Opponents and supporters of a proposed wind farm in Centre and Blair counties used a public hearing Monday night to express their opinions about the turbines Gamesa Energy USA wants to build. The state Department of Environment Protection held the hearing specifically to take testimony on the national pollution discharge elimination system permit it handles. But, the limited topic did not stop those who spoke from commenting more generally about Gamesa's proposed Sandy Ridge Wind Farm.

Iron pyrite was among the risks to water quality that opponents of the Sandy Ridge Wind Farm pointed to during Monday's state Department of Environmental Protection public hearing. "Given the formations, there is a likelihood there's some up there," Michael J. Byle, a civil engineer who is working with Gamesa USA, said after the public meeting and hearing on the proposed wind farm. Core drilling has just begun, and the company is looking for the acid rock.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission announced Thursday that it has approved a $161 million loan to the company building the Montana Alberta Tie Line between Great Falls and Lethbridge. The Western Area Power Administration will loan Toronto-based Tonbridge Power Inc. - the project's developer - money with funds from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009, also known as the federal stimulus bill.

Though a final decision has yet to be made, the Blaine County Commission made it clear this week that it does not favor allowing wind energy facilities in the "scenic corridor," the area visible from state Highway 75. It's the biggest issue the commission faces while continuing deliberations on a proposed ordinance regulating wind energy facilities. The meeting Tuesday at the Old County Courthouse in Hailey was the fifth public hearing on the issue and another, possibly the last, is set for Tuesday, Nov. 24, at 2 p.m.

In an interview Wednesday, Huron County Commissioner Kurt Damrow said Monday's public hearing is the last chance for local units of government, including townships that have control of their zoning and have a wind turbine ordinance, to speak to the State of Michigan in regard to maintaining local control over setback requirements and noise limitations for wind developments. "What's on the line is whether local units of government will have a say in zoning, specifically (regarding) setbacks and noise," Damrow said.

Last week, Galloway Forest Park became only the fourth Dark Sky Park in the world and the first outside of the United States after the International Dark Sky Association confirmed Galloway as one of the best places for stargazing in the world. ...But dark skies, or the increasing lack of them, was also the subject of concern in the Borders this week when it emerged that if plans for 12 massive wind turbines proposed for a site on Minchmoor near Walkerburn get the go-ahead, defence officials want red aviation lighting on top of the structures.

The Government says it wants to cut the red tape and expense involved in generating energy from wind, and insists the new rules will come with strict conditions about noise, size and appearance. But rural campaigners said the changes to the planning system could lead to a 'free-for-all' and warned that the countryside was in danger of being sacrificed in the battle against global warming.

Magnificent views enjoyed by visitors to an award-winning North East holiday complex would be ruined by plans to build four massive wind turbines nearby, it is claimed. Businessman Alun Moore has invested about £2m over the last 20 years in developing his Beacon Hill holiday centre, 15 self-catering cottages and a luxury spa on a hilltop north west of Morpeth. ...But now Mr Moore fears his business, which employs 14 people locally, will suffer badly if plans by Novera Energy to erect four 101m turbines at nearby Todd Hill, Pigdon, are given the go-ahead.

Proposals to build Europe's largest onshore windfarm in the Shetland Islands at a cost of £800 million could be scaled back, according to developer Viking Energy, writes Will Nichols. The limited company originally presented plans for the 150 turbine, 540MW project to the Shetland Islands council this summer. However, last week, a spokesman for Viking Energy told NewEnergyFocus.com that the company is to submit an addendum to its plans early in the new year in a response to concerns flagged up during consultation, including over bird life and landscape.

Six Digby Neck residents will visit Environment Minister Sterling Belliveau Wednesday in Halifax to ask a few questions about a planned wind turbine park. "We're trying to find out his reasoning for approving this turbine site in the first place," Evelyn Hayden said Monday. "We're just a group of concerned citizens that are trying to protect the health of everybody down here."

