Two European energy companies are locking up land leases for wind farms in Boone County that would bring industrial-size wind turbines into the Indianapolis metro area. One problem: Boone County's zoning laws prohibit wind turbines, so the proposals could ignite the most intense debate yet in Indiana over how to deal with the surging number of wind farms, which up until now have been relegated to rural counties in the northwestern part of the state.

The potential for profit is driving the development of an increasing number of wind farm projects, including a proposal that would generate electricity from wind that blows across rural land south of Greater Lafayette. Invenergy Wind North America LLC is developing the Tri-County Wind Energy Center, which is designed to place wind turbines on property in southwestern Tippecanoe, northwestern Montgomery and northeastern Fountain counties. ... "It's a pretty ambitious project -- anywhere from 300 to 400 megawatts in size -- thousands of acres at this point."

FOWLER -- Orion Energy LLC is moving closer to getting its Benton County wind farm project off the ground. The seven-member Benton County Council voted unanimously Thursday morning to approve a resolution that designates York and Richland townships as economic revitalization areas. That action clears the way for the council to consider a 10-year tax abatement for Orion. The company is planning to place a maximum of 135 electricity-generating wind turbines on farmland in the two townships in the northwest part of the county.

Two agricultural organizations will share information on wind farms and what to consider when leasing land to one during a meeting Tuesday. ...Jimmy Bricker, Purdue University Cooperative Extension educator and director from Benton County, is scheduled to discuss what lessons landowners have learned from the wind farms there, Schneider said.

WOODBURN, Ind. (AP) A Pennsylvania company will be allowed to build a 197-foot weather tower in northeastern Indiana. The tower will be used for determining whether winds in that area are strong enough to support a wind farm to generate electricity.

A year ago, few believed Indiana had enough wind to generate electricity. Today, at least five developers are planning or prospecting for wind farms in Indiana, saying the potential exists to produce hundreds and maybe thousands of megawatts of electric power.

Does anyone else hear an echo of the ethanol boom from three summers ago? ...All of this makes the effort to erect two giant wind farms in Boone County, the state's second-windiest locale, worth watching. Putting in the 300-foot turbines is one thing in sparsely populated Benton County, but as Boone County's executive director of the area plan commission, Steve Niblick, said: "We are different than other counties with wind farms."

The 200- to 300-foot-long blades on industrial windmills look almost whimsical from afar. They appear to turn slowly. People sometimes stop to take pictures. "They look cool," said Eric Burch, director of policy and outreach for the Indiana Office of Energy Development. The tips of those giant blades, however, move at speeds approaching 160 mph, creating forces that send low-frequency vibrations through the ground. People three-quarters of a mile away sometimes say they can feel the vibrations in their chests.

Northeastern Wayne County could become home to a wind farm if test towers show it's windy enough to profitably generate electricity there. Indiana Michigan Power has invited 250 residents of Jay, Randolph and Wayne counties to private meetings this week to discuss the possibility of developing a wind farm. The utility is looking for land owners willing to lease some land to I&M for the installation of two or three 200-foot towers to collect wind data.

After taking two weeks to ponder their decision, the Brookston town council gave their sanction to allow a wind-energy project to expand its border Wednesday. Martin N. Culik, a project manager with Horizon Wind Energy, began discussing the expansion of the local wind-turbine project during Brookston's June 11 meeting. Horizon, a Texas company that owns several United States wind farms, has been working with local leaders and property owners to develop the necessary laws and lease the required land to build a colony of wind turbines.

About 40 persons have organized the Southern Boone Wind Group to negotiate with wind farm developers. Those persons, mostly living in Jackson, southern Jefferson and Harrison townships, own about 4,000 acres, said Kent Frandsen, the group's attorney. ...Before Boone County's wind resource can be harvested, though, the county must eliminate a ban on wind mills and write an ordinance regulating the potentially lucrative turbine farms.

When state and local officials met on Oct. 8 to announce that Illinois-based Brevini would relocate its national headquarters here and create 450 jobs building components for wind turbines, manufacturing was expected to begin in mid-2010. But a Brevini official told The Star Press recently that the nation's economy is among the reasons the plant's construction and start of operations are more likely to be longer in coming.

The Randolph County Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) Monday unanimously approved a petition for a wind energy company to install test towers at two locations in the county. "We are looking to develop a wind farm here in Randolph County to convert wind to electrical power," said Ryan Brown, a project development manager for Horizon Wind Energy. "Our goal right now is to collect wind data to help us make decisions regarding the establishment of a wind farm in the county."

State Rep. Jack Lutz, R-Anderson, is facing criticism for opposing legislation to mandate the development of wind energy in Indiana. “Lutz’s response is that utilities should be free to set their own standards,” said rural Delaware County health worker Lee Ann Mengelt, a Democrat running for Lutz’s seat in the Nov. 7 election. Lutz said he opposed a proposed renewable electricity standard after co-chairing a legislative committee hearing that considered the issue in Muncie recently. The legislation would require each electricity supplier in Indiana to generate at least 10 percent of its total electricity from renewable energy sources — such as energy crops, organic waste, methane from landfills, solar cells and panels, fuel cells and wind — by 2017.

Carmel Mayor Jim Brainard is not blowing hot air when he talks about investigating a different way to generate electricity at the sewer plant. He is thinking about a windmill. They are not uncommon out west, but you do not see many windmills generating power in the Midwest. “The testing we’ll do will confirm whether it’s a cost effective measure or not,” said Mayor Brainard.

Fields of large energy-producing windmills are being touted as one of the solutions to America's dependence on fossil fuels from other nations. But how about in Carmel, Indiana? It's a idea that is currently blowing in the wind. In Carmel the Monon can help your health, the roundabouts can save you time and the city is currently exploring a new way of saving taxpayers money. "The goal would be to, per windmill, save $100,000 to $150,000 a year," said Mayor Jim Brainard (R-Carmel).

The Carroll County Commissioners approved an ordinance Monday detailing rules and regulations for commercial wind energy developers. ...Setbacks, height restrictions, and pre-construction requirements, such as government clearances for historic structures and environmental issues, are part of the county's first ordinance about wind energy.

A new set of rules will govern the building and use of wind turbines in Lafayette, West Lafayette and rural Tippecanoe County. The two city councils and the county commissioners approved an ordinance Monday that will regulate where the wind turbines, which generate electricity, may stand within each of their jurisdictions. The new rules are in response to the likelihood that a company will soon want to build a wind farm -- or large number of the turbines -- in the county, as is already happening in Benton County.

Though the most visible aspect of the city’s electric assets is the former Lawton Park Generating Plant, which became Science Central, its most valuable feature is the distribution network. Even though the city can’t generate its own power anymore, it owns the wires and circuits through which power flows to homes and businesses. That could be a powerful trading chip in a world considering carbon markets and pollution credits. “We want to explore the current economic value of the current asset and look at possibilities not present in 1974,” Richard said. “If you control a distribution system, you may be in a very different position.” It may not make economic sense for the city to build a wind farm and lease it to I&M, Richard said, but no one knows until the question is explored. A recent federal court decision put new pressure on electric companies to clean up coal-fired power plants, which will increase the pressure to find alternative sources of power.

Carmel soon will begin testing to determine whether to install a windmill at the city’s sewer plant. Mayor Jim Brainard first announced the concept during his state of the city address Nov. 1.