Wind farm opponents have called on Steuben County District Attorney John Tunney to investigate their wide-ranging allegations against a county agency, municipalities and individual officials. In a May 5 letter to Tunney, Cohocton Wind Watch's chief spokesman James Hall demanded an investigation into what he feels are alleged criminal actions. Those include false claims, filing false instruments, bribery of public officials, larceny and fraud. ...If Tunney decides to take action, Steuben would be the third county in the state to investigate criminal wrongdoing associated with wind farms. The Franklin County District Attorney's office is conducting a grand jury investigation into wind farm-related abuses, and Delaware County is also investigating alleged criminal activity.

Barring any legal challenges, installation of the Beaver Ridge wind turbines could begin this summer. First Selectman Ron Price, owner of the land where the $12 million wind farm will be located, said the devices have been ordered and delivery is expected to take place in July. The three 400-foot-tall windmills planned for the site are similar to those in place at Mars Hill, he said. They are projected to produce 4.5 megawatts of power annually. "They have been approved, they are moving ahead," Price said Wednesday. ...Bennett said that without an ordinance the town has no protection from noise and there were no setback requirements. He said the turbines would be located 350 feet from abutting property lines. "We don't even have a fall zone, much less the safety setback recommended by turbine manufacturers," he stated.

The State Public Service Commission spent the day taking tours of 12 different sites that could be impacted by a proposed wind farm along Laurel Mountain in Randolph and Barbour Counties. ...The Laurel Mountain Preservation society was also part of the tour, the group is opposed to the turbines because of the impact it could have on birds and other wildlife. The PSC will take all the information from the site visits and from public hearings into consideration before it makes a final decision on the proposal.

Centrica, one of the UK's biggest energy generators, has warned that the prospect of making money from wind farms is looking "marginal". The company says that the rising cost of off-shore wind farms could end up ruining the government's renewable energy targets. The comments come a week after Shell withdrew from a project that was set to become the world's largest wind farm. The government wants 33 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity built by 2020.

The state would open up ocean sanctuaries to renewable energy development under a legislative agreement that could allow a controversial wind farm in Buzzards Bay to be built under certain conditions. ...Under current law, development can only take place in the state's ocean sanctuaries if it is deemed a "public necessity." The five protected sanctuaries are on the North Shore, Cape Cod Bay, the southern Cape and islands and Buzzards Bay. The new law would allow renewable energy projects, but they would be subject to an ocean management plan to be drawn up by a special commission by Dec. 31, 2009, according to people familiar with the agreement. The commission will decide the specific regulations, including allowable distance from shore, scale and type of technology, community benefits and environmental impact.

The company planning to construct wind turbines in Logan Township needs supervisors to enlarge the wind zone and to back away from stricter rules, a representative said Thursday. ...Supervisors said they want remedies addressing turbine noise. "You guys aren't going to pick up [the wind turbines] and move them," Supervisor Ed Frontino said. Supervisors Chairman Frank Meloy said he visited Todd and Jill Stull in Juniata Township ..."I would not want to live with that noise day in and day out," Meloy said.

A legislative move to keep Delmarva Power from having its customers foot the bill for the Bluewater wind farm fight fizzled today, at least temporarily. House Concurrent Resolution 50, whose prime sponsor is Rep. John J. Kowalko, D-Newark South, recommends that the Public Service Commission deny any request by Delmarva to pass on the costs to ratepayers. But Kowalko's resolution encountered heavy weather in the House Energy and Natural Resources Committee, whose chairman, Ocean View Republican Rep. Gerald W. Hocker, blasted it as "one of the most anti-business pieces of legislation I have seen."

Fayette County commissioners will intervene in a civil lawsuit over proposed windmills in Georges and Springhill townships, but not necessarily because they favor or oppose the project. Commissioners on Thursday voted 2-1 to file a notice of intervention in the lawsuit, which pits PPM Renewable Energy Corp. of Portland, Ore., against the county's zoning hearing board. PPM, which has offices in Perryopolis, filed the civil suit last month, after the zoning board denied its request for a special exception and variances for 24 wind turbines.

North Union Township may join other regional municipalities that have created or are creating wind turbine ordinances. At a supervisors' meeting this week, North Union Township Supervisor Gary Croll said a group from St. Francis University, Loretto, is interested in testing wind capacity with a meteorological tower in North Union. That group is investigating the potential for a commercial wind farm. ...The supervisors asked township solicitor Paul Domalakes to review turbine information further. Croll said he didn't want to discourage alternative energy but he doesn't want it to harm residents' quality of life either.

A public meeting has been scheduled by the Bingham County Commissioners for 9 a.m. on May 27 in Courtroom 1 of the County Courthouse to hear two appeals filed by a group of area residents trying to stop a wind power project in the Wolverine area. ...The group is appealing an April 23 decision of the Bingham County Planning and Zoning Commission granting a special use permit to Ridgeline Energy, LLC for the Goshen South Wind Power Project that would put 150 wind turbines and appurtenant structures in a 20-mile corridor of the Blackfoot Mountains that encompasses 20,212 acres.

