A Wisconsin appeals court on Wednesday effectively struck down numerous municipal ordinances that have slowed the development of wind energy, lawyers said. Local governments cannot pass broad rules dictating how far wind turbines must be from other buildings, how tall they can be or how much noise they can produce, the Waukesha-based District 2 Court of Appeals ruled.

The state's search beyond its borders for wind power sources is setting the stage for a battle over construction of transmission lines to carry that electricity to Wisconsin. "I think wherever the lines are going to go, there's going to be opposition," said Jim Danky, director of the citizens group Preserve Our Rural Landscape Ltd., which fought American Transmission Co. LLC's recently approved transmission line from Rockdale to West Middleton.

State regulators plan to vote today on a Wisconsin utility's plans to build a massive wind farm in southern Minnesota. Wisconsin Power & Light Co., a subsidiary of Madison-based Alliant Energy, wants permission to start the first phase of the farm on 32,500 acres just north of Albert Lea in Freeborn County. Plans call for scores of turbines that would generate about 200 megawatts of electricity.

The bent tree wind farm project has been in the works since 2003. Now the Wisconsin Power and Light Utility Company is looking to secure a permit in Minnesota to begin construction on the project. But not everybody is happy.

The state Public Service Commission voted 3-0 Thursday to approve Wisconsin Power & Light Co.'s proposal to build a 122-turbine wind farm in Minnesota. The project still needs regulatory approval in Minnesota, but Wisconsin commissioners were asked to weigh in to evaluate whether the project was needed and cost-effective for ratepayers.

State regulators plan to vote Thursday on a Wisconsin utility's plans to build a massive wind farm in southern Minnesota. Wisconsin Power & Light Co., a subsidiary of Madison-based Alliant Energy, wants permission to start the first phase of the farm on 32,500 acres just north of Albert Lea in Freeborn County. Plans call for scores of turbines that would generate about 200 megawatts of electricity.

More local disputes over siting of wind turbines are headed for the courts. The legal fights are popping up, as state lawmakers debate a statewide siting bill. Some people in Trempealeau County are the latest to file a complaint alleging a county law on wind turbine siting is too restrictive.

Wisconsin Rapids officials are working to create a policy regulating small wind-energy systems but want legislators in Madison to create a statewide law for consistency. With a planned 350,000-square-foot plant expected to produce large, industrial wind turbine blades, the city currently has no rules regulating smaller, more residential wind mills, Mayor Mary Jo Carson said.

A Dodge County wind farm might be asked to shut down its rotating turbines during severe weather to avoid disrupting a nearby weather radar system. National Weather Service officials said they have started discussing such options with owners of the Butler Ridge Wind Farm.

As the state pushes for more wind energy and fewer local restrictions, Menomonee Falls is one of the first communities in southeastern Wisconsin to tackle the issue, trying to strike a compromise between small windmills and commercial farms. Village employees began researching the issue after a local resident expressed interest in installing a small wind turbine in his yard to reduce energy costs.

Wind has become the nation's most viable renewable energy option, and industry experts see plenty of potential in Wisconsin as policymakers demand that a larger percentage of energy come from wind, the sun and other clean-energy sources. ...a major question remains: how to move electricity from the wind-swept prairies where it's generated to the big cities where it's needed.

Nearby wind turbines, declining water quality and decreasing water levels at Horicon National Wildlife Refuge in southeastern Wisconsin earned the popular birders' destination the dubious distinction of being ranked the third most imperiled refuge in the nation, according to a list compiled by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. ...The uncertain impact of the wind turbines prompted another organization, the National Wildlife Refuge Association, to name Horicon one of the nation's most endangered refuges in a list released four years ago.

A U.S. Department of Energy chart shows an inherent problem with offshore wind on the Great Lakes. When the wind is blowing the hardest, the region's need for electrical power is at its lowest -- say on a February winter night as a snow storm moves across Lake Michigan. And, on July afternoons during a summer heat wave, the winds on the lakes are the calmest but energy needs the highest with air conditioner use.

A bill that would help determine where wind farms can be built in Wisconsin is sparking debate among people in Monroe County. Retired farmer Fernnell Becher says it's been an ongoing debate for years.

The Westby Wind Energy project, which has been in the works for over three years suffered a set back recently as Eco-Energy and WPPI try to solicit new backing for the project after a number of the major players were forced to scale back their investments due to the nationwide economic crisis.

Falling prices for wind turbines will bring down the cost to build a new large wind farm in Columbia County, We Energies says. "Market conditions for the procurement of wind turbine equipment have changed considerably" since the utility first submitted its proposal to the state Public Service Commission, We Energies said in a filing with state regulators.

To the champions of wind power, the resistance is benighted and intolerable. "In a state that prides itself on its progressive renewable standards," says Eric Callisto, chairperson of Wisconsin's Public Service Commission, "getting our wind resources stymied at the local level is not acceptable." But to wind power critics, those restrictive local ordinances are enlightened and appropriate. Cartoonist Lynda Barry, a fixture in the Reader for years and now a Wisconsin resident, says she used to support wind power but believes its partisans have shut their eyes and ears to its victims, to people suffering physical ailments caused by living near the turbines.

More than eight hours of public testimony mostly opposed to state guidelines for wind farm placement did little to kill bills that would limit local control of the energy developments. ...But Plale said the bills are just a start. "We're not creating an answer," he said. "We're creating a mechanism for this discussion to take place."

Several Wisconsin residents living near wind turbines or in areas where wind farms are proposed testified against the statewide wind siting bill Tuesday at the Capitol. They cited ill health effects. "Everyone here has talked about all about jobs and money," said Brownsville resident Gerry Meyer. "What about our health?"