The hills of the Mule Mountains may become a test site for the first wind turbine generating plant in the county. Clipper Windpower has confirmed that negotiations are under way for land in the development of a small test site of around six propeller-style wind turbines. The company hopes to lease an unspecified number of acres that are owned by the State Land Department in the area of Davis Road and High Lonesome Road. Company officials also are talking to one landowner in the area hoping to secure a portion of that land as well. ...[Jim] Alexander has formed Save the Mule Mountains to mount opposition to the wind project. "Since that time we have been very busy trying to obtain all the information we can on wind power facilities," Alexander said. "The wind maps and studies indicate that for Cochise County the only viable locations for wind generating facilities are the ridge lines of the mountains.

The Arizona Republic reported that the windmills, standing 400 feet tall, would be erected as part of an agreement between the Navajo Nation and Citizens Energy, a Boston company. The Dine Wind Project would be the first commercial wind farm in the Grand Canyon State, the newspaper said. The agreement resulted from negotiations among Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr., other key tribal officials and Citizens Energy Chairman Joseph Kennedy II, a former member of Congress.

Currently there is no wind power at all in Arizona, and the state's power comes almost entirely from coal, nuclear, natural gas and hydropower. Yet surging electricity needs in the state, combined with rising concerns over the contribution of carbon emissions to global warming, have made wind power an increasingly realistic option for the state's energy mix. ...According to Mohave County Supervisor Buster Johnson, even if Mayes were successful in persuading Arizona utilities to build wind projects in Mohave County, he would not support their construction. "I don't think the benefit is there, with jobs that will help our people," Johnson said. Johnson also stated that he opposed wind farms because they would fail to generate any tax revenue for the county. "The taxes would be a big concern of mine," he said. "The tax revenue is what we need to survive on. If we start giving these people hundreds of acres for free without paying taxes, we are hurting ourselves more than we're gaining by the production of renewable energy."

A Bureau of Land Management unsigned Finding of No Significant Impact and supporting Environmental Assessment for the proposed Dry Lake Wind Project are available for public review and comment through March 14. ...The proposed Dry Lake Wind Project would be located six to 18 miles north-northwest of the town of Snowflake, just east of State Highway 377 and southwest of the I-40 corridor. The project would provide up to 378 megawatts (MW) of wind energy and consist of multiple phases.

WASHINGTON - The House rejected a resolution Wednesday that would block government plans to spur construction of major new power lines in many states regardless of local opposition. The issue has been contentious in parts of the East Coast and in the Southwest, where two high priority transmission corridors for power lines were proposed. Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., warned colleagues that unwanted power lines could come to their district.

A new federal proposal to help electricity flow more freely could help the energy-choked East Coast. But it could also infuriate landowners, who have traditionally gotten their way in fights against utilities in Delaware. U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman last week named Delaware as part of his proposed eastern National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor. It would run from New York to Virginia, and west to Ohio. A second corridor would run through California, Arizona and Nevada.

The nation's top energy official on Thursday proposed naming a pair of "national interest electric transmission corridors," including one covering San Diego, Riverside and five other Southern California counties, as well as parts of Arizona and Nevada. Designating national power corridors could make it easier for San Diego Gas & Electric Co. to build a high-voltage power line across the county's desert and backcountry.

Operations for the Western Wind Energy project just outside Kingman were initially supposed to begin at the end of March. Problems, however, have pushed back the start date for the first wind energy farm in Arizona. “(The project) is in a little bit of a holding pattern until we can iron out a few issues,” said Mike Boyd, Western Wind Energy Corporation executive. Western Wind Energy, developer for the project, has full expectations of seeing this plan come to life, Boyd said. It currently holds the deed to 1,100 acres behind the Nucor Steel plant, with zoning in place to build the project. It hit a snag, Boyd said, in regards to transmission. Boyd said the company faces issues getting on line for a price it thought was reasonable.

After all the years of lip service about the potential for alternative-energy production in Arizona, especially solar, it's now down to brass tacks. Arizona Corporation Commission members Bill Mundell, Barry Wong, Kris Mayes and Jeff Hatch-Miller voted Tuesday for a measure, and Mike Gleason against, to require that 15 percent of the state's total energy production be from renewable-energy sources by 2025. A significant amount of that 15 percent - about one-third - by 2011 will come from so-called distributed energy, which is electricity produced by residential or non-utility-owned firms. In other words, commissioners opened the door for creative technologies in the fields of solar, wind, biomass and possibly geothermal to show they can produce substantial quantities of energy.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- A publicly owned Arizona utility is on the hunt for investors who will share its dream of restarting a shuttered coal-fired power plant in the Nevada desert that was abandoned by its other owners. Phoenix-based Salt River Project is working to build a new ownership group to buy and upgrade the 1,580-megawatt Mohave Generating Station. The plant, in Laughlin, Nev. near the Arizona border, was shut in December because its owners hadn't installed pollution control equipment required under a court-approved consent decree. The plant also faced other problems, including expiring coal and water supply contracts. To resolve a lawsuit by environmentalists concerned about the harmful effects of pollution from Mohave on wildlife at the nearby Grand Canyon National Park, the plant's owners agreed to either install pollution-control equipment or shut the plant by the end of 2005.

Issues such as transmission and sale of the energy produced by the wind farm are still being resolved, and PPM has been actively marketing to potential customers.

KINGMAN – Construction of the area’s first wind farm is set for October, planting 15 200-foot turbines at a site behind the Nucor Steel plant.

KINGMAN, Ariz. A proposed wind energy facility near Kingman received approvals from Mohave County planners.

Renewable energy is all the rage these days. With gasoline prices rising, with greenhouse gases and global warming at the forefront of public concern, the lure of pollution-free energy from windmills, photovoltaic solar panels and geothermal wells has never been stronger.

WASHINGTON, March 28 (UPI) -- A proposal made by the Arizona Corporation Commission that will require 15 percent of electricity generated to come from renewable sources by 2025 brings Arizona to the forefront of states with aggressive renewable portfolio standards.

Arizona may not be the windiest state in the nation, but several projects are in the works to add wind-generated power to the state's electricity mix.

HOLBROOK - Rocking Chair Ranch, 18 miles northwest of Snowflake, may soon be harvesting wind power.

The city of Flagstaff's purchase of a water ranch 35 miles to the east means a wind energy farm on the property can go forward.