Podcasts about state aid

Allen, Rosemary, Yolanda, and Matthew discuss highlights from Blades USA including the carbon blade debate. Plus TPI Composites’ bankruptcy sale hits major obstacles as partners dispute over $100M in claims. And Europe’s offshore and onshore wind developers clash over state aid, with WindEurope’s new CEO urging unity. Sign up now for Uptime Tech News, our weekly newsletter on all things wind technology. This episode is sponsored by Weather Guard Lightning Tech. Learn more about Weather Guard’s StrikeTape Wind Turbine LPS retrofit. Follow the show on YouTube, Linkedin and visit Weather Guard on the web. And subscribe to Rosemary’s “Engineering with Rosie” YouTube channel here. Have a question we can answer on the show? Email us! [00:00:00] The Uptime Wind Energy Podcast brought to you by Strike Tape, protecting thousands of wind turbines from lightning damage worldwide. Visit strike tape.com. And now your hosts.  Allen Hall 2025: Welcome to the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast. I’m your host Alan Hall, and I’m here with Yolanda Padron, Rosemary Barnes and Matthew Stead. Yolanda and Matthew have just wrapped up a couple of days at the Blade USA forum in Austin, Texas. Maybe we should start there. Thoughts on the forum this year? Things that were highlights?  Matthew Stead: Yeah. Lightning Root de bond. One positive was that, um, there are a couple of startups there, so, you know, kudos to them for, you know, making the investment. There was a. There was a startup around, you know, data analytics and, you know, bringing machine learning in. And then there was also another startup looking at recycling. [00:01:00] Um, really trying to get that, that food chain through of, um, you know, grinding and then turning into some sort of valuable product. Um, yeah. However, I think someone also from EPRI said that, you know, at the moment, you know, the recycling path is, you know, eight times more expensive than the, um, the landfill path. There was a lot of carbon discussion actually. So, and, um, yeah, a lot of discussion about repairs, a lot of discussion about testing, uh, a lot of discussion about, you know, how maybe a carbon blade can last 40 years. Um, so a lot of discussion about lifetime extensions around carbon. Um, but, but, but, but, you know, really, really hard to repair.  Allen Hall 2025: That goes back to the comments Rosemary and Morton Hanberg made about carbon blades. Should we be making. Carbon blades are not. And I think Morton’s opinion, and maybe Rosemary’s, I don’t wanna speak for her, was carbon blades are okay, but they are really difficult to repair. Almost impossible to repair. And is it [00:02:00] worth even building them?  Rosemary Barnes: I think if you consider the blade in isolation, then it probably is adding more headaches than it’s worth. But carbon fiber is a bit of an enabler for improvements across the whole system of a, a wind turbine. ’cause when you take, like you can take a lot of weight out of a blade by using carbon fiber. I mean, it’s never been cheaper to make a blade with carbon fiber than an equivalent blade with glass. You do, you buy the more expensive carbon fiber blade because it’s lighter, a like, a lot lighter, and then you can take, um, weight. It, it reduces the requirements for basically every other component in the wind turbine, but especially stuff like the pitch bearings. Um, so you solve a lot of other problems, but you create blade problems. So. I think if you ask some of the only works on maintaining blades, then you’re gonna be like, why would you make a carbon fiber blade? It is so much headache. Um, but that’s not the reason why they were ever made in the first place. [00:03:00] So you’d need to talk to, you know, somebody on, uh, I dunno, front end engineering. Someone from the sales team about why it is that they are going with a more expensive carbon fiber blade. Even acknowledging that they probably underestimate how many problems there are with o and m with, uh, carbon fiber blades. But even so, like they’re already aware that there are trade offs. Um, and yeah, there’s non blade reasons for, for taking, taking that pain.  Allen Hall 2025: Are there other fibers that could be substituted besides carbon? There, I, I know fiberglass. A, a good, relatively strong fiber and carbon obviously is much stronger. But are there things in the middle that could be substituted that are non-conductive? Rosemary Barnes: Uh, y yeah, there are, but carbon fibers, it’s not just strong. It’s really stiff. And that’s what its benefit is. Um, like there’s Kevlar but it’s not very stiff. So you would, we would make a really heavy blade if you used Kevlar. It would be probably bulletproof though. So I guess that would be a plus. I, I haven’t looked into it recently, but nothing is [00:04:00] at the, um, like got the performance specs and the cost specs that you would need to, um, make it replace carbon fiber. Matthew Stead: So one thing that I picked up I thought was pretty, uh, interesting was that by having a stronger, you know, carbon protrusion, you know, the, you know, the backbone of the blade, um, it took a little bit of pressure off the skin. And so therefore, um, you know, the life, life of the blade, um, and the ability to keep running it ’cause the skin is not so critical. Those seem to be a real, a real plus as well.  Rosemary Barnes: I don’t know, people talk about this in like absolutes, but everything is just a con continuum, right? Like you can make an all glass blade that would last a thousand years if you really wanted to. You just, you know, you just have to make it very, very strong. ’cause it’s, you know, it’s all based on fatigue lifetime. And the smaller that your, um, strain on every component in the blade is, then the less, um, the less fatigue damage is gonna accumulate. Making it a little bit stiffer will actually increase the lifetime by [00:05:00] a a lot. I think the main benefit to protrusions is just that you avoid all of the um, or you avoid a lot of the possibilities for manufacturing defects. It’s easy to control the manufacture ’cause carbon fiber, like much more so than glass fiber. It’s so, um, it’s so dependent on the fibers being perfectly straight. If you have a little wrinkle, like a little wrinkle is bad in glass fiber, but it’s like really bad in carbon fiber. So protrusions mean that you won’t get wrinkles. Uh, and you can, you know, control the manufacturing process a lot better, but they are barely repairable, right? So that’s the trade off. You can do some small repairs, but you’re not gonna be just. Um, if you’ve got a, a, a full thickness crack or something, it’s, you know, it’s gonna be game over. You’re not gonna be building that up again. Allen Hall 2025: Delamination and bottomline failures and blades are difficult problems to [00:06:00] detect early. These hidden issues can cost you millions in repairs and lost energy production. C-I-C-N-D-T are specialists to detect these critical flaws before they become expensive burdens. Their non-destructive test technology penetrates deep to blade materials to find voids and cracks. Traditional inspections, completely. Miss C-I-C-N-D-T Maps. Every critical defect delivers actionable reports and provides support to get your blades. Back in service, so visit cic ndt.com because catching blade problems early  Yolanda Padron: will save you millions.  Allen Hall 2025: Well keep going on the, the subject of blades. Imagine if you were selling your house and you told the bank you owe nothing on it. Then the bank shows up with a bill for over a hundred million dollars. That is essentially what’s happening right now in the TPI composites bankruptcy. Uh, the wind blade manufacturer canceled its [00:07:00] February 17th asset auction after only one bidder came forward. A firm called ECP five LLC, which is, uh, part of Energy Capital Partners, which is based in New Jersey. Uh, but before TPI. Can hand over the keys. It has to settle up with its business partners. TPI told the court many of those partners were owed little or nothing. Uh, the partners check their books. Strongly disagree. Now, the judge has a mountain of competing claims to sort through before the sale can close. And everyone, I mean, the, the claims are big. Uh, there are several large names listed, and if you go through the filings, uh, Siemens C Mesa is probably the largest one, and it, it claims TPI owes about 84 million plus an unpaid inspection, repair, and replacement costs. Plus under 22 million [00:08:00]under apparent guarantee. Others include Aurora Energy Services stating it is owned about $5 million, uh, for post-bankruptcy services, plus 38,000, uh, for before the filing of bankruptcy. The landlord up in Iowa for the TPI facility there is objecting because they’re owed some rent. Some other ones include, uh. Oracle, uh, which is, uh, has a lot of software licenses that TPI currently has, and they’re saying those licenses will not swap over to the new owner. So there, this is a series of these filings going on at the minute, and they’re pushing back the closing of the, uh, sale hearing until March 9th. So they got about another two weeks as we record right now. This is a big deal and, and although I have seen almost nothing about it in the press. Because it’s hard. One, it’s hard to find, and two, it’s really [00:09:00] difficult to sort through. Uh, but it is a major milestone for TPI that they’re gonna be able to sell the, or at least transfer ownership to, uh, energy capital partners. And the none of the buyers investors had bought part of the facilities. But GE Renova or Siemens cesa, for that matter, are not involved, at least at the top level. Which is really to, in my opinion, odd. I thought GE Renova would’ve been involved, at least at some level. They have been supporting TPI through this process. But in terms of going forward, doesn’t look like too much is going on with Renova or Siemens Ga Mesa in, in terms of the operations of these facilities. Thoughts.  Rosemary Barnes: Yeah, I agree. It’s strange that they wouldn’t have taken that opportunity and that makes me wonder what I don’t know that, you know, ’cause obviously it’s not a strange decision to the people who have made it so. They’ve got more information, a lot more information than us. So what is it that made it unappealing to them? That’s, um, that’s my question. [00:10:00] Yolanda Padron: What did TP, I think was gonna happen with all of that money that they owe everyone?  