Lawmakers Crack Down on Wind-Turbine Lights That Flash All Night By Shannon Najmabadi, April 30, 2023, WSJ
Officials with Terma and DeTect Inc., the two vendors that dominate the market on aircraft-detection lighting systems, said they have seen demand for their technology increase significantly since 2018 and 2019, when counties and states increasingly began to require its use.
The companies use radars to activate red lights if a low-flying aircraft comes within 3.5 miles of a project.
DeTect has installed or is about to install 100 radars, with one to three used for a typical wind farm, depending on its size and the terrain, said Senior Vice President Jesse Lewis.
The FAA requires that wind turbines be painted a light color and have red lights on top. Developers are required to ask the agency to approve the use of light-mitigating technology for each project under the new laws.
Residents in states that don’t regulate the red lights have said the nighttime presence of the turbines has been more disruptive than they anticipated.
Nakila Blessing and her husband built a house on his family’s farm in Schuyler County, Mo., in 2018, on a hill looking out at fields and trees. Two years later, the 175-turbine High Prairie wind farm project was constructed. Ms. Blessing said their landscape is now cluttered with 500-foot-tall turbines and the night sky is polluted with light.
“They like to say you’ll get used to it,” said Ms. Blessing, of the turbines that surround her home on three sides. “You don’t get used to it.”Carrie March’s family keeps the curtains drawn on their home to avoid the sight of turbines “spinning during the day or flashing at night.”
“At nighttime, if you have the TV on and there happens to be a gap in the curtain, it will really, really attract your attention,” said Ms. March, who also lives in Schuyler County. “It’s just something that you can’t unsee and you can’t ignore.”Ameren Missouri, which operates the project near Ms. Blessing and Ms. March, said that it believes residents appreciate the company’s investment in the region, and that company officials will look to be part of conversations on light-mitigating legislation when it comes to Missouri.
For residents living close to wind farms that have already been constructed, the new curbs on red lights will have limited effect, at least in the short term. Colorado law doesn’t require existing wind turbines to be retrofitted with light-mitigating technology. Starting in 2026, wind developers in Kansas must apply to use the technology after they renegotiate power purchase contracts. The terms for those agreements can last 20 years.
Older wind projects in Washington state have to apply for the new technology by early 2028. The time frame for retrofitting got pushback from some energy groups and developers who said it is too great an expense for wind farms already locked into fixed-price contracts with their buyers.
“It just screws up the economics of the project,” said Spencer Gray, executive director of the Northwest & Intermountain Power Producers Coalition.Some residents who live near wind farms say the light-mitigation laws are a good first step but don’t go far enough.
Ms. March said the new laws don’t address the litany of other complaints those who live near turbines have levied, including the sound of whooshing blades and the sense that they now reside in an industrial zone.
It “has destroyed everything that we built the house for,” she said.
The Most Annoying Hotel Guest Is the EV Charger Hog By Allison Pohle, April 28, 2023, WSJ Most hotel guests know to keep their voices down at night and refrain from smoking in the room. But guests are struggling over proper etiquette when it comes to electric-vehicle charging.
More Americans are buying and renting electric vehicles, and factoring charging stops into their travel plans. At many hotels, guests now expect EV chargers.
These EV travelers often have very detailed itineraries from one city to the next. Still, even the best-laid route plans can go awry when the hotel’s charger doesn’t work or when other travelers break the basic rules of charging etiquette.
Guests say some drivers leave their cars plugged in for hours on end after they’re fully charged, hogging the only available charger. Some hotel chargers don’t work or have capabilities different from what is advertised. And no matter which EV they drive, these travelers unite on the ultimate annoyance: ICEing. (For non-EV drivers: That’s when a vehicle with an internal combustion engine parks in a space meant for charging EVs.)
When these complaints happen, it is often up to the hotel to step in.
