It's not just a lack of wind as the reason why some of those wind turbines in the Taconite Ridge wind farm aren't turning. Half of the 10 machines had to be turned off. After a recent routine maintenance check, it was found that five of them had non-structural defects in some of the blades. The affected turbines were shut down and are awaiting repairs, which are expected to go through the end of the year, Amy Rutledge, Minnesota Power communications manager, said Friday.

Noble Flat Hill Windpark aims to construct 134 wind turbines north of Glyndon by 2010, said Project Manager Mike Beckner. The 201 megawatt-powered wind park would cover a 36-square-mile area, with an estimated price tag of $450 million, Beckner said. ...Clay County Planning Director Tim Magnusson said Beckner's proposal came before the Planning Commission earlier this year for conditional use permits for temporary towers to determine the feasibility of a large wind energy project in the area.

If wind power works for St. Peter schools, Gustavus Adolphus College and the city of Mountain Lake, can it work for the city of Mankato? ...[Mankato Councilman Mark Frost] cautions that profitability is a must: "This isn't one of those, ‘Boy, we're gonna do it no matter what' programs," he said. "I'm just askin' questions." But the success - though it has been decidedly mixed - of other public entities has piqued his interest. During the past few months, he's learned wind energy is more like a puzzle than a straightforward path.

Denouncing a proposed $45 million Minnesota Power rate hike as "exorbitant," Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson on Friday encouraged the Duluth utility's customers to attend public hearings and make their opposition known. "Families and small business are struggling to make ends meet in the face of rising prices for energy, health care, gas, food and a troubled economy," Swanson said in a news release, which characterized the utility's proposal as unnecessary.

A broadside accident occurred Wednesday in St. Cloud between an oversized-load truck carrying wind turbine parts and a minivan, resulting in one death. Millard and Shirlee Nelson of South Haven were heading north at the intersection of Highway 15 and Second Street about to turn left. ...The number-one thing MnDOT can do in wind turbine transportation is ensure the public's safety on the roads, Coulianos said. Coulianos also said for the three and a half years he's worked for MnDOT, this is the first fatality he's known involving transportation of wind turbines. "This is what we plan not to happen," Coulianos said. "This is very serious to us."

What's "green," 18 stories tall and trashes property values? A wind turbine next to the new East Ridge High School in Woodbury - according to developers. Plans for a wind turbine roughly 200 feet tall hit a snag last week when developers balked at the idea of building houses nearby. They said buyers of high-end homes would be spooked by the noise and visual distraction of huge whirling fan blades. City officials are taking the threat seriously.

By a 3-0 vote Tuesday, Nicollet County commissioners approved a request from New Ulm Public Utilities (NUPU) to erect a 198-foot meteorological tower in Lafayette Township. ...Earlier in the meeting, commissioners unanimously approved a one-year moratorium, effective immediately, on Nicollet County wind turbine projects. Beatty told The Journal the moratorium was created so commissioners could gather more data on the issue for the health, safety and welfare of county residents and ensure "we're doing the right thing." Speaking on behalf of concerned citizens, Jeff Franta read a petition against the project signed by 77 rural residents he said was sent to the NUPU Commission more than two months ago.

After more than two hours of discussion Monday night, the Nicollet County Planning and Zoning Advisory Commission approved a Conditional Use Permit for the New Ulm Public Utilities to erect a 198-foot meteorological (met) tower several miles southwest of Lafayette. The resolution came on a 49-11 criteria vote with 13 conditions. ..."I seriously believe you're seriously impacting the lives of many people here," he told NUPU. In their Findings of Fact criteria votes on 10 questions, Commissioners voted 4-2 that given the nature of the land, the requested use was not compatible with the general welfare, public health and safety, the surrounding area and will depreciate nearby properties.

A major high-voltage power line proposal is generating organized opposition. The CapX 2020 project would bring more electricity -- including wind-generated power -- from remote parts of Minnesota closer to the Twin Cities. It calls for three 345-kilovolt lines that could cost between $1.4 billion and $1.7 billion and a fourth, smaller line farther north to be added later.

Dozens of Lafayette and West Newton Township property owners surrounding the New Ulm Public Utility Commission's planned wind farm have signed a petition opposing the project. Petition signers said they sent a copy of it to the Nicollet County Planning and Zoning Board scheduled to meet at 7 p.m., Monday, Sept. 15 in the Nicollet County Government Center. In Letters to the Editor of The Journal, "concerned area land owners and residents" stated they were not opposed to wind energy but think there are places better suited than their property.

