Earth Equity News

Spanish Wind Producer Seeks to Break Impasse in New York State. By Nicholas Confessore, NYTimes, June 5, 2008. "One of the world's largest energy companies, [Iberdrola S.A., of Spain,] proposed on Tuesday [investing $2 billion to] build hundreds of wind turbines in New York... if the state's [regulatory commission]... approves its purchase of Energy East, which has three million customers in five states, including New York. The new turbines would more than double state energy production from wind and make New York one of the [country's] larger [wind power] producers... The purchase of Energy East has been approved by federal regulators and officials in other states [but] in New York... Iberdrola has run afoul of state rules meant to discourage what is known as vertical market power, when a single company owns power-generating plants as well as transmission and distribution lines... 'The Public Service Commission ought to get out of the way when it comes to investing in renewable power, and instead concentrate on making sure consumers don't get burned by rate hikes as a result of this merger,' [said New York Democratic Senator Charles E.] Schumer."