Many people in North Dakota are thrilled that wind turbines are dotting the state. It is an alternate source of energy, and financially, it is good for the state's economy. But there are two sides to every story, and state legislators heard both sides on Wednesday in Valley City. The Energy Development and Transmission Committee first listened to NextEra Energy Resources representatives on wind facility construction and operation.

Just Wind asked the Stutsman County Commission to lower the application fee for a wind farm zoning permit during the commission's regular meeting Tuesday. The fee was set at $500 per wind turbine when the wind farm zoning ordinance was passed this spring. ..."According to your figures, a 250-turbine project will cost about $1.5 billion," said Noel Johnson, chief operating officer of the county. "And you're saying the $125,000 permit fee would kill it?"

The Morton County Commission heard a new pitch for a wind farm at its Oct. 8 meeting. In 2010, Nextera Energy of Juno Beach, Fla., wants to place 33 wind turbines between west of Mandan and New Salem. Thirty-three will be added for the next project. ...The company has submitted a letter of intent to the North Dakota Public Service Commission and a permit application to the Morton County Auditor's Office.

Fargo school and park officials are letting a potential wind turbine project blow by. The Fargo School Board and Fargo Park Board both unanimously voted Tuesday to drop the project. "A single wind turbine in today's economy is not financially feasible," said Dan Huffman, assistant superintendent of business services for Fargo Public Schools. "The revenue coming back from a tower that size doesn't really cover your upfront costs."

More than 60 people turned out Wednesday evening in Devils Lake to hear Jeff Metzger, president of Just Wind, LLC., explain its philosophy and to begin gauging local interest in a potential wind farm in the county. ...The company currently is developing large-scale wind farms in Logan and Emmons counties.

Newly approved projects should push North Dakota's wind energy generating capacity to more than 1,000 megawatts, state regulators say. When the decade began, the state had no commercial wind power. North Dakota's Public Service Commission on Wednesday approved construction of two wind developments that, when completed, will be capable of generating almost 300 megawatts of electricity.

State regulators have approved a new wind farm in east central North Dakota despite complaints about noise. North Dakota's Public Service Commission concluded most of the proposed wind towers will be far enough away from homes to meet federal noise guidelines.

A transmission company that wants to take North Dakota's wind energy to Eastern markets says its plan hinges on a federal change in how transmission facilities are paid for. Representatives of ITC Holdings in Novi, Mich., joined officials with Denali Energy, a company involved in the proposed Hartland Wind Farm northwest of Minot, at a meeting in Minot with landowners Wednesday.

The Ashtabula Wind Farm becomes one of the largest in the state with 131 turbines with a combined electrical generating capacity of 196.5 megawatts. The farm is owned by NextEra, a division of Florida Power and Light, with the electricity generated purchased by Otter Tail Power and Minnkota Power Cooperative. "We have an ownership share of 48 megawatts or about 32 of the 1.5-megawatt turbines," said Chris King, director of public relations for Otter Tail.

It`s not as strong as some North Dakota House members would like it. But representatives have approved a new set of rules that wind developers have to follow when negotiating land-use leases with property owners.

An energy developer has silenced an attorney who supports a ban on confidentiality agreements in wind leases by complaining to the Nevada utility that employs her, the lawyer's mother says. ...In its present form, the legislation would bar wind companies from requiring landowners to keep silent about the details of their contracts with wind developers.

Wind tower maker DMI Industries Inc., says it has cut 100 more workers due to declining demand from customers. DMI spokeswoman Belinda Forknell said Tuesday that the latest cuts, along with 60 cuts made in January, leave about 200 people working at the West Fargo plant.

The howling prairie gales that blow almost continually across this flat and empty state could, it has been estimated, light up a quarter of America. If there was one industry whose bright future looked assured, it was green energy, and particularly wind, which is widely regarded as the most promising alternative to fossil fuels. However, just as its fortunes soared last year, so they are on the wane now.

A British consultancy has been hired to prospect for European companies willing to build wind turbines or supply parts for them in North Dakota, a state official says. The seven-month, $28,000 contract with Deyton Bell Ltd., of Cambridge, England, is intended to develop business leads for North Dakota officials to follow up, said Shane Goettle, director of the state Department of Commerce.

The Stutsman County Commission heard information from one of the leading wind farm developers in the nation during its regular meeting Tuesday. ...A principle point of contention in the proposed Stutsman County wind zoning ordinance is a requirement that all wind turbines be set back a distance of five rotor diameters from property lines unless neighboring property owners have signed waivers.

A Colorado company with backers in Britain has leased more than 5,000 acres in northwestern North Dakota to mine salt and store wind. Denver-based Dakota Salts LLC says it wants to use voids created by mining in Burke County to store compressed air to be sold to wind farms to generate electricity. The mining caverns also could store carbon dioxide from North Dakota's coal-burning power plants or natural gas from the state's oil fields, the company said.

Wind tower manufacturer DMI Industries says it is cutting about 20 percent of its work force due to declining demand from developers struggling to get financing for wind projects. About 60 people at the company's West Fargo plant will lose their jobs. Monday's announcement came six months after Fargo-based DMI announced a major expansion to add 350 jobs plants in West Fargo and Oklahoma. The cuts will be spread across DMI's three sites in West Fargo, Tulsa, Okla., and Fort Erie, Ontario.

A representative from the energy company that built the Peak Road wind farm asked the Barnes County Commission for permission to run some heavy loads over the road next spring. ...FPL in North Dakota will receive deliveries of wind tower components originally intended for other states, and needs a place to store them until new project locations are chosen.

A wind turbine blade maker in Grand Forks is bracing for a slowdown in production in 2009. LM Glasfiber Plant Manager Bill Burga says the Lunderskov, Denmark-based company has told him to prepare for a slowdown and possible layoffs.