The question about whether Garrett County will use its power of eminent domain to seize private property if a citizen refuses to grant an easement to a wind turbine company is purely a hypothetical one, according to the Garrett County commissioners. The officials indicated on Tuesday that they have no desire to use that power anytime in the near future. "You can never say never, but you can say that it's not on the horizon," said commission board chair Denny Glotfelty during a public discussion about eminent domain. "We preserve personal property. That's what we stand for. So we're not going to turn around and take that right away."

Elkins City Council chambers was packed Wednesday afternoon for a West Virginia Public Service Commission public hearing as people spoke for and against the AES proposed windfarm project on Laurel Mountain. The meeting started with Chris Callas, the attorney representing AES, and WVPSC Staff Lawyer Carrie DeHaven presenting opening statements. ...WVPSC Chairman Michael Albert then opened the public hearing portion of the meeting. Those for the project were matched about evenly against those against the project. Twenty-two people took the time to speak to the WVPSC - 10 spoke in favor of the project, 11 against the project and a representative from the Randolph County Airport Authority stated the authority was not for or against the project but wanted further investigation conducted to see how the project could affect the airport.

The Logan County Regional Planning Commission voted Wednesday to recommend approval of a conditional-use zoning permit for Horizon Wind Energy to construct the Rail Splitter Wind Farm, which will take up sections of agriculturally zoned land in southern Tazewell County and northern Logan County. The meeting, which lasted approximately two-and-a-half hours, was mostly dominated by lawyers' speeches from both Union Ridge Wind, which opposes the project, and Horizon. ...When speaking about property values, Logan County board chairman Dick Logan seemed visibly agitated. "We're in a recession, property values are decreasing everywhere," Logan said. Porter also questioned Horizon representatives about health issues associated with wind turbines, but the company didn't acknowledge such a problem exists.

An Invenergy representative made a pitch Wednesday to get Streator enterprise zone benefits for the second phase of the wind energy company's La Salle County project. Michael Arndt, senior development manager for Chicago-based Invenergy, addressed the Streator City Council in a committee of the whole meeting, outlining the rural Grand Ridge project's second phase and explaining why the company wants that part of the project included in the Streator enterprise zone. The first phase of the Grand Ridge wind farm, which is being constructed, includes 66 wind turbines that are included in Ottawa's enterprise zone.

Steuben County's district attorney refused to comment Wednesday on a demand from an environmental group for a criminal investigation of wind farm development in the county. Cohocton Wind Watch, a group opposed to wind farms already under construction, has called for a grand jury investigation of suspected criminal conduct by wind developers and public officials. In a May 5 letter to Steuben County District Attorney John C. Tunney, the group says "several residents and property owners of Steuben County have information of suspected criminal conduct."

Nearly two dozen school districts in southern Minnesota would have hundreds of thousands of dollars restored to their budgets next year under a tax provision passed in the state Senate on Wednesday. An amendment, introduced by Sen. Dan Sparks of Austin, would restore to school districts the revenue generated by an energy production tax on wind farms. Triton, Grand Meadow and Southland are among the 22 districts that would benefit from this revenue stream at a time when schools are struggling financially, legislators say. ...Those odds are still considered long. Spark's amendment passed by only a single vote, while exposing a deep regional rift between rural and metro legislators.

A Burke official with an option to lease land to a wind-farm company lost his court battle and must answer a subpoena from a Franklin County grand jury. Town Council member David Vincent must turn over all correspondence, contracts, receipts, leases, purchase agreements, options or communications he has had concerning Noble Chateaugay Windpark, Noble Energy, Jericho Rise Windpark and Burke Wind Power. ...[Judge] Demerest said a grand jury must be given wide powers when making an inquiry. "Here, the inquiry appears to be whether or not wind-energy developers are improperly interacting with local government officials," he wrote.

A proposed transmission line from the Bruce nuclear power plants to the Milton switching station has been highly criticized in a report prepared for the Saugeen Ojibway Nations. In his report, public utility consultant Whitfield Russell says the proposed project "cannot be justified as a better project than the reasonable alternatives." ...In his report, Mr. Russell maintains that Hydro One has "misstated the need for transmission capability" by including in its analysis significant sources of generation that have not been committed or approved."

The prospect of wind energy development in Essex County received mixed reviews Wednesday during a public meeting to hear comments on the county's proposed policy for commercial wind farms. Visual and noise impact, whether or not wind energy is a viable solution to global warming and other issues dominated the session attended by about 300 people, as well as county councillors. Amherstburg lawyer Anthony Leardi warned that wind turbine developments are not public utilities, and if they go bankrupt the cost of decommissioning them could be borne by the municipality.