Organizers of a project to build a $400 million wind farm stretching across Stephenson, Ogle, and Winnebago counties say they hope to start construction in mid-2010 and complete the facility in late 2011. This schedule is preliminary, however, and depends on a number of variables, said Andy Evans, project developer for Navitas Energy.

Talk about a bad Internet connection. Operators and engineers at a wind turbine off Interstate 55 near Farmersville said Thursday they hope the blades are turning for good after a weeklong shutdown caused by an interruption of high-speed Internet connections, among other problems. ...A faulty generator wire had been repaired Thursday, and adjustments also were being made to equipment that protects the turbine from lightning.

The city is moving forward with creating an ordinance specific to wind energy. The DeKalb Citizen's Environmental Commission met Wednesday evening to discuss the possibility of such an ordinance, which would regulate size, design, noise levels and other components of wind turbines that residents and businesses would want to install within city limits.

Opponents of a wind turbine adjacent to a residential neighborhood won an extension of a temporary restraining order to keep the turbine turned off until July 14. ..."At that hearing we will be expected to present our evidence that we are being harmed by the noise of the turbine," Gates said.

Citizens for Protection of Libertyville scored another victory in court this morning. Judge Mitchell Hoffman issued a 2nd temporary restraining order against Aldridge Electric and DPR Investments LLC that shut down the turbine until July 14, 2009. Citizens for Protection of Libertyville, a group of neighbors who live in the surrounding area, are suing the Village of Libertyville, Aldridge Electric Inc. and DPR Investments LLC to force the permanent shut-down of the 146' turbine that was erected within a few hundred feet of their backyards.

There was little air movement in the hot, stuffy gymnasium of Fieldcrest High School on Wednesday night, but proponents of wind energy won a victory when Woodford County officials unanimously recommended that Navitas Energy be allowed to build a 100-turbine wind farm called Minonk Wind Farm LLC. Seventy-five turbines would be in Woodford County, and the rest in Livingston County. The wind farm is expected to generate 200 megawatts of electricity annually.

Just days after the DeKalb County Board approved the county's first wind farm, its Planning and Zoning Committee will recommend to the full board a three-year moratorium on expansion or new wind farms. The committee approved the recommendation Wednesday by a 7-1 vote, with John Hulseberg casting the dissenting vote.

On the eve of public hearings on its proposal to build two separate wind farms in rural Minonk, Navitas Energy Inc. is hosting a picnic-style open house from 5 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Westside Park pavilion at the corner of Fifth and Washington. ...Wind farms have been the target of objections and protests. Concerns range from aesthetics to the possibility ice debris will be thrown from turbine blades.

Sugar Creek Wind One representative Stan Komperda said the company must wait for more windy days before being able to compile all of the data necessary to apply for building permits in the New Holland/Middletown area to construct its wind farm project. This time of year is the least likely time to get accurate wind data in central Illinois. ..."I don't see us applying for permits until some time this fall."

The huge fan blade of the 126-foot wind turbine behind a Libertyville electrical contractor stands still now, a temporary concession to neighbors who find it a nuisance despite being touted as green energy. ...Shortly after the turbine was installed -- about 275 feet from one resident's backyard -- neighbors began complaining about noise, light from the turbine's reflective surface and the "flicker effect" created by the rotating fan blade.

A group of about three dozen residents likely will file a lawsuit in appeal of the county board's decision to grant a permit to an energy company to build a wind farm in the county, an attorney representing the group said Thursday. "I view it as highly likely we will be appealing," Rick Porter, an attorney for the anti-wind farm group Citizens for Open Government, said early Thursday afternoon.

The town will begin its review today of a plan submitted by the state's largest wind power developer to build a 34-turbine, 51-megawatt wind-to-energy facility along Oakfield Hills. The Wind Energy Review Facility Committee will start reviewing First Wind of Massachusetts' application to build the $120 million facility at 6:30 p.m. at the Oakfield Community Center, Town Manager Dale Morris said. He strongly urged residents to attend.

The DeKalb County Board granted permission in a 16-4 vote Wednesday for a wind energy company to build and operate 119 turbines in western portions of the county. The company plans to move dirt before the end of the month, and a group of neighboring landowners vehemently opposed to the wind farm say that a lawsuit may soon be filed.

Wind farm opponents got no reprieve from Woodford County on Tuesday, which voted to leave unchanged the ordinance that would increase the distance of wind turbines from adjoining structures. By an 8-6 vote, the Woodford County Board agreed with the county's Zoning Board of appeals not to increase the setbacks from the current 750 feet to 1,800 feet. To overturn the ZBA's recommendation would have required a super-majority vote.

Landowners should be more concerned about controlling the site plan of a wind tower than by how much money they'll get, a local attorney says. William Shay of Peoria was among those speaking during "Wind Energy 101, From a Landowner's Perspective."

The DeKalb County Board is expected to vote Wednesday on a special-use permit to the project's investors, NextEra Energy Resources. The permit comes with 34 conditions meant to benefit DeKalb residents with property near the turbines. Those include a guarantee to offset additional costs for crop spraying, a process for property owners who have unexpected problems with the turbines on their land, and a property value guarantee. ...None of the above conditions were requested or required by the Lee County Board, which approved its special-use permit in February.

A semitrailer was damaged Monday morning when it struck a 170-foot wind turbine blade being hauled on Illinois Route 130 on the north side of Charleston. No injuries were reported as a result of the collision that occurred shortly after 11 a.m. at the intersection of Route 130/Olive Avenue and Seventh Street adjacent to the Kirchner Building Center.

The two sides are scheduled to meet Tuesday night at the company headquarters to discuss the company's 120-foot wind turbine. It was installed in April "to help Aldridge Electric offset their retail rate electricity," according to a company news release. Since then, neighbors have complained of noise levels, light from the turbine's reflective surface, and the "flicker effect" created by the rotating fan blade.