Allen Hall 2025: Well, it’s a bankruptcy hearing. Obviously they like to wipe that debt free and so would Energy Capital partners. They don’t wanna pay the a hundred million plus of whatever, uh, the court would ict, but. You just like to get the assets. If you can do it, that’s your cheapest option if you’re Energy Capital partners. But do you see Energy Capital Partners running the facilities? There’s a lot of organization within TPI that manages those facilities and controls the operation. From the quality side engineering side, there’s, there’s a lot of pieces to TPI here. Do you think they’re just gonna pick it up and run, run the company as it stands today? Or, or,  Rosemary Barnes: oh my goodness. I would be so nervous to, um, buy blades, uh, from them in that situation. I mean, we’ve seen so many examples in the last few years of decisions being made by senior management that have really compromised the quality at the end of the day. Like in theory, yes, the factory, you know, all the processes are in place to do things. Um, to do things [00:11:00] right, but you know, as soon as they get the next new project, which they’re doing constantly, right? It’s not like they just make a blade and they just make it over and over again. They make many different kinds of blades. There’s decisions to be made and you’re trying to get the price right and the quality right. And then, you know, given that we know that TPI was not profitable the way they were doing it before, they’re gonna have to spend less money. Then somebody who isn’t from the industry is making those calls about where to save it. It just seems like totally implausible to me.  Matthew Stead: Can I just add though, you know, TPI was mentioned multiple times at, um, at Blades, USA, and so, you know, a lot of people are relying on them or have relied on them and so forth. And so maybe this is a strategy about supporting the industry into the future. Like I think Alan, you, you said that they’re involved in, um, this investment business has other wind assets, so maybe it’s just like. Securing supply chain and, which I mean, that’s a pretty logical approach, isn’t it?  Allen Hall 2025: Oh, it would be. Uh, they’re about 50% owners of Ted’s US onshore fleet and a number. There are [00:12:00] other projects they’re involved in a number of renewable projects. Uh, so it would make sense for them to try to keep the supply chain going. But the largest purchaser of GB GE turbines that I know of is NextEra. So you would think NextEra would want to step into the mix too and at least in all the court filings, I haven’t seen much from NextEra or nothing from them at all. It if Osted US is wanting to keep their supply chain and Energy Capital partners wanted to keep the supply chain going, that would make a lot of sense to me. However, I just don’t know if they have the infrastructure to manage it. As Rosemary has described on numerous occasions running LM wind power is not easy. There’s just a lot of moving pieces, supply chain problems. You’ve got people problems, you have quality problems, you have repair problems, warranty issues. It’s a lot to that business. It isn’t like you’re stamping out widgets. You, you have a responsibility to that product after it goes out into [00:13:00] service. So if you have problems out in service, you’re, you’re kind of on the hook for all those warranty claims. It’s complicated.  Rosemary Barnes: You make it sound like I was running lm  Yolanda Padron: Rosie runs the world. Rosemary Barnes: I just wanna make it clear I was not running lm  Allen Hall 2025: Not yet. Rosie. There’s still time.  Rosemary Barnes: I was ru running one very tiny, tiny corner of it.  Yolanda Padron: I’d almost be curious ’cause like since ECP is so much into risk management and just, just in general, they have so many things that they are like part owners in, but they don’t necessarily manage the day to day hands on. Uh. I’d almost be curious to see if maybe they take a page out of Rosie’s book and try to make one thing. Well,  Matthew Stead: mm, that’d be novel, wouldn’t it?  Rosemary Barnes: It has actually been tried before. Um, you know, it’s, it’s uh, not something that has escaped the notice of blade engineers, uh, that if you make one thing, you can do it right. And wind turbine blades are a pretty similar there. No, you know, like great [00:14:00] differentiator between. How well performing the blades are from one company to another. I know at, at least at lm, they did have a blade that they designed, and their plan was to sell just heaps and heaps of those to multiple different manufacturers and just no one wanted it. Um, so it just quietly died. Um, so yeah, the, the concept is good. I think it’s. A little bit harder to pull off than you would hope. There are also some Chinese companies that are kind of selling just parts, generic parts. And so if you wanted to make your own wind turbine, um, company, if you wanted to be a wind energy o and m Yolanda, you could just buy an assortment of parts from Chinese manufacturers and put a. Yolanda Wind energy sticker on it and um, and, and, and you could be an an OEM. So it is, it, it, it is possible. I haven’t seen any of these out in the wild. Um, I have [00:15:00] heard of, you know, people considering it for, you know, certain aspects of certain types of projects. So it kind of exists in a way.  Matthew Stead: But the financial aspect, I mean, that’s accounting 1 0 1, I mean. You gotta know your assets and to owe people a hundred million dollars, that’s absolutely shocking. Really?  Allen Hall 2025: They owed a lot more than that before the bankruptcy. It is a lot of money.  Matthew Stead: How do you miss that?  Allen Hall 2025: Well, I don’t think they missed it. I just think the warranty claims and some of the repair that was going on and the, the, it sounded like price discounting was happening to some of the OEMs just caught up to ’em. But at the end of the day, I, I, I guess the question is. Does TPI as an entity remain? Obviously the Vestas portion will, because Vestas is gonna make them Vestas factories in a sense, and, uh, integrate as part of their overall operations. But Renova is not, Siemens is not interested in doing it, at least as we speak. No one’s [00:16:00] making any noise over at Nordex. It, it does leave these assets questionable as to what the real value is. We haven’t heard how much, uh, ECP has paid for them yet. The Vestas factories that were purchased, I think the, the two TPI factories in Mexico, I think Vestas paid about $10 million for each factory, which is a really inexpensive price to pay for new factories because Vestus had talked about at one point a year or two ago, about standing up a new factory saying it would cost him roughly a half a billion dollars to do. So buying a, that same asset for $10 million is a discount, a deep, deep discount, which maybe Vestas figures, Hey, it’s 20 million bucks, plus they got the India operations. Uh, it’s not that much money. If it all goes sour, it’s not that much money and we’re okay. Whereas Ver Nova decided to not to participate in that. As wind energy professionals, staying informed is crucial, and let’s face it difficult. That’s why [00:17:00] the Uptime podcast recommends PES Wind Magazine. PES Wind offers a diverse range of in-depth articles and expert insights that dive into the most pressing issues facing our energy future. Whether you’re an industry veteran or new to wind, PES Wind has the high quality content you need. Don’t miss out. Visit p ps wind.com. Today, over in Denmark, a fight has been brewing between offshore and onshore wind developers and. Sted once State Aid brought back for offshore wind auctions, onshore developers say that would tilt the playing field against them. Well, some have even walked out on their own trade group, uh, over it. Now the new CEO of Wind Europe, Tina Van Stratton, uh, is stepping in the middle of that discussion with a simple message. We need both. Don’t let offshore and onshore wind divide us. Nearly 90% of Europe’s installed wind capacity sits currently on land, and [00:18:00] she says that is not going to change anytime soon. Uh, so there, there is a big dispute about this right there. There does seem to be a, a amount of money being poured into offshore wind and requests of governments to support offshore wind at the same time. Onshore wind, which has been the primary growth market for wind in Europe, is getting the cold shoulder. In a sense. How does this play out everyone? Is there a, a good solution to it or is the need for offshore wind so great that, that they have to ignore onshore wind development for a couple of years?  Matthew Stead: I think we should just all be friends. So, I mean, really. Yeah, we need both and, um, I mean for the diversity and, you know, uh, I’ll leave all the technical topics to Rosie, but, um, um, really I think we need both. I mean, so what, it’d be crazy to, to drop the onshore, onshore industry.  