In Utah, state officials are fielding various combinations of energy proposals, a list that includes solar and geothermal installations and an energy storage project ...Scores of projects - some speculative, others well-funded and a few quirky - have surfaced with energy companies eager to take advantage of loan guarantees and tax breaks being promoted by President Barack Obama.

The Iron County Planning Commission held a lengthy discussion Thursday night with state energy program representatives, wind energy company members and retailers, engineers and concerned residents on the county's proposed wind energy ordinance changes. The Iron County Commission hopes to pass changes to the current ordinance, which was adopted February 2008, after planners have a chance to elaborate on wind energy regulations for both residential and commercial areas.

In a lawsuit filed this week in federal court in San Francisco, the groups -- including the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance -- allege agencies that mapped the 6,000 miles of energy-corridor rights of way failed to analyze renewable-source locations and numerous federal and local land-use plans.

Rocky Mountain Power said Monday it will go to court to try to force the town of Willard to allow it to build a high-voltage transmission line through the city despite concerns that electric and magnetic fields from the project could harm the health of nearby residents and damage property values. The utility plans to ask a 1st District Court judge to bar the town from interfering with its construction.

There's a method of steering a big truck that's so obscure you've probably never heard of it, but it's considered dangerous enough to be banned in Utah and several other states. A KSL investigation shows it happens a lot, possibly as a matter of routine. The issue involves long loads like giant windmill blades. "Blade Runners" used to be rare, but the wind farm industry is booming, and some drivers are literally steering two vehicles at the same time.

Mountain West Energy Resources from the Salt Lake Valley is requesting a zone change from agricultural to industrial on Antelope Road in the Escalante Desert for 158 acres in its first phase of a 32- turbine wind farm. MWER owner, Mike Tyler, said the upstart company is vying to be the first wind producer in Utah to keep the power in the Rocky Mountain Power grid system. This system buys and sells power to neighboring states, such as Montana and Wyoming.

After nearly two years of planning, Utah's largest electric utility announced Tuesday that crews had begun constructing a $600 million, 135-mile high-voltage transmission line from a new substation near Downey, Idaho, to an existing substation near the Salt Lake City International Airport. Rocky Mountain Power spokesman David Eskelsen told the Deseret News that work on the Populus to Terminal transmission line is under way, with the first segment in PacifiCorp's Energy Gateway transmission expansion scheduled for completion in 2010.

No one was disputing that wind power is an abundant, affordable, readily available energy source but many residents of Kanarraville and New Harmony opposed the idea of it being harnessed by up to 50 wind turbines as proposed for the Harmony Mountains at a meeting sponsored by Wasatch Wind, on Thursday. "Why here," "Why us" and "Why now," were the three main questions posed by an audience of more than 300 people to representatives of the company.

A Heber City company wants to build an array of tall, electricity-generating windmills in southern Iron County's Harmony Mountains. And earlier this week, the public got a chance to weigh in on the Wasatch Wind proposal. Company officials acknowledge the approval process could take several years, but they want to start now to build a relationship with county residents.

A chunk of school trust land has been leased as part of the ongoing development of a wind farm in Beaver and Millard counties that will eventually sell power to numerous cities in Southern California. ...SITLA and a subsidiary of First Wind Energy signed the lease earlier this year for 1,560 acres that are expected to be home to 11 wind turbine generators. That represents just a small portion of the project that will eventually include 159 turbines that will be 262 feet high on 40 square miles of public and private land.

Independent wind power company First Wind has received approval from the U.S. Department of Interior's Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for the 300 MW Milford Wind Corridor project. The Bureau of Land Management conducted a National Environmental Policy Act environmental assessment for the facility and has decided to issue a permit for the project.

Taking easterly winds in a new direction could provide South Weber and Layton residents near the mouth of Weber Canyon with an alternative energy source. That is, if zoning issues can be remedied, costs met, regulations drafted and not-in-my-backyard battles kept to a minimum. Layton Mayor Steve Curtis is interested in his city pursuing wind turbines as an alternative energy source. ...But before officials in any community turn their face to the wind in search of an alternative energy source, an expert associated with the work done on the small wind farm in Spanish Fork has some advice.

Imagine the brouhaha if an oil company built a series of 300-foot-high oil derricks along the foot of Mt. Timpanogas. Or if an advertising firm erected billboards as tall as the Statue of Liberty in front of Y Mountain. The fur would fly. But see how different it is with the Spanish Fork wind farm. State and local dignitaries line up to praise the turbines that are a visual blight at that end of Utah Valley.

A $400 million renewable energy project could begin construction next month and would power roughly a quarter-million Southern California homes. The plan has received no criticism during a public-input phase that ends Oct. 6. An open house Thursday in Milford introduced Beaver County residents to the plan that would put 159 wind turbines - each 262 feet tall - across 40-square miles on public and private land located 10 miles northeast of town.

The wind farm would be located approximately 10 miles northeast of Milford, and when completed could consist of up to 159 wind turbine generators, each up to 262 feet tall with rotor blades up to 328 feet in diameter. The generators, spaced 0.8 miles apart, could generate up to 300 megawatts of electricity continuously. BLM representatives attend the meetings to address public comments and concerns regarding the agency's draft finding of "no significant impact." Lucas Lucero, BLM project manager, said officials would compile and review any and all public comments that come in. The public comment period ends Oct. 6.

The process of tying into the grid has to go through the Utah Municipal Power Agency, which for years has provided electricity to six cities in Utah County, including Spanish Fork, via several sources in and around Utah, including coal-fired power plants and the Glen Canyon Dam. "We encourage wind turbines," said UMPA general manager Leon Pexton. He said demand to tie into UMPA lines is only beginning to surface. "We're just starting to work through that issue." In addition to needing time to figure out how tying in to UMPA's lines would work, Thomas said other issues needing resolutions include determining whether turbines would be a noise nuisance and whether they're installed on the user's land. "It can't be ugly," Thomas added.

The Bureau of Land Management, Cedar City and Fillmore Field Offices announce the availability of a preliminary Environmental Assessment, draft Finding of No Significant Impact and initiation of a 30-day public comment period for the Milford Wind Corridor Project. The project proponent is First Wind, LLC, - formerly known as UPC Wind Management, LLC. ...A preliminary EA has been prepared by CH2M HILL environmental consultants under the direction of the BLM. The EA analyzes possible impact on the environment resulting from construction, operation, maintenance and decommissioning of the project.

A 19-megawatt, nine-turbine wind-energy facility is up and running, selling electricity to PacifiCorp and representing the first utility-scale wind project in the state's history. "I'm sure others will catch up and pass it, because it's not a big project by wind-energy standards, but it is the biggest in Utah at the moment," said Randolph Mann, vice president of wind development for Edison Mission Group Inc., based in Irvine, Calif. EMG manages the power-generation business and other unregulated subsidiaries of Edison International.

A famous oilman is touting windmills as a solution to the energy crisis, and a few Utahns are jumping on board. ...But there are solid grounds for arguing against the scheme. The much-hyped potential for windpower is itself largely wind. ...In fact, wind power will be an environmental disaster. The turbine blades measure 130 feet long, and weigh 7 tons. Guess who wins in any collision with a bald eagle or other bird? The windmills rise 400 feet above the ground, and because they must catch the breezes, they often hog the ridges and skylines. Do you think Squaw Peak or Mt. Timpanogos would look better with windmills 400 feet high running along their spines?

Reversing its own earlier decision, the Utah Public Service Commission (the "Commission") has concluded that a wind power project must obtain a certificate of public convenience and necessity ("CPCN") for a 90-mile transmission line proposed in connection with a wind farm to be built in southwest Utah.