Two 197-foot tall ‘meteorological towers' erected recently on the Nebraska-South Dakota border northwest of Chadron could be the harbingers of a wind energy boom for Dawes County, but one landowner involved with the development says not to expect to see big turbines going up anytime soon. "One thing they told us-'If you are in a hurry, forget it," Dawes County Zoning Commissioner Ed Perrine said at a zoning meeting last week. "It can take up to five years after they set a met tower (before a wind generating installation is complete)."

The future of an 80-megawatt wind farm near Broken Bow depends on the Nebraska Public Power District's ability to find buyers for half of the energy it would generate. NPPD Renewable Energy Development Manager David Rich of Columbus said at Monday's "Wind Power 2009" conference in Kearney that NPPD-approved projects at Petersburg, north of Albion in Boone County, and Broken Bow in central Nebraska would generate a total of 160 megawatts of electricity.

Two agriculture heavyweights, the Nebraska Farm Bureau and Nebraska Cattlemen, are joining the fight for increased development of wind energy in the state. ...State Sen. Chris Langemeier of Schuyler, said one key issue is who would pay the estimated $20 billion needed to build the transmission lines needed to export wind power to major population centers in the East and South. Right now, Langemeier said, Nebraska ratepayers would be on the hook for building those lines "for someone else to profit from wind energy".

A landowners association in this community has set its sights on doing whatever needs to be done to establish a wind farm in Banner County. The Banner County Wind Energy Association held its first membership meeting Wednesday night, filling the Banner County Fire Hall with people interested in plans by two companies to establish a wind farm in the rural county.

City council members want to take some time to think about allowing wind energy in the community. Following a 20-minute public hearing on June 2 about zoning and subdivision regulations which included wind energy systems, the council decided to introduce the proposal and amend language at the June 16 meeting.

The bill would allow Nebraska's public power districts to waive their eminent-domain power when signing a contract with a private, wind-farm developer, which proponents say was a roadblock to some wind projects. It also allows the state's public power districts to build wind farms larger than 80 megawatts to take advantage of economies of scale.

Entrepreneurs who dream of building small-scale wind, solar, methane or other renewable energy projects could sell their power to the Nebraska Public Power District. The Columbus-based utility is interested in receiving request for proposals for projects of fewer than 10 megawatts that meet Public Utility Regulatory Policy Act guidelines.

Nebraska Public Power District's goal of providing 10 percent of its electricity from renewable energy sources by 2010 will be met in part through wind generated power, a company representative said Monday. But, in a presentation to the Chadron City Council, account representative Terry Rajwich emphasized the challenges involved in creating and using electricity from wind, and concluded that customers can find more savings by conserving power than by erecting small scale wind generators.

Not everyone is thrilled with a proposed wind farm project for land in Knox and Cedar counties. Because of the large initial investment needed to get such a wind farm off the ground, Midwest Energy is partnering with Edison Mission and also a third-party funding source on this project. It would not qualify as what's known as a C-BED project, which makes it possible for landowners involved in the project to be investors in it, too.

A plan is in the air to harness the wind that blows across Northeast Nebraska in Knox and Cedar Counties. Close to 250 people showed up at a meeting in Wausa Thursday to learn about a proposed mega wind farm that could be located in eastern Knox and southwest Cedar counties. ...The proposal is for a state-of-the-art 1,200 mega watt wind farm.

More than 70 Saline county residents gathered in the Saline Center Hall to hear a pitch from RES - a company interested in setting up shop in the county. ...A windy money well would still be two to three years away - if landowners give it a chance to fly. Landowners have the opportunity to hear from three other companies interested in developing wind farms in Saline county.

A guy in a suit knocks on your door and says he's a wind farm developer and wants to put a big wind turbine on your farm. He offers you thousands of dollars for a long-term lease and says you can still farm the land and make some good money, too, just by signing a piece of paper. Sounds tempting. What do you do?

Energy sources from the atom to industrial hemp were promoted in Nebraska City Friday at a Nebraska Energy Office hearing. Neil Moseman, who Gov. Dave Heineman appointed in May to head the energy office, said the hearing was the last of eight held across the state in advance of revisions to the state's 1992 policy.

[E]xperts say, read the fine print. Under some contracts with wind developers - contracts ranging from 30 to 180 years - rural lands could be affected for generations to come. ...Too often, landowners hear a sales pitch and sign a contract without reading it. "If the wind blew at your place yesterday and it blew there today, it's probably going to blow there tomorrow," said Hansen, who urges farmers not to let wind developers rush them.

Midwest Wind Energy obtained "exclusive options" from landowners covering more than 6,000 acres near Douglas and Burr in Otoe County and about 5,000 acres near Plattsmouth, said Mike Donahue, executive vice president of the company. Donahue said the company is looking at both counties, which are within OPPD's service territory, and sites elsewhere, including Iowa and Kansas, in an attempt to win a renewable energy contract with the utility. OPPD has asked developers to submit proposals to supply 80 megawatts of wind generation. The deadline for proposals is Oct. 10.

Plans to build one of Nebraska's largest wind farms have set the wheels in motion for the expansion of the substation located approximately 5 miles north of Bloomfield. "We're expanding the substation to, first of all, support the planned 80-megawatt wind farm with Midwest Energy, and secondly, a 40-megawatt facility that hasn't formally been announced yet," said Mark Becker, media relations specialist for the Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD). ...But Becker said Nebraska residents won't see a reduction in electricity rates from the installation of wind farms. "Right now, wind is a fuel that is free - it's not like coal or nuclear which we have to pay for," he said. "But wind energy generation is very sporadic and we have maintenance issues, as well - turbines are mechanical and problems do arise, so there are expenses."

The Nebraska Public Power District, along with Midwest Wind Energy LLC and its affiliate Elkhorn Ridge Wind LLC, announced today that after several months of negotiations the parties have executed a 20-year power purchase agreement that will pave the way for construction of Nebraska's largest wind farm near Bloomfield. The 80-megawatt Elkhorn Ridge wind energy project, to be constructed by the end of 2008, is expected to produce an amount of energy equivalent to the amount of electricity used by approximately 25,000 Nebraska residences in a year. The project is a direct result of NPPD's efforts to expand participation in wind development by issuing a Request For Proposal last July for wind projects up to 100 megawatts in size.

Seven proposals for wind-powered generation projects are in the initial stages of review by the Nebraska Public Power District. In mid-July, NPPD invited developers interested in building and operating more wind-powered generation in Nebraska to submit proposals by Aug. 20. NPPD said it will evaluate the projects and make a recommendation to its board of directors. The projects could add 100 megawatts of wind power to the utility's existing nuclear, coal, wind, water, diesel and natural gas facilities.

It will be November before a final decision is made, but at least two companies have indicated an interest in building a transmission line that would pass near Hays. One of those companies - ITC Great Plains - officially is on record that it would like to build the line, which would run from Spearville to the Knoll substation just northwest of Hays and then to Axtell, Neb., just south of Kearney. While it's significant that the line would come close to Hays, it's also the first line that a relatively new state agency - on its own accord - has proposed building if no private company steps forward.

Lack of available replacement parts, significant maintenance issues as the units aged, and the opportunity to demonstrate new technology, were the prime reasons for the decision to retire the units, NPPD said in a news release.