Yolanda Padron: Yeah. I mean, it makes sense that, or said, especially Orid Europe doesn’t have any onshore anymore. Right. So it’s just [00:19:00]offshore. It would make sense that they really wanna push for help for themselves. And it’s, it’s great. It, it’s, it’s great to help, but I, I agree with Matt. Allen Hall 2025: Well, the Northern Europe and Scandinavian countries are talking about 100 gigawatts in the water by what, 2050? Something of that sort. So that’s a lot of energy in the water. In order to do that, you have to devote a number of resources to it, which. Will mean onshore wind is not gonna get the support it probably deserves, even though it has a proven track record. Rosemary Barnes: I just think it, it’s really interesting because I guess wind is, um, a very Europe. LED industry. Um, and so yeah, in Europe, e everything big and exciting is in offshore and the volume is in offshore. Um, I feel like that’s kind of filtered through to other regions though, because I mean, in Australia we don’t even have any offshore wind yet. We are probably getting some, but you go to any wind energy event, it’s gonna be. [00:20:00] More than 50% offshore wind and sometimes like 90% offshore wind, um, focused, which is, I think crazy when onshore is, is exists and has plenty of problems that need to be solved, and we need to be building more, a lot faster. I, I do actually wish that. If we could spend as much of the, you know, like some of the effort and the political effort that’s going into paving the way for offshore wind, I think would be much better spent on solving the problems. Um, the obstacles stopping us from rolling out onshore wind faster. Because we’re not on track in Australia to meet our renewable energy targets if we can’t get that under control. And then in the US yes you have some offshore wind, but it is not a growth industry at the moment or it’s not very appealing at the moment, at least. Right. So, and I dunno how much you talk about it there, but I do hear a lot of, like a whole lot of talk about offshore compared to how important it is for regions outside of Europe. Yolanda Padron: I think it’s important too to [00:21:00] note that. When you have a lot of offshore wind in your fleet, like you can sometimes test out products onshore that maybe they’re, of course not the exact same conditions, but you can test out products to a degree onshore. And I’ve seen, you know, owner operators that have to go across continents just to test that product because it’s cheaper to do that onshore than to do it offshore in your home site, in your backyard. So I mean that that would really benefit from an RD standpoint. It would really benefit everyone. If  Allen Hall 2025: they gave it up attention  Yolanda Padron: to onshore.  Rosemary Barnes: When I was at lm, one of my, well my key team member who was an electrical engineer, he had, um, done a bunch of work for a system that was only implemented on an offshore wind farm. And it sucked up so much time when stuff started going wrong with that, like even small things. And he was the only one [00:22:00] that could do it. You know, you go out, if you’ve got a five minute job to do, to get, you know, like turn something off and on again off. Reconnect something that’s a whole day of work, right? Like you, and, and not like a normal day, but like a 12 hour day, you’re gonna go out in the morning, they, you know, they go around in a boat or whatever and drop people off and they don’t come get you when you’re done 10 minutes later, you know, they come get you at the end of the day when they’re picking everyone up again. So, um, it, it was, it was incredibly challenging. I mean, for him personally and the team. Um, and I always recommend to, or, you know, sometimes I’m advising, um, companies that have offshore wind, um, technologies. And I’m always advising anything that you can test on shore, do it and get creative about it as well. ’cause you might think that you can’t, you certainly can’t get all the way there without testing in your real operating environment. But any problem that could happen onshore that you, um, learn about when it’s onshore is gonna cost you probably like, you know, one 10th as much [00:23:00] to fix. Um. So, and, and the time as well. So, yeah, I, I think that you’re right that we should be actually considering onshore as an opportunity for, um, improving offshore technology as well.  Allen Hall 2025: Can we talk about, uh, data centers for a minute? Just off the top of mind, I’ve been listening to a number of podcasts over the last month or two talking about powering AI data centers and how much coal or natural gas. It’s gonna be needed to provide the stable, reliable power that these data centers supposedly need. In the meantime, there’s like this industry being built, uh, and you see the, the purchases of gas turbines going out to like, what, 2032? I think it’s what Renova is talking about now is when you could actually get in line for a gas turbine. Other manufacturers or gas turbines are basically saying the same thing in the meantime. [00:24:00] Elon Musk and SpaceX are talking about putting AI data centers up in space where you don’t have any regulatory issues. You don’t have to burn coal or natural gas or any of these things. So the, the ground-based AI data centers appear to be locked into making these really expensive buildings and assets and putting generation and transmission and, and this infrastructure together, which will cost them. Hundreds of millions at a minimum, likely tens of billions of dollars to do, and that’s just in the United States. Meanwhile, SpaceX is really on a pathway of doing this up in the sky for probably a fraction of the cost. Is there a break point here? Because it does seem like the, the natural gas, coal, oil, petroleum industry and the on ground build, the building, people are ignoring that. SpaceX has a [00:25:00] capability of doing this, and if Musk decides to do it, and SpaceX decides to do it, that all those gas turbine orders, all that infrastructure, all the gas pipeline, all the drilling that would have to happen would just go immediately. Poof. Gone.  Rosemary Barnes: I don’t know about immediately because I mean, we’re not at the point yet where you can just launch a data center into space. So there is a bit of a, a, a transition period. Um, I. I also think that it’s overblown that, you know, I think you might have even fallen into the trap also, where you’re like, oh, when data centers need more energy, so therefore it has to be coal or gas or nuclear.  Allen Hall 2025: Nope, I agree with you.  Rosemary Barnes: Those things aren’t quick to build either. If you truly wanted to do it quickly, you’d be putting in, um, you know, heaps of solar panels and batteries and, and you know, wind turbines where that made sense. But that said, I, I do agree that, uh, like I, I don’t think space-based data centers is farfetched at all. I, I guess the biggest [00:26:00] challenges, uh, are, um, the cooling and heating requirements space has very large temperature fluctuations. So I guess you’re gonna need to design that carefully. I don’t think it’s insurmountable. Um, and then the next thing is a cost of launch, which I’m sure you’re about to tell me how. Dramatically the cost of launch is dropping. Um, you know, like, it, it’s got, it’s got a very good learning curve. The space launches, which is basically, you know, SpaceX is probably the main reason why that is just dropping and dropping and dropping. So I don’t think that it’s unrealistic at all. I don’t know the timeframe. You would know more, Alan, you work in, um, aerospace. I just. You know, um, follow it for general interest.  Matthew Stead: I reckon it’s stupid. He’s really stupid on a number of grounds. So first of all, you know, why do that when. You just, I can’t see how it can ever be more cost effective and you know, [00:27:00] I, you know, you should really, should be putting that effort into things like, you know, better healthcare and so forth. I mean, what a waste of resources. But why? I mean, why, why?  Allen Hall 2025: Because it’s a lot less expensive and it’s faster.  Matthew Stead: You’d do it in the ocean before that, wouldn’t you?  Rosemary Barnes: No, but the ocean still has, like how do you power it? You, you get the 24 7 solar power in space. That’s what you. That’s what you get, um, which you can’t get on Earth  Matthew Stead: or you put it next to a wind farm and you, you, and you make the load go up and down depending on the wind. I mean, seriously, there’s so many other ways of doing it. You put it next to a wind and solar.  Rosemary Barnes: I agree with you, Matt, that I think that the, the bulk of the solutions with data centers is gonna come from one demand not being what people think it is today. Like the numbers that get reported are just like the. Absolute best, best, best case scenario and then multiplied by three or four times because they’re looking at different options for locating each of the data centers they plan to make. So I think I wouldn’t be surprised if we end up with 10% of what people think that we’re gonna get. [00:28:00] Now, the first thing, secondly, people assume that it needs to be 24 7. Just, you know, like a hundred percent reliable power, and that’s. That’s simply, yeah, it’s not, not everything needs to be just, um, you know, done at, at the exact time that it’s requested. There’s heaps of things that can be shifted and uh, when the price differential is there, then people are naturally going to choose that. And in fact, there are already some companies offering different levels of reliability depend, you know, for different prices. And companies can choose which of their processes can be put on hold. Like a lot of the training stuff, you’re happy don’t. Need 99.999% reliability, you’re probably happy with 90% reliability. And so, you know, if it costs a whole lot less than you will, I, I agree with you, Matt, that that’s gonna take most of it. But I do still think that for the, like, super reliable, um, data centers, I, I bet that we see at least one. And even if it’s just because Elon Musk is the type to push something through, um, you know, [00:29:00] first and. Wait for the market to catch up later. Uh, maybe that will be the reason, but I, I honestly think it’s more than 50% likely that we see a data center in space in the next, in the next decade,  Matthew Stead: it would make more sense to like drill a hole to the center of the earth and get the, the hot well cutting rock  Rosemary Barnes: and or there’s also plenty of geothermal. You did thermal projects as well.  Matthew Stead: Yeah, it’s just ridiculous.  Rosemary Barnes: I think that we’ve had our first hot take from Matthew, so I don’t know some sort of sound effect to be added here. Claire. Uh, yeah, Allen Hall 2025: that wraps up another episode of the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast. If today’s discussion sparked any questions or ideas, we’d love to hear from you. Just reach out to us on LinkedIn and don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode. And if you found value in today’s conversation, please give us a review. It really helps other wind energy professionals discover the show. For Rosa, Yolanda and [00:30:00] Matthew, I’m Alan Hall, and we’ll see you next week on the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast.

