Rich Porter of rural Paxton said he believes that Ford County, like other counties, has relied too much on information supplied by wind energy representatives. Porter is convinced that wind farms could have a negative impact on the county land values, taxes and zoning issues. "Wind farms are not what they look like on the surface; they have many twists and turns," he warned during the public comment period at the board's Monday meeting.

Alternative energy advocates and residents opposed to giant wind turbines overlooking their homes in Warm Springs Valley are expected to square off when Nevada Wind's proposed wind farm comes before the Washoe County Planning Commission on Tuesday. ...No matter what the planning commission decides, the project is expected to be appealed to the Washoe County Commission.

David Anderson, the Eastern District member of the Tazewell County Board of Supervisors, has been busy in recent days answering phone calls and e-mails from supporters and opponents of a proposed large-scale windmill project. ..."Don't get me wrong, I've heard a lot of positive, and I've heard a lot of negative," Anderson said Tuesday. "There are still people who are very pro-windmill. But the majority of the feedback I've received have been real concerned about the natural beauty of East River Mountain."

The final scope of the Westfield-Ripley wind project will include 83 wind turbines: 47 in Westfield and 36 in Ripley. ...The next immediate step for Babcock and Brown is the preparation of the environmental impact study, which must be filed with SEQR and accepted as complete by both towns. There will be a public hearing and a minimum of a 30-day period for public comment.

Business owner Mark Richey said yesterday he hopes to see his new 292-foot wind turbine up on his property in just a few weeks. ...Neighbors to the property have appealed the city's decision to grant permission for the turbine, raising concern about the impact the 292-foot-tall structure would have, such as the whirring noise it will generate, safety, low-level vibrations and the visual effect called "flicker" that wind turbines create when the afternoon light hits them.

Council spent several hours discussing wind energy as part of a series of amendments to the official plan in order to bring Oxford's planning rules into compliance with provincial policy. ...The only speaker to this parcel of amendments was Joan Morris, neighbour to the proposed development in Norwich and founding member of the Oxford Wind Action Group. Morris led council through a presentation encouraging it to delay and defer any planning rules that would facilitate large-scale wind farms until epidemiological medical studies on their impact had been completed.

If you see some balloons floating on the hill behind Graham Waste, don't think there is a sale on used cars. The balloons are part of the on-going Planning Board review process for two wind turbines with a proposed siting off Route 3A. Beginning today (Friday) and continuing throughout the weekend, balloons will be floated as the approximate height of the two proposed wind turbine locations to aid the Planning Board in visualizing the scale of the project.

In a packed Town Hall auditorium, the continued public hearing on the proposed twin wind turbine project off Route 3A began to give residents a better picture of the breadth and impact of the project. The nearly three-hour meeting was a mix of technical information, questions and answers and airing of resident concerns. The 100-plus audience was well informed and it was clear through many of the comments made residents had done their research on turbines. Dozens spoke on myriad concerns from noise to shadow flicker to the impact on property values.

Residents will have the opportunity at the next annual town meeting to decide the fate of a citizens petition seeking a 180-day moratorium on the construction or processing of applications for wind power facilities. ...After the closed-door session ...the council voted to include the petitioners' warrant request at the next annual town meeting and to request that the petitioners submit a draft warrant item and draft moratorium ordinance by Dec. 31, and directed the town manager to assemble a list of people willing to participate in a study group to review the proposed ordinance and report to the Town Council and planning board.

Wind power is easy to set up and creates no greenhouse gases. So why are so many communities rallying against them? ...Residents complain that straight answers are scarce, with towers designed to measure wind speed popping up across the valley, even as local officials say they have not received any applications for zoning bylaw changes. A community group called Save Our Skyline, or S.O.S. Renfrew County, has formed to fight at least four separate proposals along the Madawaska Valley. Two weeks ago, S.O.S. joined with 23 other local groups to create Wind Concerns, an umbrella organization dedicated to "protecting rural Ontario for future generations." Similar fights are underway across the rest of Canada.

