Jackson Township resident Frank M. Piccolella Sr. said he still believes he can win the war against a wind farm proposed in northern Lycoming County. ...Piccolella filed an appeal Friday in county court asking it to overturn a decision by the county Zoning Hearing Board that cleared the way for Vermont-based Laurel Hill Wind Energy LLC to build up to 35 electricity-generating wind turbines on the Laurel Hill ridge in Jackson and McIntyre townships.

Homeowners in Aberdeenshire hoping to install domestic wind turbines in built-up areas are likely to have their applications rejected unless manufacturers provide the council with information detailing their impact, a councillor warned yesterday. Garioch area committee chairman Martin Kitts-Hayes made the comment following the "very reluctant rejection" of proposals to erect a turbine at a home at Kinmuck, near Inverurie. The committee is now planning to write a letter to companies who make the machinery, urging them to provide facts and figures on expected noise levels.

"We've been really derelict," Specter said of Congress' response to the energy issue. "We're gonna have to go to alternate forms of energy, and I've been supporting that." Virginia Deeter from Somerset County told Specter her home of 30 years soon would sit between two wind turbine facilities: one 1,400 feet away from her back door and the other 1,800 feet away from her front door. "Our home is going to be worthless," she said she was told by real estate agents. "Where do we turn?"

Forty pages of health and safety information surrounding the proposed wind turbine project in town may never have been created had it not been for some anxious residents. Ron Pitt, chairman for the health and safety subcommittee that researched and wrote the report, said interested and concerned residents, including members of the group Citizens Wind Watch, should be credited for pushing forward the process of learning more about wind turbines and the issues that surround them. ...Mr. Russo said the recent health and safety report spelled a certain end to the likelihood the turbine would be constructed at the high school.

Town officials have refused to let residents see a report evaluating the noise study done for Horse Creek Wind Farm. The officials claim the report, by Cavanaugh Tocci Associates, an acoustic engineering firm in Sudbury, Mass., is too complicated and preliminary to be released. Residents argue that the original noise study, done by consultant CH2MHill for Iberdrola, also was complicated, but that there are residents with acoustic expertise.

Spanish wind turbine company Gamesa Inc. announced Friday that it is laying off 28 workers in its Falls tower production facility as it winds down its tower business, which will be handled by subcontractors in the future. Since it opened in 2006, Gamesa has produced towers, blades and turbines at three plants in the Keystone Industrial Port Complex in Falls. But it is negotiating with five potential subcontractors interested in taking over the tower production at the KIPC.

One week after moving in, Loudenslager found out that a swath of the farm where cows graze and alfalfa grows soon could be cleared to make way for a high-voltage power line. "It's like a punch to the gut," Loudenslager said. "This is where I've wanted to be my whole life." Loudenslager's farm north of Boonsboro sits on one of several routes that have been suggested for the Potomac Appalachian Transmission Highline (PATH), which would run from St. Albans, W.Va., through Bedington, W.Va., to Kemptown, Md., in Frederick County.

Virginia may have given a controversial power line an initial "yes," but Pennsylvania has given it an initial "no." In a ruling released late Thursday, regulatory judges in Pennsylvania recommended that the state's Public Utilities Commission deny applications from Allegheny Power and Dominion Virginia power to build the Trans-Allegheny Interstate Line. A hearing examiner for the Virginia State Corporation Commission has recommended approval for the controversial power line, but only on the condition that West Virginia and Pennsylvania also sign off on the plan.

After reviewing thousands of pages of testimony and comments from numerous public hearings, Judges Mark A. Hoyer and Michael A. Nemec in a 364-page document said Allegheny Energy, through its transmission line subsidiary TrAILCo had "failed to carry the burden of truth" for the entire 240-mile project. "Based on our review of the entire record, we have concluded that little or no need for reinforcement in the Prexy service area presently exists," the judges wrote.

If someone were to tell Doug Tewksbury or Tom Baisley to go jump off a cliff, they'd probably seize the moment That is, of course, if they were at their favorite launch spot on the top of Mehoopany Mountain. The weekend warriors who can't seem to get paragliding out of their blood are part of a small yet growing group of individuals who are worried. They're worried that BPAlternative Energy's plan to put an 85-90 wind turbine park in the southern part of Wyoming County will not only spoil their fun, but also disrupt the peace and solitude that the sleepy Endless Mountains have enjoyed for centuries.

