MONTEREY— Yet another decision awaits county officials about Highland New Wind Development’s plan to erect a 39-megawatt wind plant atop Allegheny Mountain.

More than 65 people attended a public meeting about plans for a windfarm in Pica. Wind Prospect Limited wants to erect five 81-metre turbines on land at Fairfield Farm. Villagers from Pica and Distington oppose the windfarm because of noise and the effect on the landscape.

Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh Township Reeve Ben Van Diepenbeek believes council is satisfied with the Environmental Screening Report (ESR) for the Kingsbridge II Wind Power Project. About 15 township residents and 15 representatives from EPCOR, including Paul McMillan, senior vice president of Ontario, and Michael Smith, manager of policy and programs environment, as well as Stantec Consulting Ltd., filled the council chambers on Dec. 19 to hear the review of the ESR.

Aberavon Am Brian Gibbons has joined the chorus of disapproval against plans to bring the UK’s tallest wind turbines to the Afan Valley. Gamesa Energy UK wants to put 14 turbines there. With a 120-metre tower and a 64-metre blade, the structures would stand well over four times the height of Swansea’s big wheel. The planned development consists of four turbines in Glyncorrwg and a further 10 on the Gelli mountain near Croeserw. Dr Gibbons joins opponents including Aberavon MP Hywel Francis who has already spoken out against the proposals.

A proposed wind farm in Ashe County should not be allowed because it violates the state’s Ridge Law, the public staff of the N.C. Utilities Commission said yesterday. The staff’s statement of position becomes part of the record as the six members of the Utilities Commission consider whether or not to approve an application to build 25 to 28 wind turbines in the Creston community. The Ridge Law contains a limited exception for windmills. Robert Gruber, executive director of the Utilities Commission, said that the staff’s position against the wind farm is based on a previous statement by Attorney General Roy Cooper. In a 2002 letter, Cooper wrote that the term windmills meant only “the traditional, solitary farm windmill which has long been in use in rural communities” and not wind turbines.

His neighbours, however, testified at the OMB hearings that they felt the turbine would be invasive and could be dangerous if the tall pole with a turbine on top fell over. Even though the turbine has been designed specifically for residential areas, the OMB said in its June ruling that it supported Findlay's neighbour's concerns.

Voters overwhelmingly opposed the wind tower proposal slated for neighboring Sheffield and Sutton on Tuesday evening. The unanimous opposition provided the town selectmen with precisely the overwhelming sense of direction they lacked last fall. “I think it was clear,” Selectman Robert Croteau said. “It’s not like we only had 25 or 30 people or even 60 or 70.” An estimated 120 voters turned out to make their position, and that of their town, unmistakably clear. That clarity, however, may have little effect on the Public Service Board (PSB), which must decide whether to issue a certificate of public good for the 16 towers UPC Vermont Wind wants to build.

Steve Gallo, executive director of the Bayonne Municipal Utilities Authority, said he is looking for innovative ways to save money for the city, and reduce the cost of his authority's energy needs. One of these ways, he said, is the possibility of installing modern windmills on BMUA controlled land to harness wind gusts off New York Bay to generate power for the Oak Street pump station. "We are trying to use new technology to find ways of saving our energy costs," Gallo said. "This is evident with the recent installation of solar panels in our schools that makes Bayonne the largest non-power company to supply energy on the east coast." Two years ago, the municipal authority in South Plainfield installed a wind-generated turbine to run a station, and with Bayonne surrounded on three sides, Gallo figures he might be able to do the same things. Windmills have also been successfully installed at Atlantic County Utility Authority, and combined with solar panels it generates enough energy to run the plant.

Closing arguments are expected to begin tonight in the controversial application by Invenergy to allow a 100-turbine wind farm in part of the agricultural areas of McLean and Woodford counties. Attorneys representing Invenergy and opponents will be allowed to speak 20 minutes and people who previously testified and are not represented by attorneys will have five minutes. The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. in Room 400 of the Government Center, 115 E. Washington St.

According to a council representative, the new law limits the height of wind towers to 500 feet (from ground to blade tip), and sets noise levels at 50 decibels. The law creates a zoning district overlay that includes the west side of NYS Route 12 to Depauville and County Route 179, and Depauville to 1,500 feet north of County Route 12 on the east side of NYS Route 12 from just south of Gunns Corners. The application fee is now $50 per MW.

It has been standing room only at the meetings regarding the proposed wind turbine facility that could be built on Big Springs Mountain in Creston. The Ashe County Board of Commissioners approved the first reading of the Ashe County Ordinance to Regulate Wind Energy Systems Monday at their regularly scheduled meeting. The Ordinance will be presented again at the Feb. 19th meeting of the commissioners and can be officially adopted at that time, but because Commissioner Marty Gambill was not at Monday’s meeting it could not be adopted then.