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The agriculture industry is facing acute challenges: high input costs, tariffs, and a lack of federal support. The state faces limitations as it tries to help. MTPR's Victoria Traxler spoke with Montana Department of Agriculture Director Jillien Streit to learn more.

In response to a court order, the Trump administration says it will provide half of the regular food stamp benefits during the government shutdown. To discuss what the decision will mean for SNAP recipients, Amna Nawaz spoke with Cindy Long, former deputy undersecretary of the USDA's SNAP program. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

In response to a court order, the Trump administration says it will provide half of the regular food stamp benefits during the government shutdown. To discuss what the decision will mean for SNAP recipients, Amna Nawaz spoke with Cindy Long, former deputy undersecretary of the USDA's SNAP program. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

Montgomery County Public Schools in MD proposes a whopping 6-year $2.7 billion capital plan that includes a countywide elementary school boundary study as enrollment numbers head downward. A school board meeting revisits a recent I Hate Politics episode with MD House of Delegates Majority Leader David Moon who proposed the state not funding school construction projects where there are open seats in nearby schools. In College Park, MD, Mayor Fazlul Kabir wants more police services from Prince George's County for the taxes his residents pay. And more. Music by Dear Daria.

School construction money is never enough and Maryland has reported 80 percent of its school buildings are unreliable and or in need of repair. Sunil Dasgupta talks with the state's House Majority Leader David Moon about his plan to link state aid for school construction to how efficiently counties use existing school capacity, encouraging school boards to change attendance boundaries before they build new. Music by Drew Pictures and the Lead Extras.

On this week's Headlines edition of the podcast, we start by summing up the most relevant details from the massive budget bill recently passed by Congress and signed by President Trump. We also discuss The Imprint's recent reporting on youth who enter foster care due to their behavioral health needs, and not because of abuse or neglect, and describe the new policies in New Mexico around removal of newborns who test positive for certain drugs. Reading RoomWhite House Watchhttps://imprintnews.org/special-series/white-house-watchThe Trump Admin is Withholding over $6 Billion in Education Grants for Schoolshttps://www.npr.org/2025/07/01/nx-s1-5453457/trump-school-funding-grants Trump Freezes Grant Funding, Upending School Budgetshttps://edsource.org/2025/california-education-federal-funding-cuts-teachers-english-learners/735665When Minnesota ParentsGive Up Their Kids to Foster Care: An Imprint Look at a Nationwide Predicamenthttps://imprintnews.org/child-welfare-2/when-minnesota-parents-give-up-their-kids-to-foster-care-an-imprint-look-at-a-nationwide-predicament/261820Michigan Justice Seeks ‘No-fault' Pathway to State Aid for Parents Who Can't Manage Kids' Mental Health Needshttps://imprintnews.org/top-stories/michigan-justice-seeks-no-fault-pathway-to-state-aid-for-parents-who-cant-manage-kids-mental-health-needs/262500Texas Lawmakers Take On Little-Known Pathway Into Foster Care: Parents Seeking Mental Health Treatment for Their Childrenhttps://imprintnews.org/top-stories/texas-lawmakers-take-on-little-known-pathway-into-foster-care-parents-seeking-mental-health-treatment-for-their-children/259701New Mexico Governor Plans to Crack Down on Families with Babies Born Addictedhttps://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/legislature/governor-plans-to-crack-down-on-families-with-babies-born-addicted/article_755e8552-554c-49ed-864f-df14dd1abaf4.html

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers proposed $3.3 billion for the state's public schools. But Republicans who control the budget committee want to spend much less: just $336 million.

Milwaukee Public Schools has missed another deadline to submit financial data to the Department of Public Instruction. And now, additional state aid for this year is being withheld. Wisconsin Democrats are reintroducing gun regulations after Republicans stripped those measures from the state budget. And, an elk was illegally killed in Wisconsin in March. Now conservation groups are offering a reward for information about the person responsible.

In this episode of Money Tales, our guest is Sophie Bertin. You know that feeling when everything looks good on paper, a great job, supportive colleagues, a solid paycheck, but something inside keeps whispering, this isn't it! That was Sophie. She had a comfortable life, but comfort wasn't enough. It took a spark - an unexpected stat about entrepreneurs from a business school dean when Sophie was at a less-than-satisfying moment in her career - for her to realize: “Why am I in the 50% who haven't taken the leap?” That catalyzed her turning point. Sophie Bertin has a varied career path, from strategic consultancy, to banking operations, to the European Commission and now turned entrepreneur. She recently founded Serapy with the aim of improving corporate compliance training through the combination of simulations, gamification, role play and online tools. Serapy uses the latest educational theories to provide trainings with increased retention rate, and combines that with AI tools to enhance the learning process. Serapy is currently present in Switzerland, Bulgaria, Portugal, France and the UAE. Serapy has been accepted in the incubation program of the Unicorn Factory Lisbon and of Station F in Paris. In addition to Serapy, Sophie has her own consultancy (Parnima Consulting) since 2016, where she works with top legal and regulatory firms, consultancy firms and financial clients on EU Regulations in the area of Financial Services, Foreign Subsidies and State Aid. She also serves as independent board member of Eastnets, a leading provider of AML, SWIFT and payments solutions. She sits on the Remuneration, Nomination and Governance Committee. Before becoming entrepreneur, Sophie was Group Head of Corporate Development and Managing Director of SIX Group (in Switzerland), in charge of strategy development, innovation and regulatory affairs. During the Financial Crisis, she served as Head of Unit at the Directorate General for Competition within the European Commission. There, she was responsible for the review and approval of the State aid provided by Member States to the financial services (mostly banks) during the financial crisis of 2008-2014. Prior to her role with the European Commission, Sophie held senior positions within SWIFT, where she was globally in charge of Asset Servicing; with The Bank of New York Mellon; and worked with the top consultancies McKinsey and later Bain &Co. She started her career path as IT and database programmer, which is very helpful now with the latest AI tools she uses in her start-up. She started her studies in Vienna, graduated from the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Paris, holds an MBA from INSEAD and a post-graduate diploma in EU Competition Law from King's College. She holds also a diploma from the Swiss Board Institute. She is member of the Executive Committee of the INSEAD Alumni organization, and she is also the founder and president of the global INSEAD Women in Business Club. Recently, she finished an advanced AI Mastery class and won the award for the best AI Application Builder. She is promoting and advocating for AI literacy among women and through the INSEAD Women in Business Club organizes events for Women in AI.

The Best Beginnings Scholarship Program offers Montana families financial support for child care costs. But, cultural differences make it difficult for some tribal communities to qualify for the program.

Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack Martin had a long chat with his co-conspirator, Matt McGranaghan, in relation to the two cases they are currently working on with RTE staff in the workplace Relations Commission. This also a good insight into where the political landscape is when it comes to protecting workers in the face of systemic corruption. The Grace Blakeley podcast on Trump 2.0 is out now here:https://www.patreon.com/posts/patron-exclusive-125909419 Support Dignity for Palestine here:https://www.patreon.com/posts/dignity-for-your-124980167

Please note: this episode was recorded some time ago and hence some of the references to days and dates are off. In this episode Grahame and Harriet discuss the principles of State Aid and how they were applied in 2024's Apple Case. They discuss the underlying issues of state aid and take the listener through the Apple judgment. Their conclusion is that whilst Apple does not break new ground, it does bring together the principles of State Aid into a single and very important judgment.

Academics dancing around the "state aid" issue. Private schools call for national funding boost to offset new state tax. Elite private schools whine about cuts to their MILLIONS in over-funding. PHD students earning next to the minimum, discouraging new generations from further education. UK - small gain through taxes not enough to save broken state education.Great State School of the week - Mount Evelyn Primary Schoolwww.adogs.info       

A round-up of the main headlines in Sweden on October 21st 2024. You can hear more reports on our homepage www.radiosweden.se, or in the app Sveriges Radio Play. Presenter: Dave RussellProducer: Kris Boswell

State Aid to Church Schools - A Cancer in the Body Politic. The religous school funding decision that flouted the constitution. Funding review for Melbourne private school swimming in cash, Tasmania signs federal funding agreement locking in inequality. US - a review of both parties education policies. UK - several different countries' emabassies criticise Government plan to levy a tax on private schools.Great State School of the week - Woodside Primary Schoolwww.adogs.info

The history of state aid to private schools - a contested space. Vic rejects funding offer, creating a stalemate. The conditions that make being a teacher almost unmanageable. Majority of NSW private schools recieving morer funding than public schools. US - article on ending US culture warws and moreGreat State School of the week- Bungendore High Schoolwww.adogs.info

Send us a textTax Notes contributing editor Ryan Finley breaks down the EU Court of Justice's recent ruling that Ireland granted €13 billion of unlawful state aid to Apple and its implications for state aid analysis. For more coverage, read the following in Tax Notes:Irish Finance Minister Defends Tax System After Apple DecisionCJEU Reinstates €13 Billion State Aid Decision Against AppleFollow us on X:Ryan Finley: @ryanmfinleyDavid Stewart: @TaxStewTax Notes: @TaxNotes***CreditsHost: David D. StewartExecutive Producers: Jasper B. Smith, Paige JonesShowrunner: Jordan ParrishAudio Engineers: Jordan Parrish, Peyton RhodesGuest Relations: Alexis Hart

Mayor Brad Cohen was elected to the office in November 2016. The Mayor began his public career in 2010 when he was elected to the East Brunswick Board of Education. Working with a dedicated group of Board members, he helped navigate the schools through difficult economic times in the wake of the Recession and the draconian cuts in State Aid. He was named Board President in 2014 and helped select the new Superintendent of Schools. Balancing fiscal responsibilities with massive needs in information technology, strategic planning, and infrastructure, the future Mayor chose to use his skills to improve the quality of life for all the residents of East Brunswick.

