Center, NE -- After hearing from a steady flow of people on opposite sides, Knox County, Nebraska, has tightened its zoning regulations regarding wind energy. In front of a crowd of nearly 100 people at The Barn at God’s Country north of Center, the county board of supervisors voted 5-1 on Wednesday in favor of five recommended amendments from the county planning commission on wind energy conversion systems.

he Bartholomew County Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) voted against a commercial solar energy system in Clay and Flat Rock townships Monday after nearly five hours of testimony in a packed meeting room at Columbus City Hall. A motion by board member Arnold Haskell to approve Arevon Energy’s request for a conditional use approval to construct Swallowtail Solar LLC failed to get a second. That vote was followed by a motion from BZA member Eric Scheidt, who proposed denying Arevon’s application that would have resulted in a 200-megawatt commercial solar energy system built across 21 privately-owned properties....Scheidt said the proposal violates a policy that states direct development should be kept away from more productive farmland and agricultural areas. He also cited another policy that requires development to take place in a manner that allows for preservation and conservation of farmland, open land and significant natural features....Monday night’s vote came nearly five months after the BZA denied a similar proposal from Carina Solar LLC to build a solar farm on about 1,880 acres leased from more than two dozen landowners...Monday night’s vote came nearly five months after the BZA denied a similar proposal from Carina Solar LLC to build a solar farm on about 1,880 acres leased from more than two dozen landowners.

A proposal to build a solar farm on Green Belt land in North Hertfordshire has been refused planning permission by councillors - despite their declaration of a "climate change emergency". On Thursday (July 18), North Herts Council's Planning Control Committee denied permission for a 45 hectare solar farm within 106 hectares of land north east of Wandon End, despite planning officers recommending they approve the project. Three parish councils - Offley, Lilley and Kings Walden - and 400 residents had lodged their objections with the council, with concerns about "inappropriate" Green Belt development and energy going into the national grid rather than directly benefitting North Herts residents.

Despite being recommended for approval by its planning officer, North Warwickshire Borough Council committee members chose against the 150-acre solar farm pitched for development at a site near the M6 by Fillongley. The decision, made on 8 July, came on the day that Rachel Reeves, Labour’s Chancellor, vowed to “get Britain building again”. Reeves had criticised a “status quo which responds to the existence of trade-offs by always saying “no”, with too many construction projects rejected due to local conflict. Yesterday, 17 July, the King’s Speech built on the proposition of planning reform as a major boost to the UK economy.

n 2002, Whistling Ridge Energy, LLC requested from the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) a 70-MW generation interconnection to BPA's energy grid for a new wind energy project. In 2007, WRE proposed to build up to 85 wind turbines, each up to 426 feet tall, on prominent ridgelines near the town of White Salmon. In 2009, the Washington Department of Natural Resources rejected WRE's request to build wind turbines on public land. In 2012, a scaled-down version of the project (up to 35 turbines, each up to 430 feet tall) was approved by former Washington Governor Christine Gregoire. The project met stiff opposition, including from a group called Friends of the Columbia Gorge. https://gorgefriends.org On July 17, 2024, the Washington Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council declared the project's permit had expired and refused to transfer the site certification agreement to a new owner.

Controversial plans to build a solar farm in the Northumberland countryside have been turned down by council planners. The proposals would have seen 256 solar panels built on land east of West Chevington Farm near Hadston. Council planners had recommended the proposals for approval, despite 18 objections submitted by local residents. However, the council’s heritage officer felt that the solar farm would cause harm to the adjacent West Chevington Farm House, which is grade II listed. In an objection to the plans, heritage officers warned the solar panels would appear “incongruous” next to the farm house which had been “well-preserved”.

Plans for a solar farm near Grantham have been refused. South Kesteven District Council's planning officer had recommended approval for the project, which would have seen 62,000 ground-mounted solar panels being installed on six agricultural fields by Church Lane, in the village of Welby. Developers expected the 107-acre (43-hectare) solar farm to generate enough electricity to power up to 9,000 homes, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service. But the authority’s planning committee refused the application because of concerns over the loss of "rare" grade 3-rated farmland. Councillor Charmaine Morgan, who chairs the committee, said: “Grade 2 and 3 land is rare and that’s the point, it’s the best land available.

A construction stop for the wind turbines in the Höhenkirchner Forest: The Bavarian Administrative Court has ruled that the approval notice is unlawful. The plaintiff, the Association for Landscape Conservation, Species Protection and Biodiversity, was in principle right. However, the Munich District Office, as the approval authority, now has the opportunity to carry out a supplementary procedure. According to the court, the problem lies not primarily in the wind turbines that are turning, but in the one and a half years of construction before that. The focus was on water law.

"The governor of Sardinia has suspended the construction of hundreds of wind turbines, claiming they will destroy the beauty of the Mediterranean island’s mountain peaks, farmland and sweeping beaches. Alessandra Todde, president of Sardinia, declared an 18-month moratorium on the construction of wind farms on the island, where applications have been submitted to add 3,000 new turbines to the existing 780."

A proposed solar farm in Gladstone, the Wild Rose solar project, received a recommendation of denial from the Nelson County Planning Commission on June 26.