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Wind Power Investigation Continues

New York’s Attorney General, Andrew Cuomo, released the nation’s first code of ethics for wind-energy companies last week. The code is an effort to resolve an investigation AG Cuomo began in July related to alleged improprieties in the actions of two wind-power companies in soliciting local support for large scale wind-power developments in Clinton, NY And Altona, NY.

Cuomo also formed a new task force to ensure compliance and oversee complaints. The new Wind Industry Ethics Code will include the following items:

• Requiring companies to post on a Web site the names of all municipal officers or relatives who have a financial stake in wind-farm development and publish details of the nature and scope of that financial interest with the municipal clerk and local newspapers.
• Requiring all easements and leases to be in writing and filed with the County Clerk.
• Holding an employee seminar within the wind company to identify and prevent conflicts of interest.
• Banning the companies from hiring municipal employees or their relatives, giving gifts of more than $10 during a one-year period or providing any other form of compensation based on action before a municipal agency.
• Preventing wind companies from soliciting, using or knowingly receiving confidential information from a municipal officer obtained in the course of his or her official duties.

The first two wind-energy firms to sign the code were Wind First of Massachusetts and Noble Environmental Power of Connecticut, which has active projects in Clinton and Franklin counties. Both companies continue to be under investigation by the Attorney General’s Office and district attorneys for their alleged improper dealings with elected officials in communities where their wind-energy projects are either established or proposed.

Despite these measures, New York has not ended the investigations of wind-energy companies. Subpoenas were served on both companies in July with orders to turn over paperwork concerning agreements and easements obtained from property owners and public officials. “Wind power is an exciting industry that will be a cornerstone of our energy future,” he said in a news release. “But it is important to make sure that this alternative-energy sector develops in a way that maintains the public’s confidence.”