer UPC Wind.

UPC Wind wants to build fifty 500-foot wind turbines in the hillsides scattered in and around Cohocton. They will lease farmland from local farmers and then sell that power to local energy distributors.

With a growing number of wind power stations in Germany, a new kind of legal case is rearing its ugly head. The crime: stealing wind.

It's an offense not mentioned in the bible or the statute books. But in a broader sense it is about theft, even when the booty itself is invisible. But it is still a major problem for the German legal system, including a court in Leipzig that is currently hearing a case involving a dispute between the operators of two wind turbine facilities. Who owns the wind?