$2.5 MIL FROM WIND TO PROTECT BIRDS

Energy company to pay $2.5 million, replace wind turbines to reduce raptor deaths
Denis Cuff, December 6, 2010 (Contra Costa Times via Kansas City Star)

"…[NextEra Energy Resources, the] largest wind energy producer in the Altamont Pass area in California's Alameda and Contra Costa counties has agreed [with the state and several environmental groups] to replace 2,400 wind turbines within four years and pay $2.5 million in a legal settlement to reduce deaths of eagles, hawks and other raptors hacked by turbine blades…

"[Michael Lynes, conservation director for the Golden Gate Audubon Society] praised the deal as a model for producing wind energy while minimizing the heavy toll the whirling turbine blades take on hundreds of raptors each year…"

Altamont was one of the few large-scale sites where bird deaths were a real problem - and now that will be rectified. (click to enlarge)

"The settlement resolves a debate about whether the company was making sufficient progress toward a previous legal pledge to reduce bird kills by 50 percent from 2007 to 2010…New wind turbines are much larger and produce much more energy than old ones, reducing the number of blades that birds can fly into."

Altamont was built before the crucial role of siting was well understood. (click to enlarge)

"Under the deal, NextEra agreed to replace 2,400 of its turbines within four years. If it falls behind schedule, the company also pledges to shut down all its existing turbines no later than 2015…The company also pledged to put the new turbines in environmentally friendly locations…Many turbines installed in the Altamont Pass in the 1970s and 1980s were placed in swales between ridges where golden eagles like to soar when looking for prey…

"The wind company said it would contribute $1.25 million to the California Energy Commission for research on reducing bird kills at Altamont Pass…[and] give another $1.25 million to the East Bay Regional Park District and the Livermore Area Recreation and Park to improve and protect raptor habitat…The Altamont Pass is a prime breeding and migratory area for raptors."