INDIANAPOLIS -- One thing could slow down or halt the development of wind farms in Indiana, and it's not community opposition, government regulation, shortage of wind or lack of interest by developers.

Getting the electricity generated by the wind to actual customers is shaping up as the biggest obstacle, experts said at the second annual WIndiana conference this week.

Major transmission upgrades are needed to the nation's green power superhighway, which is like the interstate highway system, said John Dunlop, senior project engineer for the American Wind Energy Association. A wind farm is worthless if it lacks an entrance ramp to the grid.

For future development to occur, many areas of the country need to add transmission lines, said Marguerite Kelly, a senior project manager at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

"A lot of wind is being built up in our state," said Ryan Brown, a former Indiana energy office official who is now a project manager for Horizon Wind Energy. "There's a lot of wind being planned in our state.

"And very quickly, we're going to meet or exceed what those existing transmission lines can handle. And very quickly, we're going to see projects that were planned start to fall off, maybe be canceled altogether or possibly be significantly delayed. Transmission is very important."

Horizon, based in Houston, Texas, and owned by a Portuguese parent company, is building the 200-megawatt, 121-turbine, $400-million Meadow Lake Wind Farm in White County. Horizon is also planning to build a 100 MW to 200 MW wind farm in Randolph County.

Indiana Michigan Power recently earmarked $150,000 for an interconnection study on hooking its proposed wind farm in Jay and Randolph counties to the electrical power grid.

"It's important to understand that you don't just show up at the door of PJM or MISO and say, 'Hey, I'd like to drop a 200-MW project on your line over there,'" Brown said. "It requires significant study ... It can take several years."

PJM Interconnection is a regional transmission organization that coordinates the movement of wholesale electricity in all or parts of 13 states and the District of Columbia. MISO is the Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator.

While NIMBYism has slowed development of wind farms in other areas of the country, Indiana communities have shown very little opposition to wind farms, according to Brown. Some Hoosier communities are even inviting wind farms.

In other areas of the country, wind farms have been opposed because of their appearance. "Wind machines are getting taller," Kelly said. "They certainly have visual impact." Other key issues include noise and bird deaths from collisions with wind towers and blades.

The state of Ohio has taken responsibility for siting wind farms in that state, where permitting has become a lengthy process requiring developers to file more than 1,000 pages of paperwork per project, Brown said.

"In Indiana, siting is left up to the counties," he said.

Indiana had the nation's fastest growth in wind-power generation in 2008. Testament to that growing interest is the more than 600 people attending the WIndiana conference this week, twice the number that attended last year.

"Now that's progress," said Lt. Gov Becky Skillman.

"I look forward to being with you next year in a room twice this large," Gov. Mitch Daniels told the crowd at the Indiana Convention Center.

Daniels said Indiana would not allow NIMBYism to halt wind farm development in the Hoosier state. "If we find resistance," he said, "the state will be on the side of progress."

Developers are looking for windy, rural, farming communities with few homes "for maximum flexibility" during development, Brown said.

That's why Indiana's first wind farm was built in Benton County, whose population is under 9,000 and shrinking.

"If your goal is high population, a wind farm may not be compatible," said Joan Wealing, past president of the Benton County Advisory Plan Commission.

For Benton County farmers, wind farms "are like an entire new crop called wind towers," she said, referring to the land lease payments that wind farms pay to land owners.

While NIMBYism has slowed development of wind farms in other areas of the country, Indiana communities have shown very little opposition to wind farms, according to Brown. Some Hoosier communities are even inviting wind farms.

In other areas of the country, wind farms have been opposed because of their appearance. "Wind machines are getting taller," Kelly said. "They certainly have visual impact." Other key issues include noise and bird deaths from collisions with wind towers and blades.

The state of Ohio has taken responsibility for siting wind farms in that state, where permitting has become a lengthy process requiring developers to file more than 1,000 pages of paperwork per project, Brown said.

"In Indiana, siting is left up to the counties," he said.

Indiana had the nation's fastest growth in wind-power generation in 2008. Testament to that growing interest is the more than 600 people attending the WIndiana conference this week, twice the number that attended last year.

"Now that's progress," said Lt. Gov Becky Skillman.

"I look forward to being with you next year in a room twice this large," Gov. Mitch Daniels told the crowd at the Indiana Convention Center.

Daniels said Indiana would not allow NIMBYism to halt wind farm development in the Hoosier state. "If we find resistance," he said, "the state will be on the side of progress."

Developers are looking for windy, rural, farming communities with few homes "for maximum flexibility" during development, Brown said.

That's why Indiana's first wind farm was built in Benton County, whose population is under 9,000 and shrinking.

"If your goal is high population, a wind farm may not be compatible," said Joan Wealing, past president of the Benton County Advisory Plan Commission.

For Benton County farmers, wind farms "are like an entire new crop called wind towers," she said, referring to the land lease payments that wind farms pay to land owners.