Site of proposed wind project.(Host) Vermont Community Wind says it's scaling back plans on a proposed 80 Megawatt wind farm west of Rutland. Project developers say they're eliminating 15 of 60 potential turbine sites, which they hope will appease growing opposition to the project. VPR's Nina Keck has more.

A developer told residents Thursday he doesn't plan to put any wind towers in their town. Vermont Community Wind Farm spokesman Jeff Wennberg said all potential sites in Middletown and Tinmouth, along with several in Ira, have been dropped from the company's plan to build an 80-megawatt wind farm in the southeastern part of the county.

A wind farm developer has reapplied for a permit to put up testing equipment after relocating a proposed site from Ira to Clarendon. ...VCWF spokesman Jeffrey Wennberg said consultants first identified the Suzie's Peak location during the winter. When they went back in the spring, they discovered it was close to a wetland.

More than 100 people attended a two-hour Vermont Public Service Board hearing regarding the Georgia Mountain Wind Project Tuesday night at Georgia Elementary School. The purpose of the hearing was to garner public input on the proposed project, which would place three to five wind turbines atop Georgia Mountain on the Milton-Georgia town line.

John Petell had the solar array installed in his yard late last year as a way to reduce his home's reliance on the electrical grid. The Petell solar panel dispute has become a small version of the controversies over the aesthetics of alternative energy proposals across the state.

More than 150 people gathered Tuesday night in Georgia to debate a proposed five-turbine wind farm on Georgia Mountain, the first commercial wind-energy project up for consideration in Chittenden County. ...At issue is whether the Harrison family should win permission to erect five, 400-foot-tall turbines atop Georgia Mountain in the towns of Georgia and Milton.

A short, steep stretch of Duck Pond Road in Barton Village has become the last line of defense for people who don't want the 16 big turbines of the Sheffield wind project to arrive through Barton - and those who don't want the project no matter how it gets to Sheffield. Last week the contractor, First Wind, got the permits for overweight and oversize trucks it needs from the town of Barton, where most of the Duck Pond Road route lies. But after their third lengthy meeting with the village trustees Monday night, a bevy of First Wind officials went away empty handed once again.

More than 150 people gathered tonight in Georgia to debate a proposed five-turbine wind farm on Georgia Mountain. Some 30 speakers and the broader audience seemed split on the project as they participated in a hearing before the state Public Service Board, which would have to approve the development for it to proceed.

The town of Ira is holding a public meeting Wednesday so townspeople can talk over a proposal that has upset many in the small community. A large scale commercial wind farm is being proposed for Ira and five other towns west of Rutland. If completed, it would be the second largest energy producer in the state after Vermont Yankee. Although many in the area say they support wind power, a growing number say this project is too big.

Wind farm proponents want to dispel rumors regarding a proposed 80-megawatt development to be spread over a half dozen towns in Rutland County. Vermont Community Wind Farm owner Per White-Hansen and representative Jeff Wennberg spent approximately three hours with 50 citizens at the Clarendon Grange Community Center on Wednesday offering an overview and answering questions about the project - which they both said was in its early stages.

The neighbors gathered in Dan and Tina FitzGerald's kitchen had a list of grievances about five wind turbines proposed for the mountain in his backyard. The list began with this: A fear their voices will not be listened to. "We feel there is a tremendous amount of money stacked up against us," said Darlene Ross, who would have a view of the turbines from her home on Arrowhead Lake.

Although the Public Service Board granted the Deerfield Wind Project a certificate of public good, there remains a lot of work ahead. Now the wind project must obtain approval from federal and state agencies, and officials say it may be another year before construction of the wind turbines can commence. ...According to U.S. Forest Service supervisor Meg Mitchell, the forest service is reviewing the PSB decision. Mitchell said the forest service is also looking at submitted comments from the draft environmental impact statement.

Preliminary plans for a wind farm in Ira and surrounding communities has generated little support among town officials in neighboring Clarendon. "It doesn't sit right with me the way these folks are approaching this," Select Board Chairman Michael Klopchin said.

The turbines don't come without controversy. In early March, a wind turbine in Altona, N.Y., fell to the ground. No one was hurt. In the following days, Noble Environmental Power, which owns 257 turbines in Clinton and Franklin counties, blamed a combination of a "power loss" and a "wiring anomaly" for the topple. To this day, they have offered no further explanation.

The town might see its future if it looks to Lempster, N.H. The man who wants to build a wind farm in and around Ira appeared before the Select Board for the first time Monday. He told the 30 people who crowded into the Town Clerk's office the New Hampshire town's topography and wind turbines makes it a decent representation of what he wants to do.

Opposition is organizing against a proposed wind project in Ira, a small hilly town southwest of Rutland, with a handful of residents from Ira and surrounding towns meeting last week to discuss their concerns. A company called Vermont Community Wind Farm has proposed putting as many as 60 wind turbines in and around the town of 460 people.

Opposition to a proposed wind farm began to organize at the town hall Wednesday. A handful of residents for Ira and surrounding towns met to discuss their concerns about Vermont Community Wind Farm's efforts to put as many as 60 wind turbines in and around the town of 460. They discussed hiring lawyers, direct-mail campaigns and rewriting town plans.

A developer seeking to build a wind farm in and around Ira has approached the town about leasing forest land West Rutland owns in the neighboring town. Per White-Hansen of Vermont Community Wind Farm made his presentation to the Select Board Monday night, outlining his plan. The board made no decision Monday night, its members saying they would have to review materials White-Hansen gave them.

The Vermont Public Service Board has issued a certificate of public good for the Deerfield Wind Project, but the work must still be approved by the U.S. Forest Service. "They've cleared a major hurdle, but there's still a good bit of the race left to run," Meg Mitchell, supervisor of the Green Mountain National Forest, said Tuesday.

The Republican governor stood in his ceremonial Statehouse office and explained to reporters exactly why he opposed a major renewable-energy bill supported by environmental groups that was on track to be approved by the Vermont House. "I strongly support renewables, but we can't do it in a way that adds to the cost of living in this state," said Douglas