Hotel staff are encouraged to tell guests with EVs to move their cars when they finish charging, says Brian McGuinness, senior vice president of global guest experience for IHG Hotels & Resorts. They can also suggest that guests leave their phone numbers at the desk so staff can text them when charging finishes.
Taking charge
--------------- Sergio Rodriguez, a 42-year-old military housing advocate from Monterey, Calif., says he has taken six cross-country road trips in the four EVs he owns, including a Tesla.
Mr. Rodriguez says charging stations by the front of hotels are often blocked by non-EVs whose drivers just see an empty parking spot. He prefers stations in the back of hotels for this reason, but says many aren’t clearly marked or maintained.
He says he once pulled into a Westin at 4 p.m. with 5% charge remaining on his 2021 Mustang Mach-E, and found a Tesla charging in the spot. It remained there all night. Mr. Rodriguez says he awoke at 4 a.m. and checked the car. It was still plugged in but showed it wasn’t charging. So he made a decision: He unplugged the charger.
“Some people will tell you that it’s inappropriate for you to touch other people’s cars,” he says, pointing out that he technically grabs the charger, not the car. “It’s using a communal plug. There’s no absolute right to it for anybody.”Level playing field
------------------- There are more than 50,000 charging locations in the U.S., according to the Alternative Fuels Data Center. Data on the number of hotel chargers varies, as some hotels claim nearby chargers that aren’t on-site, industry analysts say.
Having reliable access to chargers at hotels is essential as the EV market moves from enthusiasts to everyday drivers, says Nick Nigro, founder of the research group Atlas Public Policy.
Charging speeds vary and include Levels 1, 2 and 3. Level 1 gets about 5 miles of range per one hour of charging, and Level 2 gets about 25 miles of range per hour. Level 3 is fastest, but the most expensive to install.
Level 2 chargers aren’t practical for drivers hoping to power up quickly as they would with a gasoline-powered car. They do make sense for hotels, where travelers park and can charge overnight, Mr. Nigro says.
“But one or two chargers is not going to be enough,” he says.More than 20% of Hilton’s global properties now have EV chargers, an increase of more than 10 percentage points from a year ago, and that number is accelerating rapidly, says Matt Schuyler, the company’s chief brand officer. IHG recently launched a search filter on its app to allow guests to find hotels with EV chargers, and says more than 1,000 of its hotels have charging capabilities.
EV drivers say they often plan hotel stays based on available chargers. But many hotel apps don’t display the number or types of chargers at a certain location. Executives from Hilton and IHG say this capability will expand in the future.
Some hotels provide free charging. Others require guests to unlock chargers with a room key. Tony Booth, founder and chief executive of Stay-N-Charge, which installs chargers at hotel properties, says many clients charge between 25 cents and 55 cents a kilowatt-hour, for an average cost of between $11 and $20.
Hilton works with several charging companies, and owners choose whether to install Level 2 or faster chargers, Mr. Schuyler says.
Needing a backup plan
------------------------- Rob Miller took his 2022 Chevrolet Bolt EUV on a road trip this winter. Mr. Miller, a 61-year-old real-estate researcher, primarily uses the car for driving around Oakland, Calif., where he lives.
He booked a stay at a resort in Rockaway Beach, Ore., because it advertised EV charging. When he arrived, he found an outlet that didn’t work for his car. He had to drive 15 miles off-site with a low-battery warning.
When he and his wife returned more than an hour later, the hot tub and pool were closed.
Bill Ferro, founder of EVSession, a software company that tracks fast-charger reliability, has driven electric vehicles exclusively for 12 years.
He often plans stays at hotels with free chargers—as long as the room cost doesn’t negate the charging cost—and has recently taken successful trips in his Tesla. He says he often encounters Superchargers at hotels along his routes.
He says hotels might benefit from reservation systems. If he only needs 20% more charge, he feels guilty staying plugged in all night.
“I’m not going to get up at 2 in the morning and move my car,” he says. “But if somebody asked me to, I would.”