There is no guarantee a wind farm construction boom will follow if Wisconsin establishes statewide standards for where such developments can be built. ...With resources available beyond state borders and Alliant employees testifying Wednesday the company projects diminishing opportunities for new generation, opponents could argue more wind turbines in Wisconsin are unnecessary, said Lynda Barry-Kawula, co-founder of the renewable energy group Better Plan Wisconsin.

After a banner year in the U.S. wind power industry, 2009 is whipping up a foul breeze for the nation's Next Big Thing, as the recession and credit crisis continue to buffet renewable energy plans. It's not clear whether the slowdown will hurt Minnesota's No. 4 ranking in wind energy production. Many wind projects already underway in the state still have the green light. But signs of the chill abound, affecting players up and down the clean-tech supply chain.

The latest thing to dot North St. Paul's bare skyline might be an 80-foot pole with three 35-foot blades. Next month, city leaders will consider approving a permit to erect a wind turbine - across the street from homes and City Hall. If all goes well, it could be installed by summer's end, said Wally Wysopal, North St. Paul manager.

CapX2020 foes worry about the environmental and aesthetic impact of extending high-voltage lines on 15-story towers across the Mississippi, a flyway for migratory birds. Jeremy Chipps heads the La Crescent-based Citizens Energy Task Force, which he said may appeal last week's decision by the Public Utilities Commission. Chipps says the task force hasn't picked a preferred river crossing site if the lines are built.

He said that people don't realize that a wind farm is constant maintenance, and to ensure longevity, preventative maintenance is needed. ..."Wind energy is not the complete answer to our energy needs," McNeilus said. "It is a piece of the pie, but you still have to have the whole pie, because there are days when the wind doesn't blow."

Russ Foss has lived on his 500 acre farm, southeast of Kenyon, for more than 42 years. A dairy farmer, Foss has kept busy serving time on the local co-op board and growing crops in his field. But Foss is clear to say that his 500 acres will never be home to what some are calling a "second crop," -- wind energy.

A small plane crashed a year ago near Grand Meadow, killing the pilot, because it didn't have the proper flight instruments for flying in that day's poor weather, a federal agency says. The pilot's failure to maintain control of the airplane while maneuvering around a wind farm at a low altitude also was a factor.

City council members on April 15 approved amendments to Cottage Grove's two decades-old zoning ordinances that cover wind turbines, establishing more stringent permitting and adding a public hearing requirement for businesses and homeowners interested in harnessing wind power for electricity.

The wind turbine is a symbol of an alternative to an oil-based economy. But on radar, it looks like a storm. That has raised concerns that a proliferation of wind farms could result in the appearance of severe weather where there is none, and even false weather alerts. That collision of weather and wind technology adds some new dimensions to this year's tornado season, which officially kicks off this week with Severe Weather Awareness Week.

Austin Democrats are hammering out a compromise with party leadership that would boost wind tax revenue for townships at the expense of school districts. Reps. Robin Brown and Jeanne Poppe have been fighting to restore a wind tax benefit for schools set to expire on July 1. Last year, Minnesota schools received $146,000 from the wind energy production tax.

The massive power line project known as CapX 2020 has been approved by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission. The commission made one stipulation in its decision today: The line from Brookings, S.D. to the Twin Cities has to carry wind generated power. The lines will run between Fargo and Monticello, Brookings and the Twin Cities and the Twin Cities to La Crosse.

The Freeborn County commissioners on Tuesday accepted written comments gathered by the Planning and Zoning Department on a proposed transmission line to connect the planned Bent Tree Wind Farm to the Hayward electrical substation. As recommended by Planning and Zoning Director Wayne Sorensen, the commissioners resolved to consider public concerns in an environmental assessment to be done by the Planning and Zoning Department.

Minnesota lawmakers Tuesday gave a gust of support to bills allowing Winona County to form a corporation with private investors to build and operate commercial wind turbines.

A group in Freeborn County has concerns with the setbacks for the proposed Bent Tree Wind Farm, the health impacts of living close to wind turbines and the route planned transmission lines need to connect the turbines to the power grid. "It is not safe to put this size of turbines by residents," said Katie Troe, a resident of rural Clarks Grove who is spearheading a group called Safe Wind in Freeborn County.

Bruce and Marie McNamara look across the gravel road adjacent to their farm and see signs of what's coming. A tall tower off in the distance silently measures wind speeds across Belle Creek and Goodhue townships. The McNamaras can't see them, but in the homes under the shadow of that tower businessmen are pressuring residents to sign on the dotted line.

Michael Johnson compares being at the top of a wind turbine to standing on the end of a fishing pole. Only it's nearly 300 feet in the air. "The tower moves about three feet," said Johnson, a Rochester-based electrician. "When you look down, it's like a big metal straw." As wind power continues to sweep through southern Minnesota and the country, local electricians are training how to safely maintain the prodigious pinwheels.

To meet Minnesota's goal of getting 25 percent of its electricity from clean renewable wind energy by 2025, the state's utilities would need to build a 345-kilovolt line between Granite Falls and Shakopee at a cost of $460 million, according to a study released Friday. The 125-mile line would replace a 260-kilovolt power line that is 60 years old.

Another series of public meetings on the proposed CapX 2020 power line project began Monday in Marshall. However, in addition to the property and health concerns voiced at the meeting, some area residents said their voices weren't being heard. The CapX project, proposed by Great River Energy and Xcel Energy, would build 345-kilovolt transmission lines running from a substation near Brookings, S.D., to Hampton, south of the Twin Cities.

The Sargeant, Minn., resident said many of his fellow farmers signed agreements to have the wind turbines on their property, thinking they were helping their local school districts. But starting July 1, those dollars will no longer mean a boost in local school funding. And that has Gronseth upset. "The more I talked to people about this I just said, 'Enough is enough.' So I offered to help," he said.

He's becoming increasingly wary when it comes to the power that farmers like Rohlik want to sell back to the cooperatives. "A disadvantage for the cooperative is an advantage for the person," said Rohlik while joining in a discussion on an energy dilemma that is slowly charging up in rural areas. ...It's an unusual dilemma in the making: REAs see a need for new sources of electricity ...But small wind power can be too much of a good thing for REAs.