Two 197-foot tall ‘meteorological towers' erected recently on the Nebraska-South Dakota border northwest of Chadron could be the harbingers of a wind energy boom for Dawes County, but one landowner involved with the development says not to expect to see big turbines going up anytime soon. "One thing they told us-'If you are in a hurry, forget it," Dawes County Zoning Commissioner Ed Perrine said at a zoning meeting last week. "It can take up to five years after they set a met tower (before a wind generating installation is complete)."

An ordinance to protect local infrastructure during the construction of massive wind mills used for generating electricity was tabled again at the Nov. 4 Edgar County Board meeting. The board's decision to forestall action was expected as the Wind Energy Conversion System Ordinance was first brought to the board for adoption on Oct. 7 but was tabled at that time because of questions raised during the public hearing.

Attorneys closely questioned an aviation consultant Tuesday, Nov. 10, in a hearing on a proposed wind turbine project in Champaign County. Thaddeus Brys, a consultant for Aviation Systems Inc., testified before the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio in a hearing on the Buckeye Wind Project, which would build about 70 turbines throughout Champaign County. Gil Weithman, law director for Urbana, questioned Brys on news that the Federal Aviation Administration recently reduced the number of turbines it considered a presumed hazard.

The spectrum of opinions about Acciona Energy's 96-turbine wind farm planned for sites south and east of Mortlake bubbled to the surface yesterday at a community information day. Landholders who had been approached by the Spanish-based firm to host the turbines mingled with vehement critics adamant the 130-metre-high towers would destroy the landscape.

Five wind turbines proposed for Georgia Mountain are either a way to save the planet from dependence on fossil fuels or an environment-wrecking boondoggle, according to public comments at Tuesday evening's Vermont Public Service Board hearing. The board is considering whether to allow the Harrison family, which owns a concrete and construction business, to erect five 400-foot tall wind turbines on the mountain, which straddles Milton and Georgia.

A new state ocean management plan will likely leave control over the size of renewable energy projects in state waters in the hands of regional planning authorities such as the Cape Cod Commission and Martha's Vineyard Commission. In a letter sent yesterday ...Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Ian Bowles agreed to change the draft plan released in July.

The proposed Galloo Island Wind Farm is ready to agree to spend more than $2 million per year as part of a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement, but it stands to save nearly $23 million in other tax abatements. Officials from the town of Hounsfield, Sackets Harbor Central School District and Jefferson County are firming up their division of a property tax PILOT, which will generate $2.14 million per year.

The Wyoming Legislature might soon consider creating minimum standards for wind development statewide, a move that might have implications for future Cowboy State wind farms that could supply power to Colorado utilities. ...A Wyoming legislative task force on wind energy has recommended regulating wind development across the state because a lack of regulation could impact both quality of life and the environment, according to a task force report issued Nov. 1.

Ontario's recently implemented Green Energy Act is taking some of the wind out of Quebec's claim that it is the leading promoter of wind energy in Canada, a seminar on supply-chain opportunities in the sector heard yesterday. Last month, Ontario became the first jurisdiction in North America to have a so-called feed-in tariff, which pays producers of green energy - including solar and wind - a guaranteed premium for the power they produce.

It was dinnertime at the League of Women Voters' retreat in Rehoboth Beach on Oct. 31 when Lisa Pertzoff learned that NRG Energy might buy Bluewater Wind. Pertzoff told the league's president, who interrupted dinner with the announcement. "There was a stunned silence," Pertzoff said, then "there were some rueful chuckles."

Not many people would have expected a Spanish billionaire to show up in Nova Scotia with the cash to save a local wind farm development, but that is exactly what happened on Monday. The Spanish investor's involvement is good news for Shear Wind Inc. of Halifax and its stalled Glen Dhu wind park planned for Pictou and Antigonish counties. ...Now that financing seems to be solidly in place, construction of the first phase of the Glen Dhu wind park is to begin almost immediately.

A second day of testimony before the Ohio Power Siting Board today, Nov. 10, saw an attorney for the Urbana Country Club and the Champaign County prosecutor closely question an executive with the company seeking to build as many as 70 electricity-generating wind turbines in eastern Champaign County. Prosecutor Nick A. Selvaggio questioned Chris Shears, vice president of development for the company, Everpower, about how proposed setbacks could effect future developments in the area.

The owners of land being considered for a wind farm have said the development will only take place with the community's blessing. Cranford Estates has commissioned a report into the feasibility of building a wind farm on Cranford Wood Lodge, north of the village, after being approached by West Coast Energy, but the family which owns the land has said it wants to work with the community.

A handful of people from outside Hounsfield commented on the proposed Galloo Island Wind Farm payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement Monday night. The PILOT considered at the hearing, held by the Jefferson County Industrial Development Agency, only covers the 84 turbines and ancillary structures on the island and the underwater transmission line in Hounsfield. There will be PILOT negotiations and a public hearing sometime in the future for the part of the 50.6-mile transmission line that runs from Henderson to the town of Mexico.

The future of an 80-megawatt wind farm near Broken Bow depends on the Nebraska Public Power District's ability to find buyers for half of the energy it would generate. NPPD Renewable Energy Development Manager David Rich of Columbus said at Monday's "Wind Power 2009" conference in Kearney that NPPD-approved projects at Petersburg, north of Albion in Boone County, and Broken Bow in central Nebraska would generate a total of 160 megawatts of electricity.

As expected, Guy Hinkson officially resigned as town supervisor at Monday night's board meeting. But in a surprise move, the Town Board did not appoint a replacement because Councilman Max Maerten refused to vote for candidate Dan Mangino. ...Just before the vote roll call was taken, the fourth member on the board, Max Maerten asked to speak. He said to Mangino, "For two years you have opposed wind turbines, but your views have drastically changed in one week because of your political party. For that reason, I can't give you my vote."

Two groups came to the Maine Statehouse on Monday to ask the state to slow down wind power development, which they say is gobbling up environmentally sensitive mountain ridges for questionable results. The Citizens' Task Force on Wind Power said it wants to work with state officials to reconsider statewide goals the group says will put turbines atop 360 miles of the state's mountaintops. The group formed recently in opposition to a project under way in Roxbury near Rumford.

The Environment Court's rejection of the $2 billion Project Hayes wind farm needs to be tested in the High Court, says former Meridian chief executive Keith Turner. Dr Turner is disappointed the Environment Court last Friday denied a consent for Meridian's proposed wind farm because of concern about its impact on Central Otago's landscape. He said the area had been called "a hellhole" by locals because it was so windy and barren.

When the Pilgrims arrived in America, it was the Wampanoag who greeted them peacefully so the newcomers could escape religious persecution. Now the tribe is having to fight for their own religious freedoms. The Wampanoag, also known as "The People of the First Light", have delayed the construction of America's first offshore wind farm, reports Associated Press. The Mashpee and Aquinnah Wampanoag practice sacred religious rituals which they say require an unblocked view of the horizon, in particular, the sunrise.

Members of the Nor'Wester Mountain Escarpment Protection Committee appeared in the public gallery of council chambers Monday evening. There they watched as councillors passed a motion allowing city administration to draft an information report on the background of the Horizon Energy Inc. planned wind farm. As councillors discussed the points they wanted the report to examine, city planning and development manager Mark Smith warned that local decision-making powers may be limited amid the province's Green Energy Act.