A proposed wind turbine outside the new East Ridge High School in Woodbury is in the planning stages. While it would mean big energy savings for the school, some nearby landowners don't want a turbine near their homes. The school, located on Bailey Road, will be open by fall of 2009. The plan is to build a 170-foot-tall wind turbine at East Ridge that would produce up to 70 percent of the school's electricity.

Overall, total revenue generated from the turbines rests at about $1.9 million, whereas total expenses on the turbines have been about $859,000, for repairs, insurance and scheduled maintenance, according to MPS documents. The remaining balance goes to paying off the turbines, Schwandt said. Moorhead spent $1.5 million to erect the two towers - the first in 1999 and the second in 2001 - on the city's northeast edge.

The first met tower will be installed this fall near Atwater. The other two will be installed in the spring. A prospectus, which will provide stock offering details for potential investors, is also in the works. Until that legal document is approved, the board of directors cannot discuss financial opportunities, Bergo said. In general, local individuals will invest several million dollars in the project, but the bulk of funding will come from large equity investors who are looking for payback in the form of a federal tax credit for renewable energy. After about 10 years, the majority ownership will revert to Lake Country Wind Energy and its investors.

Transmission problems, turbine demand threaten growth of wind-generated power. All the wind turbines in the world won't reduce the need for fossil fuels if transmission lines don't connect the power those turbines create to the energy grid. In fact, transmission difficulties - along with high demand for wind turbines - are generating concern that Minneapolis-based Xcel Energy that it might not be able to meet a 2007 request to use at least 500 megawatts of power generated by community-based wind farms.

Two more "met" (meteorological) towers for the EcoEnergy wind power company were given initial approval by the Fillmore County Planning Commission during its monthly meeting Aug. 28 and will be passed along to the Fillmore County commissioners with a recommendation for approval. ...The requests sailed through the Planning Commission process as EcoEnergy representative Don Miller, of its new Harmony office staff, explained some project details and answered questions.

The landowners group will voice its concerns Monday at a Nicollet County Planning and Zoning Commission meeting. In a letter sent to area media, the group said surrounding landowners, including those who have signed land-use leases with the New Ulm Utilities Commission, have opposed the project from the start. The letter stated the landowners entered into the leases only for fear of losing large portions of their crop lands to eminent domain procedures. "There are a lot of concerns and unanswered questions," said landowners group member Jeff Franta, adding that the group will wait until the meeting to air specifics.

A company that develops wind energy projects will be allowed to put more data-collection devices in northern Mower County, which could lead to a project involving more than 170 wind turbines. The Mower County Board unanimously approved on Tuesday a request from Renewable Energy Systems America for conditional-use permits to install and operate two meteorological towers in Waltham Township, one tower in Sargeant Township and one in Dexter Township.

Four Renewable Energy Systems Americas, Inc. (RES) conditional use permit requests for meteorological towers were endorsed by the Mower County Planning Commission. However, they all came under attack by another wind energy developer. RES is a national leader in the development and construction of renewable wind energy. This summer RES was awarded five utility scale wind projects in Canada with a total capacity of 954MW. RES critic James Hartson is a Waltham area farmer who is trying to develop the state's only community-based (i.e., farmer-owned cooperative) wind project in Mower County, Green Acres Wind Farm.

A group of landowners in southwestern Nicollet County signaled Friday in a letter to the editor of The Journal that they are going to oppose New Ulm Public Utilities Commission's efforts to establish a wind generation farm in their area. The 12 landowners said they would attend a hearing on NUPUC's application to install an anemometer near one of the proposed wind turbine sites on property owned by Sharon Hacker in Lafayette Township about 5 miles northwest of Klossner. "We will voice our many concerns and unanswered questions at the Planning and Zoning meeting in St. Peter on Monday, September 15," they wrote.

The MinnDakota Wind Power Project near White is set to expand by one-third. Iberdrola Renewables, of Portland, Ore., on Friday announced a $100 million expansion, called the Buffalo Ridge Wind Power Project. It would add 50 megawatts of potential power production from about 50 new turbines. There already are 100 turbines in the original MinnDakota wind farm capable of producing 150 megawatts.