The equation changed in the winter, when layoffs hit the wind industry hard, Shamblin said. Unemployment for June was 6.7 percent, still below the state average but the highest in Nolan County since at least 2000. Rainey would hear again from his former employees around March, after the completion of some wind construction projects. "When it all shut down, all four of them came back looking for a job. By then, it'd slowed down for us, too," Rainey said.

Wind farms generate a lot of electricity, but not a large number of permanent jobs once the construction phase is over. And although the projects are desirable because they use an abundant renewable natural resource, the only significant revenue the units are generating in Wyoming at this point is through property taxes in the counties where they are located. Their property tax bills so far are modest.

In employment terms, wind farms are large construction projects. Most of the jobs are temporary. Permanent jobs that might be considered wholly wind energy related are few in number. Greg Efthimiou, a spokesman for Duke Energy, said peak employment during construction at the Campbell Hill project near Casper is expected to be about 150 workers. The company will erect 66, 1.5-megawatt General Electric wind turbines in the Cole Creek drainage.

The Federal Government's renewable energy targets will hit hospitals hard, increasing operating costs by millions of dollars every year, a Senate inquiry has been told. Labor plans to drive investment in renewable energy and wants a target of having 20 per cent of electricity coming from green sources by 2020.

Danish company Vestas Windsystems, the owners of a wind turbine factory on the Isle of Wight have fenced off the entrance to the site, where about 25 staff are on the third day of a sit-in. ...The company said the factory was being closed next week due to reduced demand for wind turbines in northern Europe. ... A spokeswoman for the Department of Energy and Climate Change said the plant made blades for the US market which were not the right specification for onshore or offshore wind farms in the UK.

Tasmania's first wind-power generator is planning to lay off nine workers as it continues to rationalise its business. Roaring 40s -- a 50-50 joint venture between Hydro Tasmania and Chinese Light and Power -- employs 54 Tasmanian staff plus contractors. ...Sixty turbines will be erected at Cape Portland and a new transmission line will connect the wind farm to the Tasmanian electricity grid at Derby.

Austin Energy, Austin's municipal power utility, was the first in the nation to give consumers the option of buying green-powered electricity. And as recently as last year the city's green power program, called GreenChoice, was number one in the nation, in terms of sales. This year, 99% of the city's allotment of green power remains unsold, even after seven months on the market, according to the Austin Statesman.

On Wednesday Mr Miliband acknowledged that low-carbon energy would be more expensive for consumers, but pointed out that high-carbon fuels like coal and gas could also be expected to get more expensive because of increased demand from China and India. "We are going to minimise the costs as much as possible, but it is true there is not a low-cost energy future out there.

The Glenfiddich distillery in Dufftown will host a major public meeting in Moray against plans to site a wind farm in the heart of the whisky trail. ...Tourists have flocked to Moray's famous whisky trail for decades, but owners of the distillery fear visitor numbers could dry up if the plans for nearly 60 turbines get the go ahead on the nearby Glenfiddich estate which is owned by London financier Christopher Morran.

Sharon Reid and her husband, Dewitt, a retired Marine major, pay $170 in a typical month ---- and some months more than $230 ---- to cool and light their 2,000-square-foot, tri-level home in Vista. Without making any changes in lifestyle, their electricity bill is likely to increase by $45 a month on average as California overhauls its power grid and tries to shift the source of one-third of its electricity from fossil fuels to green sources by 2020.

As Congress prepares to tackle global warming, Americans are nervously fingering their pocketbooks. Projected cost increases associated with a proposed cap-and-trade program have ranged from $175 a household in 2020, calculated by the Congressional Budget Office, to an annual average of $2,979 in Heritage Foundation estimates.

Salt River Project announced Friday that it was considering raising electricity rates 8.8 percent, opening the next chapter in a long string of rate hikes to hit Arizona consumers over the past decade. But it also offered a glimpse of the future, where more energy will come from cleaner, renewable sources - but will come at a premium. If approved, the increase could go into effect in October.

With credit costlier and harder to come by, and oil and natural gas prices down sharply over the past year, the nation's nascent wind industry may begin to focus on smaller projects that are closer to major population centers rather than massive developments like 81-year-old Pickens envisioned, industry officials said. "You've got an industry that is kind of hanging on by its fingernails," said Denise Bode, chief executive of the American Wind Energy Association.

"New wind-farm activity has slowed as developers, wind-turbine equipment manufacturers and their financing sources are waiting to see what government benefits can be expected," CEO and Chairman Zsolt Rumy said in a statement. "Although project cancellations are very uncommon, a number of them are on hold until the economic uncertainties are cleared up."

Burbank Water and Power officials are urging the City Council to oppose legislation that would force them to produce a third of their energy from renewable sources by 2020, arguing the requirements would drive up utility rates and strain existing electric transmission assets that the state is in short supply of.

U.S. President Barack Obama, whose administration has made clean energy a top priority, told reporters the bill "ushers in a critical transition to a clean energy economy..." But opponents say it will amount to a heavy tax on industry that will put people out of work. Over time, the cap becomes more stringent to reduce carbon emissions, causing the cost of permits to surge and forcing factories to relocate to Asia, critics said.

"Worldwide, we've hit definitely hit a situation where there's been a slowdown in demand and that is definitely resulting in prices coming down," Zindler said. "There is a belief that demand will pick back up and that that will result in prices going back up."

Building transmission lines would cost as much as $4 billion a year, and managing its variability would add further to its price, the Pew Center said in a report today. Prices would still be competitive with other energy sources if the U.S. approves legislation to limit greenhouse gases, the group said.

P.E.I. must care for the North Shore's famous views when expanding wind power generation, says the Dune Shores Tourism Association. The Island often uses views of the area east and west of Cavendish to sell the Island to tourists. But the province wants to triple its wind power generation, and a group has come forward to build in the area.

A full gallery last night at Prince Edward County Council. The crowd was made up of local real estate professionals, and tourism business operators. They are dead set against industrial wind farms anywhere near homes and business in the County.