FEATURE: Governor's budget plan could cost rural schools millions of dollars in state aid

2 years ago President Biden introduced a bill deceptively called the Inflation Reduction Act. It was designed to stimulate the post COVID US economy and kickstart the move away from fossil fuels through grants and subsidies worth almost €1trillion. It poses a major threat to EU nations though as State Aid rules forbid member states subsiding their own national companies. But a work around designed to prevent Europeans companies moving to the US could end up harming businesses in smaller EU nations such as Ireland. Speaking to Joe was Colm Markey is the MEP for the Midlands and North West.

In today's daily round-up of export, trade and commodity finance news, TXF's Ralph Ivey covers the latest stories and trends across the market: Northvolt has secured €902 million in support from the German government for a new battery production plant in the city of Heide A new joint venture between Sonatrach and Ronesans is looking for €1 billion in financing to support a new petrochemicals facility The metals trader Gerald Group has closed its annual revolving credit facility at $185 million Like what you hear? Hit subscribe to stay up to date and for all the latest news online visit www.txfnews.com today.

Politicians, official reports and commentariat seeking compromise in the state aid fiasco. "Dogs breakfast" philanthropy laws contributing to private school over-funding. New review makes groundbreaking call for transformation of Australian education. New report wants more funding and better support for Australian schools. Private schools show biggest decline in PISA rankings. US- extreme right groups like ADF (Alliance Defending Freedom) have destroying public education on thei agenda.Great State School of the week- University High Schoolwww.adogs.info

December 4, 2023 Rockingham County Board of Commissioners MeetingAGENDAI. MEETING CALLED TO ORDER BY CHAIRMAN RICHARDSON2. INVOCATION - Pastor James Tharrington, Evangel Fellowship Reidsville Church of God in Christ3. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE4. ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING - ROCKINGHAM COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERSLance L. Metzler, County Manager - Election of Chairman and Vice-Chairman - Year 20245. RECOGNITION - LANCE METZLER, COUNTY MANAGERApproval - Recognition of the participants of the inaugural Employee Academy. The Employee Academy was a five-week program created to give County employees the opportunity to gain a better understanding of each department's duties and responsibilities through presentations, tours and activities. This program was created in the image of a Citizens' Academy, specifically designed to address the concerns of Interdepartmental communication, employee relationship building, and knowledge of services identified in the 2021-2022 Employee Satisfaction Survey.6. RECOGNITION - LANCE METZLER, COUNTY MANAGERApproval - Resolution supporting Israel as it defends itself against the attack of the terrorist organization Hamas.7. RECOGNITION - LANCE METZLER COUNTY MANAGERApproval - Proclamation for Livable Rockingham County8. APPROVAL OF DECEMBER 4, 2023 AG ENDA9 CONSENT AG ENDA (Consent items as follows will be adopted with a Single motion, second and vote, unless a request for removal from the Consent Agenda is heard from a Commissioner)A) Pat Galloway, Finance Director1. Approval - Increase Library budget $32,323 due to increase in FY 23-24 allocation of State Aid for Public Libraries. Additional funds will be used for Book and AV materials.2. Approval - Appropriate $200 from the donated house sale proceeds to cover the lawn care service provided to get the home ready to be sold.3. Approval - Letter to the NC Department of State Treasurer, Local Government Commission, in response to the Financial Performance Indicators of Concern (FPIC) that were identified based on the information presented in the audited financial statements as of June 30, 2023.4. Approval - Increase Animal Shelter budget $20,925 to install an enclosure in the back of the facility with additional fencing and to provide a driveway access. Funding are proceeds from the sale of a house donated to the animal shelter.B) Todd Hurst, Tax Administrator1. Approval - Tax refunds for November 8, 2023 thru November 14, 2023.2. Approval - Resolution adopting the proposed schedules, standards and rules for the appraisal of all real property in Rockingham County effective January 1, 2024.C) Trey Wright, Health DirectorI. Approval - Replace Prevnar 13 TM Vaccine CPT Code 90670 - $262 with Prevnar 20CPT Code 90677 - $3 15 due to price increases from manufacturer.2. Approval - Fee Schedule price increases due to increase from manufacturer:D) Crystal Norman, PTRC Ombudsman for Rockingham CountyApproval - Appointment of Jan Bellard to the Rockingham Joint Community Advisory CommitteeE) Ronnie Tate, Director of Engineering and Public UtilitiesApproval - 2024 Rockingham County Landfill Holiday Schedule. Schedule was approved by the Solid Waste Committee at its' November 15, 2023 meeting.10. PUBLIC COMMENT11.. Clark Pennington and Cherokee Motes, Independence FundVeteran Diversion Program for the Court System12. Derek Southern, Assistant County ManagerApproval- Budget Amendment for the project. Budget is $263,262.00, funding for project to come from Rockingham County General Fund. Relocation of Libr3lY Administration Services to Stoneville Library will allow the closure of the Library Administration building in Eden.13. NEW BUSINESS14. COMMISSIONER COMMENTS15. ADJOURN

Bishop & Taylor chew over the autumn statement and late paying clients, discuss why Grenfell Tower still stands, and question whether state aid should go to a company owned by Persimmon and Goldman Sachs.

It's claimed further investment in Shannon Airport is vital to generate development and job creation in the MidWest region. It follows the publication of the Shannon Economic Report by Oxford University, which found that activity at the airport contributes €3.96bn to Irish Gross Domestic Product (GDP) each year. The findings also show that the disproprtionate number of flights being handled at Dublin would create significant risks for the national economy in the event of technical failures or labour shortages. CEO of Shannon Airport Group, Mary Considine says its vital that government heed the advice.

www.commsolutionsmn.com-  Ramsey County is trying to pass a $842 million budget, and there is no expense spared. It's 750 pages of endless spending to the tune of almost $1 billion. They have huge personnel costs, as they have well over 4,000 employees. There is all sorts of state aid and federal aid, mixed with bonding, to meet the demands that they have laid out. Ramsey County has hundreds of millions in debt. That's a ton of extra money that its residents are paying just in interest payments. Ramsey County doesn't care. You're just an open wallet to them, and most governing bodies have the same attitude. We also discuss the $535 million funding gap for Southwest Light Rail. Hennepin County and the Met Council decided to get together for a little "Let's Make A Deal" to cover this endless financial sinkhole. Have you checked out our Spotify playlist? At the beginning of each episode, Jason quotes some song lyrics that have to do with the subject matter of the podcast. Andrew never knows what they are, but now he can… and so can you! We've launched the Spotify playlist: “Community Solutions Music From the Podcast!” You can listen to Roundabout from Yes after listing to Episode 30 on Roundabouts… or kick back and enjoy a rocking playlist just for the thrill of it. We add a new song every week. Subscribe and enjoy! Don't forget that you can also subscribe to our podcast on iTunes, Google Play, and Spotify!

Teacher shortages and the state aid issue. School autonomy and social justice in education. Labor threatens to remove 'secular' from education policy wording. US- Private/charter school teachers do not need any formal degrees or education training. UK- time to end mandatory Christian belief to enter publicly funded schools.Great State School of the week- Whittlesea Primarywww,adogs.info

Doug McHoney (PwC's International Tax Services Global Leader) is at PwC's Global Financial Services Tax Leaders Meeting in Paris where he is joined by Will Morris, recently named PwC's Global Tax Policy Leader. Together, they dive into the European Union's Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR). They start with the origin story, how it intersects with State Aid, how taxpayers can be compliant, the necessity for collecting and saving data and information, consequences for failing to comply, and the challenges that taxpayers will face in the coming years, whether or not they currently do business in the European Union.

In this episode of S&C's Critical Insights, Juan Rodriguez, Co-Head of S&C's European Competition Group and the Firm's Antitrust Group, and associate Marielena Doeding discuss the European Court of Justice's ruling in the Fiat case and its implication for future state aid investigations. This landmark judgment—in which the Court of Justice annulled a General Court judgment and European Commission decision –clarified the parameters under which the Commission may investigate individual tax rulings under state aid rules. Although the judgment reaffirms that the Commission may investigate tax measures for compliance with state aid rules, in doing so, it cannot apply its own version of the arm's length principle to tax measures; in particular, it cannot apply the arm's length principle to tax measures in jurisdictions unless – and then only to the extent that – the law of the jurisdiction incorporates that principle. Instead, the Commission must carefully consider national tax rules to assess whether or not a measure confers a selective advantage for state aid purposes. Sullivan & Cromwell represented Fiat in this litigation. 

