Michael Khouri lives on Middle Highway. Like many of the residents at the Committee for Renewable Energy for Barrington (CREB) community meeting Wednesday night, Aug. 20, Mr. Khouri went to the event in search of answers. Most of the two-and-a-half hour meeting, however, was spent in heated debate. The majority of the residents at the meeting at the American Legion Hall said they were concerned about the proximity of the wind turbine to their home if it is constructed at Legion Way, the noise it will generate, and its impact on wildlife in the area.

Critics of a plan to build a wind turbine at the high school are adding zoning concerns to their list of objections to the project, which town officials say they want to relocated to a piece of town-owned land on Brickyard Pond at the end of Legion Way. But the Town Council president counters that those concerns are groundless because the town is not bound by its own zoning bylaw. ...The town has until the end of the year to close a deal on the turbine if it wants to take advantage of a $2.1-million interest-free loan being offered by the IRS.

A dozen opponents of the high school site were at the meeting to ask the committee to immediately declare the high school off limits, and they presented a 21-page report that, they contended, proves that the turbine would pose a physical danger and noise hazard to students. But committee members said they wanted to review the report and hear counter-arguments from the town's renewable energy committee, which has asserted that the device is safe. It has voted to give preference to the alternative site, which would be 1,000 feet from any house and have stronger winds.

An abutter to Barrington High School believes the town may be violating a number of zoning ordinances with its siting of the proposed wind turbine. Kathleen Shafer, who lives at 210 Lincoln Ave., recently requested a zoning certificate regarding the wind turbine, which is slated to be built on the school's campus. The certificate would act to clarify the project with respect to any zoning implications of the proposed use. Barrington Building Official Robert Speaker replied to the request by stating that the high school property - and all other town-owned property - was exempt from town zoning ordinances.

Open space designations, deed restrictions and "shadow flicker" forced six of 10 properties off the list of considerations in the preliminary phase of the wind energy feasibility study. Site possibilities could change again if additional fatal flaws emerge, the Jamestown Wind Energy Committee determined at its June 10 meeting. ...The preliminary documents showed itemized limitations of the six sites eliminated from the list. Fox Hill Farm and Dutch Island were restricted as conservation areas set aside for wildlife habitat. Fort Wetherill, Battery Lane and the school grounds, all limited in space, threatened shadow flicker that would fall on populated areas. Watershed farms, as well as Fox Hill Farm had deeds that restricted development.

The vote over the proposed wind turbine in town has been cast, but that hasn't stopped one man from raising concerns over the project. While the majority of people attending last week's Financial Town Meeting voted in favor of a 264-foot wind turbine at Barrington High School, Ron Russo believes the project has too many problems for it to continue as proposed. He pointed to the overall height of the tower, its proximity to the high school's athletic fields and main building, some unclear information that could have confused voters, and said the project appeared to be fast-tracked by local town officials and the committee assigned to study the work. ..."I feel like this was a rush to judgment. I think it's the wrong size and the wrong location."

Seven developers, one as far away as Houston, have submitted proposals to build an offshore wind farm off the coast of Rhode Island. Yesterday was the deadline for private developers to respond to the state's "request for proposals" that sought bids to finance, construct and operate a wind farm big enough to supply 15 percent of the state's electricity usage. ...It was unclear up until yesterday's deadline how many companies would make proposals, he said. There were 64 firms that registered their names with the state in order to download information about submitting a proposal, according to a list provided by Moynihan. The seven bids were not received until Thursday and yesterday.

In an overwhelming vote, but not without some passionate objection, residents at the Financial Town Meeting last night approved a plan to build a $2.4 million wind turbine, probably at the high school. It took nearly an hour of debate for the proposal to pass, and the OK came only after the voters rejected an amendment that would have banned a windmill from the high school, but permit it anywhere else in town. ... Nearly all of last night's debate was over the turbine, whose blade tips will sweep 328 feet into the air if it is built at the high school. Supporters of the project have argued that the unit would save millions of dollars in energy costs over the 20-year life of the device. Critics expressed their fears over safety and noise, saying there were better sites in town with more wind. ..."I was really scared about what it would be like to sit on my deck and listen to the windmill," said Cynthia Thomsen, of 28 Upland Way. After visiting the turbine at Portsmouth Abbey, she said, she was still opposed to having it at the high school. "It is disturbing noise if it is 24 hours a day," she said. "I believe my quality of life would be impacted in a negative way.

Wind farm developers, show us your plans. That's the message Governor Carcieri sent yesterday to private developers who may be interested in building a massive offshore wind farm that would generate at least 15 percent of the electricity consumed throughout Rhode Island -- about 1.3 million megawatts of power a year. At a State House news conference yesterday afternoon, Carcieri announced that the state has begun a formal request for proposals process, in which it seeks a partner in the private sector who would construct, finance and operate the wind farm.

Such a project would require an estimated 105 wind turbines, making it about the size of the proposed Cape Wind project off Cape Cod. The proposal would meet Carcieri's goal of securing 15 percent of the state's energy needs through clean-energy sources. But questions remained after his 1 p.m. news conference about the cost of the project and its time-frame. ...The governor's plan appears at odds with a proposal by the staff of the R.I. Coastal Resources Management Council - the state agency charged with permitting projects in state waters - for a one-year moratorium on development proposals.

