One hundred people crammed into Ira town hall Tuesday night to meet with the developers of the Vermont Community Wind Farm. Some in the crowd already had their mind made up, and would not support the project no matter what. A majority of residents are relatively supportive of the concept of wind power, but have issues with the location and magnitude of the proposed project.

The president and spokesman of Vermont Community Wind Farm stood before a crowd of about 80 people for more than two hours in Ira's Town Hall. ...Much of the feedback amounted to "go away." People in the audience held up signs opposing the project. David Potter, who represents part of Ira in the Legislature, even objected to the company's name.

Wildlife biologists from a Maine environmental firm will share two year's worth of research on Vermont's bat populace to help shed light on "white-nose syndrome," the disease that has killed at least 400,000 bats in the Northeast. Stantec of Topsham, Maine, has installed five of its acoustic bat detectors on Grandpa's Knob in Castleton. The devices detect and log bats that pass by each unit, according to company spokeswoman Alison Smith.

Dozens of environmental and renewable energy contractors flocked to a day-long session at the Statehouse Friday with the Vermont Public Service Board to hear about a new state law aimed at stimulating the development of green energy. The renewable program, which became law without Gov. James Douglas' signature, clears away some regulatory hurdles for the creation of small green energy-generating sources in Vermont.

Another delay has stopped the progress of the Sheffield windmill project. The retirement of the Commissioner of Transportation, Bonnie Rutledge, has put a hold on Barton Village's issuance of the permit First Wind needs to use Duck Pond Road to transport the wind turbines to the Sheffield site. This delay is bad news for First Wind but good news to the project's opponents.

Every day, all day, weather radar shows a small but intense thunderstorm northwest of Plattsburgh, N.Y. Further to the west, in central New York, where much of Vermont's weather comes from ...But these daily storms are not real. They're an unintended side effect of the wind farms cropping up on windy plateaus and mountains all over the nation.

Public Service Department spokesman Stephen Wark said he could not think of an occasion when a town plan prevented a utility project. ...Many residents of Ira expressed interest at two recent meetings in amending the town plan to keep out a proposed 80-megawatt wind farm. Members of the Planning Commission have cautioned that they are not sure such a move will work.

The town's Select Board plans to file documents with the state Public Service Board opposing a wind farm proposal to be located in Clarendon, Ira and neighboring towns. Board members voted Monday to oppose Vermont Community Wind Farm's plan to develop an 80-megawatt wind facility and to erect a 197-foot temporary wind measurement tower on Susie's Peak in Clarendon.

A proposed wind farm dominated discussion of updating the town plan Tuesday, with many residents asking if the town can put a stop to the development. Neither the Select Board nor the Planning Commission took any formal action Tuesday night, but commission member Tim Martin called the comments "very useful" and said the commission would work on revisions. He said the commission was not used to getting this amount of input.

Officials from Vermont Community Wind have organized a bus trip to a wind farm in New Hampshire to try and build support for a large scale wind farm they're proposing in and around the Rutland County town of Ira. Company officials say about 35 residents from the area will travel to Lempster, New Hampshire, on Saturday where a 24-megawatt wind farm has recently been built.

An impending development proposal has stirred up strong interest in the rewrite of the town plan. Planning Commissioner Tim Martin said the town undertook the five-year rewrite of the plan before learning about the proposal to put most or all of an 80-megawatt wind farm in Ira.

Site of proposed wind project.(Host) Vermont Community Wind says it's scaling back plans on a proposed 80 Megawatt wind farm west of Rutland. Project developers say they're eliminating 15 of 60 potential turbine sites, which they hope will appease growing opposition to the project. VPR's Nina Keck has more.

A developer told residents Thursday he doesn't plan to put any wind towers in their town. Vermont Community Wind Farm spokesman Jeff Wennberg said all potential sites in Middletown and Tinmouth, along with several in Ira, have been dropped from the company's plan to build an 80-megawatt wind farm in the southeastern part of the county.

A wind farm developer has reapplied for a permit to put up testing equipment after relocating a proposed site from Ira to Clarendon. ...VCWF spokesman Jeffrey Wennberg said consultants first identified the Suzie's Peak location during the winter. When they went back in the spring, they discovered it was close to a wetland.

More than 100 people attended a two-hour Vermont Public Service Board hearing regarding the Georgia Mountain Wind Project Tuesday night at Georgia Elementary School. The purpose of the hearing was to garner public input on the proposed project, which would place three to five wind turbines atop Georgia Mountain on the Milton-Georgia town line.

John Petell had the solar array installed in his yard late last year as a way to reduce his home's reliance on the electrical grid. The Petell solar panel dispute has become a small version of the controversies over the aesthetics of alternative energy proposals across the state.

More than 150 people gathered Tuesday night in Georgia to debate a proposed five-turbine wind farm on Georgia Mountain, the first commercial wind-energy project up for consideration in Chittenden County. ...At issue is whether the Harrison family should win permission to erect five, 400-foot-tall turbines atop Georgia Mountain in the towns of Georgia and Milton.

A short, steep stretch of Duck Pond Road in Barton Village has become the last line of defense for people who don't want the 16 big turbines of the Sheffield wind project to arrive through Barton - and those who don't want the project no matter how it gets to Sheffield. Last week the contractor, First Wind, got the permits for overweight and oversize trucks it needs from the town of Barton, where most of the Duck Pond Road route lies. But after their third lengthy meeting with the village trustees Monday night, a bevy of First Wind officials went away empty handed once again.

More than 150 people gathered tonight in Georgia to debate a proposed five-turbine wind farm on Georgia Mountain. Some 30 speakers and the broader audience seemed split on the project as they participated in a hearing before the state Public Service Board, which would have to approve the development for it to proceed.