A Sunbury firm that wants to build wind turbines on Tomhicken Mountain now has more time to complete the project. Thursday night, the Black Creek Township Zoning Hearing Board voted 3-0 to grant Penn Wind LLC an extension from Dec. 31, 2010, to Dec. 31, 2011, to complete construction of four wind turbines in Black Creek Township. Penn Wind is building 18 additional windmills in neighboring Beaver Township, Columbia County.

Fayette County commissioners took no action following a hearing to make revisions to an ordinance that permits commercial and residential windmills and wind turbines as a permitted use, rather than by special exception, in areas zoned agricultural, light industrial or heavy industrial. Commissioners had approved the ordinance in June, but attorney Richard Bower, representing Iberdrola Renewables of Portland, Ore., said the ordinance required some minor revisions.

As has been the case for more than six months, the issue involving wind turbines again dominated the Butler Township supervisors meeting Tuesday evening. The township municipal building was again filled to standing-room only with township residents and others who oppose the proposed project planned by Broad Mountain Development Co. LLC, a Rich family company. Broad Mountain has a proposed locating 27 wind turbines in the Fountain Springs area, a plan strongly opposed by local residents.

Clearfield County Planning Commission listened to a pair of concerned citizens at its meeting last night who shared information about a proposed wind energy project. Brady Township resident Gary Swope shared information about the 43-turbine project projected for Brady, Bloom and Penn townships by Iberdrola Renewables. Swope reported the project area would contain industrial-sized wind turbines measuring 300 feet across its blades and 400 feet from the ground to its highest point.

Officials with the Riverside School District are considering a feasibility study for a wind turbine project to reduce electricity costs. At a committee meeting Monday, a handful of board members heard a presentation from Frank Smollon, president of Electric City Wind Power Corp., a licensed manufacturer and distributor of vertical wind power technology. ...A megawatt unit would produce more than 3 million kilowatt hours of electricity a year, or enough to power about 300 average households, Mr. Smollon said. "But you have to remember wind is an intermittent resource and it is a natural source," he said.

Clean energy and the "green jobs" attached to it enjoyed wide support in testimony at a Senate hearing in Pittsburgh today but differences remain about how and how quickly federal policies should push those goals. Sen Arlen Specter, D-Pa., who hosted the hearing, acknowledged those tensions between "competing interests" in Pennsylvania coal, natural gas and alternative energy industries.

The Department of Environmental Protection will hold a public meeting at 6:30 p.m. followed by a public hearing at 8 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 23, to discuss and accept testimony on a National Pollution Discharge Elimination System permit application by Sandy Ridge Wind LLC for a wind turbine project in Blair and Centre counties. The NPDES permit would address stormwater runoff from the construction of gravel roads, parking areas and concrete pads associated with 28 wind turbines, transmission lines and a substation.

Lane Johnson said the great blue herons that perch on and near his property in Bell Acres are like an annoying little brother that you wish would go away, but you also feel obligated to protect. ...he spoke during a public hearing Monday night against the proposed erection of a 60-foot wind turbine that would go up about a half-mile away from the herons' nesting spot -- or rookery -- because it might endanger the birds.

Opposing perspectives rose from residents who gathered Monday to probe the proposed alternative energy development site along Big Sewickley Creek Road in Bell Acres. Many borough residents questioned the potential noise level and electromagnetic presence of the site, which would include a 66-foot wind turbine. Others questioned the potential threat to great blue herons that nest along Big Sewickley Creek. Some questioned the visual impact on the borough's landscape.

Bell Acres Council will soon decide whether one more footprint will disturb the great blue herons and other residents. An alternative-energy demonstration site - involving a single 66-foot-high wind turbine, a 15-foot-high turbine, some solar panels and a trailer - has been proposed by a collaboration of Metal Foundations (Ambridge), Vox Energy (Allison Park) and Jet Industries (Ellwood City) for a site near the intersection of Big Sewickley Creek Road, also designated as the Red Belt, and Turkeyfoot Road.

The Fayette County Planning Commission Thursday conditionally approved plans to build 22 wind turbines along Chestnut Ridge in Georges and Springhill townships. Iberdrola Renewables of Portland, Ore., has sought approval for the project from the county zoning hearing board for several years, without success. Action by county commissioners in June to amend the county zoning ordinance eliminated the need for a special exception for wind turbines.

Brady Township Board of Supervisors heard a wind energy presentation at its meeting last night provided by Laura Jackson of Save Our Allegheny Ridges. ...Noise is a key factor to consider when determining a setback distance, she said. "In my experience it is very hard to prove a noise case in court and a noise study costs 30, 40, $50,000 which a township could not afford."

The Bethlehem Authority has a second company interested in generating wind energy on the authority's watershed lands. Iberdrola Renewables presented the authority's board with a proposal last month to install 38 wind turbines on the authority's land in Monroe County and 32 wind turbines on the authority's Carbon County property.

During an evidentiary hearing Wednesday, Fayette County Judge Steve Leskinen heard arguments concerning eight proposed wind turbines the county's zoning hearing board rejected in June, including concerns about public safety. The towers, which are owned by Oregon-based Iberdrola Renewables, formerly known as PPM Atlantic Renewables are 262.5 feet tall and 12.5 feet higher than allowed under the zoning ordinance.

Vic Russo and Karen Dickinson think the wind that blows across their small farm is strong enough to spin the blades of a turbine and generate electricity. ...But the turbine, which would be one of the first in Centre County, has hit resistance from some neighbors worried about the way it could look and sound. The township's zoning doesn't cover turbines, so the supervisors would have to give conditional approval before it could go up.

If Monaca resident Chuck Thomas had been able to get his windmill up and running over the weekend, he would have been able to take advantage of Monday's stiff breezes. ..."One problem is that there is no provision for small wind turbines in his zone," Leone said Monday. "He has to get a variance for that, and his hearing isn't scheduled until Oct. 19."

A wind farm with up to 14 windmills, if approved by the state, would ease the financial stress on the county's Rock Run Recreation Area near Patton, while preserving the area's planned use for ATV trails and primitive camping, officials said. ..."We have to get approval from the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources because the property was purchased with their funds," she said. The site was purchased through a $2 million DCNR grant almost six years ago.

The Butler Township (Schuylkill County) supervisors hosted the session to gather input on amending the township's zoning ordinance to deal with the issue, since the present ordinance mentions nothing about windmills. ...To begin the meeting, supervisors' Chairman Kevin Kowalick emphasized that no building permits have been issued for the project. He also clarified the supervisors' position on the project.

A public informational meeting will be held Wednesday at the Butler Township Municipal Building for input into amending the township zoning ordinance to address wind turbine issues. The meeting, slated from 6 to 8 p.m., was announced at last week's meeting of the Butler Township Board of Supervisors by Chairman Kevin Kowalick, a Republican-Herald employee. The decision to amend the zoning ordinance was spurred by the plans of Broad Mountain Development Co. LLC to construct 27 wind turbines, or windmills, in the Fountain Springs area.