A plan by a Midwest utility to distribute energy-efficient light bulbs to customers backfired when it was learned that the recipients would not only have to pay for the bulbs, but also pay the utility for the electricity they wouldn't be using. Ohio's governor sent a letter to regulators who pulled the plug on the program for now, or at least on the charges that caught consumers off guard.

Ohio lags far behind the rest of the Midwest -- and most of the country -- in wind power use. ...So why does Ohio have one wind farm -- the four turbines at the Wood County Landfill in Bowling Green -- instead of windmills all over the northern part of the state? "In the past, other states have offered better incentives," said Joe Woods, managing director of North Coast Wind and Power LLC in Port Clinton.

An Erie, Pa.-based energy company wants to determine whether its feasible to develop a wind farm on property at the Lake County Landfill in Painesville Township. Lake County commissioners have approved an agreement with Lake County Winds, LLC, a subsidiary of BQ Energy, that allows the company to conduct a study to see if the land would be conducive for wind energy.

Ohio's wind-energy system consists of five wind turbines, barely enough to power a small town. That wasn't much of a concern until May, when Gov. Ted Strickland signed a law that says investor-owned power companies need to get 12.5 percent of their capacity from renewable sources by 2024. Half of that energy needs to come from within Ohio. American Electric Power took a step toward the goal yesterday with the announcement that it will bring 100 megawatts of wind power to Ohio, the largest such transaction under the new law.

Cuyahoga County commissioners pressed President-elect Barack Obama Friday for $46.3 million in federal stimulus money that could be key to landing a wind turbine project in Lake Erie. The commissioners' top development officer said that the county and state are in talks with a European wind turbine manufacturer that "expressed willingness" to pay for half of a $56 million turbine project -- and establish a plant at the Cleveland port.

The largest number of proposals for alternative energy in Ohio represent wind power followed by hydro and biomass, said Art Meyer, a DP&L senior vice president. Many are from out of state. "Most of the proposals are still in the design or developmental phase," he said. DP&L does not expect to forge an agreement for renewable power before 2011, but that won't stop new energy conservation initiatives starting in 2009. Here's what the future looks like.

Richland County Commissioners formed a new group to study how to bring wind-generated electric power to the county. Commissioner Tim Wert, chairman of the Richland Wind Working Group, said there is statewide and nationwide interest in alternative energy and the possibility of a new power source through wind turbines. "We can optimize opportunities to get wind energy into Richland County," Wert said. "It would put a lot of money into the county and improve our infrastructure."

"Wind is coming whether you want it or not," Ohio Power Siting Board Executive Director Kim Wissman said at one point in the more-than-two-hour-long meeting with concerned citizens and wind turbine leaseholders. She said that while some companies have abandoned a project in the early stages, she does not recall a time in her 30 years with the Siting Board that the arm of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio has turned down a project. "I'm not sure the board has outright rejected an application, but we have required certain modifications," Ms. Wissman said.

At least two companies are interested in offshore wind development in New York's Great Lakes waters - BQ Energy, which developed Lackawanna's Steel Winds, and AWS Truewind. "I don't think it's inevitable, but I think it's very likely," said Bruce Bailey, AWS Truewind's president. There are significant obstacles and unknowns. ...Installing wind turbines in water can be at least twice as expensive because of the cost of mobilizing marine crews, the specialized nature of the installation equipment and the turbines and the need to move the power onshore, experts say. And that doesn't factor in what would be necessary to deal with the ice that often covers the eastern end of Lake Erie in winter.

For the first time since talk of wind turbine development began in West Central Ohio several years ago, residents of Logan and Champaign counties got to see a close visual representation of the controversial structures. The designs, which included a map showing 78 proposed turbine locations - 15 in Logan County and the remainder in Champaign - and several photos superimposed with scale wind turbines, gave the 100-plus residents who milled through Everpower Renewables' open house Tuesday at Triad High School a view of the proposed project. ...

All the hand-wringing and fighting between area township officials and residents over wind turbine zoning, including a recent discussion about a moratorium, may well have been an exercise in futility if an amendment attached to the Legislature's annual spending bill gets expected approval in coming days. The amendment, which was introduced by Cincinnati area State Sen. Bill Seitz, would turn responsibility for guiding any wind farm development to the Ohio Power Siting Board, which currently only oversees developments that exceed 50 megawatt generation capacity. It would lower the minimum to 5 megawatts ...

