Vocal opposition to changing a wind power development zoning law in Clayton and Orleans has begun to solidify. Those who support the proposed Horse Creek Wind Farm, including many leaseholders, have balked at the changes that, according to developer Iberdrola Renewables, would eliminate the project. Iberdrola's 126-megawatt project would raise 56 turbines in Clayton and eight in Orleans.

You may need to brace yourself for thicker sweaters and thinner wallets next year, as Rochester Gas & Electric and New York State Electric and Gas are seeking sizable rate increases. If approved by the state Public Service Commission, the higher rates could go into effect by August 2010 and raise the average bills of households served by the utilities by roughly $400 to $450 a year. ...The PSC has an 11-month deadline for ruling on the request. No dates have been set for hearings.

A public hearing will be held Saturday morning in Italy, Yates County, on a proposed 18-turbine wind energy project now pending before the Town Board. Ecogen LLC, based in suburban Buffalo, is seeking town approval to erect 415-foot-high turbines, each rated as capable of generating up to 2.3 megawatts of electricity.

The Orleans Town Council seemed most concerned with whether the Wind Committee's recommendations would still allow the proposed Horse Creek Wind Farm. ...Councilman Thomas A. Johnston said he looked at every parcel in the current wind overlay district, where project development is allowed. None of them had enough space to comply with the recommended setbacks and have room for turbines.

A bombshell was dropped at the Arkwright Town Board meeting with an announcement by Tom Stebbins, project manager for the Arkwright Summit Wind Project. He said that Horizon Wind Energy will not begin building turbines in Arkwright next April, as he had earlier indicated. "We will continue the permitting process and our commitment to the town with regard to this project," he told the town council.

State police closed a portion of Route 3, from Bolton Road to Benton Road, for about three hours Wednesday after the base of a wind turbine and the trailer it was attached to became unlatched from the rig hauling the oversized load. Both the trailer and turbine overturned and rolled into a nearby cornfield, state police said.

Permits for small-scale wind turbines gained a fast permitting track in the Adirondack Park. Combining regulation with New York state's push for alternative energy sources, staff at the Adirondack Park Agency established a general permit to move residential wind power more quickly through the regulatory review process. APA commissioners unanimously approved the measure at their recent meeting.

The town's Zoning Board of Appeals is standing by its decision that Roger D. Alexander's 92-foot-tall personal wind turbine is illegal. At a ZBA meeting Monday, Chairman Edward P. Bender said Mr. Alexander does not have to take his wind turbine down immediately. It's up to the Town Council to make that decision, he said.

General Electric Co. grabbed a major foothold into Europe's growing offshore wind market Monday by completing the acquisition of a Norwegian wind turbine company. The $18 million deal for ScanWind was originally announced last month.

Wind-farm-lease holders may soon be able to opt for lump-sum payments for their anticipated lease agreements instead of waiting for periodic checks. Chuck Hinckley, the former chief operating officer of Noble Environmental Power, is now CEO of American Wind Capital Co. in Essex, Conn., which just announced that it has had an infusion of cash from investment bankers and a private energy-technology investor.

Representatives of town governments want more of the financial pie from new industrial wind power developments, but many Cattaraugus County residents say they are financed by federal debt and long-range costs to the community will outweigh benefits. These sentiments dominated three public hearings on a tax-incentive proposal for wind developers by the Cattaraugus County Industrial Development Agency.

The Arkwright Town Board spoke with one voice when it unanimously voted to table a Horizon Wind Energy waiver request. The request involved granting an easement on property Horizon has an option to purchase on Meadows Road that abuts the county owned Earl Cardot Overland Hiking Trail.

The New York Independent System Operator, the North Greenbush nonprofit that operates the state's wholesale electricity market, has told federal regulators that three power plants in upstate New York may have been trying to inflate profits by making artificially high bids. The NYISO won't publicly reveal the names of the generators -- or just how much they might have cost consumers.

The Cattaraugus County Industrial Development Agency will seek public comments at 6:30 p. m. tonight, Wednesday and Thursday in hearings on proposed revisions to the agency's uniform tax exemption policy to accommodate wind farm developments. The revisions, if adopted, will set a schedule for payments-in-lieu-of-taxes.

Every state in the Northeast has set a target for increasing the amount of renewable energy it produces. Wind power is a big part of this push, but it may pose a danger to birds and bats. As part of a collaboration of northeast public radio stations, David Chanatry reports from the site of the biggest wind farm in the region.

The corporate owner of one of the largest wind turbine farms in upstate New York - a 50-turbine undertaking in Cohocton, Steuben County - has been given $74.6 million in federal stimulus grants. ...First Wind has ties to the administration of President Barack Obama. A New York City hedge fund, D.E. Shaw & Co., is a major investor in First Wind ...Lawrence H. Summers, who now heads Obama's National Economic Council, was a compensated managing director at D.E. Shaw before leaving late last year.

The Clayton Town Council agreed to keep the sound limitations and most of the setback recommendations from the Wind Committee and forward them to the town attorney to begin writing a new zoning law for wind power development. The council, meeting Wednesday night, held voice votes on all 16 recommendations forwarded from the committee. The only point dropped by the council was a recommendation to site turbines so there would be no flicker effect falling at road intersections.

Not only is Lewis County dealing with a decrease in sales tax revenue and a lack of information about how much state aid it will receive, it's also dealing with the loss of a major money maker. The Maple Ridge Wind Farm ...recently lost its certification as part of the state's Empire Development Zone, which means it lost critical tax breaks and other business incentives.

United Wind Energy LLC, developer of the proposed Stony Point Wind Farm in Henderson, has proposed three test towers to track meteorological conditions. Two of the locations were reviewed at the Jefferson County Planning Board meeting Tuesday afternoon. ...Mr. Chase said the towers would have a one-year permit with the possibility of renewal for a second year.