A North Otago community-financed company owning a wind farm generating electricity on the Kakanui Mountains is the vision behind Waitaki Wind, which could start monitoring two sites within a month. ...Yesterday, Mr McLay and Dr Turner, Waitaki Wind's sole shareholders and directors, outlined more details after reaching agreement with two landowners on the Kakanui Mountains to install wind-monitoring towers and - if the scheme proves viable - construct and operate a wind farm.

The fall in power consumption has been dramatic. In the first quarter of this year it dropped by 5 per cent compared with the same quarter last year. It was the lowest figure in over five years, reflecting the economic downturn dampening electricity consumption, and reduced use at the biggest single user, the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter, in the first half. ...That has generators reworking their numbers - projects that were marginal while the economy was growing don't stack up in today's terms.

Hearings on how Porirua City Council will manage proposed wind farms have been delayed again. A PCC subcommittee heard submissions for two weeks in March and April with particular emphasis on the proposed 50-turbine Puketiro development above Pauatahanui. The hearings were adjourned after the committee asked for evidence on the health effects of vibration and low-frequency noise to be investigated.

Palmerston North Mayor Jono Naylor says city councillors were in the dark about the scale of the proposed Turitea Wind Farm when they made it possible for the project to get off the ground. Councillors were familiar with Mighty River Power's plans in the Turitea Reserve, but had only a vague idea of what the company envisaged on nearby private land, Mr Naylor said yesterday.

Mighty River Power's planned positioning of some turbines at Turitea Wind Farm flies in the face of Palmerston North City Council's efforts to keep them away from houses, a board of inquiry has been told. The power company's 121-turbine proposal failed to meet the "spirit and intent" of the city council's 2006 decision that made a wind farm at Turitea possible, city lawyer John Maassen said.

When Trisha Godfrey bought her dream home she never imagined this. Sixty-five turbines in her view, some just eight-hundred metres away. Since they've been operating she's had trouble sleeping and suffered constant headaches and nausea. "All I know is before the wind turbines went on I was okay and now I'm not."

The developer of a planned wind farm near Tokomaru is nervously awaiting the outcome of the Turitea Wind Farm hearing to see if there will be any impact on its own proposal. Horowhenua Energy director Alistair Wilson said his company planned a farm of 30 to 40 turbines, but was yet to apply for a resource consent. "We will be interested to see how Turitea deals with the cumulative effects issue," he said.

Moves to reclassify Central Otago landscapes thought worth protecting has drawn a reaction from wind farm developers, power companies and Federated Farmers. ...More than 200 submitters have recorded their opinions on the change to the classification of landscapes, and most have sought the references to be deleted or more information given about how they will affect development or normal rural activities.

West Wind, Meridian's wind farm near Wellington, was opened by the Prime Minister in April. Since then, the company's been dealing with complaints from people living in the Makara Valley. Neighbours of the wind farm say they were told by Meridian that they wouldn't hear the turbines, but the locals say they hear them most days and most nights and it's constant torture.

The owner of Te Rere Hau wind farm, New Zealand Windfarms, is confident its turbines comply with noise limits, despite an increasing number of complaints. Palmerston North City Council had received 14 noise complaints since early May, principal planner Virginia Shaw said. People had complained about having difficulty sleeping, a "droning" sound and "excessive rumble".

The builders of the Puketiro wind farm no longer plan to build an access road through Battle Hill Farm Forest Park, but the wind farm's opponents have greeted the news with cynicism and say wider issues are still being ignored. ...Nicky Chapman from Pauatahanui Futures Inc ...insists the "face and shape" of Pauatahanui village and Paekakariki Hill Rd will be substantially altered, basically converting the latter into a "major road". She was unimpressed with RES' press statement, describing it as "erroneous, fatuous nonsense".

Angry farmers are demanding wind farms bury their power lines. Hundreds of turbines have been proposed throughout the Ballarat region. While many residents have accepted that wind farms will be a part of life in the area, they say the companies building them should foot the bill to put the power lines underground.

Plans to scale back the proposed Puketiro wind farm near Porirua have been cautiously welcomed by a residents' group which has warned that the latest backdown is just another "sidestep" in a fight against the turbines. British company RES New Zealand has revealed that the company no longer plans to build the main access road for the construction site of the project through Battle Hill Regional Park, near Pauatahanui.

The man whose research drew attention to public unease about more wind farm development in Manawatu says he is not surprised his work has attracted stinging attacks. Social impact assessment specialist James Baines said a contentious issue raised by his research cumulative visual effects was always going to attract attention. According to Mr Baines' research, public support for wind farms in Manawatu remained strong, but that support was at a "tipping point".

Some will tilt at them, but it would seem a pointless exercise: a surge in windmill construction is set to recast the Victorian landscape. Two needs - offsetting the state's electricity-hungry new desalination plant and meeting an incoming national renewable energy target - are to trigger a huge expansion of wind power across the state.

On the bushy, coastal horizon, where the land meets the sea, a five-storey water factory will soon begin to dominate the skyline. But it is not the appearance that angers Mr Cannon, who is also president of anti-desalination lobby group Watershed. ‘‘They say they are putting in a 60-megawatt wind farm to offset the enormous energy the plant will use.

The cost of renewable energy will rise significantly tomorrow with WA customers paying nearly twice what they paid six months ago. Government-run energy retailer Synergy has increased the price of every green power option they provide, outraging environmental groups and users of renewable energy. The move comes just weeks after Murdoch University energy economist Adam McHugh warned that if the state continued to favour "dirty" industry over renewable projects, consumers would pay.

Palmerston North has the weight of Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) behind its bid to get national standards for wind farm developments. Yesterday, the final day of LGNZ's annual general meeting, the Palmerston North City Council's remit calling for support for a set of national guidelines was passed.

Reports that a fledgling wind farm near Wellington generated 20 noise complaints last week comes as no surprise to opponents of the proposed Te Uku wind farm. ...noise from the wind farm has been described by nearby residents as a low frequency hum, with an occasional "whump".

The rolling green hills the McLaren family has farmed at The Sisters for almost a century have been saved - for now. Retired dairy farmers Tom and Bev McLaren were last night relieved to hear all seven Moyne Shire councillors reject a proposal for a 12-turbine wind farm just metres from their 68-hectare property. ...In moving an alternative motion to reject the application, Cr Colin Ryan slammed the developer as "insensitive" for disregarding the importance of The Sisters hall.