The European Union will allow members to offer subsidies that match those offered by the US Inflation Reduction Act to prevent an exodus of green energy projects. The White House's $369 billion initiative has been criticised by many countries, which fear it could attract local companies to move across the Atlantic. Roger Hearing discusses this and more business news with two guests on opposite sides of the world: Stefanie Yuen Thio, joint managing partner at TSMP Law in Singapore, and Tony Nash, chief economist at Complete Intelligence in Texas. (Picture: A worker installs solar panels on the roof of a farmstead barn in Germany. Picture credit: Reuters)

The EU has loosened its own rules on state aid to be more competitive against America's sweeping green subsidies. Member states may be able to match the incentives offered by other countries, in order to keep clean tech businesses from shifting their investment. They aren't the only players in the game though: Latin America is poised to become a major producer of renewable energy over the next decade. We take a closer look.

Gov. Evers will unveil his full two-year spending plan to the GOP-controlled legislature on Wednesday and has already revealed several priorities. For example, he's calling for 20% of the state's sales tax collection to go toward municipalities and counties. What are the chances these will push through the legislature?

In this episode we talk about the EU's proposal to match the US state aid under its Inflation Reduction Act. We also take a look at how effective sanctions on Russia's refined oil products will be.

Title 42 has been used to turn away migrants at the Mexican border 2.5 million times since it started in 2020 under the Trump Administration. Republican political leaders in San Diego's East County are asking the state and federal government for resources to help the county aid migrants when Title 42 lifts. Then, headlines suggest thousands of migrants are waiting at the border to request asylum when Title 42 goes away. How many migrants are actually waiting to request asylum? And, at the age of 9, author Javier Zamora fled the violence and chaos of the 12-year civil war in El Salvador and embarked on a 3,000-mile journey to safety with his mother. This journey, and the perils Zamora faced along the way, is the subject of his memoir, “Solito.” Next, tamales are a Mexican Christmas tradition that has been filling bellies for centuries. We hear from a master tamale maker – who has been making them for almost 70 years – about the most important tamale ingredient. Next, the National Guard was about 9,000 troops short of its recruiting goal this year. That's caused Guard leaders to try new ways to persuade people to join. Finally, “Die Hard” is a Christmas movie, KPBS' Beth Accomando makes the case and shares her top 12 Christmas action films list.

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley and Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson talk with lawmakers as they continue their push for more financial help from state government.

Gary & Dylan discuss new land trust awards to protect various forests across the state, including around Lake George. Also discussed: National Fire Prevention Week, a new location for Coffee And in Greenwich, a Bolton man arrested for firing a shotgun at a person near his property, and the announcement of new state aid for library renovations. 00:02 - Intro 00:36 - Ad Break 1 01:15 - Story 1: Fire Prevention Week 02:12 - Story 2: Coffee And Coming to Greenwich 03:27 - Ad Break 2 03:47 - Story 3: New Forest Protection Efforts 05:13 - Story 4: Bolton Man Fires Gun at Person Near His Property 05:59 - Story 5: State Aid for Library Repairs 06:57 - Outro Fire Prevention Week - News 10 Coffee And Coming to Greenwich - News 10 New Forest Protection Efforts - News 10 Bolton Man Fires Gun at Person Near His Property - Post Star State Aid for Library Repairs - The Sun

