In anticipation of wind turbines eventually springing up in Tippecanoe County, county commissioners are considering adding a fee schedule and more regulatory details to the county's wind energy code. The three commissioners delayed a decision on the code changes Monday, but will revisit the discussion at their April 5 meeting.

On March 1, enXco, the US subsidiary of EDF Energies Nouvelles, received notification that the US utility Indianapolis Power and Light Company (IPL) would terminate the power purchase agreement related to the 201 MW Lakefield wind project currently under development (southwestern Minnesota).

Wind turbines could soon come to Tippecanoe County. But at the commissioner meeting several people raised concerns about the ordinances the commissioners approved on first reading earlier this month. One ordinance involves protecting the county and citizens when it comes to constructing wind turbines.

A massive wind energy project that would have included the building of 134 new 1.5 megawatt wind turbines near Lakefield has been put on hold after the Indianapolis Power & Light Company terminated its power purchase agreement with enXco, the project's developer.

Block Island could meet most of its electricity needs through clean energy generated by the eight-turbine wind farm proposed for southeast of the island, at reasonable prices usually associated with fossil fuel generation, Deepwater Wind CEO Bill Moore testified to the Pubic Utilities Commission Wednesday. However, that does not factor in the cost of a cable connecting Block Island to the mainland — essential to the viability of the project — or the above-market costs that mainland ratepayers would have to shoulder.

The executive director of the Energy Council of Rhode Island, a nonprofit organization known as TEC-RI that represents 35 of the state's biggest manufacturers, universities and hospitals, testified on Tuesday against an agreement under which Deepwater Wind would sell power generated by the offshore wind farm at more than twice the price National Grid pays for electricity from conventional sources.

Some of Rhode Island's largest users of electricity have come out for the first time in opposition to a proposed power-purchase agreement between National Grid and the developer of an eight-turbine wind farm in waters off Block Island. ..."We have concluded that this contract includes a price that is so high that it more than negates any other potential attractive features."

Landlord Bill Sioulas thought he'd be paying less for hydro after cutting his consumption by almost 20 per cent. ...Expecting big savings, Mr. Sioulas says he was shocked to open his hydro bill and find a skyrocketing provincial fee had eroded the payoff of his conservation efforts.

A group of senators wants to halt stimulus funding for several wind projects regarding concern that the program has subsidized too many jobs overseas. The dispute began after a planned Texas wind farm with substantial Chinese investment announced it would seek a $450 million stimulus tax credit. The developers initially said the project would support 3,000 jobs in China and about 300 in Texas.

The Nebraska Power Association Board of Directors has released the results of a yearlong, statewide study that determined various cost and operational impacts of adding large amounts of wind-powered generation to the state's electric power grid.

A group of Democratic senators may seek to halt stimulus funding for wind-energy projects over concerns that the program is subsidizing jobs overseas. The dispute was prompted by a proposed wind farm in West Texas, whose investors planned to use Chinese-made turbines and seek a $450 million stimulus grant. The senators insist that stimulus funds shouldn't go to projects that get most of their materials from abroad and create "the bulk of their jobs" in other countries.

Conklin said the damaged part would be shipped off to an independent source for study. He said the possible causes for the failure included: mechanical defect, design flaw, or damage in transportation. He said as the turbine was being brought in to town on State Route 227, the long semi-trailer "bottomed out," leaving gouges in the road. Stephen said the damaged part would be subjected to actual forensic study. She and Conklin said Performance Services Inc. (PSI), which owns the two wind turbines, and Nordic WindPower, which provided the turbines, sent their "A Team" to Tuesday's meeting.

Wind farms could be more valuable to local communities than riverboat casinos, but not if they don't pay their fair share of local property taxes. "The ones we've looked at, on average, the state is assessing each windmill an average of $1 million," said accountant Gregory Guerrettaz, president of Financial Solutions Group in Indianapolis. "So right there, you could be losing a differential of $4 million on taxes during the life of that windmill."

A heated national debate is now occurring over whether renewable energy projects, such as wind farms, create a substantial number of jobs for Americans. A controversial analysis recently undertaken by the Investigative Reporting Workshop at American University alleged that stimulus money intended to bolster the renewable energy industry continues to flow overseas. The analysis also claimed that "while some construction jobs are created when a wind farm is built, they last, on average, nine months."

Since the city joined the 15-municipality agency in October 2008, Ames has paid more than $197,000 toward feasibility studies for a yet-to-be-developed wind farm near Ridgeport in Boone County. Assistant City Manager Sheila Lundt said staff "cringe" at paying about $56,000 more to IAMWind to exit from the agency, but "We just don't want any more financial entanglements than we already have."

An occasional critic of state and federal energy policies, Van Scotter said he doesn't see that help coming anytime soon. He believes that while government pursuit of alternative energy sources is basically worthwhile, wind power is still far too erratic to provide much immediate relief to state industry.

With the prospect of harnessing wind energy moving closer to reality in Cass County, planners have established fees for wind farms and towers. The Logansport Plan Commission voted Monday to set fees for wind energy equipment to accompany a wind ordinance created last year.

The county's Plan Commission is considering drafting an ordinance to govern both commercial wind farms and wind generators for private use. Although no wind farm has been proposed for the county, officials want to be prepared. They've watched wind farms grow in other Central Indiana counties and also spur debate in neighboring Boone County, which also is trying to decide whether to allow wind farms.

The Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound blasted the findings of a recent study which repeats the myth that offshore wind contributes to lower electric rates. "Nothing could be further from the truth," said Audra Parker, president and CEO of Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound. "To repeatedly mislead already overburdened electric ratepayers with the myth of cheap offshore wind is worse than disingenuous; it's a deliberate attempt to hide the true cost to consumers of Cape Wind."