Rising electricity costs have many looking for ways to save some cash, including turning to wind power. Before that happens, local governments want to be sure everyone has rules to play by. Summit Township planning commissioners Tuesday said they were trying to "get ahead of the game a bit" by developing guidelines for wind turbines. The commission approved the changes Tuesday.

In the name of transparency, the Woodford County Board on Tuesday tabled the vote that would have given Navitas Energy Inc. the special-use permits to build a 52-turbine Roanoke wind farm as well as a 100-turbine one in Minonk. The reason for that, said Larry Whitaker, who made the motion to table it for 30 days, was so that, "We can take this wind farm issue and take it out of these smoky township meetings and out into the open.

A proposal to disallow wind turbines in the Blue Mountain foothills continues Thursday night before the Umatilla County Planning Commission in the Pendleton Convention Center. Milton-Freewater-area resident Richard Jolly first made his proposal to the nine-member commission at a June 25 meeting, asking for a Goal 5 amendment to set aside a section of land east of Highway 11 as a viewshed to be protected for its aesthetic, natural resource and wildlife values.

The Prattsburgh town board took no action on a proposed tower permit law after holding a public hearing on the law Tuesday night. A number of residents questioned the need for the law since the town was advised by state officials last winter it could not issue building permits because there were no town laws regulating cellular or wind tower construction.

Debate continues looming over a plan to put wind farms up in one Southern Tier town.Community members in Prattsburgh have one main concern when it comes to wind turbines going up in their neighborhood. That concern is the noise the turbines will make.

Tuesday's meeting of the Butler Township board of supervisors seemed more like a court of law as the supervisors and the zoning officer were questioned over and over about wind turbine issues. At times, the questioning seemed more like an interrogation of supervisors Kevin Kowalick, David Kessler and Robert Burns as well as Zoning Officer Thomas Squires.

The Sugar Grove Village Board has slapped a moratorium on the installation of all wind energy devices within the village. The temporary ban began this month and is scheduled to expire in six months. Sugar Grove Village Administrator Brent Eichelberger said the moratorium should not be taken to mean that the village is opposed to the notion of wind energy generation.

The Clay County Commission approved an ordinance Tuesday that establishes standards stricter than state law on where wind turbines can be erected and how noisy they can be at night. The new rules apply to projects not regulated by the state, which are those that generate less than 5 megawatts of power.

Wind turbine construction is off the table in Calumet County for the time being as supervisors regroup from a court decision that invalidated their restrictions on placement of the systems. The Calumet County Board passed a moratorium on turbine construction Tuesday that could remain in effect until the end of the year. It could end earlier should the board change or replace the ordinance.

After a lengthy debate, a set of guidelines to better help Hepburn Shire Council make planning decisions on wind turbines was adopted last night, but not without changes.

The Brady Township supervisors agreed Monday to draft an ordinance to regulate wind energy in the township after a hosting a public forum on the issue. "If every single one of us would go by the old saying 'do unto others as you would have them do unto you,' (it) wouldn't be necessary for any ordinance to ever be drawn up - but life isn't that way," Supervisor Chairman Les Wachob said.

Growing interest in wind power has prompted Des Moines-area leaders to consider a uniform ordinance to provide consistent regulation of small-scale wind energy turbines in residential areas. Rules currently vary among Iowa cities on whether residents can add wind turbines on their properties. Some cities have banned turbines, while others regulate their size. Others do not allow turbines on small lots, but do on larger parcels. Members of the Metro Advisory Council, a group of elected officials, recently decided to examine how best to handle wind power projects.

The Grindstone Island militia can stand down. A group of startled Clayton residents who mistakenly believed the Town Council was trying to create a new Wind Energy Facility Overlay District on Grindstone Island planned to oppose the rumored wind district at an annual council meeting on Grindstone.

A revised set of guidelines to better help Hepburn Shire Council decide where, and if, wind farms can fit in certain areas will go before the council for the second time tonight. A decision on whether to adopt the guidelines was deferred for one month at the council's June ordinary meeting, after councillors decided changes needed to be made.

When the Hammond Town Council presents its new law regulating wind energy to the community July 27, residents will find it's almost identical to the regulations adopted in December. While the town board has changed some of the wording, the proposed law still calls for setbacks of just 500 feet from roads and boundary lines and 1,500 feet from off-site residences.

Santa Fe County installed a 12-kilowatt wind turbine at its newly constructed Public Works facility last October. But the machine is not up and running yet. Community Project Division Director Paul Olafson said the 100-foot-tall windmill is ready to start providing power to the new Public Works building and back into the power grid "pending a windy day." Public Service Company of New Mexico inspectors need to see the turbine in action before they can certify that it's safe to connect it to the power grid.

Along the northern border of Umatilla County, at about the center of the county, the state drew a 400,000 acre box and called it an energy generation area. It includes Milton-Freewater, some of Pendleton, Adams, Athena and Weston. This week the Umatilla County Commissioners decided they want to ask the Oregon Energy Facility Siting Council to get rid of it. ..."It creates a disadvantage in the marketplace when the state leads instead of the county," Mabbott said.

A wind energy debate that's turned neighbor against neighbor in Calumet County took a new turn last week through 13 pages prepared by a three-judge panel. A county ordinance that regulated wind turbines is no longer valid, according the state Court of Appeals. Officials said it's too early to tell what the decision will mean to the future of wind energy in Calumet County.

Frostburg city officials intend to allow residential wind turbines as high as 165 feet, according to an ordinance read for the first time and passed 4-0 at the mayor and council's public meeting Thursday. Vacationing councilwoman Susan Keller was absent. The ordinance will be presented again at the Aug. 20 council meeting, at which time public comment will be heard and a final vote taken.