Perhaps the most unlikely company hoping to build Rhode Island's wind farm is Fishermen's Energy of Rhode Island. The company, founded in New Jersey, was started by commercial fishermen, who have traditionally fought offshore wind projects. ...Fishermen have been wary of the growing interest in offshore wind projects because they fear the construction and operation of the wind turbines will further erode the industry. ...Daniel Cohen, president of Fishermen's Energy, said wind farms will hurt the commercial fishing industry, simply because the turbine towers, placed only about one-half mile apart, will interfere with trawling -- the practice of dragging a huge net behind a boat to catch fish. "There will be a reduction in mobility, no matter what happens," he said.

The companies vying to win a state contract to construct and operate a huge offshore wind farm are not the ones that typically bid on Rhode Island state contracts. They are Allco Renewable Energy Group Limited LLC, New York, N.Y.; Bluewater Wind LLC, Providence; Deep Water Wind Rhode Island LLC, Hoboken, N.J.; DKRW Wind LLC, Houston; Fishermen's Energy of Rhode Island, Bristol; Great Eastern Wind LLC, Providence; and WindPowerpro.us, Woodbridge, N.J. ... But many are so new that they don't even show up in Internet searches. Few have local ties, and some are located as far away as Ireland and Australia.

Open space designations, deed restrictions and "shadow flicker" forced six of 10 properties off the list of considerations in the preliminary phase of the wind energy feasibility study. Site possibilities could change again if additional fatal flaws emerge, the Jamestown Wind Energy Committee determined at its June 10 meeting. ...The preliminary documents showed itemized limitations of the six sites eliminated from the list. Fox Hill Farm and Dutch Island were restricted as conservation areas set aside for wildlife habitat. Fort Wetherill, Battery Lane and the school grounds, all limited in space, threatened shadow flicker that would fall on populated areas. Watershed farms, as well as Fox Hill Farm had deeds that restricted development.

The governor's office said the state would "use its best efforts" to expedite the permitting process and assure a long-term contract for energy produced by the facility. The companies that submitted bids were: Allco Renewable Energy Group Limited LLC, New York, N.Y.; Bluewater Wind LLC, Providence; Deep Water Wind Rhode Island LLC, Hoboken, N.J.; DKRW Wind LLC, Houston; Fishermen's Energy of Rhode Island, Bristol; Great Eastern Wind LLC, Providence; and WindPowerpro.us, Woodbridge, N.J. Four of the five members of the wind farm selection team -- Dzykewicz, Ahern, Kaplan and Long -- were either appointed to their state positions by the governor, or they work for someone who was appointed by him. None of the five appears to have specific expertise in wind energy.

The vote over the proposed wind turbine in town has been cast, but that hasn't stopped one man from raising concerns over the project. While the majority of people attending last week's Financial Town Meeting voted in favor of a 264-foot wind turbine at Barrington High School, Ron Russo believes the project has too many problems for it to continue as proposed. He pointed to the overall height of the tower, its proximity to the high school's athletic fields and main building, some unclear information that could have confused voters, and said the project appeared to be fast-tracked by local town officials and the committee assigned to study the work. ..."I feel like this was a rush to judgment. I think it's the wrong size and the wrong location."

File this one under if you can't beat ‘em, join ‘em. A group of commercial fishermen wants to get in on the rush to build offshore wind farms to generate electricity. It's an interesting about face for the fishing industry, which has traditionally fought offshore industrialization - other than their own floating seafood factories, that is. ...The effort is attracting attention in New Jersey, where the state is looking to provide grants for a pilot offshore wind farm. ... Meanwhile, if Trenton doesn't take the bait, perhaps Providence will. Last Friday, Fishermen's Energy filed one of seven proposals to build a windfarm off the coast of Rhode Island.

