A $400 million renewable energy project could begin construction next month and would power roughly a quarter-million Southern California homes. The plan has received no criticism during a public-input phase that ends Oct. 6. An open house Thursday in Milford introduced Beaver County residents to the plan that would put 159 wind turbines - each 262 feet tall - across 40-square miles on public and private land located 10 miles northeast of town.

The wind farm would be located approximately 10 miles northeast of Milford, and when completed could consist of up to 159 wind turbine generators, each up to 262 feet tall with rotor blades up to 328 feet in diameter. The generators, spaced 0.8 miles apart, could generate up to 300 megawatts of electricity continuously. BLM representatives attend the meetings to address public comments and concerns regarding the agency's draft finding of "no significant impact." Lucas Lucero, BLM project manager, said officials would compile and review any and all public comments that come in. The public comment period ends Oct. 6.

The process of tying into the grid has to go through the Utah Municipal Power Agency, which for years has provided electricity to six cities in Utah County, including Spanish Fork, via several sources in and around Utah, including coal-fired power plants and the Glen Canyon Dam. "We encourage wind turbines," said UMPA general manager Leon Pexton. He said demand to tie into UMPA lines is only beginning to surface. "We're just starting to work through that issue." In addition to needing time to figure out how tying in to UMPA's lines would work, Thomas said other issues needing resolutions include determining whether turbines would be a noise nuisance and whether they're installed on the user's land. "It can't be ugly," Thomas added.

A 19-megawatt, nine-turbine wind-energy facility is up and running, selling electricity to PacifiCorp and representing the first utility-scale wind project in the state's history. "I'm sure others will catch up and pass it, because it's not a big project by wind-energy standards, but it is the biggest in Utah at the moment," said Randolph Mann, vice president of wind development for Edison Mission Group Inc., based in Irvine, Calif. EMG manages the power-generation business and other unregulated subsidiaries of Edison International.

A famous oilman is touting windmills as a solution to the energy crisis, and a few Utahns are jumping on board. ...But there are solid grounds for arguing against the scheme. The much-hyped potential for windpower is itself largely wind. ...In fact, wind power will be an environmental disaster. The turbine blades measure 130 feet long, and weigh 7 tons. Guess who wins in any collision with a bald eagle or other bird? The windmills rise 400 feet above the ground, and because they must catch the breezes, they often hog the ridges and skylines. Do you think Squaw Peak or Mt. Timpanogos would look better with windmills 400 feet high running along their spines?

The nine turbines will make up the first wind farm in Utah, which is one of the only Western states without one. ...Currently, the land is worth just more than half a million dollars, Hiskey said. When the windmills and generators are added to the property, it will be worth $25.5 million. "In our first year, we would receive $66,719," she said, referring to what the tax collection will be with the rebate. Mikell said the agreement is the best possible solution for the company as well as the tax beneficiaries. The company will receive a tax break, and land will be developed that could not be used otherwise. "The turbines were actually the least impact thing that could be built there," she said. "Getting something [built on the property] is better than nothing."

Data analyzed from Feb. 1, 2006, through Jan. 31, 2007, determined that Hurricane only ranks as a Class 1 wind-generation site. In order for wind-generation to be a viable option, the site must rank at least a Class 4 out of 7. The analysis showed that Hurricane may get bursts of strong wind, but it simply isn't consistent enough for wind power to be a suitable option for renewable energy source. The report also stated the month with the highest average wind speed was January and the lowest was March. The wind speeds also peaked in the middle of the night and decreased in the morning.

A proposed windmill farm in Spanish Fork cleared a major hurdle Tuesday morning when the Utah County Commission granted the city an easement for the project. The commission voted to grant a 50-foot-wide easement to Spanish Fork city for power lines that will carry electricity from the wind farm to a Rocky Mountain Power substation in Mapleton. The city will pay the county $8,500 for the easement.

PASADENA - The City Council has authorized an agreement with a wind power-generating facility to be constructed in Utah, furthering its stated goal to be more environmentally conscious. The Milford Wind Corridor Phase I is a 200-megawatt generating facility to be constructed in Millard County, Utah. The corridor is just 60 miles from the coal-fired Intermountain Power Project in Delta, Utah, which the council decided not to extend contracts with in December 2006.