Hello Interactors,Most people think roads were planned, designed, and built for cars, but that’s not true. They’re public spaces intended to bring social and economic benefit by increasing mobility. Economically they’re successful, but socially they not only are failing us…they’re killing us.As interactors, you’re special individuals self-selected to be a part of an evolutionary journey. You’re also members of an attentive community so I welcome your participation.Please leave your comments below or email me directly.Now let’s go…WALKING AND BIKING TO DEATHToday is “Bike Everywhere Day” in the Seattle area. Once known as “Bike to Work Day”, it would typically inspire an estimated 20,000 people to grease the chain, pump up the tires, strap on the helmet, and tepidly merge into the smooth, rolling polluted river of concrete nestling up alongside menacing machines of masculinity hastily rushing to work. Commuting patterns have been disrupted by Covid the last couple years. But with the League of American Bicyclists declaring May as “Bike Everywhere Month” commuting to and from work isn’t the only reason to slide onto the saddle. If you dare to do so.According to the CDC, “bicycle trips make up only 1% of all trips in the United States. However, bicyclists account for over 2% of people who die in a crash involving a motor vehicle on our nation’s roads.” It’s important to note the CDC use the human-centered word ‘bicyclist’ to describe the victim but an object-oriented word ‘motor vehicle’ to describe the killer. It’s not the motor vehicle’s fault these people died, it’s the fault of motorists. As gun enthusiasts like to remind us, ‘guns don’t kill people, people do.’ The same is true for cars and both machines can be violent killers. The CDC report “Nearly 1,000 bicyclists dying and over 130,000 injured in crashes that occur on roads in the United States every year.” But that’s only those reported. Most cyclists, especially in disadvantaged communities, don’t bother reporting crashes. And not all police nor hospitals report or rate car-related bike and pedestrian injuries consistently…if at all. And different sources report different numbers.The Consumer Product Safety Commission reports “425,910 emergency department-treated injuries associated with bicycles and bicycle accessories in 2020.” The National Highway Traffic Safety Administrations reports “932 bicyclists were killed in motor-vehicle traffic crashes in 2020, an 8.9% increase from 856 in 2019.” The U.S. Department of Transportation announced this week that 43,000 people died on roadways in 2021 – the highest since tracking began in 1975.That’s a 10% percent increase over 2020. Pedestrian fatalities were up 13% and bicycle fatalities were up 5%. They note that during Covid speeding offenses climbed causing a 17% increase in speed-related fatalities between 2019 and 2020 and a 5% increase prior to 2019. It’s unclear how speed factors in the increase in pedestrian and bicyclist deaths during this time, but there is no denying that speed kills.The Transport Research Laboratory out of the UK compared multiple datasets of ‘pedestrians killed’ by the ‘front of a car’ (again comparing people to an object) to better understand the relationship between speed and risk of fatal injury to pedestrians. They concluded “The risk increases slowly until impact speeds of around 30 mph. Above this speed, risk increases rapidly – the increase is between 3.5 and 5.5 times from 30 mph to 40 mph.” This applies to cyclists as well. Choosing to bike on roads in America comes with a risk of dying that is nearly five times greater than choosing to drive a car. And the odds of dying in a car accident are already relatively high – 1 in 101 – the eighth largest risk just behind suicide and opioids in 2020.The ugly truth is the ongoing and rising deaths and injuries to cyclists and pedestrians at the hands of motorists is a seemingly necessary cost to uphold the freedom, comfort, and convenience of automobility that many enjoy. Our political and public administrative services care about saving lives, but evidently not if it means changing road designs, land-use policies, travel patterns, restricting access to some roads, or – heaven forbid – creating viable ways to ditch the car should you choose.But this country did once care about saving lives on the road. As the post-WWII boom in cars and roads continued to balloon so did car-related deaths. Federal, state, and local governments rallied to make cars and roads safe for motorists. The same is true for new bikes purchased for baby boomers. When kids were getting injured and killed on their bikes in the 60s and 70s due to poor design and construction, consumer protection agencies cracked down on manufacturers and the federal government almost made it illegal to bike on the street.It was a bike enthusiast out of Davis, California, John Forester, who fought for a cyclist’s right to use public roads. But as a confident cyclist, and self-proclaimed engineering expert, who prided himself on his ability to ride in traffic, he advocated for ‘vehicular cycling’ which meant treating a cyclist more like a motorist than a pedestrian. He even claimed protected or separated bike lanes were more dangerous than riding with traffic. He was making that claim up until he died in 2020. But he mostly was a bike snob who didn’t want to be burdened with having to share space with kids and slower everyday cyclists on a bike path, so he made it his lifelong ambition to tank efforts to build safer bike infrastructure. Though, it was elite bicycle enthusiasts like him we have to thank for the existence of paved American roads in the first place.A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN“Every person has an equal right to travel on the highways, either on foot or with his own conveyance, team, or vehicle. This right is older than our constitutions and statutes … The supreme rule of the road is, Thou shalt use it so as to interfere as little as possible with the equal right of every other person to use it at the same time …”This was written in 1897 by a patent attorney named Charles Pratt. He was one of three men who started the League of American Wheelman (L.A.W) in 1880. Now called the League of American Bicyclists, they’re the leading sponsor of today’s “Bike Everywhere Day.” Pratt was joined by a bike importer, Frank Weston, and writer, adventurer, conservationist, Kirk Munroe. Together they grew the L.A.W. to become one of the most influential and powerful organizations of their time. They are also the originators of America’s paved roads.In 1888 the L.A.W. members voted to fund the National Committee for Highway Improvement. Their first publication served as a textbook for road construction called, Making and Mending Good Roads & Nature and Use of Asphalt for Paving. Fifteen-thousand copies were printed and sent to state legislators as well as county, city, and town officials. But they also solicited bike manufacturers and dealers, road construction and pavement companies, and equipment manufacturers. Asphalt and pavement companies eagerly offered their support and financial contributions to the effort.One of the members of the L.A.W., Civil War Colonel and bicycle manufacturer (who later made electric cars), Albert Pope, was one of the most eager supporters of what became the ‘Good Roads Movement.’ In 1889 he offered an upfront contribution of $350 with an offer to fund whatever was necessary to build good roads writing: “Go ahead with the work…and we will pay the whole or any part of the expense you desire.”        If this sounds like a bunch of wealthy cycle enthusiasts coming together to design, fund, and build public roads across America, it is. Recall this is the same model used to build the rail system across the United States in the 1840s. Federal or state funding, or government sponsorship of any public transportation, was not on the minds of elite power brokers of the 19th century…or the 18th century for that matter. Road and highway design, construction, and maintenance was believed to be the job of local governments in partnership with private parties. One L.A.W. member from New York, A.J. Shriver, wrote in 1889 that federal funding of roads was “Socialistic” and thereby “unconstitutional.”But these beliefs and attitudes were largely coming from wealthy urban elites. Bicycling, after all, was something the privileged class enjoyed as a kind of hobby. But in the rural countryside attitudes were different. Most farmers were responsible for maintaining the roads along their property and believed they ‘owned’ them. They were also leery of wealthy city-slickers offering opinions on how ‘their’ roads were to be designed, used, and by whom.The L.A.W. drafted legislation in 1889 calling for a state tax to fund the highway commission for the creation of maps and plans for the construction of ‘good roads.’ The legislation was adopted by nine states, but failed to garner the necessary votes. Farmers were speaking out against this infringement on ‘their’ property. One Michigan farming coalition wrote, “The farmers must bear the expense while bicyclists and pleasure-riding citizens will reap the larger benefits.”The defeats at the state level sent the the L.A.W. back to the drawing board. They realized they needed a different approach. Their president wrote, “We must concentrate first on education, then agitation, and finally legislation.” They created a monthly publication that was an “Illustrated Monthly Magazine Devoted to the Public Roads and Streets” that hit a peak circulation of 75,000 copies by 1895.In 1898 the L.A.W. then published a 41-page book titled, Must the Farmer Pay for Good Roads?. They mailed 300,000 copies to farmers and members of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It worked. The book’s author, Otto Dorner, later wrote in The Forum magazine that,“… the farmers of the United States are beginning to thoroughly appreciate the need [for] better highways; and the work of the League of American Wheelmen in the direction of State aid is receiving much support from the more progressive among them … The Farmers’ National Congress … [commended] the efforts of the League of American Wheelmen to bring about the general introduction of the State Aid system.”The Model T was just around the corner, but it was the bicycle and bicyclists that made that corner. In 1902 these words appeared in a magazine called The Automobile:“The effect of the bicycle on road improvement has been … phenomenal in the past 10 and 15 years …” …Directly and indirectly the bicycle has been the means of interesting capital in road building to the extent of millions of dollars, and of spreading abroad more accurate and scientific data concerning road construction than was ever before done in so short a time. The bicycle practically paved the way for automobiling.”IT'S ONLY FAIRCyclists today get little gratitude for the early lobbying efforts to build smooth, safe roads. But it should also be noted that these early wealthy and influential cycling enthusiasts quickly became motoring enthusiasts. Henry Ford tends to get all the credit for automobile manufacturing, but it was the early bicycle manufacturers who converted bike factories to car factories. Henry Martyn Leland, before he created Cadillac and Lincoln, was making bike transmission parts for Colonel Pope’s bike company. A car, after all, is just a glorified motorized quad-cycle.Men like these are often portrayed as the protagonist in the power and glory of the early story of bikes, but women rode too. And it wasn’t just high-society women biking either. In 1872, Louise Armaindo, set the American long-distance record, covering more than 600 miles in 72 hours. In 1890, Kittie Knox became the first African American woman to become a member of the League of American Wheelman. She didn’t stop there. She became a successful bike racer and became the first woman to be seen racing in ‘bloomers’ instead of a skirt. Sadly, she still faced fierce discrimination. And while the bicycle plays a huge role in the liberation of women, and a symbol of the suffrage movement, women are still fighting for recognition, acceptance, and necessary leadership opportunities in a the current burgeoning cycling movement. They are also unrepresented in determining the design and use of our roads.Not much has changed since the the 19th century. The design of motorized and non-motorized vehicles, and the transportation infrastructure they require, is still very much dominated by Western, mostly white, men. Just as those early bicycle and pavement businessmen came together around the L.A.W. to “organise capital accumulation, advance[e] elite entrepreneurial agendas, and consolidate[e] urban regimes”, so too are today’s, mostly white male, CEOs of automobile, oil and gas, chemical, concrete and asphalt, and road construction companies.And they’re all in collusion with legions of civil engineers, elected officials, and administrative workers at the federal, state, and local level to provide a transportation system that perpetuates our insatiable need to make more money to buy more things; this requires more roads to move more people and more things by car or truck; which in turn creates more waste, more pollution, and more traffic-related deaths.This approach to planning public land has led to uneven urban and suburban development, perpetuated ethnic and race privilege, and is rooted in attitudes and beliefs stemming from a culture of patriarchy. As a group of transportation researchers out of Belgium observe,“…how across strikingly diverse cities, urban regimes hide and legitimize these logics by applying the discourse of sustainability, framing infrastructural investment as a largely technical and rational response to the problems of congestion or low quality of public space. Instead, approached critically, transport is an essentially political issue of distributing social and spatial benefits and costs of urban development.”That’s from their February 2022 paper, Moving past sustainable transport studies: Towards a critical perspective on urban transport. They call for a critical assessment of the study of transportation, adding that such a “perspective departs from analysing and juxtaposing specific transport modes (e.g. airplanes and private cars against public transport) and related lifestyles (e.g. mass tourism, suburban life and work against cycling and walking), and instead demonstrates their role in sustaining socio-economic structures that enable the capitalist mode of producing urban space and society. Therefore, in sum, being critical about transport means analysing it as a key component of capitalism.”They go on to prove their point by querying existing transportation research for terms like “capitalism” or “capitalist”, “neoliberalism”, “feminism”, and “race” and find there are few results. The words “equity” or “equality”, and “gender” return just 2% of existing publications found in the hundreds of thousands of leading academic transportation and mobility journals. In the larger corpus of over six million Social Science publications the percentage of reports with those three words doubles to 4%.They also point out “unravelling and analysing power and ideology underpinned and reproduced by transport in urban settings is by no means an exercise that hinges on a particular theoretical lens (Marxist, anarchist, feminist etc.) or focuses on a specific social group or factor (class, gender, ethnicity and race, age). But they nonetheless remind us that any critique of a system that has led to a climate-crisis and obscene income disparities has to be grounded in some social theory “because investigated facts are the result of human actions displayed within a given society.”Only with this analytical lens, they write, will we be able to “rais[e] the fundamental question of whether the role of public transport is to provide a public service to its passengers, or rather to generate profits for its shareholders.” We should also raise the question of whether we want to continue to use public land in the form of streets to be a place where too many people fear they will die or become injured. Is that a necessary price for our social system? Richard Van Deusen, an interdisciplinary researcher of the interaction of people and place: “Public space must be understood as a gauge of the regimes of justice extant at any particular moment.”Is the comfort, convenience, and luxury of car-oriented travel patterns worth interrupting in the interest of improving the lives we live, the air we breath, and the water we drink?  And for all those who are forced to live where a car is needed to earn a living wage, or those with impairments, where are the plans for fair, equitable, and just transportation and/or housing alternatives?When the freedom to choose comes with nothing to lose, the costs of social and spatial benefits diffuse. Escape the snare, get out in the air, let’s make our roads more fair. Equitable places in our public spaces means biking and walking everywhere. That may sound utopian, but as Geographer Don Mitchell once wrote, “Utopia is impossible, but the ongoing struggle toward it is not.” This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit interplace.io

This podcast focuses on the Commission's state aid decision on the Belgian capacity mechanism from August 2021 and highlights the key legal aspects of the case. This case is a recent one in a long line of Commission's state aid decisions on capacity mechanisms but it contains several novel features. It involves an assessment of whether the capacity mechanism complies with the 2019 Electricity Regulation and illustrates how the European Commission conducts the balancing of the positive and negative assessments of a proposed measure in anticipation of the new state aid guidelines for climate, energy and environment (CEEAG) which came into force in January 2022. It is also the only case so far where the Commission deals with the complexities of avoiding so-called carbon lock-in effects.