Concerned residents have relentlessly questioned how far wind turbines should be set back from other structures in rural Goodhue County. Commissioners learned Tuesday that addressing those concerns locally regarding two proposed wind farms could be difficult. ...[County Attorney Stephen] Betcher said state law now allows counties to step in and regulate wind farms between 5 and 25 megawatts as well with PUC's help. In doing so, commissioners could impose stricter standards - including for setbacks - than the state currently does on mid-range and larger projects.

The debate over whether to build the country's first offshore wind farm in Nantucket Sound is no stranger to challenges. The latest - a bid by the Wampanoag tribes on Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard to have the 560-square-mile Sound declared eligible for the National Register of Historic Places - may top the list. From impacts on fisheries to new requirements for construction along Nantucket Sound, a finding that the Sound is eligible for the register could have wide-ranging effects on development and economic activity, opponents of the move argue.

Prince Edward County councillors and members of the public left the Nov. 10 special meeting over a new proposed windmill bylaw for the municipality at Shire Hall feeling impotent, bemoaning the unanswered questions. "In my opinion, the mark was missed. And in a lot of ways, it feels like we're beating a dead horse because, in the game of politics, the Ontario government trumps municipalities. And if the province doesn't want it, then the province isn't going to care what we have on paper," said Prince Edward County councillor Kevin Gale.

A remote corner of East County is shaping up as a battleground between companies pushing wind farms as clean and cheap power generators and activists who view them as a blight on the landscape. It has put environmentalists in the position of opposing renewable energy because, they say, it's in the wrong place. Drawing the most attention is a plan by the Spanish conglomerate Iberdrola to build about 100 skyscraper-sized towers in and near the McCain Valley, a federal conservation area abutting Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.

The battle over a new wind farm in Tehachapi is now heading to the Kern County Board of Supervisors. Kern County planning commissioners approved the Alta-Oak Creek Mojave wind project late Thursday night after hearing both sides of the debate. After hours of emotional testimony from Tehachapi residents, the planning commissioners approved a 9,000 acre wind farm in the small mountain town. It could be the largest wind energy project in California, but it has Tehachapi residents' heads spinning.

David Yoder's been farming for more than a third of a century. He's at least the fourth generation of his family who have lived and worked on the land on Cowpath Road near the border of Franconia and Salford townships that has been farmed "forever," Yoder said. Adding a 140-foot cellular tower and a power-generating wind turbine with a blade that reaches to a height of 163 feet will give the farm reduced electric bills and rental income from the cell tower and is similar to adding animals, crops or farm buildings, he said.

An application to increase the height of three proposed wind turbines at Flimby has been turned down by Allerdale council. Flimby Wind Energy Limited wanted to increase the height of the turbines from 335ft to 377ft and lengthen the blades. The plans had been recommended for approval by Allerdale planning officers, despite objections from the parish councils of Dearham, Broughton Moor and Seaton. Councillors this week refused the plans by nine votes to six.

Iberdrola Renewables Inc. and Environmentally Concerned Citizens Organization are trading jabs over the proposal to amend the town's zoning law for wind power facilities. Iberdrola's attorney, Douglas H. Ward, of Young, Sommer, Ward, Ritzenberg, Baker & Moore LLC, Albany, asked the town not to change the town's zoning law in a Sept. 21 letter.

A hearing before the State Corporation Commission, which would have examined the wind farm's encroachment on a nearby Civil War battlefield, has been postponed indefinitely. The delay was requested by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, which in August complained that Highland New Wind Development had failed to consult with the agency about the project's effect on the Camp Allegheny battlefield.

Hundreds of Tehachapi residents are trying to ban a wind farm from blowing into their part of town, but Kern County may not have legal grounds to stop the San Diego company that wants to build it. The nearly 700 Tehachapi residents have signed a petition against giant wind generators, but it's not because they're anti-environment. It's quite the opposite. They just don't want the wind farms blowing in their back yards. "If you picture a football field spinning in the air, that's how big they will be," Kassandra McQuillen explained.