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.

The Bismarck Planning and Zoning Commission this week tabled action for a draft wind turbine ordinance in city limits and its extra-territorial zone. City planner Gregg Greenquist, tasked with creating the ordinance with a committee, said the new draft was conservative in terms of sound levels and aesthetics. He expects as technology evolved, it would be amended.

The transmission project "will likely require more than 1,000 miles (1,610 km) of new extra-high voltage transmission lines at a cost of between $5 billion and $10 billion," AEP said. The Midwest Independent System Operator, which manages transmission lines in the region, must approve the project. The new lines would connect 2,000 megawatts of wind power in Hartland Wind Farm project in North Dakota, near the western terminus of the proposed lines, AEP said.

Minnkota and Square Butte also would underwrite $5 million in renewable energy development projects, including wind power projects in North Dakota and Minnesota to save energy and cut pollution further.

WASHINGTON — Southern California and the urban centers from Northern Virginia to New York face the most critical power grid problems, but such remote areas as Montana and the Dakotas may need new transmission lines in the near future, an Energy Department report warns.

The grass around Minot may not be the only thing that's green in a few years, as Basin Electric Power Cooperative is looking at two potential sites near town on which to build a wind farm.

Basin Electric Power Cooperative will cut out the middleman and go directly to the wind on its own. The cooperative, long associated with lignite power and gasification plants, has formed a subsidiary to build a 77-turbine wind farm along Highway 83 south of Minot, where it installed two turbines in an earlier project. Public scoping meetings were held Wednesday and construction is scheduled to start next year. The $240 million wind farm will add 115 megawatts of electricity to Basin's power portfolio when it goes on line in 2010.

BP Alternative Energy North America Inc. expects to begin construction on five U.S. wind power generation projects in 2007 across four states, including Texas. The projects — also located in California, Colorado and North Dakota — are expected to deliver a combined generation capacity of 550 megawatts.

Coal mines always have been big business. Wind farms are getting to be. And when heavy-hitting companies such as North American Coal Corp., Minnesota Power and Florida Power and Light are eyeing an area of real estate, you bet it's consequential. The real estate isn't paltry; it's a lot of acreage in Oliver and Morton counties. Minnesota Power and FPL want to build separate wind farms. But the coal company says, "Wait a minute, we may want to mine where you guys are talking about putting up wind turbines. That won't work."

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.

North Dakota's Public Service Commission has approved the state's larges wind project to date. The wind farm will be located about six miles south of Langdon in northeastern North Dakota. The proposed wind farm will include 106 wind turbines. It will be capable of generating up to 159 megawatts of power. It represents an investment of more than 250 (m) million dollars.

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.

Backyard wind towers would be limited to 35 feet in height under an ordinance proposal being considered by the Minot Planning Commission. An ad hoc committee of the commission reported Monday on its recommendations for wind towers. The commission formed the committee in response to a turbine request from landowners in a rural subdivision that falls within the city's zoning jurisdiction. The commission voted 10-1 to recommend the Minot City Council deny the request from William and Sandra Carlson for a turbine of up to 100 feet in height at 5408-6th St. SE.

North Dakota's Public Service Commission is holding a hearing next month on the location of a proposed wind farm. It's south of Langdon in northeastern North Dakota. Public Service Commission President Susan Wefald says the hearing will be held at 10 a-m on May 8th. The site will be determined later. The proposed wind farm will include 106 wind turbines. It will be capable of generating up to 159 megawatts of power. It represents an investment of more than 225 (M) million dollars. Wefald says the hearing will allow people who are affected by the project to voice any concerns they may have about it. The commission has jurisdiction over the siting of the wind farm including where individual wind towers will be placed. The farm is being developed by F-P-L Energy L-L-C of Florida, Minnkota Power Cooperative of Grand Forks and Otter Tail Power Company of Fergus Falls, Minnesota. Minnkota and Otter Tail Power will be buying the wind farm's electric output.

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.

The North Dakota Public Service Commission has filed a complaint that Tatanka Wind Farm changed the location of some transmission towers without notifying the commission. A possible fine of up to $200,000 is by no means a certainty. "We are just putting the company on alert that our staff is concerned about this," commission President Susan Wefald told the American News on Wednesday.

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.

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.

The Luverne Wind Farm may have to wait until November or later for final approval. The North Dakota Public Service Commission indicated Monday that the 157.5-megawatt wind farm may not be approved until M-Power, LLC, the community-owned developer, completes archaeological and wetlands surveys - and that may not be until after the fall harvest. M-Power asked that the wind farm siting be approved, contingent on cultural and wetlands survey results and other data meeting state regulations.

The Stutsman County Commission approved a zoning ordinance concerning commercial wind farms during its regular July meeting Tuesday. The ordinance passed unanimously after four amendments were made to the document prepared over the past nine months by the Stutsman County Zoning and Planning Commission.