A New York-based investment firm that caught state officials off guard last fall with a proposal to build up to 338 wind turbines in Rhode Island waters now says it wants to pay for a meteorological tower needed to draft zoning regulations for development of a wind farm. The proposal was made public last week at a hearing during which R.I. Coastal Resources Management Council - the state agency that regulates Rhode Island's waters voted unanimously to put off a decision about placing a one-year moratorium on all offshore alternative energy projects, something the agency's staff proposed following the New York firm's surprise wind-farm application. ...Gov. Donald L. Carcieri's ambitious goal to produce a minimum of 15 percent of Rhode Island's energy needs through the development of wind-, wave- and solar-energy sources by 2011 is almost certainly not going to happen.

In an effort to create ground rules as well as to determine what state waters would best serve potential wind farms, the Coastal Resources Management Council will vote next week on a proposed year-long moratorium on alternative energy projects in state waters. The move would place a "one-year moratorium on all renewable energy proposals in the state's territorial waters pending the development of an ocean special area management plan, or SAMP," reads the agency's notice on its website. According to CRMC spokeswoman Laura Ricketson-Dwyer, coastal is acting because "there is no specific section of our Redbook [regulation manual] that addresses wind farms."

State and regional regulators acknowledge the hurdles - especially in northern New Hampshire - but don't have ready solutions. A bill before the New Hampshire Senate would have the state be ready to act if no regional solution is forthcoming. ISO New England, which manages power for the region, is considering changing rules so more of the costs of transmission upgrades could be shared regionally. But as things stand now, backers of projects generally must pay for upgrades needed to connect them to the system. "None of this is a real speedy process," acknowledges Michael Harrington, senior regional policy adviser for the state Public Utilities Commission.

Two of Rhode Island's most active environmental groups have come out against a proposal by the staff of the R.I. Coastal Resources Management Council to put a one-year moratorium on applications from developers to build wind- and wave-energy projects in state waters. Grover Fugate, the CRMC's executive director, has said implementing a moratorium would enable the state agency responsible for regulating Rhode Island's waters and coastline to avoid the risk of costly, drawn-out political battles over wind farm proposals - similar to the decade-old effort by developer Cape Wind Associates to build a wind farm in Massachusetts' Nantucket Sound - while drafting zoning regulations for offshore energy projects here.

The agency that regulates Rhode Island's coastline has proposed a one-year moratorium on wind farms and wave generators in the state's coastal waters so it can develop a special management plan that will determine where such projects will be allowed. Governor Carcieri and two environmental groups are opposing the moratorium. Yesterday, Jeff Neal, Carcieri's spokesman, said he's concerned the decision will slow the state's progress toward developing renewable energy sources. A moratorium, he said, would also send the wrong signal and might scare off potential proposals. "Governor Carcieri wants to remain out front developing wind and wave energy sources," Neal said. "He doesn't believe a moratorium will be helpful."

The R.I. Coastal Resources Management Council wants to place a one-year moratorium on all renewable-energy proposals in state waters, during which the agency will determine suitable locations for offshore wind farms and draft regulations for the projects. The proposal pits the agency responsible for regulating Rhode Island's waters against Gov. Donald L. Carcieri, who believes the moratorium would unnecessarily delay the development of renewable-energy sources in the state. ..."Our concern was, all it takes when you are in the process of doing this is one stupid application to pop its head up that goes in an area where it just doesn't make sense to have this," Fugate told Providence Business News. "And then when the next one comes along people say, ‘That's ridiculous, we don't need this in this state!' You can literally kill an industry on a couple of stupid applications."

Two top executives of Allco Renewable Energy Group Limited - Thomas Melone, president, and Gordon Alter, senior vice president - met with state energy coordinator Andrew Dzykewicz last week to try to answer concerns Dzykewicz raised when the company's plans to install 235 to 338 wind turbines became public two weeks ago. Both sides said the meeting was cordial, but they don't appear to agree on how Rhode Island should develop its potential coastal wind energy.

Allco Renewable Energy Group made official its plans to develop up to four offshore wind projects in Rhode Island at sites including two south of Little Compton. Although it filed preliminary applications with the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council on Nov. 21, the firm did not publicly announce its intentions until Monday, Nov. 26. ...Four of the permit applications submitted to the CRMC request permission to place meteorological masts in four of the offshore districts identified in the governor's wind siting study. The masts would analyze winds strengths for at least a year and a half before. The other four permit applications submitted relate to the actual building of wind projects in each of those areas.

In a release, Allco Renewable, a New York based renewable energy investment firm, said it submitted eight preliminary permit applications to the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) on September 21. The company proposed to install up to 338 wind turbines at the four sites - one south of Block Island, two south of Little Compton in Rhode Island Sound and one east of Fishers Island. ...If all goes well, Wavle said construction could start in the first quarter of 2009 with commercial operation a year later at a cost of $1 billion to $2 billion.

Governor Carcieri’s chief energy adviser, Andrew Dzykewicz, was dismissive of the New York company that is proposing to bring wind farms to Rhode Island’s coastal waters and said the state plans to continue with its own wind farm project so it can control the power output. ...“You don’t sandbag the top energy official and the governor of a state where you want to do business,” Dzykewicz said. But late yesterday, Allco managing director Jim Wavle returned a call The Journal placed to the company’s New York offices on Thursday. Wavle said the company’s proposal was serious and it plans to be in Rhode Island for the long haul.