Apparently hoping that a proposed agreement between the staff of the West Virginia Public Service Commission and Allegheny Energy would put a better face on the utility's proposed Trans-Allegheny Interstate Power Line project, the Hampshire County Commission received an e-mail request to reverse its opposition to the project. Commissioners Don Cookman, Steve Slonaker and Robert Hott, however, all agreed that would not happen.

Its giant windmills remain still, but Smoky Hills Wind Farm already is generating economic activity in north-central Kansas. Between 200 and 250 workers are constructing the facility -- building roads, erecting turbines and assembling electrical systems that will collect and distribute the 100 megawatts of power that will be generated -- and about two-thirds of them have been hired locally.

South Dakota's wind energy industry is confident that if given the right incentives, short-term production gains would be a boon for the state's economy, and in 15 years, the state could be producing 10 times as much energy from wind as it is today. ...Not everyone shares this optimistic view. "Your state is being used because it has land," was the blunt assessment of Lisa Linowes, executive director of the New Hampshire-based activist group Wind Action. Linowes said the wind industry's economic forecasts typically don't take into account higher utility rates or the unreliability of wind as a power source. That the industry has potential to expand is a testament to years of government preference, not merit, she said.

Reed said the economic benefits were not sufficient to make a compelling case for a municipal wind farm at this time, due in part to the uncertain availability of any federal incentives for municipally owned wind projects.

MANCHESTER - Robert M. Hartwell, Chair of the Bennington Country Regional Commission, was elected president of the New England Association of Regional Councils at its annual meeting in Portland, Maine. NEARC is composed of planning commissions and metropolitan planning organizations throughout New England.

The nearly 8 percent rate increase Redding Electric Utility will seek Tuesday for next year and 2010 could be just the beginning of a long, steady and rather steep cost climb for customers. Rate forecasts through 2014 show REU imposing identical 7.84 percent increases each year while still chewing through wads of cash. ...Redding has made up for the lost hydropower, in part, by commissioning a pair of large gas-fired turbines at its plant on Clear Creek Road. The utility has also entered long-term contracts for wind and biomass power. The wind and biomass have allowed REU to meet state renewable energy mandates. But all three power sources cost more than twice as much as hydropower, adding $10.5 million each year on average to REU's fuel tab, Hauser said.

MONTEREY — Bleachers and basketball nets notwithstanding, Highland’s elementary school gym played host this week to perhaps the most important debate in county history.

A couple who have been forced out of their home by wind turbine noise have found out their house is unsaleable. Jane and Julian Davis moved out of their Deeping St Nicholas home in Christmas 2006 after months of sleepless nights due to what they believe is noise and vibration from wind turbines, which are around 900m from their property. They have long believed it has no value, and their fears have now been proved justified, after estate agents Munton and Russell refused to market the property at Grays Farm.

Terry Groves, director of planning and zoning for the county, said he wouldn't be surprised if the plan gets laid over for another 30 days. But he's unsure what will happen Monday. The plan is designed to set up terms by which the wind-farm companies would compensate adjacent homeowners who experience a loss in property value due to the wind towers. The plan has been the subject of considerable debate, but a final version of the document has not yet been approved. The lawsuits, filed in late February, have delayed the county's approval of the protection plan. The suits seek to invalidate the special-use permits that would allow two companies to build wind farms in Stephenson County.

The Leader of Dundee City Council has said it is now imperative that the city does not lose out on the offshore wind farm jobs bonanza. Estimates suggest anything up to 145,000 manufacturing jobs could be created in the UK to make offshore turbines while another 10,000 posts will be needed to maintain them.

Matt Rogers, the Department of Energy's senior adviser on stimulus, testified to Congress in April of this year that the Section 1603 program was responsible for "50,000 additional jobs in 2009." In an interview in late September, however, Rogers did not dispute the records showing that a large portion of work on many projects was completed before 2009.

Austin Democrats are hammering out a compromise with party leadership that would boost wind tax revenue for townships at the expense of school districts. Reps. Robin Brown and Jeanne Poppe have been fighting to restore a wind tax benefit for schools set to expire on July 1. Last year, Minnesota schools received $146,000 from the wind energy production tax.

Households will be paying £500 a year to subsidise wind turbines and tidal power stations by 2025, the energy regulator warned yesterday. Almost a third of the average domestic fuel bill will be siphoned off to fund the construction of renewable energy sources and other Government green initiatives, according to Ofgem chief executive Alistair Buchanan.

"You are going to get screwed, and it's going to be painful," said Tom Adams, a Toronto-based consultant and a former executive director of Energy Probe. "We're talking about hundreds of dollars a year out of your pocketbook that didn't need to happen." Much of the blame for the rise in electricity rates is due to Ontario's Green Energy Act, which promotes the use of solar, wind and other alternative power sources.

Last year the North Bay manufacturer of polyethylene fabrics paid $1 million on its hydro bill for global adjustment costs - money that is used to pay the 20 year guaranteed contracts for alternative energy sources such as solar panels and wind generation entering the provincial power grid. The cost of supporting alternative power "was 42 percent of my hydro bill last year."