Wind Farms Agree To Greater Transparency
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- October
- 30
After allegations of corruption in the development of wind energy across New York, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced today an agreement with two major wind farm companies for more transparency over the industry.
The agreement will require Noble Environmental Power, LLC and First Wind, who have wind farms in upstate New York, to no longer hire municipal workers or their relatives, ban gifts to public officials and maintain a Web site that lists their employees.
The attorney general’s office developed a Wind Industry Ethics Code that the firms will adhere to and created a task force made up of district attorneys and watchdog groups to monitor whether the wind companies are following the code of conduct.
The companies face up to $50,000 in fines for a first offense of the code, and up to $100,000 for subsequent offenses.
A Gannett News Service investigation in July revealed dozens of allegations from residents in small towns in which wind-farm companies were accused of running roughshod over ill-prepared town boards and specifically entering agreements with town officials to grease the process.
“Wind power is an exciting industry for the state that will be a cornerstone of our energy future,†Cuomo said. “But it is important to make sure that this alternative energy sector develops in a way that maintains the public’s confidence.â€
This entry was posted
on Thursday, October 30th, 2008 at 1:46 pm by Joseph Spector.
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Jay Gallagher has covered Albany for Gannett News Service since 1984 and has been Albany Bureau chief since 1989. He`s a native of the Boston area and likes to point out that in this millennium, the score is Red Sox 1 championship, the Yankees 0. 
Cara Matthews has been a statehouse correspondent in the Albany Bureau since August 2005. Prior to that, she covered Putnam County government and politics at The Journal News for nearly five years. Before that, she worked at newspapers in Connecticut and covered the state Legislature for one of them. 
Amazing blog=) will definitely visit again!!