There was a big debate over an amendement to Winnebago County's wind farm ordinance, but in the end, the zoning board passed it. That amendment allows people or companies to submit applications to install wind farms in the county. It makes wind farms permitted use, which means there's no public hearing before an application is approved.

Standardized setbacks, domestic manufacturing content and a reworked approval process are among the province’s new wind turbine regulations. As part of the Green Energy Act, there will also be a feed-in tariff program, which allows everyone from homeowners to large developers to sell power to the grid. ... This distance would increase with the number of turbines and sound level ratings. The province also integrated various approvals — including environmental and municipal — into the Renewable Energy Approval process.

Scottish ministers have rejected an appeal for planning permission for a 16-turbine wind farm on a hill directly opposite Rothesay Bay. Over five months after the end of a public inquiry - which took place in April at Colintraive Hall - ministers agreed with the findings of reporter Karen Heywood that the project would have a "significant detrimental landscape and visual impact" on the area.

Windmills might be making a comeback in Hancock County as a handful of residents show interest in alternative forms of energy. County officials say at least three people have expressed interest in recent months in putting wind turbines on their property. However, officials also are weighing evidence about the drawbacks of wind power -- including possible ill health effects.

Plans to build three 126-metre wind turbines at Matlock Moor have been opposed by NE Derbyshire District councillors. The application was considered by the authority's Planning Committee on Tuesday, when members voted 14 to three against the scheme submitted by Derbyshire Wind Energy. It comes as Derbyshire Dales District councillors ...also ruled to oppose the scheme yesterday.

A project to put up a wind turbine at Hope Street Academy generated a civics lesson for students there, five of whom asked the city's governing body Tuesday evening to allow small wind energy systems to operate in Topeka for nonresidential purposes. The governing body, which includes the city council and Mayor Bill Bunten, subsequently voted 10-0 to approve an ordinance making that move and a companion measure requiring users of wind energy systems to acquire a conditional-use permit from the governing body.

Sept. 16, members of the Winnebago County Board Zoning Committee pored over minutiae in a 15-page proposed text amendment to the county's zoning ordinance that would open the door to commercial wind power generation in the county. Because the wind industry has yet to blow into Winnebago County, no rules exist to govern them. The measure was first proposed in April by Minneapolis-based Navitas Energy, Inc.

Amendments to Frostburg's wind energy systems ordinance will reduce the maximum height of a residential wind turbine from 165 to 75 feet and limit the number of wind energy systems to one per each lot of record. The mayor and council approved the amendments Thursday night. A public hearing on the amended ordinance is scheduled during the regular City Council meeting Oct. 15 at 7 p.m. in the Frostburg Community Center.

Byron was on hand to explain the abbey's decision to install a wind turbine at the school three years ago and the financial benefits the school has enjoyed since. But the rosy picture he painted, and whether it could translate to Block Island, was challenged by many transfer station neighbors in the Town Hall over three hours that night.

Vocal opposition to changing a wind power development zoning law in Clayton and Orleans has begun to solidify. Those who support the proposed Horse Creek Wind Farm, including many leaseholders, have balked at the changes that, according to developer Iberdrola Renewables, would eliminate the project. Iberdrola's 126-megawatt project would raise 56 turbines in Clayton and eight in Orleans.

Developers of a proposed 331-foot-tall wind turbine to generate electricity for the Berkshire East Ski Resort answered Planning Board questions regarding the turbine's impact on nearby wildlife and houses.

The Orleans Town Council seemed most concerned with whether the Wind Committee's recommendations would still allow the proposed Horse Creek Wind Farm. ...Councilman Thomas A. Johnston said he looked at every parcel in the current wind overlay district, where project development is allowed. None of them had enough space to comply with the recommended setbacks and have room for turbines.

By a 3-1 vote at Thursday night's meeting, selectmen decided not to convene a special town meeting to allow residents to vote on a petition-initiated moratorium of 180 days on any development of wind farms on town hills. Their reasoning? Acting Chairman Frank DiConzo and Selectmen Mark Belanger and Robert Cameron all agreed that no emergency exists to warrant slowing the process.

The town is poised to become Maine’s first municipality to enact guidelines aimed at eliminating adverse impacts allegedly caused by industrial wind sites, Town Manager Dale Morris said Wednesday. Intended for First Wind’s $120 million wind-to-energy facility proposed for Oakfield Hills, the guidelines set a post-construction protocol for noise complaints and require post-construction sound monitoring, Morris said. They also require First Wind to fix problems that occur, he said.

Amendments to Natrona County's wind energy regulations should avoid the disputes between landowners and developers that erupted earlier this year, county Development Department Director Blair Leist said Tuesday. "We have done what we could to make sure that doesn't happen (again)," Leist said.

Imagine energy-generating wind turbines spinning along the ridgeline on top of Jugtown Mountain -- or in any back yard in the township. The Planning Board doesn't anticipate an onslaught of applications soon, but it wants to be prepared. It's on the verge of drafting an ordinance that would regulate the height of a turbine, how far it would have to be located from a neighbor's property and how noisy it can be, among other details.

It's not so much about what is on the agenda for Monday's Chatham-Kent planning meeting, but what is not. Two wind power applications for a total of 98 new wind turbines to be built in Chatham-Kent have been deferred again. ...[municipal planning consultant Tom Storey of Storey] speculated this is because new regulations are expected to come down soon under the new Green Energy Act.

The Site Evaluation Committee will hold a public meeting at 8:30 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 28, to consider motions for rehearing on a recent decision to allow a wind farm along a northern Coös ridge line. ...On Aug. 14, just inside the 3-day appeal window, the state Fish and Game Department filed a motion for rehearing or amendment. That same day, motions for rehearing were also filed by GRP, Counsel for the Public Peter Roth of the state Attorney General's Office, and Lisa Linowes, executive director of the Industrial Wind Action Group (IWAG).

Rocky Mountain Power is progressing with plans to build a 74-turbine wind farm north of Medicine Bow and aims to begin producing electricity by November of next year, a company official said Wednesday. Representatives of the Utah-based utility presented plans for the 111-megawatt Dunlap I wind project to Wyoming Public Service Commission staff members.

If speed tests this year show that the wind is powerful enough, the school could buy a wind turbine to make electricity, said Bonnie Holliday, development director. "We sit in a very windy spot, so we might be able to have some great energy produced by the turbine and reduce our costs," she said. A number of homeowners in the region are feeling the same winds and thinking much the same thing.