The prospect of having three wind turbines on East Mountain does not daunt the town's selectmen. They were told of the possibility recently in a letter from the Vermont Public Power Supply Authority, board Chairman Kirwin Flanders said Tuesday. The town has been considered for a wind farm in the past, but so far nothing has happened.

The Vermont Public Service Board on Thursday issued a Certificate of Public Good to Deerfield Wind, LLC, for the construction 15 400-foot wind turbines. ...The project's impact on black bear habitat was a concern for the board. Board member John Burke was opposed to issuing the certificate. "I do agree with my colleagues' determinations that the project will have adverse impacts on black bears and bear habitat, and that as proposed, the project offers insufficient benefits to offset those adverse impacts," Burke said.

The number of proposed wind farms under active development in Vermont has reached a new peak. If built as proposed - a big "if" - the five projects could provide up to nearly 7 percent of the state's electrical energy. ...Wind-energy projects are required to win a certificate of public good from the state Public Service Board, which weighs the impact of development on a long list of environmental factors, aesthetics, noise and more. Opponents can take part in the hearings and appeal the results.

The Vermont Public Service Board has approved a 15-turbine, 30-megawatt wind energy project in Searsburg and Readsboro. It is the second project in three years to win PSB approval. The order Thursday was signed by two of the board’s three members.

A renewable energy bill has cleared one House committee, but is drawing questions about whether it's too generous toward wind and solar power developers.

A $100 million wind project by Kingdom Community Wind on the Lowell ridge line might provide renewable power, helping VEC and Green Mountain Power fill out renewable energy portfolios, he said. But it will not reduce electricity rates for co-op members, Hallquist said. Electricity prices are expected to climb across the U.S., even if utilities use renewable local sources, he said.

A day after the developer of a proposed wind farm faced the public, several who attended the meeting said the discussion is far from over. Annette Smith, executive director of Vermonters for a Clean Environment, said she arrived at the forum in Tinmouth Monday night neutral, and said developer Per White-Hansen was off to a rough start. "He's already sent up a lot of red flags in an area that could embrace this if done right," she said.

The developer behind a proposed wind farm did not have answers to all the questions put to him Monday, but said the permitting process would provide them. More than 160 people crowded into the Tinmouth Community Hall to hear Per White-Hansen of Charlotte describe his plan.

The bill calls for wind-power developers to get 20 cents per kilowatt-hour for the power they send to the grid; solar-power developers would get 25 cents. Lawmakers said the disparity was due to the differences in costs faced by those setting up the systems. An official with the state's largest power company, Brian Keefe of Central Vermont Public Service Corp., said he remained concerned about how the legislation would affect customers, due to the relatively high cost of the power.

Plans for a wind farm atop Georgia Mountain are coming together rapidly and the project-which would establish three to five turbines along the ridge-could be operational as soon as 2011, said consultants for the Georgia Mountain Community Wind LLC. The consultants testified before the Milton Planning Commission on March 17, as part of the project's permitting process.

Three days after announcing a deal with Burlington Electric Department, Vermont Wind LLC said Thursday that Vermont Electric Cooperative, Inc. has agreed to buy 50 percent of the Sheffield wind farm's power. Under the 20-year agreement, the utility will also purchase renewable energy certificates from the 40-megawatt wind project.

The Burlington Electric Department announced Tuesday that it will buy 40 percent of the power and renewable energy certificates from a Sheffield wind farm at a fixed price for the next 10 years. The agreement with Vermont Wind moves BED toward its goal of generating electricity through renewable sources within the next "four or so years," BED general manager Barbara Grimes said.

Wind energy advocates want the Douglas administration to lift its ban on large-scale wind projects on state-owned land. The advocates say Vermont needs to explore all options as it looks for new energy resources. But Governor Jim Douglas remains opposed to the idea VPR's John Dillon reports:

The state has many choices for electricity other than the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant, but they may be more costly and could increase the state's carbon emissions, an energy consultant told lawmakers. Vermont does not need to develop its own power sources to replace the Vernon reactor, because utilities could get the power from outside the state.

The Supreme Court ruling said the Public Service Board had proven its case at every turn, and that the claims of the Ridge Protectors were without merit in most instances, and did not offer evidence to cause reconsideration of the certificate's issuance. Paul Brouha of Sutton, one of the lead members of the Ridge Protectors, said Friday, "We're disappointed, that's certainly true. ...if they can put them in this pristine area, they can put them anywhere. So, we're really concerned with that."

The Vermont Public Service Board was right to issue a certificate of public good for a 16-turbine wind project on a Sheffield ridgeline, the Vermont Supreme Court ruled Friday. In its decision, the court said the board acted within its jurisdiction when it issued the certificate for the project being proposed by a company now called Vermont Wind LLC.

In a decision issued Friday, the court says the Public Service Board acted properly when it issued the certificate for the project being proposed by a company now called First Wind.

The Vermont Public Service Board has denied Ridge Protectors Inc.'s request for discovery and hearings on the certificate of public good being issued for a wind generation facility in Sheffield. ...The case relates to the Aug. 8, 2007, Public Service Board's issuance of a certificate of public good which granted conditional approval of a wind generation facility by Vermont Wind.

Massachusetts and Vermont wildlife officials are asking the public to help identify bats affected by a mysterious illness known as white nose syndrome. This time of year, bats are normally hibernating in caves and in abandoned mines across the Northeast. But researchers are getting reports of bats weakly flying around in broad daylight or dying on decks and in backyards.