The would-be developer of a controversial $500 million wind farm to serve CSU has been notified it's in default of its agreement with the university, officials said today.

Wind Holding LLC, one of the country's largest wind farm developers, was notified of the breach of agreement following a July 23 vote by the Colorado State University Research Foundation board. CSURF is a non-profit arm of the university.

Wind Holding has 60 days to remedy the default, although CSU did not immediately specify the exact nature of the problem. Under its contract with CSU, Wind Holding is to build a wind farm at the university-owned Maxwell Ranch, near the Wyoming border.

Wind Holding has not yet submitted its construction permit application to Larimer County, and has already made two $50,000 payments to CSURF as a result of delays.

"The board took action because Wind Holding has failed to make satisfactory progress on the project and meet some financial obligations related to the project," said Kathleen Henry, president and CEO of CSURF, in a statement.

In its 2007 announcement of the project, CSU said Wind Holding had eight years to get the farm up and delivering power.

"Colorado State is still very much committed to building a wind farm at the Maxwell Ranch at an appropriate time and in a way that makes sense to the campus community, county officials and nearby residents," Bill Farland, senior vice president for Research and Engagement, said in a statement.

The CEO of Wind Holding, Bruce Morley, did not return a phone message left last week. Morley in April said he hoped to apply for permits by late spring or early summer.

Former CSU President Larry Penley garnered national headlines when he announced the plan March 29, 2007, declaring the CSU Green Power Project would be under construction in two years, providing all of the university's power needs and a valuable teaching tool.

The farm would generate more power than CSU consumes, allowing Wind Holding to sell the surplus.

Larimer County last fall created a new permitting process to consider the wind farm, and CSU and Wind Holding agreed to wait until that new process was in place before applying.

CSU and Wind Holding officials said this spring that any delays were relatively minor, were foreseeable and can be overcome. In April, Farland rejected suggestions that there were problems with the wind farm project.

It's simply a matter of the time it takes to put all these pieces together," Farland said in an interview with the Coloradoan."Obviously, we want to see this move as quickly as it possibly can."

Farland said CSU initially said the project would begin construction in two years as a way to keep pressure on Wind Holding. Farland himself in late 2007 said he believed the project might be up and running by 2010.

Wind Holding plans to erect 100 windmills on Maxwell Ranch. Each turbine would be mounted on a 292-foot-tall tower and have three 147-foot-long rotor blades for a total height of about 439 feet