For all the support that the presidential candidates are expressing for renewable energy, alternative energies like wind and solar are facing big new challenges because of the credit freeze and the plunge in oil and natural gas prices. ...after years of rapid growth, the sudden headwinds facing renewables point to slowing momentum and greater dependence on government subsidies, mandates and research financing, at a time when Washington is overloaded with economic problems.

Wind Energy Corporation, a wind turbine manufacturer based in Elizabethtown, closed its Morgantown manufacturing facility last week, resulting in about 17 lost jobs and several disappointed community members. ...The company located its manufacturing plant in Morgantown in July 2007, promising about 260 new jobs in five years. According to reports, the state lured Wind Energy to Morgantown by offering the company $3.4 million in tax incentives.

Renewable energy's gone in the space of a few months from market darling to whipping boy. Shares in solar- and wind-power companies have suffered even more than the market at large. The outlook for new projects is growing increasingly cloudy. But that's not because renewable energy suddenly got uglier. It's because of the fallout from financial-market turmoil ..."Natural gas at $6 makes wind look like a questionable idea and solar power unfathomably expensive," said Kevin Book, a senior vice president at FBR Capital Markets.

The prospects of renewable-energy companies soared with oil prices, but the global credit crunch and the easing of energy costs have brought them back to earth with a thud. With banks reluctant to lend and their stock prices tumbling, many green-energy concerns are struggling to find the long-term funding they need to expand in a capital-intensive industry. In the past three months, global renewable-energy stocks tracked by New Energy Finance, a London-based consultancy, have dropped about 45%, compared with a 23% decline in the Dow Jones Industrial Average over the same period. The sector's problems have been compounded by the skid in oil prices to below $70 a barrel.

The massive planned expansion of renewable energy may produce far fewer jobs than the government has claimed, a study has found. Producing enough renewable energy to meet government targets would create about 36,000 jobs in the wind energy sector by 2020, according to a study by Bain & Company for the British Wind Energy Association, to be published today. ...In its renewable energy strategy, published over the summer, the government claimed it would create 160,000 new jobs by 2020.

Financing prospects for large-scale energy projects in Montana have dimmed with the crisis on Wall Street, but some that already are under way should proceed as planned, state officials and developers said. ...Gov. Brian Schweitzer told The Associated Press in a recent interview that several companies assured him their projects will not be derailed by the downturn. Still, he cautioned that the recent heady pace of development could end if the economic outlook remains grim and banks stay reluctant — or unable — to make large loans.

Unless the DWP moves quickly to lock in contracts with alternative energy providers, it risks paying exponentially higher rates for green power to meet a 2010 deadline to double its renewable energy supply. Despite assurances from the Department of Water and Power, some city leaders are skeptical the utility will be able to meet and sustain the 20 percent renewable energy mandate set by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. ...customers are already paying more to cover the transition to green power. The DWP can and has tacked on a surcharge of as much as 4 percent a year to customer bills to cover renewable energy and natural gas expenses.

The nation's severe credit crisis is dimming the appeal of a long-awaited extension for renewable-energy tax credits. After months of delays, Congress finally passed the extension Oct. 3 - just in time for the alternative-energy industry to face the full brunt of the upheaval in financial markets that has sharply reduced commercial lending. Some wind- and solar-energy projects are moving forward under the impetus of the renewed tax credits. But many others are on hold as developers compete for a trickle of available financing.

The credit crunch and falling oil prices threaten to hold up some of Britain's renewable energy projects just as the UK has raised its commitment to green electricity, financiers said yesterday. While large projects backed by the bigger utilities are generally thought to be safe, smaller and more speculative developments are facing funding problems as backers adjust their lending criteria or, in some cases, consider withdrawing it altogether. "The debt is just not there," said John Dupont, head of renewable energy finance in the UK for Nordbank.

A northcoast crabbers' organization is asking for a formal panel review of the NaiKun wind project, which plans to erect up to 100 turbines in Hecate Strait. The formal submission made earlier this month to the provincial Environmental Assessment Office by the Rupert-based Area "A" Crab Association requests the NaiKun project be referred to a panel review so it can receive funding to resolve what it calls major concerns about the proposed NaiKun Wind Farm.