The debate continues on the U.S. side of Lake Erie over what the new energy mix should look like. In Canada, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty's administration has shown a strong preference for hydroelectric power and wind power. ...But Gail Krantzberg, a former Canadian chair of the International Joint Commission who's now director of McMaster University's Center for Engineering and Public Policy, said the McGuinty administration may have to buy dirty energy produced by coal-fired power plants in the Ohio Valley if it can't find enough viable ways to make up the difference. Wind, by its nature, can only be a supplemental source of power because it takes steady breezes to spin the turbine blades.

Gov. Ted Strickland next week is expected to sign a compromise electric energy bill that backers say will protect consumers, create jobs and expand the use of renewable energy sources such as solar power. ...While nobody predicted the legislation would lower electric bills, a key goal is to prevent big price spikes that have occurred in other states that deregulated the electric energy market as Ohio did in 1999. ...The bill also requires that 25 percent of Ohio's electricity be generated from alternative energy sources by 2025 and creates an energy efficiency standard that requires utilities to meet a cumulative 22 percent standard by reducing usage.

After months of talk, hours of committee testimony, more than 20 rewrites and untold thousands of dollars spent on a truckload of lobbyists, the House voted 93-1 for Senate Bill 221. The Senate is expected to concur today. "This bill gives the maximum amount of protection to make sure that energy prices moving forward will remain stable," said House Speaker Jon Husted, R-Kettering. Strickland said it would be unrealistic to assume that prices won't increase in "very moderate ways." ...The bill also contains key green-energy provisions, requiring that at least 25 percent of electricity generation in Ohio come from renewable or advanced energy sources by 2025

What began with an attempt to work out a compromise electricity regulation bill with Gov. Ted Strickland instead ended with Democrats walking out of House Public Utilities Committee in protest during the wee hours of the morning. The action drew a sharp contrast to the bipartisanship that has permeated the Statehouse for more than a year. ...Environmental advocates said they were pleased with the bill, which includes benchmarks to ensure that utilities produce at least 25 percent of their power from renewable and advanced energy sources by 2025. However, advocates were disappointed by an amendment that lets the PUCO reduce energy efficiency benchmarks if they can't be achieved for regulator, economic or technological reasons. "We're hoping this is an insurance policy that will never be executed," said Jack Shaner of the Ohio Environmental Council.

Union Neighbors United wants to influence local politicians to focus on zoning regulations for alternative energy sources. Julie Johnson, a member of the group, stressed that they are in favor of alternative energy in general. Members even attended the recent seminar hosted by individuals from C.A.R.E., she said. Johnson said the group simply want local officials to be careful when creating zoning regulations for alternative energy sources. Zoning has been the focus of the group, she said. Organizers in Union Neighbors United were able to place a referendum on November's ballot challenging the townships's zoning regulations. C.A.R.E. and Union Neighbors United plan to continue focusing attention on their issues as similar proposals move forward in the county.

So maybe, some local officials say, before the towering turbines consume Ohio's landscape, guidelines will be established to help decide where they should go. "It feels like we've been down this road before," said Morrow County Commissioner Richard Miller. His board recently approved zoning guidelines for wind turbines, which can be up to 400 feet tall. He said Morrow County planners researched regulations in other states to come up with a blueprint. Miller likened the growing debate over placement of the turbines to the cellular-tower issues in the late 1980s and early '90s. Then, local officials across Ohio found themselves in the middle of disputes between property owners and wondering what they could do to control where the cell towers could go, he said. Some disputes ended up in court. Miller said windmills should be handled differently.

Gov. Ted Strickland is willing to set yearly goals for the use of renewable power sources but he wants to give utilities more time to ease into compliance than lawmakers proposed, his office said Friday. The Democratic governor responded to changes Ohio House Republicans want to make to his sweeping energy plan. He agrees with the House's plan to set strict deadlines for utilities on using renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power. But Strickland wants the benchmarks to begin in 2015, instead of next year as the House plan specifies.

An issue that has been drawing controversy - the development of wind energy in Logan County - will not be decided by voters in Tuesday's election. ...Reames said calling them "farms" is deceptive. "We're not farming anything here," she said. "When you're talking about a 400- or 500-foot machine, you're talking industry." Among opponents' concerns, she said, is safety and allowing the community to have input, which she said they do not have. "These are not even a safe distance from home," she said. "Wind turbine accidents happen around the world."

Husted and top GOP House leaders were planning to unveil new legislation today that rewrites -- and beefs up -- renewable energy provisions in the governor's comprehensive utility regulation bill, pending since last fall. The new bill will be sponsored by State Rep. Jim McGregor, a Republican from Gahanna, who earlier introduced a bill requiring utilities to generate 22 percent of their power with wind, solar and other renewable technologies by 2020. They would have had to pay heavy fines if they did not meet a strict time table. The measure stalled, but parts of it are now expected to resurface.