Town Administrator Jonathan Butler told the Selectmen Wednesday night that the two "district local technical assistance grants" are not monetary awards, but consist of advising services from the planning commission. A joint project with Savoy is designed to help the towns gain further understanding of purchase agreements regarding commercial renewable-energy projects.

A 76-signature-petition to impose a 180-day moratorium on wind power development was presented to selectmen Tuesday. The question will be voted upon at the March 29 Town Meeting. ...The town's Planning Board is currently considering an application from Patriot Renewables LLC to erect three to five commercial wind towers on Spruce Mountain, but the company has committed to a total of 10 towers eventually, Maxfield said.

A Savage Mountain wind power project that never got off the ground will officially die on Saturday, when the facility's construction deadline passes. Despite a two-year extension granted in 2007, construction work never began on the proposed US Wind Force facility. After three years of construction delays, Vice President David Friend said that ultimately, the company couldn't secure an adequate power purchase agreement in a timely fashion.

Residents will decide at Saturday's annual town meeting whether this small Waldo County town will become the latest Maine community to clamp down on potential wind energy projects. A lengthy wind energy facility ordinance, which follows a yearlong moratorium on wind development voted into effect at the 2009 town meeting, would require mile-long setbacks between wind turbine towers and nearby homes.

Larkin Enterprises, Inc. of Lincoln, Maine, claims that the town awarded the contract to a Woburn company to settle litigation and ensure its funding schedule for up to $1.7 million in federal stimulus funds for the project would be met. It is suing for up to triple damages for lost profits and attorney's fees.

The towns of Blue Hill, Orland, Brooklin and Stonington also are in various stages of considering a moratorium. ...Many of these smaller towns have limited land use restrictions, Jenkins said Thursday, and developers of commercial wind turbines and communications towers are attracted to those areas where the permitting process is relatively easy.

After hearing a report from Town Planner, Danielle Truax regarding the limited and potentially costly remedies available to municipalities with regard to wind power, Kingsville Council has decided to make a concerted, cohesive, and collected effort to deal with matters concerning the potential impact of offshore wind turbines.

Neighbors irritated by We Energies' continued search for Glacier Hills Wind Park easements have won the right to review changes to a project the state approved two months ago. "If they don't need easements to build the project, then why are they still bothering nonparticipants?" said Friesland resident Gary Steinich. "We didn't ask for this fight."

On the surface, it all seems sort of like a schoolyard disagreement. In a letter to the Town Council - and copied to the Jamestown Press - Wind Energy Committee Chair Don Wineberg resigned his position on both the Wind Energy Committee and the Jamestown Zoning Board of Review, writing, "I cannot serve a council majority that shows such poor financial, environmental and political judgment."

Michael Feyen was giving evidence before a government-appointed board of inquiry yesterday, opposing the wind farm Mighty River Power wants to build about 10 kilometres southeast of the city centre. The council has a contractual agreement with the state-owned enterprise as landowner of the proposed site. But Mr Feyen said if the project was denied resource consent, the council would change its district plan to prevent any further wind farms being built.

Residents who want local lawmakers to take a more active role in Goodhue County wind energy development will have to continue waiting for answers. Goodhue County Planning Advisory Commission members will take a month to absorb comments and information from Monday's five-hour meeting before discussing an application from rural Goodhue landowners Steve Groth and Paul Reese.

Several months after TransCanada announced plans to expand its Kibby Mountain wind project to adjacent Sisk Mountain in western Maine, the Maine Land Use Regulation Commission has begun reviewing the request. Local residents turned out to wholeheartedly endorse the project. But several environmental groups are only offering partial support. They're worried about development of what they say is an ecologically sensitive area.

TransCanada's petition to add 156 acres to the state's accelerated, wind power development permitting process drew mixed reaction during a public hearing Wednesday. ...The company proposes to add 15 turbines to the 44 already permitted in 2008 for the Kibby Wind Power Project in northern Franklin County.

U.S. companies are getting squeezed out of the big Chinese wind-power market even as Dallas investors are bringing Chinese firms here via a big wind farm in Texas, according to a new industry report.

During the session, the council approved the first reading of a new ordinance that would allow small wind energy conversion systems (wind turbines) in industrial zones. The ordinance does not allow for wind turbines in residential or commercial areas. As stated in the ordinance, the intent is to "balance the need for clean, renewable energy resources with the need to protect the public health, safety and welfare."

Spain's wind power industry will have shed two thirds of its jobs by year-end compared with the end of 2008 as a consequence of a regulatory uncertainty ...Spain's government ...established stringent quality prerequisites for new wind parks in order to slow the uncontrolled growth of wind power.

Centre Welling­ton council's committee of the whole heard on Monday after­noon that several farmers who signed lease agreements for wind farms near Belwood are willing to back out of them. A delegation led by Dave Hurlburt, Laura Humphrey, Gerry Ellen and Darryl Burnet came to council to ask for its help in opposing the wind farm planned by Invenergy.

The Maine Board of Enviromental Protection rejected an appeal to withdraw a permit for a wind power project in western Maine. Former governor Angus King is one the principal investors of Record Hill Wind. The company received a state permit last summer and is the process of building a 50 megawatt wind farm in Roxbury, just northwest of Rumford.

Kevin Parzyck, project manager for Invenergy LLC, said the company already is adjusting its plans to account for standards imposed by state regulators on another wind project - with wind turbine setbacks of 1,250 feet from surrounding properties rather than the 1,000 feet originally planned by Invenergy.

Residents, landowners, politicians and interested professionals turned up at the Lucknow Community Centre March 9, to have their say in a proposed wind project from Capital Power. While information was provided as to the environmental approval of the project, there was still notable concern from the public about the unknown. "We have (turbines) all around us," said Rita Tigert. "I've read a lot about health problems and concerns."