The New Year has started out with European green energy firms running out of gas.
I recently reported on the news that European energy firms Equinor and BP terminated their agreement to sell power to New York state from their proposed Empire Wind 2 offshore wind farm, probably ending the plans for that project completely.
Now comes more good news for those who are concerned about inefficient and costly wind farm projects being thrust on Americans by green energy barons. The Osage Nation took a European wind farm company to court and prevailed…and now the operating windmills have got to be dismantled and removed per court order.
A federal judge has ordered Enell Energy to remove an 84-turbine wind farm in Osage County, with a final ruling that ends more than a decade of litigation over illegal mining on the Osage Reservation. Court documents estimate the cost of removing the turbines at $300 million.A federal judge in Tulsa ordered the removal without a timeline and set a trial for damages due to the tribe. Everett Waller, who heads the Osage Minerals Council, said the tribe would expect at leave value of damage to the land, all lawyer fees, profits and tax incentives Enel received as a result of the installation.Enell did not respond to a request for comment and has not disclosed their plans for removing the turbines.Waller said last week the tribe had no interest in accepting anything short of complete removal and restoration of the land. The Osage Minerals Council notified the company before significant construction that any sub-surface required a permit. The company, even after repeated warnings over years, never sought approval.
Beege Welborn of Hot Air has been following this case, and she explains that the firm’s arrogance toward the Osage was its undoing.
The Osage Nation might not have owned all the property, but they did hold title to all the mineral rights under the windfarm and the area required for maintenance roads, etc., ever since buying the land from the Cherokees in the late 1800’s.As far back as 2011, at the very beginning of the project, the superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs wrote a letter to the company warning them not to violate the tribe’s mineral rights when construction started or during any part of the build-out.Ignoring that warning, others which came later, and disregarding repeated subsequent orders to acquire a mining lease and stop the mineral violations were to prove Enel’s undoing. And it is going to cost them big time.
Osage Minerals Council Chairman Everett Waller explained the challenges of conducting a multi-year energy battle in court.
“I hope no other tribe has to do what we had to do,” Waller said, referring to the long court battle.“This is a win not only for the Osage Minerals Council; this is a win for Indian Country,” Waller said.“There are a lot of smaller tribes that couldn’t have battled this long, but that’s why we’re Osages,” Waller said. “We’re here, and this is our homeland, and we are going to protect it at all costs.”
Energy expert Robert Bryce interviewed Waller after the ruling.
There is so much to enjoy about this development, but I saved the best bit for last: The Osage Nation is going to go after monetary damages, including the subsidies Enel received to build the wind project in the first place.
A trial date for damages due to the tribe has not been set, but a spokesman for the Osage Minerals Council said the tribe would expect at least the value of damage to the land, all lawyer fees, profits and tax incentives Enel received as a result of the installation.
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