Rhode Island's major power company would be required to buy renewable energy for at least 10 years at a time under a proposal adopted unanimously Tuesday by Senate lawmakers. ...Bill supporters say the proposal is designed to fix a problem holding back green energy projects: a lack of large customers willing to buy the power. The bill will affect National Grid, the state's largest electricity distributor, which supports the proposal. Without a big customer willing to pay for wind or solar energy over the long run, banks and investors will not fund renewable energy projects, said Matt Auten, an advocate for the nonprofit group Environment Rhode Island, which supports the bill.

Seven developers, one as far away as Houston, have submitted proposals to build an offshore wind farm off the coast of Rhode Island. Yesterday was the deadline for private developers to respond to the state's "request for proposals" that sought bids to finance, construct and operate a wind farm big enough to supply 15 percent of the state's electricity usage. ...It was unclear up until yesterday's deadline how many companies would make proposals, he said. There were 64 firms that registered their names with the state in order to download information about submitting a proposal, according to a list provided by Moynihan. The seven bids were not received until Thursday and yesterday.

In an overwhelming vote, but not without some passionate objection, residents at the Financial Town Meeting last night approved a plan to build a $2.4 million wind turbine, probably at the high school. It took nearly an hour of debate for the proposal to pass, and the OK came only after the voters rejected an amendment that would have banned a windmill from the high school, but permit it anywhere else in town. ... Nearly all of last night's debate was over the turbine, whose blade tips will sweep 328 feet into the air if it is built at the high school. Supporters of the project have argued that the unit would save millions of dollars in energy costs over the 20-year life of the device. Critics expressed their fears over safety and noise, saying there were better sites in town with more wind. ..."I was really scared about what it would be like to sit on my deck and listen to the windmill," said Cynthia Thomsen, of 28 Upland Way. After visiting the turbine at Portsmouth Abbey, she said, she was still opposed to having it at the high school. "It is disturbing noise if it is 24 hours a day," she said. "I believe my quality of life would be impacted in a negative way.

Rhode Island's plan to generate 15 percent of its energy from wind power has until recently enjoyed a wide swath of public support. In fact, for proponents, it has been a breeze. That could change if the message purported by the newly-formed Alliance for Clean Energy resonates. ...Saying that offshore wind turbines represent a threat to the state's environment, economy and health, the fledgling alliance is aiming to raise $5 million and build a coalition of supporters from Westerly to Block Island to oppose the estimated $2 billion alternative energy plan championed by Republican Governor Donald Carcieri.

A group of Aquidneck Island residents has assembled the first organized opposition to Governor Carcieri's plan to develop a large-scale wind farm off the coast of Rhode Island. The group's name -- the Rhode Island Alliance for Clean Energy -- might be mistaken for an organization that supports wind farms. And its leader -- Anthony G. Spiratos -- is a young Newport real-estate developer who was once a Carcieri supporter and campaign donor. "The key word is ‘was,' " Spiratos said in an interview. He no longer supports Carcieri, he said. ...The flaws, as the alliance sees it, are listed on the group's Web site at www.saveourstateri.org.

After hearing that the proposed site of a town wind turbine has been shifted away from classrooms at the high school, the School Committee last night unanimously endorsed the plan. It now goes to the May 28 Financial Town Meeting, where voters will have to decide whether to finance the $2.4-million project with the help of a $2.1-million no-interest federal loan. The committee's approval didn't come without reservations. No wind measurements have been taken at the site, and committee member Jim Hasenfus warned that Barrington is a "marginal wind area."

Several states already have done what Rhode Island is now doing in making state waters available to private developers, including Texas, which recently put out a land-lease tender so developers could secure sites off the coast, and New Jersey, which recently released a tender that received a few bids for offshore projects. But in a handful of cases around the country, offshore wind farms are being second-guessed or cancelled entirely because of concern that they won't be profitable, Kaplan said. "In most cases, it comes down to the fact that offshore wind energy is more expensive than land-based projects," he said. ...Several states already have done what Rhode Island is now doing in making state waters available to private developers, including Texas, which recently put out a land-lease tender so developers could secure sites off the coast, and New Jersey, which recently released a tender that received a few bids for offshore projects. But in a handful of cases around the country, offshore wind farms are being second-guessed or cancelled entirely because of concern that they won't be profitable, Kaplan said.