Utah’s first major commercial wind farm could begin development this year on South Mountain near Stockton, according to county and state officials. Tasco Engineering Company, a Lehi firm specializing in wind-power generation, is proposing to construct between 20 and 38 wind turbines in the area. The company could eventually put in up to 180 turbines, which would provide as much as 70 megawatts of power, according to a contract between Tasco and Rocky Mountain Power. Julie Orchard, with the Utah Public Service Commission, said wind power projects consistently produce about one third of their maximum capacity. Even at that rate, the Pioneer Ridge project in Stockton could power approximately 20,000 homes for a year. Tasco Engineering refused to comment on its proposed project.

Utah could be on the verge of a wind energy breakthrough, but it’s lacking one vital resource to make it a reality — political willpower. “If we could convince Gov. (Jon) Huntsman that renewables were as important as Real soccer, we could probably have wind turbines up in a matter of months,” said San Juan County Commissioner Bruce Adams. “I just don’t think that elected and public officials are educated enough to really understand what’s going on in the industry.”

Utah State University wants to know if wind from Logan Canyon can keep campus lights on. The school is collecting wind data near the school's power station. The study could last a year.

Officials in Burbank, Pasadena, Glendale, Riverside and Anaheim have told the Intermountain Power Agency in Utah that they're not renewing their contracts for coal-fired power with the company. They join Los Angeles, which already rejected plans to renew its contract with Intermountain.

The vast open spaces and persistent wind in northern Beaver County have lured a Massachusetts company with plans for a $400 million electricity-generating wind farm. Representatives of UPC Wind Management LLC of Newton, Mass., met last week with the planning and zoning commission of this southwestern Utah county to ask for a conditional land-use permit to build the first phase on 16,000 acres about 8 miles northeast of Milford. Given assurances the project would not close any lands or roads or interfere with grazing rights, the planning commission voted unanimously to grant the permit.

The push is under way to restore a state tax credit for producers of alternative energy, a credit that could make or break a proposed wind farm at the mouth of Spanish Fork Canyon. The 2007 Legislature is still more than two months away, but proponents of restoring the tax credit are trying to get a head start so it doesn’t meet the same fate it did this year, when it was pushed aside in the final hours of a furiously busy session.

The future of a proposed wind farm in Spanish Fork is in jeopardy. Key investors in Wasatch Wind pulled out when Utah lawmakers failed to reinstate a tax credit for renewable energy. Wasatch Wind spokesperson Christine Watson Mikell says Utah is getting a reputation in the energy industry for being quote “not a wind-friendly state.”

There is wind in the hills of Spanish Fork Canyon, but harnessing it for power and money hasn’t been easy. To bring the Wasatch Wind farm to fruition, Spanish Fork may have to give up some of the property tax dollars that made the project attractive to the city, even if the Legislature approves wind renewable energy tax credits next year. Legislators didn’t reauthorize the credits during the 2006 legislative session, and the company was counting on them.

Wind power could be a new cash crop for farmers and ranchers in Utah, say researchers who were awarded a federal grant to promote small, independent wind farms. Utah State University business professors Edwin Stafford and Cathy Hartman released the second of two reports Friday. The first was a general summary of the economic benefits of small-scale wind farms. The second was an examination of hypothetical wind farms in Tooele and Box Elder counties.

At the halfway point between the West Coast energy crisis of 2001 and the next major electricity contract renewal year of 2011, a federal power marketing agency is proposing a policy change that could affect rates in the Pacific Northwest for generations and become a national model for energy development. Northwest hydropower is one of the cheapest energy resources in the nation - about half the current market rate for electricity. The Bonneville Power Administration - which sells power in all of Washington, Oregon and Idaho and parts of California, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming and Montana - announced this summer it wants to change the way it charges utilities for its wholesale power, to keep rates low.

SPANISH FORK — An embattled wind farm development set to begin construction next year in Spanish Fork may serve as a microcosm for the future of wind energy in Utah and across the nation. The farm, a project of Utah-based Wasatch Wind, will be the state's first commercial wind farm. It already has been delayed after citizens in Spanish Fork requested that it be moved farther from homes, to a site at the mouth of Spanish Fork Canyon. Finding investors was difficult, and the looming expiration date on a state tax credit, on which the project depends, promises an arduous battle still ahead as supporters work to get the credit restored. Like the wind power industry as a whole, the Wasatch Wind project has weathered the early storm and is poised to move forward but remains shrouded in lingering questions