Last month, wind turbine blade manufacturer TPI Composites officially opened its doors in Newton, promising 500 new jobs. Now an incentive plan by the city council hopes to add another 300 jobs. The problem, some former Maytag employees say, is that the county and state are paying for most of the cost of constructing the plant. They're worried that like Maytag, TPI could take the money and pull out of Newton. "I just hope they can live up to their agreements and continue to manufacture blades here in the community," said Maytag retiree Lonnie White.

The instability of the financial markets had caused Noble Environmental Power to "scale back its development plans for 2009" and "(cut) back its workforce." Immediately, construction of a 14-turbine windpark planned for the town of Bellmont will be suspended until July or August of 2009, Bellmont Town Supervisor Bruce Russell said Friday. ...To date, the company has laid foundation for the town's 14 turbines and installed wiring, he said.

Renewable energy projects, which can cost hundreds of millions of dollars to construct, are singularly dependent on a small cadre of institutional investors to put up money in return for tax credits and early electricity generation revenue. And many of the biggest backers of renewable projects are on shaky ground or have disappeared altogether, saddled by bad bets in the housing and consumer credit markets. Among them: bankrupt Wall Street giant Lehman Brothers Holdings.

A proposed 120-metre wind turbine would knock 50 per cent off the value of thousands of nearby homes, an action group claims. Save Our Skyline (SOS) was formed in response to a planned turbine taller than Wakefield Cathedral at Coca Cola's warehouse at Wakefield 41 Industrial Park. SOS claims 3,800 homes within a mile radius would see 54 per cent knocked of their value by the turbine. The information comes from a recent study by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors.

Goldman Sachs on Tuesday slapped sell ratings on the two largest publicly traded U.S. solar power firms, with the broker flagging the possibility of oversupply as overseas subsidies dry up in the face of the global economic meltdown. Goldman analyst Michael Molnar forecast "strong headwinds for valuation" as he downgraded shares of First Solar (FSLR) to conviction sell from buy and SunPower (SPWRA) to sell from buy.

Wind energy is considered beneficial because of the reduced emissions of greenhouse gases, air pollutants and hazardous wastes as well as a decrease in the reliance of foreign energy. It's controversial however, because it's more than three times more expensive than traditional energy sources, such as coal, and far less reliable. ..."We believe a better option would be to send price signals to the market that encourage those renewables that can produce electricity during peak demand periods and that are built closer to the urban or load centers," [Linowes] said.

In newspaper advertisements, ApCo says customers who sign up are "investing in a future of energy that's both clean and green." ...But ApCo has already agreed to buy the green power. ApCo contracted for 75 megawatts of energy from the Camp Grove Wind Farm in central Illinois and 100 megawatts from the Fowler Ridge Wind Farm in western Indiana. ApCo already buys power from Summersville Hydro in West Virginia, and has plans to buy from the Beech Ridge Wind Energy project in Greenbrier County when it is finished. So what's the benefit if ApCo customers sign up, given that the company's already buying the green power?

Officials with the Maine Power Connection wrapped up a weeklong tour of Aroostook County on Thursday morning, addressing business leaders, legislators and community members about a proposal to build a new $625 million transmission line from central Maine to connect northern Maine to the New England electric grid. The project would bring wind turbine projects online and close a 25-mile gap between the Maine Public Service system lines in Houlton and the Maine Electric Power Co. ..."Northern Maine customers will be held harmless," he stressed. "Northern Maine delivery rates can't go up - that is our goal. If that doesn't happen, this project is a no-go."

Denouncing a proposed $45 million Minnesota Power rate hike as "exorbitant," Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson on Friday encouraged the Duluth utility's customers to attend public hearings and make their opposition known. "Families and small business are struggling to make ends meet in the face of rising prices for energy, health care, gas, food and a troubled economy," Swanson said in a news release, which characterized the utility's proposal as unnecessary.

While Randolph's chairman is optimistic about a 145-megawatt wind farm development, he's bothered by how much money - or rather how little - the town will get in the deal. ...Under the Wisconsin Department of Revenue's shared revenue utility payment guidelines, $2,000 per megawatt of power generated is split between the county and town. The county gets two-thirds, while the town gets one-third. For a 145-megawatt project, that would provide roughly $96,667 per year to be split between the towns of Randolph and Scott, which also would house some We Energies' turbines, while the county would take in about $193,332.