New York's far-reaching investigation into allegations that wind developers paid local officials to approve their energy projects moved into the state of Vermont this week. New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced Wednesday that his office issued a subpoena to Reunion Power, a wind energy developer with offices in Manchester Center and Hackensack, N.J., as part of its ongoing investigation.

A wind-power moratorium on just a portion of a town doesn't make sense. That's according to the Jefferson County Planning Board, which considered Cape Vincent's proposed six-month moratorium for wind power development in the lakefront and river front districts at its meeting Tuesday afternoon. The members of the board approved a townwide moratorium, which was not presented to them, rather than the town's proposed partial moratorium.

The shoals off Main Duck Island, on the Canadian side of Lake Ontario, may host an offshore wind power project. Trillium Wind Power Corp., Toronto, is proposing a 142-turbine project in the shoals southwest of the island to produce up to 710 megawatts of power. "We purposefully went out on the water and chose this unique site because of its attributes," said John Kourtoff, CEO of Trillium Wind.

The town board heard overwhelming opposition Monday night to a proposed law governing wind farms. Almost 175 people filled the Hammond Central School gymnasium, with 45 speaking against the law and seven supporting it. Concerned Residents of Hammond President Nancy J. Parrish said the new law was nearly the same as the version her group took to court last year.

Sixteen companies comprising more than 90 percent of New York's wind-energy industry have signed a ethics code designed to prevent conflicts of interest between companies and municipal officials, state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced today. ...there have been "significant issues about conflict of interest, etc." in the siting of turbines, and a lack of clarity with government officials on what the rules are, he said.

With rising heating oil costs and electric bills, and the push for more environmentally friendly energy, it's to be expected that there will be more folks like Thorn hoping to harness the power of wind. One has already surfaced: Jerry Collier told the Victor Town Board a few weeks back that he has been thinking about putting up a turbine on his Rawson Road property. But Collier will have to wait, as the Victor Town Board has just enacted a six-month moratorium on wind turbines while it looks at getting local codes on the books to regulate them. It's a wise move on the board's part.

Prattsburgh town officials will meet Tuesday to consider hiring a sound expert to draft a general noise ordinance aimed at regulating wind turbines. The board's action followed an initial report by Seth Waltz, president of Avl Designs, Inc. of Pensfield, on his preliminary study of noise in Prattsburgh, the neighboring town of Naples and wind farm in Cohocton operated by First Wind.

Round two of the reviews of the environmental assessment of the proposed St. Lawrence Wind Farm took up where round one ended. Like the first draft, the supplemental draft environmental impact statement has a high number of comments - more than 60 by state officials and members of the public.

The Town Council will hold a public hearing at 7 p.m. Monday at the town office, 12105 Town Barn Road, to consider a three-month moratorium on wind development.

A decision on the Article 78 suit over wind farm proposals in Italy will not come until August. ...The case stems from EcoGen LLC's application to build 18 wind turbines in Italy. The Finger Lakes Preservation Association, an unincorporated group of local residents, named the Italy Town Board and wind developer EcoGen LLC in the Article 78 suit, which alleges that the town violated the Open Meetings Law and the state environmental review process.

The Prattsburgh town board took no action on a proposed tower permit law after holding a public hearing on the law Tuesday night. A number of residents questioned the need for the law since the town was advised by state officials last winter it could not issue building permits because there were no town laws regulating cellular or wind tower construction.

Debate continues looming over a plan to put wind farms up in one Southern Tier town.Community members in Prattsburgh have one main concern when it comes to wind turbines going up in their neighborhood. That concern is the noise the turbines will make.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation wants to see more studies in the proposed Galloo Island Wind Farm's draft environmental impact statement. Upstate NY Power Corp., backed by Pattern Energy Group LP, San Francisco, plans to build an 84-turbine wind farm on the island rated at 252 megawatts. Recently, Pattern bought out Babcock & Brown Ltd.

The Grindstone Island militia can stand down. A group of startled Clayton residents who mistakenly believed the Town Council was trying to create a new Wind Energy Facility Overlay District on Grindstone Island planned to oppose the rumored wind district at an annual council meeting on Grindstone.

When the Hammond Town Council presents its new law regulating wind energy to the community July 27, residents will find it's almost identical to the regulations adopted in December. While the town board has changed some of the wording, the proposed law still calls for setbacks of just 500 feet from roads and boundary lines and 1,500 feet from off-site residences.

The noise you can hear may be a problem for some individuals living near wind farms, according to Rochester- based acoustician Seth Waltz. But the noise you can't hear may be more troublesome and difficult to predict, Waltz, of avi designs, inc., told the Prattsburgh town board recently. "There is no way to guarantee you won't have a problem," Waltz told board members.

The public will have a chance to weigh in on a moratorium on commercial wind development in the town of Bath on Aug. 10. The public hearing was set Monday by the Bath Town Board after approving a draft of the six-month ban on commercial wind turbines. The measure is precautionary since there are no known plans by an energy company to build a commercial wind farm in the town.

Cohocton Wind Farm leaseholder Hal E. Graham told north country residents Wednesday night about the noise and other effects the 50-turbine wind farm has had on his and his neighbors' lives. Mr. Graham has one turbine on his property, 2,000 feet from his house. A neighbor has one 1,050 feet away from Mr. Graham's house. ...

The Town Council here rescinded its motion, in a split vote, to enforce the town's wind-facilities law on a project belonging to Penn Energy Trust. That clears the way for the company to develop a 13-turbine wind facility for the Rand Hill Road area through a conditional-use permit originally granted to Windhorse Power, LLC, on Jan. 31, 2007.