The Senate might vote next week on a bill that could doom the wind energy project planned for Nantucket Sound.

The town of Portsmouth has been awarded a $25,000 grant for a feasibility study on wind energy. The grant, from the R.I. State Energy Office, was awarded based on a solicitation issued by the state and will be used to assess the potential for the installation of wind turbines at either or both of Portsmouth High School and Middle School.

Middletown could be getting into the wind turbine business.

CHARLESTOWN - In a town where the height of 40-foot buildings recently sparked debate about the preservation of scenic views, how do 450-foot, spinning wind turbines sound?

Today, U.S. Senator Lincoln Chafee sent a letter to four Senate colleagues urging them to reject a proposal to impose a 1.5-nautical mile restrictive zone on offshore energy production. The addition of this provision in the Coast Guard reauthorization bill would essentially terminate an ongoing pollution-free, renewable wind energy project off the coast of New England.

With a budgeted $480,000 for district fuel costs in 2007, Chariho could be making a jump into alternative energy in the near future.

PORTSMOUTH -- Town officials are trying to secure $25,000 to study the feasibility of installing wind turbines at the middle school and high school to offset energy costs.

PORTSMOUTH —The wind turbine itself won't arrive at Portsmouth Abbey School until March, but last week its anchor was set. No ordinary anchor, this one should have extraordinary holding power, according to the Abbey's Brother Joseph Byron.

A group of employees at Raytheon are indeed looking at the feasibility of wind power, according to William Saslow, a systems engineer at the Portsmouth plant.

PROVIDENCE -- Governor Carcieri yesterday announced an ambitious plan to supply 15 percent of the state's total electricity demand with wind power, and he named his choice to fill the new position of energy adviser.

PROVIDENCE -- Gov. Don Carcieri, moving to address soaring energy costs and high home heating bills, announced a five-point energy plan Thursday that includes calls for reforming the electricity market and increasing the supply of natural gas.

There's more to determining the value of wind power than knowing which way the wind blows -- or even how hard. MIT researchers studying winds off the Northeast coast have found that estimating the potential environmental benefits from wind and other renewables requires a detailed understanding of the dynamics of both renewable resources and conventional power generation. Data show that wind-energy facilities would generate far more electricity in winter, because that's when winds are strongest. But the need for electricity is greatest in summer, when air conditioners are going full blast.

After briefly wavering, Governor M. Jodi Rell of Connecticut yesterday agreed to sign onto a multistate greenhouse gas pact that Massachusetts and Rhode Island rejected Wednesday.

The head of New England's biggest natural gas utility promised yesterday that homes and businesses across the region will face no shortage of gas for heating this winter.

A study released yesterday envisions a waterfront drive, bike path, marina village, housing and the opening for development of 350 acres that may be relinquished by the Navy. NEWPORT -- It is a plan that could change hundreds of acres along Narragansett Bay, transforming an area once dominated by the Navy into exclusive waterfront property open to public and private development.

Much of the opposition to wind farms stems from a lack of understanding, he said. Turbines are not noisy, do not kill birds and are not ugly, Pavlides said.

New England is possessed of much talent but looses a considerable portion of it to other states due to the regions relative weakness in providing for a reasonable priced cost of living even though taxes do not appear to be a competitive disadvantage to New England.

Ground is broken for the first substantial wind turbine in the state. It is expected to go on line in March and will provide enough electricity to power about half of Portsmouth Abbey's campus.

New England faces major near-term challenges in all parts of its energy infrastructure including natural gas facilities, electric transmission lines and electric power generation, according to a report released today by the New England Energy Alliance.