When Portsmouth moved its proposed wind turbine site at the high school farther away from the town water tank, the Federal Aviation Administration raised a caution flag. Richard Talipsky, economic development committee chairman, said the town received a "notice of presumed hazard" from the FAA on Sunday that this new site could be in the flight path for Newport Airport. ...After talking to an FAA official about the notice, Mr. Talipsky said it seems to have been a technicality in response to the new application. Mr. Talipsky said he was told the FAA would have approved the original site at the high school, which is the direction that will now be taken.

The federal government has rejected a proposal to install a wind turbine at a high school in Portsmouth. The Federal Aviation Administration says the 213-foot-tall wind turbine proposed for Portsmouth High School would be too high. The FAA says the plan needs to be modified. The agency had earlier rejected a proposed turbine at Portsmouth Middle School. ...Voters last fall approved a $3 million bond to build a wind turbine at either the middle school or high school.

Wind farm developers, show us your plans. That's the message Governor Carcieri sent yesterday to private developers who may be interested in building a massive offshore wind farm that would generate at least 15 percent of the electricity consumed throughout Rhode Island -- about 1.3 million megawatts of power a year. At a State House news conference yesterday afternoon, Carcieri announced that the state has begun a formal request for proposals process, in which it seeks a partner in the private sector who would construct, finance and operate the wind farm.

Such a project would require an estimated 105 wind turbines, making it about the size of the proposed Cape Wind project off Cape Cod. The proposal would meet Carcieri's goal of securing 15 percent of the state's energy needs through clean-energy sources. But questions remained after his 1 p.m. news conference about the cost of the project and its time-frame. ...The governor's plan appears at odds with a proposal by the staff of the R.I. Coastal Resources Management Council - the state agency charged with permitting projects in state waters - for a one-year moratorium on development proposals.

It will take $6.6 million and three years to develop a permitting process for offshore wind and wave farms, said scientists from the University of Rhode Island in a presentation to state coastal officials March 11. The presentation was part of Coastal Resources Management Council's effort to establish rules for renewable energy projects in state waters. The council is pairing with URI in the process. All offshore projects have been put on hold until the new rules are in place. Although meteorological towers to collect data will be allowed before the process is complete, under the suggested framework it will still be another year until the state allows them to be placed offshore.

The fate of a handful of energy bills lawmakers are debating at the State House will shape Rhode Island's energy future, determining what technologies get built, how much it will cost the state's ratepayers and, to a great extent, who gets to decide. ...The bill that would potentially have the biggest impact would require National Grid to enter into long-term contracts to buy renewable energy from developers of large-scale clean-energy projects. ...Perhaps most crucially, the bill would give National Grid discretion to decide what renewable- energy sources are "commercially reasonable" - essentially handing over to the utility the power to set policy about which forms of renewable energy go forward in Rhode Island, Dzykewicz said. Carcieri hopes to rework language in the bill to address those concerns.

A New York-based investment firm that caught state officials off guard last fall with a proposal to build up to 338 wind turbines in Rhode Island waters now says it wants to pay for a meteorological tower needed to draft zoning regulations for development of a wind farm. The proposal was made public last week at a hearing during which R.I. Coastal Resources Management Council - the state agency that regulates Rhode Island's waters voted unanimously to put off a decision about placing a one-year moratorium on all offshore alternative energy projects, something the agency's staff proposed following the New York firm's surprise wind-farm application. ...Gov. Donald L. Carcieri's ambitious goal to produce a minimum of 15 percent of Rhode Island's energy needs through the development of wind-, wave- and solar-energy sources by 2011 is almost certainly not going to happen.