Somebody's Finally Listening (In Salem) Anyway (Portland, Echo: 2013, fingerprints, credit)

[gonpostal]

Oregon legislators to review Shepherds Flat wind farm tax credits approved by Department of Energy

Oregon legislators to review Shepherds Flat wind farm tax credits approved by Department of Energy | OregonLive.com

The House Revenue Committee and the Senate Finance and Revenue Committee will hold hearings in September to examine the Oregon Department of Energy's decision to approve three separate tax credits worth $30 million for the Shepherds Flat wind farm.

..............the Energy Department had ignored its own rules, the Legislature's intent and wasted $20 million of taxpayers' money by approving multiple tax credits for the project. The newspaper determined the project was only qualified for a single, $10 million credit.

............. the state, in one stroke, gave away or simply wasted $20 million, the people of Oregon deserve an explanation and the assurance that we will take steps to change the law so it cannot happen again."

Jody Wiser, an advocate with Tax Fairness Oregon, said she sought advice on filing a lawsuit over the Shepherds Flat credits, but was told that average citizens lack legal standing.

Shepherds Flat, a constellation of wind turbines in Gilliam and Morrow counties that started operating last year, is one of the largest and most heavily subsidized wind farms in the country. Its developers, New York-based Caithness Energy and General Electric, originally received approval from the state to build a single wind farm, but subsequently subdivided the project on paper to apply for three separate tax credits.

Burdick, chair of the Senate Finance and Revenue Committee, said it was telling to her that ODOE had never rebutted any of the newspaper's findings, which provided "compelling evidence that the program was abused.

"Unless someone can show me some additional information," she said, "it's pretty clear that taxpayers got bilked."

But hey, we're not staring at dirt, just dirty business.
Oops I should have put this in Oregon, not Portland.

[Steve Pickering]

I should have known Burdick would have her alternative lifestyle fingerprints all over this. I will be at those hearings.

[EnricoV]

Not to mention it's a copyright, and a TOS, violation.

[Priscilla Martin]

Echoes of Solyndra in Oregon wind farm probe - POLITICO.com


Utility Offering Oregon Residents $5,000 To Not Complain About Wind Turbine Noise

Wind energy: The noise and the "hush money" » News » OPB

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/01/us/01wind.html?_r=1&

[Steve Pickering]

Martin, are you posting links to the TOS violations?

[pdxMIKEpdx]

Copyrighted Material - Instead of copying-and-pasting articles, photos, or other material you find on the Internet, you should be posting links to those articles. Posting a snippet from the article and then the link is the appropriate way to post.