A state agency charged with protecting the environment holds the key to whether northcentral Montana will become a power mecca with as many as 400 wind turbines erected between Great Falls and Cut Bank along a proposed transmission corridor. The trade-off for losing the undeveloped view, generally paralleling the west side of Interstate 15, would be a steady source of supplemental revenue for landowners and tax revenue for local government. The electricity from the wind farms, however, would be sold to out-of-state power plants, most likely in California, under power-purchase agreements with the wind companies.

What I would like to propose is that people of good will, who are concerned with our economy and the future of the environment, meet together to balance the needs of industry and the basic realities of environmental concerns. The state could set up a commission or panel of all interested groups in an effort to reach a compromise and then give expert advice to our Legislature.

ELLENSBURG - A 500-square-mile zone on Kittitas County's east end was approved by county commissioners on Wednesday as an area pre-identified as compatible for wind farm development. The zone stretches along the Columbia River and the county's southeast border. Final approval of the new zone is expected to come 3 p.m. July 19 when final documents are signed. Commissioner Chairman Alan Crankovich on Thursday said commissioners approved the addition of wording to the zone that would indicate that wind farm developers also must gain approval for their projects from private, state and federal landowners in the area. This includes the U.S. Defense Department that owns Yakima Training Center lands administered by the U.S. Army and Fort Lewis. "I'm not as optimistic as my fellow commissioners are on the availability of state, federal and military lands for wind farms," Crankovich said. He said he doesn't want creation of the zone to give wind farm companies "false hope" that they can easily site a project in the zone.

The Wind Power Ethics Group and the state Department of Environmental Conservation say the town Planning Board should not have accepted a draft environmental impact statement for the St. Lawrence Wind Farm. Judy Drabicki, a Dexter attorney representing the ethics group, a citizens' organization that has opposed wind farm development, said the developer has not sufficiently identified impacts because studies listed as part of the review have not been completed, including those for wetlands.

The permit application for the offshore wind farm slated for the North Sea has been approved. Now the partnership Evelop International and Ballast Nedam Concessies has the exclusive right to develop Scheveningen Buiten. Rijkswaterstaat Noordzee announced the approval includes the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). The wind farm, Scheveningen Buiten, which will be built outside the 12-mile zone off the seaside resort of Scheveningen, approximately 30 kilometers (km) from the coast, is expected to be finished by 2011. It will generate more than 300 megawatts (MW).

He said: "There is no change to the day to day navigation rights at the site. "In releasing this public notice we are fulfilling a legal requirement placed on us by the CrownEstate. "The notice means that boats cannot legally sail into the turbines themselves, which is something most try to avoid anyway for obvious safety reasons. "Before the site was there ships could pass freely through those waters. Now they will be required to stay away from the coordinates occupied by the turbines." Any objectors have around five weeks to voice their concerns. Dave Dobson, chief fishery officer for theCumbria Sea Fisheries Committee, said: "To restrict navigation to fishing vessels within the site would be a total disaster for the trade in the area if the plans are approved."

As a tourist who visits the area, I notice what is transparent to most locals, and for me the skyline of Fairhaven is priceless. If the citizens of Fairhaven allow the wind power project to be built at the current proposed location, I believe you will be making a terrible mistake. The town may gain some money in taxes and offset some electrical energy costs, but it will not offset the loss in green space and, more importantly, the beauty of Fairhaven's historic charm.

PLANS to build one of the world’s biggest windfarms across vast swathes of Lewis have been dealt a devastating blow from a government agency. Officials at Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) have condemned the controversial scheme and claim aspects of the developer’s approach are ’seriously flawed’. The board of the quango will meet tomorrow to finalise its representations to the government over the massive scheme. In a damning report, SNH officers deride Lewis Windpower’s (LWP) claims that building 181 giant turbines, 50 miles of roads and pylons, substations and quarries across the environmentally protected moor would not seriously hit bird species, including golden eagles, or affect their peatland habitat. Officials recommend that objections are lodged against the scheme and condemn LWP’s assessments. LWP is also criticised for its ‘ seriously flawed’ interpretation of the Habitats Regulations, which legally govern developments that can harm wildlife and environmentally protected land.

Plans to build four of the biggest wind turbines in Britain near Watford village will be discussed by residents next month. The 164-metre giants proposed by energy firm Gamesa would stand alongside the M1 on land between Long Bucky and Watford. But the proposals have been met with derision by a parish councillor, who claims that the turbines will pose a number of safety hazards.