Government departments responsible for the increase in onshore wind turbines are using staff from energy companies to advise them on noise and safety issues. Concerns have been raised that the potential conflict of interest, denied by the civil servants, could result in the Government making policy decisions which directly benefit turbine manufacturers and energy companies. Guidance on noise issues was sent to planning inspectors as a result of Government meetings which in one case were chaired by a representative of RWE npower.

The push for alternative energy sources continues in Clearfield County. Although plans are only in the beginning stages, Iberdrola Renewables is looking to build a wind farm between the north Rockton and Luthersburg areas. Craig Poff, senior project developer, and Paul Copleman, communications manager for Iberdrola Renewables' King of Prussia offices, said the company, which originated in Spain, is best known for its wind energy.

A Vermont-based wind energy company is one step closer to building more than 30 electricity-generating wind turbines on a seven-mile section of the Laurel Hill ridge in northern Lycoming County. On Thursday, the county Planning Commission approved preliminary land development plans submitted by Laurel Hill Wind Energy LLC, whose parent company, Catamount Energy Corp., proposed the project about six years ago. ...

Many recent DailyTech stories have focused on the world's growing reliance on wind power, along with efforts to reduce the noise pollution resulting from the large farms. However, a new study suggests that living near a wind farm can cause serious health problems; including causes sleep disorders, difficulty with equilibrium, migraine headaches, panic attacks, and other issues.

A company that plans to build a wind turbine facility in the southern part of Wyoming County says that it wants to be a good corporate citizen. While BP Alternative Energy sponsored two outdoor events this summer, some people are unhappy with the company, including Richard Ide, whose cabin in Mehoopany is near a stretch of land where transmission lines may be placed. "They (BP) have the resources to drive me into the ground, which is what they are trying to do," Ide, of Tunkhannock, said. "I have hired two attorneys."

The Tioga Preservation Group's land use appeal of the Tioga County Planning Commission's decision to grant conditional approval for a wind farm project has been denied, opening the door for the construction of 124 wind turbines in Tioga and Bradford counties. On Aug. 8, Tioga County Court of Common Pleas President Judge Robert E. Dalton Jr. issued an order denying the appeal of the group, and upheld the planning commission's preliminary conditional approval of the land-use application made by AES Armenia Mountain Wind LLC, according to court documents.

Up to 35 electricity-generating wind turbines are to be built along seven miles of the Laurel Hill ridge in Jackson and McIntyre townships in northern Lycoming County, under the plans of Vermont-based Laurel Hill Wind Energy. On Tuesday, the commission reviewed the plan in detail. "The work session was held to delve into the plan and make sure all our questions are answered," said Kurt Hausammann Jr., commission executive director. "A plan of this scale warranted a separate meeting."

Proposed development of a utility-scale wind turbine at Blue Mountain Ski Area in Carbon County is shaping up as a classic battle between economics and the environment. ...Dan Kunkle, executive director of the 750-acre Lehigh Gap Nature Center near Slatington, said a wind turbine at Blue Mountain would pose a significant threat to hundreds of thousands of raptors and songbirds that follow the 250-mile Kittatinny Ridge through Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York on their annual migrations. ...Kunkle's concerns were echoed by Donald S. Heintzelman of Zionsville, a nationally renowned ornithologist

A community organization's land use appeal in Tioga County regarding a wind farm project on Armenia Mountain has been denied. ...On Jan. 17, Tioga Preservation Group filed a land-use appeal asking the court to reverse the granting of preliminary approval by the planning commission to the preliminary land development plan of AES.

Residents and supervisors are trying to find a wind turbine ordinance that both protects neighbors from unreasonable development and also minimizes township expense. During the Monday meeting, after discussion between supervisors, township solicitor James Yelovich and the board left open the timetable for enactment. However, the board was in agreement that something more than the current county regulations should be in place before serious township turbine development begins.