Just east of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area on the Oregon-Washington border, one can't drive down I-84 without noticing turbine after turbine peeking out from the crest of the hills. But even as wind farms in Oregon and Washington set a new record for power production in August 2009, renewable energy developers are looking to lay claim on the latest prime spots for power projects. While solar and other renewable energy companies are anxious to take advantage of federal grants, state tax credits and plentiful opportunities thanks to state renewable energy portfolios, gaining access to suitable land is tougher than ever.

Portland General Electric announced plans late today to build two new natural gas power plants by 2015 and spend more than $500 million to keep its controversial Boardman coal-fired power plant burning for three more decades. ...Environmental groups and other critics quickly denounced the plan, calling it risky for ratepayers and the environment, while business groups said it makes sense for PGE to bank on reliable power.

Today the Bonneville Power Administration will install the first of fourteen anemometers to better track where and how hard the wind is blowing. The BPA, which markets power from the Northwest's network of federal hydroelectric dams, has struggled to incorporate increasing amounts of variable wind energy into the region's electric grid.

One controversial power line project through the north state has been halted, but state agencies, municipal utilities and power companies are studying other potential new north state lines. Examining how to connect the state to developing renewable power, the Renewable Energy Transmission Initiative (RETI) recently released a report that shows a potential new power transmission line running from the Oregon border through Shasta, Siskiyou and Tehama counties and south to Tracy.

Politicians are straining to convince people the government is stimulating the economy. In Oregon, where lawmakers are spending $176 million to supplement the federal stimulus, Democrats are taking credit for a remarkable feat: creating 3,236 new jobs in the program's first three months. But those jobs lasted on average only 35 hours, or about one workweek.

Utility customers gulped power at record levels Monday and Tuesday as the Portland area entered the longest stretch of 100-degree days in nearly three decades. Portland General Electric Co. reported scattered blackouts in the metro area as transformers overheated and sagging power lines came into contact with foliage ..."There seems to be a lot of evidence that when you get extreme cold or heat events, you don't see very much wind generation, at least at the east end of the gorge," said Wallace Gibson, a generation and transmission analyst with the power planning council. "Right now, we're pretty much not relying on wind to meet peak loads."

Wind-powered generators dominate the landscape along the eastern Oregon reaches of the Columbia River. Managing their intermittent power output has become a major issue for the Bonneville Power Administration. ...By October, the agency intends to establish a system to knock wind farms off its transmission grid when they are operating so far outside their scheduled output that it threatens to exhaust the agency's hydro reserves.

Even though wind energy companies are flocking to Oregon and the state is working to attract the business, not everyone is jumping for joy for the arrival of this new institution. Many see the wind turbines as towering giants invading the state - industrial engines spreading out over Oregon's unique landscape ...The Umatilla County Planning Commission may have to take this issue, or at least one aspect of it, head on.

A member of Blue Mountain Alliance, a citizen group looking for more regulations on wind power development in the region, came to the Athena City Council asking for support. Ed Chesnut, who is also at Milton-Freewater City Council but was acting as a member of BMA Thursday, gave an 20 minute presentation to the council at its meeting Thursday night.

We continue our energy series, the Switch, with a look at the one renewable source of energy that started booming a decade ago: wind power. Companies like GE and Seimens make turbines; the federal government offers utilities big financial incentives to build wind farms; and as Kristian Foden-Vencil reports, hundreds of windmills have gone up in Oregon alone.

A move is afoot to restrict windmills in the foothills of the Blue Mountains in Umatilla County. "I think there's areas we shouldn't have them, where there shouldn't be development," said Richard Jolly, who lives near Milton-Freewater. "We want to keep some of our open spaces and scenic views and wild areas."

By the time he gaveled Friday's Oregon Public Utility Commission hearing to a close, administrative law judge Allan J. Arlow had heard from 23 residents stretching from Malheur to Morrow counties - virtually all of them opposed Idaho Power's plan to run a 500-kilovolt transmission line through Baker County. ...Maurizio Valerio of Medical Springs likened Idaho Power's proposal to the way railroad companies disregarded local needs when constructing the transcontinental railroad during the latter half of the 19th century. "That's not a model we want any part of," he said.

A $220 million commercial wind farm that would be the first in the region and could bring 100 jobs to Crook County has received the initial go-ahead from Crook County planning commissioners. ...ODFW officials suggested the developers keep wind turbines three miles away from a nearby sage grouse lek, an area the birds use for their mating rituals. But the developers said that would wipe out their project. Planning commissioners agreed, mandating only a quarter-mile setback from the lek.

If you can avoid it, you don't go to the floundering equity markets right now to raise capital. But Portland General Electric Co. needs the cash to fund the expansion of a wind farm. And after watching its share price dip to an all-time low on Wednesday, the state's largest electric utility announced plans to issue 10.85 million new shares of its common stock.

Local entrepreneurs have pushed back until March the unveiling of a wind turbine prototype that they hope can operate in adverse weather conditions. Rogue River Wind and Yaiyu Turbine Technologies have collaborated on a new kind of turbine that can be mounted on roof tops and work in gusty winds. Their hope is to see the wind turbine installed on buildings up and down the coast, generating power locally instead of relying on distant utility companies for energy.

Vestas Wind Systems AS, the world's leading wind-turbine maker, may reduce jobs if the rate of new orders doesn't improve in the next 11 weeks, Chief Executive Ditlev Engel said. Orders from the U.S., the largest wind-turbine market, "came to a standstill" after the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. in September tightened credit for wind-farm developers, Engel said Wednesday in New York after announcing that fourth-quarter profit doubled.

Portland General Electric plans to repurpose its second Port Westward power plant as a 200-MW peaker to address the growing amount of wind generation it expects ..."When wind energy is added to a utility system, its natural variability and uncertainty is combined with the natural variability and uncertainty of loads. As a result, there is an increase in the need for system flexibility required to maintain utility system balance and reliability."