The government's Subsidy Control Bill sets out how the UK will replace EU state aid rules, but will this deliver a post-Brexit dividend, and how will the UK's system change how subsidies are offered? With the bill having passed through the House of Commons and set to be scrutinised in the House of Lords, this Institute for Government panel explored the opportunities – and risks – of setting up a bespoke post-Brexit state aid regime. While leaving the EU allows the UK's system to focus domestic concerns and government priorities like reaching net zero, a poorly designed system could mean poor regulation of subsidies and creating legal uncertainty. Will the new system provide the additional flexibility, freedom and certainty that the government has promised – or is it a recipe for confusion? And as the legislation is scrutinised in parliament, how can it be improved to ensure it delivers for UK governments, public bodies and businesses? On our panel to discuss these issues were: Peter Foster, Public Policy Editor at the Financial Times George Peretz QC, Barrister at Monckton Chambers Thomas Pope, Deputy Chief Economist at the Institute for Government Rahat Siddique, Economist at the Confederation of British Industry The event began with a short presentation by Thomas Pope, summarising the new system and presenting initial conclusions on its effectiveness. The event was chaired by Dr Gemma Tetlow, Chief Economist at the Institute for Government. #IfGstateaid

The government's Subsidy Control Bill sets out how the UK will replace EU state aid rules, but will this deliver a post-Brexit dividend, and how will the UK's system change how subsidies are offered? With the bill having passed through the House of Commons and set to be scrutinised in the House of Lords, this Institute for Government panel will explore the opportunities – and risks – of setting up a bespoke post-Brexit state aid regime. While leaving the EU allows the UK's system to focus domestic concerns and government priorities like reaching net zero, a poorly designed system could mean poor regulation of subsidies and creating legal uncertainty. Will the new system provide the additional flexibility, freedom and certainty that the government has promised – or is it a recipe for confusion? And as the legislation is scrutinised in parliament, how can it be improved to ensure it delivers for UK governments, public bodies and businesses? On our panel to discuss these issues: Peter Foster, Public Policy Editor at the Financial Times George Peretz QC, Barrister at Monckton Chambers Thomas Pope, Deputy Chief Economist at the Institute for Government Rahat Siddique, Economist at the Confederation of British Industry The event began with a short presentation by Thomas Pope, summarising the new system and presenting initial conclusions on its effectiveness. The event was chaired by Dr Gemma Tetlow, Chief Economist at the Institute for Government.

For subsidiaries of U.S. companies looking to establish and/or grow their presence in an EU Member State and are perhaps seeking financial assistance from one of the Member States, it's important to be aware of the European Union's regulation of State aid. What is State aid and how does it impact U.S. companies with subsidiaries in the European Union, including France? We're discussing the latest updates to EU State aid and discussing these controls vis-à-vis COVID-19.  Joining the podcast is Jacques Derenne, the Co-Leader of Sheppard Mullin's Antitrust and Competition Group and the head of the EU Competition & Regulatory practice at Sheppard Mullin's Brussels office. He is a member of the Brussels and Paris bars. He is also a Professor at the University of Liège and at the Brussels School of Competition. The co-hosts for this episode are Valérie Demont and Sarah Ben-Moussa. Valérie Demont is a partner in the Corporate Practice Group in Sheppard Mullin's New York Office and the Co-Chair of Sheppard Mullin's French Desk. Valérie focuses her practice primarily on U.S. and cross-border mergers and acquisitions, capital markets and securities offerings and corporate governance matters. She has been involved in numerous mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures and dispositions for corporations and private equity funds in the U.S., Europe and Asia (including India). In particular, she routinely advises foreign companies with the establishment and growth of their operations in the United States. Sarah Ben-Moussa is an associate in the Corporate Practice Group in Sheppard Mullin's New York office and is a member of the firm's Energy, Infrastructure and Project Finance team. Sarah focuses her practice on domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions, financings and corporate governance matters. As a member of the firm's French Desk, she has advised companies and private equity funds in both the United States and Europe on mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, financings, complex commercial agreements, and general corporate matters. What We Discussed in This Episode: What is European Union (EU) State aid and why does it exist? What are the cumulative criteria that must exist to justify the existence of a State aid? What is the process of seeking State aid approval from the European Commission? Can a U.S. company with a foreign subsidiary benefit from State aid? If a French business wanted to set up a company in the U.S., can they apply and receive assistance from the French government? If so, how? Is any COVID-19 financial assistance to companies considered State aid? Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, what guidelines did the European Commission provide regarding the issuance of State aid? How are block exemption regulations allowing companies to avoid the State aid prior notification requirement? What can companies learn from State aid-related litigation in the airline industry? How the proposed EU regulation on the control of foreign subsidies is likely to impact non-EU companies, such as U.S. companies, investing in the EU? Resource: The European Commission Adopts a Proposal for a Regulation on Foreign Subsidies Distorting the Internal Market, by Jacques Derenne  Contact Information: Jacques Derenne - https://www.sheppardmullin.com/jderenne  Sheppard Mullin French Desk: www.sheppardfrenchdesk.com Co-Chair - Valérie Demont –  https://www.sheppardmullin.com/vdemont  Co-Chair - Christine Hoefliger Hourcade - https://www.sheppardmullin.com/choefliger  Sarah Ben-Moussa - https://www.sheppardmullin.com/sbenmoussa   Thank you for listening! Don't forget to FOLLOW to the show to receive every new episode delivered straight to your podcast player. If you enjoyed this episode, please help us get the word out about this podcast. You can listen in Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Stitcher Radio, Google Podcasts, or Spotify. Be sure to connect with us and reach out with any questions/concerns: LinkedIn Facebook Twitter  Sheppard Mullin French Desk website This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not to be construed as legal advice specific to your circumstances. If you need help with any legal matter, be sure to consult with an attorney regarding your specific needs.

The estimated revenues of the Council Grove site of Butler County Community College were about $11,000 less than its estimated expenditures. Butler County Community College (BCCC) operates a site in Council Grove that serves about 200 students. In fiscal year 2019, the estimated revenues for the Council Grove site were about $11,000 less than its estimated expenditures. In fiscal year 2019, the estimated expenditures of the Council Grove site were about $158,000. In fiscal year 2019, the Council Grove site generated about $147,000 in revenues from state aid and student tuition and fees. State Aid has not been paid according to Regents' formula in recent years, which could explain why the Council Grove site operated at a deficit in fiscal year 2019. Because state aid hasn't been paid according to Regents' formula, it's possible that property tax may have supported the Council Grove site but we couldn't tell.

While the EU Commission cannot determine tax rates for individual jurisdictions, they do have other weapons in their arsenal to fight BEPS. David Chamberlain, assistant professor of Accounting and Tax at California Polytechnic State University, joins CrossBorder Solutions Chief Economist Mimi Song to discuss the commission's deluge of state aid cases against the biggest household names among MNEs. CrossBorder Solutions

In the 6th episode of PW Kids we are making information about the School District's Budget, State Aid and Covid related budget funding easy to understand for kids! We got help from some very special guests! State Senator Anna Kaplan, and the Port Washington Board of Education helped me understand these important issues! Happy Listening!!!

This "Brexit Musing" episode features Vincent Power, Partner in EU, Competition & Procurement at A&L GOODBODY and based in Dublin, Ireland. Vincent's recording focuses on what businesses from both sides of the Atlantic should be aware of Post-Brexit with regard to Compliance, Merger Control and State Aid. Dr Vincent Power is a Partner at A&L GOODBODY that specializes in EU law, EU and Irish competition/antitrust law, merger control, regulatory law and transport law for national and international as well as public and private clients.He is Head of the Firm's EU, Competition & Procurement Group which is consistently ranked at the forefront of Irish law firms and he is seen as the most experienced competition lawyer practising in Ireland.In 2017, he won the ILO Client Choice Award for the category of "EU Competition and Antitrust" across the entire 28 Member State European Union and in 2018, he won the same award for Ireland – these awards are made by The International Law Office in recognition of a partner who excels across the full spectrum of client service. In 2019, he was elected Chairman of the European Maritime Law Organisation. He is listed in the Lloyd's List Top 10 Maritime Lawyers 2019 worldwide.Vincent has advised on most of the leading competition, merger control, EU law, cartel, abuse of dominance, State aid, joint venture, pricing, refusal to supply, competition investigations, dawn raids, Competition Authority / CCPC and competition litigation cases in Ireland over the last 20 years. He has been involved in several hundred merger filings in Ireland and the EU and has experience and expertise in all of the issues involved. He has developed a particular expertise in regard to Brexit Law.

The Legislative Gazette is a weekly program about New York State Government and politics. On this week's Gazette: The Governor's budget office temporarily withholds 20% of state aid to several cities in NY; our political observer Alan Chartock shares his thoughts on Governor Cuomo calling on President Trump to issue an executive order requiring American's to wear […]

The Legislative Gazette is a weekly program about New York State Government and politics. On this week's Gazette: The Governor's budget office temporarily withholds 20% of state aid to several cities in NY; our political observer Alan Chartock shares his