Mike Magnus says he hopes the latest discussion regarding the adjustments his company has made to the proposed wind turbine project in eastern Pictou County will allay local concerns and allow the major project to proceed. "We've taken all the comments to heart and have engaged folks to look at the changes," the chief executive officer of Shear Wind Inc. said Saturday, following the company's latest information session that attracted more than 100 people to the Lismore Community Hall.

Residents will have to wait until Monday, Dec. 1 to hear more about the proposed Graham Waste wind turbine project. Last Thursday, the applicant, Jim Sweeney of CCI Energy, formally requested the public hearing set to continue on this past Monday, Oct. 27 be postponed to allow him to collect further data. In anticipation of the planned public hearing last week, talk and opinion of the wind turbines were blowing around.

In August, Union Ridge Wind, opponents of the Railsplitter Wind Farm, did file a court appeal on the conditional use of agriculture-zoned land for the construction of a wind farm. The Logan County Board granted the conditional use to Railsplitter Wind Farm and Horizon Wind Energy in July. The appeal would need to be dropped before the county would sign one of the agreements necessary for meeting the conditions set forth by the Logan County Zoning Board of Appeals and accepted by the county board in July.

A lawsuit between two Lebanon neighbors is being watched carefully by people in the wind turbine industry. The outcome could effect future commercial and residential development of wind turbines in Boone County and central Indiana.

A tiny rural Northumberland community could end up completely surrounded by wind farms. The hamlet of Wingates, near Rothbury, is faced with five schemes which are either at scoping or pre-application stage, all within 5km of the houses. ...Residents have formed the action group Wingates not Wind Farms (WNWF) which held its first meeting last week in association with the parish council.

The Palmerston North City Council last night took the first steps towards developing best-practice guidelines for the development of wind farms in the city's boundaries. At the planning and policy committee meeting, councillors voted to instruct staff to start working on guidelines to help steer wind-farm development in the future. The idea was moved by Cr Michael Feyen, and seconded by Cr John Hornblow. Cr Feyen said it was essential to start the ball rolling, before the hills were inundated with turbines.

A city committee decided Wednesday to postpone its decision until at least Thursday about whether Graham Findlay should be allowed to install a power-generating turbine on top of a 10-metre pole in the yard of his home near Fisher Park. ...About 20 of Findlay's neighbours showed up at the committee meeting Wednesday to express their opposition to the turbine.

Two Fayette County commissioners voted to sign an agreement Thursday that addresses neighbors concerns regarding the location of wind turbines in a $100 million project proposed for Wharton, Georges and Springhill townships. Commissioners Vincent Zapotosky and Vincent A. Vicites voted to sign the agreement between PPM Atlantic Renewable Energy Corp./Iberdrola Renewables, the county and property owners that petitioned the court to be included in the case. Commissioner Angela M. Zimmerlink voted against the action, saying she doesn't believe the commissioners have the authority to approve changes to the proposed project.

Unanswered questions and legitimate objections - that's why Barrington Town Council member Jamie Schwartz believes the proposed wind turbine project would not get his vote of approval ... at least not right now. Last week Mr. Schwartz went public with his position regarding the wind turbine. He said if he had to vote on the project tomorrow, he would vote no. "The disagreements over the economic model, the wind adequacy, the environmental impact, vendor qualifications, property values, construction impacts, aesthetics, etc., suggest that community buy-in is insufficient to approve the project," Mr. Schwartz wrote in a letter last week.

With many residents along the Gulf Shore opposed to the idea, a 17-turbine wind farm for the area was recently granted a development permit. Originally, the proposed Pugwash Wind Farm was planned with up to 30 turbines, but scaled back to 17 after concerns from some of the area residents. ..."By trying to move a few turbines back by a few hundred meters is not paying attention to what we are saying - that this affects the whole neighborhood, not just the immediate people."