With no discussion and little fanfare, Thorndike residents voted at Saturday morning's annual town meeting to adopt a comprehensive, strict wind energy ordinance, which would require mile-long setbacks between wind turbine towers and homes. ...With the vote, Thorndike joins the nearby towns of Dixmont and Jackson in adopting ordinances that give towns high levels of control.

Although they're not churning out electricity, the windmills of Fenner remain the central focus of neighbors, local officials and energy advocates. ...The barriers are intended to protect the public, workers and landowners as teams of engineers take samples of the concrete foundation, reinforced steel and soil from each of the remaining 19 windmills.

Coos Bay officials are predicting that wind turbines soon could join TV satellite dishes on residential rooftops. They see the potential benefits, but also possible pitfalls. They also don't have protocols to regulate the technology. So the city imposed a three-month moratorium on installations this week to give staffers time to write an ordinance.

The Oswego County Legislature voted last week to oppose a New York Power Authority project that would locate dozens of towering wind turbines in Lake Ontario. The NYPA's proposal called for the construction, siting and operation of wind-turbine facilities in Lake Erie and/or Lake Ontario's eastern basin. The project would include inland transmission lines.

All that's left now is construction of wind turbines in the town of Howard to make them a reality. The town board and planning board held a special meeting Tuesday evening to approve a $250 license fee to EverPower Renewables and approve an agreement with LaBella Associates to become project engineers.

Officials are going to talk next month about the draft ordinance that would regulate wind turbines within Austin city limits. The Austin City Council decided 4-2 Monday night to meet with the city Planning Commission at its next regular meeting in April. Council members decided they want to work with the commission to resolve the issue.

By October, the Jefferson County Industrial Development Agency had paid its consultants about $38,000 to develop a model property tax exemption policy for wind power developments. But the big money paid to JCIDA attorneys came after Oct. 6, and that number will remain secret because it has been paid by the company bringing Galloo Island Wind Farm to Jefferson County.

Despite a federal government assessment that South Haven has "excellent" potential for generating wind power, the Lake Michigan resort community has no rules in place to regulate wind turbines that could alter its skyline. "We know that there is a potential big push for alternative forms of energy like solar and wind," said City Manager Brian Dissette.

On Earth Day 2009, New York Power Authority (NYPA) President Richie Kessel unveiled plans to industrialize Lake Ontario and Lake Erie with near shore wind turbines clustered in 120MW to 500MW arrays in waters 150 feet deep, or less. Some arrays would consist of 500 turbines towering 450'from the lake levels. NYPAs proposal was unveiled without input from the shoreline communities or businesses that will be the victims. Currently, Jefferson, Oswego, Cayuga and Wayne Counties are working towards unilateral opposition to this NYPA project in Lake Ontario.

The Town of Alfred's planning board submitted its first complete version of wind energy laws Thursday night, while Supervisor Tom Mansfield and others expressed anger at knowledge the town is being omitted from payment arrangements between Alfred State College and the Village of Alfred.

The Oswego County Legislature voted Thursday to oppose a New York Power Authority project that would locate dozens of huge wind turbines in Lake Ontario. ...The legislators stressed that they aren't against alternative energy sources or local job creation. However, Oswego County would receive no tax benefits from the project, it would only create a dozen or so permanent jobs and other areas of the state would receive the energy benefits.

Crossing T's and dotting I's are all that's needed to move forward with the Howard wind project. The Steuben County Industrial Development Agency approved property tax reductions for the project Thursday afternoon. The SCIDA board approved a 20-year payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) agreement, worth $13,939,000, for the EverPower project in Howard. The agreement is based on wind farm production with 3 percent pay increases beginning the second year.

A decision on a wind zoning law was not directly addressed by the Town Council on Thursday night, but several issues that could affect two proposed wind projects were discussed.

The Oswego County Legislature passed a resolution Thursday that opposed the New York Power Authority's (NYPA) proposal to seek contractors to develop a Lake Ontario-based wind farm to be located near the shores of Oswego County. The resolution passed after numerous residents from Oswego County and surrounding communities spent nearly two hours addressing the Legislature, voicing their concerns with the project and, in other cases, their support of the wind farm.

It appears no wind turbines will be built in Lake Ontario off Oswego and Jefferson counties. New York Power Authority President Richard M. Kessel said Thursday if Oswego and Jefferson counties don't want the project, it won't be built there. And they don't. Lawmakers - and residents - from both counties have noted their opposition to such a project.

The long-awaited revised wind power development zoning law will have its public hearing on April 21. Town Council, meeting Wednesday night, agreed to the date for a public hearing for zoning amendments on industrial and small wind, as well as zoning for Grindstone Island.

The Burleigh County Planning Commission sent its draft wind tower policy to the county commission Wednesday after increasing noise limits and dialing back setback requirements. Sound limits were raised from 35 decibels to 45 decibels. The one-half mile setback for non-participating homes was decreased to 1,750 feet. Reverse setbacks were adjusted from the half-mile to 1.1 times the height of a tower.

A wind energy company has revived a lawsuit against a small Steuben County town in hopes of forcing acceptance of a long-discussed wind farm. Ecogen Wind LLC first asked a state Supreme Court justice in November to order the Prattsburgh Town Board to allow construction of 16 turbines. The board, which had a pro-wind majority last year, settled the case in late December on terms favorable to Ecogen.

The benefits are huge, but the controversy over wind farms is even greater. The head of the New York Power Authority was in Watertown Tuesday to discuss a proposal to build wind turbines in Lake Ontario. Our Katie Gibas tells us which way the winds settled on the idea of an offshore wind farm.

Jefferson County legislators voted Tuesday against offshore wind power development in Lake Ontario. The 14-0 vote came after officials from New York Power Authority, the state government's entity promoting a possible offshore wind power project in Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, argued the benefits of having a development in the area.