By DENISE A. RAYMO
CHATEAUGAY — Wind turbines are not operating in Noble Environmental Power wind parks in Clinton and Ellenburg because its power substation is expanding to include Chateaugay.
"It is a safety condition," said John Quirke, executive vice president of development. "We can't have people working in a live building.
"The work is virtually complete," he said of the Ryan Road substation in Chateaugay.
The juice to the south transmission line that operates Clinton and Ellenburg turbines must be turned off as the Chateaugay turbines are hooked into the transmission system.
Quirke said the Clinton and Ellenburg turbines will be fired up again starting Monday and all should be back in motion by next Friday.
Chateaugay turbines will start up a shortly after that; then, in early December, Noble's turbines in Altona will be taken offline for a few days for similar tie-in work.
He also said the foundations for turbines planned for a wind park in Bellmont are poured, but construction is on hold until at least spring.
The turbines and tower parts are in storage, he said.
Beyond that, Quirke is limited in what he can legally say about the progress or future of that project because Noble is awaiting word from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on whether it can sell stock to the public.
Its hope is to raise $375 million by offering about 24.4 million common shares of stock on the open market.
The co-lead underwriters for the stock offering were Lehman Brothers, Credit Suiss Securities (USA) LLC, JP Morgan Securities Inc. and Citigroup Global Markets Inc.
Lehman Brothers has since gone bankrupt.
Noble Chief Executive Officer Walter Howard said last month that Noble was scaling back its development plans for 2009 "due to conditions in the financial markets."
But, Quirke said, Noble is no different from other businesses that make adjustments and render decisions based on the ebb and flow of the global economy.
Noble's wind-farm development in the North Country has hit snags, including allegations under investigation by the State Attorney General's Office that company representatives may have bribed or influenced public officials in some communities.
Two weeks ago, Noble was one of the first companies to accept a code of ethics in association with wind-farm development in New York.
The Wind Industry Ethics Code was put in place by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, and he appointed a task force to handle complaints from the public and to ensure compliance.
However, formation of the task force and acceptance of the code of ethics did not end the state's probe into wind-farm operations.
John Milgrim, spokesman for the Attorney General Office, said "an industry-wide investigation" is still under way.
E-mail Denise A. Raymo at: draymo@pressrepublican.com
