First Wind, a wind energy company that has pledged $50 million to help buy Molokai Ranch lands, is under investigation on the mainland for allegations of improper dealings with public officials and anti-competitive practices. New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo began investigations in July to find out if the company obtained land-use agreements with residents and public officials through bribes and submitted false statements for permits and during environmental studies.

A fledgling investment group is eyeing the town as a location for a wind power project. Ronald J. Scrudato has talked to town Supervisor Clyde E. Moore and one landowner. He represents an investment firm so young, it's name isn't set yet. But so far, it's called Delfea and it is based in New Jersey. ...The company would offer leases of 50 to 100 years, with up to $5,000 per year per turbine for the property owner, but the compensation would depend on the productivity of the turbine.

Representatives for the town of Prattsburgh, the project developer for "First Wind," and many upset landlords will present their cases Friday in front of a State Supreme Court Judge in Bath. The dispute is over controversial votes by the Town Supervisor allowing the town to pursue eminent domain.

While the town of Enfield and Newfield do their homework on what it means to have electricity powered by wind, developer John Rancich continues to encourage local organizations to fund his proposed project in the town of Endfield. ...Homework may not be the only thing holding up the process. With the project costing approximately $120 million, it's understandable that interested parties in Enfield and Newfield are doing more than the required research. Rancich, however, could not comment on what entities are interested.

Auburn school Superintendent Joseph Pabis said he's been thinking about the possibility of harnessing some of the wind near the high school and Owasco Outlet by putting up a windmill and solar panels at the school. "We're just in the concept stage," he said Wednesday. "We're trying to get some vendors interested so we can move forward." ..."I started a dialogue with one company, Larsen Engineers, and they are reviewing this," he said. Larsen is headquartered in Rochester, with an office in Syracuse.

Keith Pitman, president and chief executive officer of Empire State Wind Energy from Oneida, said his company is interested in developing a wind project in Alfred. "We only want to build projects in communities that want us there," he said. ..."Bullying tactics are commonly used in the wind farm industry," said Pitman. He promised his company is not secretive or aggressive with its plans.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg is backing off his suggestion to put windmills on city bridges and rooftops after newspapers mocked the idea with photo illustrations of turbines on the Brooklyn Bridge and the Empire State Building. "There are aesthetic considerations," Bloomberg said. "No. 2, I have absolutely no idea whether that makes any sense from a scientific, from a practical point of view." ...David Carr, of the Alternative Energy Institute, in Canyon, Texas, said mounting turbines high above the city is "not very feasible." "I don't think this was very well thought out," he said.

Two town councilmen won't vote on a proposed wind farm ordinance, because they've signed contracts to lease their own land to a wind developer. ...A wind energy committee formed last summer collected lots of information and talked with several wind turbine experts to help them craft the proposed law. The Town Council in February enacted a 240-day moratorium on the construction of wind energy facilities within the town. The moratorium bans the issuing of permits for construction of wind turbines.

The Danish ship "Beluga Fighter" brought windmill parts to the Ogdensburg port yesterday. The windmills are destined for the Wolfe Island Wind Farm project in Canada. ...The transfer of the windmills should be complete by November.

In a plan that would drastically remake New York City’s skyline and shores, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg is seeking to put wind turbines on the city’s bridges and skyscrapers and in its waters as part of a wide-ranging push to develop renewable energy. The plan, while still in its early stages, appears to be the boldest environmental proposal to date from the mayor, who has made energy efficiency a cornerstone of his administration.

Many US residents are passionate about a future propelled by wind. "The promotion of renewable power such as home-grown wind-generated power in New York is essential," said Ed Bennett, president of New York Interfaith Power and Light, a church group that backs renewable sources of energy. "New York has a tangible renewable resource in wind power that could supply 10 per cent of New York's electrical consumption in the very near future." ..."But the industry faces all kinds of hurdles, from right of way issues to groups opposed to the aesthetic intrusion of giant wind turbines. There are a lot of [people] that are going to have to be convinced before we get to something like 300,000 megawatts of electricity from wind."

The local debates over wind power are driven in a part by a vacuum at the state level. There is no state law governing where wind turbines can be built or how big they can be. That leaves it up to town officials, working part time and on advice from outside lawyers, some of whom may have conflicts of their own. Two Franklin County towns, Brandon and Malone, have passed laws banning the wind turbines. But the issue remains unresolved in Burke, population 1,451, where two Town Board members recused themselves from the issue this year because they had leases with wind companies, leaving the board deadlocked.

Rancich appeared before the Enfield Town Board more than a year ago to lay out his business plan for the wind farm. A group of residents fervently opposed the idea, arguing about land rights, illnesses related to the turbines and concerns of dying birds. That hour-long meeting was loud - at times unruly - and for a bit, it made people in attendance wonder whether wind energy would ever come to Tompkins County. These days Rancich, 54, shows up to town meetings and sits through typical town business with nearly no chatter on wind, aside from discussion about where the planning board is on developing a local wind law.

More than three dozen Hamlin residents are suing the town over a new law regulating the development of wind farms. The Hamlin Preservation Group and 39 town residents filed a lawsuit Tuesday in state Supreme Court against the law, claiming it will allow electricity-generating wind turbines that will ruin Hamlin's rural nature and environment. The Hamlin Town Board unanimously approved the law at a contentious meeting April 24. One board member abstained because he had signed a lease agreement with a wind energy firm.

Legislator Jerry E. Burrell, R-Franklinville, told about 45 town residents, three Town Board members and others concerned about the property that the county intends to sell the parcels and get it back on the tax rolls. But he said the county has not hired a wind energy lawyer and has no intention of shutting the town out on a deal with Noble Environmental. The wind farm developer, which has been negotiating leases with landowners in Farmersville and Freedom, has constructed a wind farm in the Town of Bliss ...

The Town Council will release a preliminary zoning law regulating placement of wind turbines on its Web site as early as Monday. The council, meeting Thursday, also appointed an eight-member committee to examine the draft and make recommendations on the setback and noise requirements. ... In other wind news, the town's attorney made confidential conflict-of-interest determinations for each member of the Town Council and Planning Board related to contracts for wind turbines, either for themselves or for relatives.

A proposed wind farm in Scipio is no more. Timothy O'Leary, communications manager with Shell WindEnergy in Houston, said the plan has been suspended. "We continue to have an interest in developing this project and appreciate the support we've received from many people in the county for this proposed project. There are however, many variables in developing wind projects, not the least of which is securing land," O'Leary wrote in an e-mail.

Investigators from the state Attorney General's Office have been investigating two major New York wind energy producers - including the one putting up turbines in Cohocton. So far, however, the investigation has focused on First Wind's activities, not those of municipal officials who deal with the companies, according to Cohocton town Supervisor Jack Zigenfus. Zigenfus said Thursday he has not been contacted by the Attorney General's Office, nor have other town officials. ...According to James Hall with local advocacy group Cohocton Wind Watch, that is not true.

Legal costs associ­ated with lawsuits involving wind farms are making it dif­ficult for the town of Cohocton to pay what it owes Steuben County for road work. To give the town a break, the Legislature's Public Works Committee agreed Tuesday to give the town more time to pay $98,000-worth of road work done at the intersection of county Route 39 and state routes 21 and 371. "I know the perception is the town is floating in money," Cohocton Supervisor Jack Zigenfus told the com­mittee. "Actually, it's floating in lawsuits."