Gamesa SA, the Spanish wind-electric equipment maker that's gotten $15 million in state funds from Gov. Rendell, is laying off 184 of around 700 workers at its Fairless Hills, Bucks County plant as it shifts production to larger turbines.

The Freeland Municipal Authority, which owns 515 acres of desolate land in Foster Township, would like to put that land to use - as a wind energy project. The board will be submitting an application, at no cost, for a site survey to the Renewable Energy Center of St. Francis University in Loretto, Cambria County. ...Quinn said the application is complete and ready to be forwarded to the Renewable Energy Center. But he cautioned that submitting the application does not mean a project is imminent.

New documents filed in an ongoing civil lawsuit by a Portage-area couple against the Allegheny Ridge Wind Farm say that wind energy experts duped local officials into believing the turbine sound was insignificant. Todd and Jill Stull of the Blue Knob area say that developer Gamesa Energy USA and owner Babcock & Brown misled local officials by supporting development of an ordinance addressing higher noise levels.

A couple from West Prince has proof from the government their property has dropped in value since wind turbines were put up near their home. ...Beverly Howard told CBC News Monday there are now five new turbines within sight of their home, the closest about 500 metres away. "If you're sitting out on your deck, they're noisy, if you're out gardening they're noisy," she said.

The Fayette County Planning Commission approved two amendments Thursday to a countywide windmill ordinance, but an attorney says the turbines could be too loud. The action occurred during a public hearing into the amendments related to plans by Iberdrola Renewables to erect 27 wind-powered turbines over a 3.5-mile area of Chestnut Ridge in Wharton, Georges and Springhill townships.

Legislation for the construction of wind turbines in Potter County has been approved. ...The legislation is the countywide ordinance. However, several townships where plans are moving ahead for wind turbines have passed their own ordinances or have ordinances proposed that would supersede the countywide legislation.

The countywide ordinance setting guidelines for the creation of wind turbines in Potter County will be voted on at 11 a.m. Thursday. No guests are scheduled to speak on the subject at Thursday's meeting. However, the floor will be opened for public comment, as is the usual format prior to a vote. So far, this issue has received extensive feedback.

Tyrone Borough Council will vote on a watershed study that started a few years ago. ...The city has been going back and forth between building windmills or establishing a gas lease, but the mayor says windmills appear to be the best fit.

The Fayette County commissioners will hold a public hearing this week to discuss proposed changes to the county zoning ordinance dealing with wind turbines. The public hearing is being held to gather input before the commissioners make any decisions to change the ordinance. Also up for consideration will be allowing deep mining in agricultural and conservation zones.

At midnight, February 17, national and local broadcasters will change how they transmit over-the-air TV from an analog signal, which has been used for decades now, to a digital signal, providing a clearer picture. But back in 2003 when this ambitious, renewable energy project fired up ..."We had a whole lot of trouble back then," said Ray Vogt, a Clinton Township resident. "When they (the turbines) were turning, you couldn't watch television at all."

"The development of renewable energy resources will require a significant expansion of the grid, as well as a significant increase in needed operating reserves given the intermittent nature of wind and other resources." PJM has 90,000 megawatts of new generation waiting for approval to feed into the grid, with nearly half that power coming from wind.

Copeland sought and received approval from the Portage Township supervisors to subdivide what he said is a small section of land from a much larger privately owned tract near the Cambria-Blair county line. "This will enable us to do a much simpler survey," Copeland said. "Otherwise, it would take years."

Blair County Judge Daniel Milliron on Friday dismissed the counts against Gamesa, which made and installed the turbines, but left intact the lawsuit against Allegheny Ridge because he believes the complaints deal with operational problems. Allegheny Ridge operates the wind farm.

A local doctor and his wife have filed a lawsuit against the operator of a nearby wind farm saying they are losing sleep from the the constant ''whooshing'' and ''screeching'' caused by the wind turbines. Blair County Judge Daniel J. Milliron on Friday concluded his initial review of the lawsuit brought by Todd and Jill Stull of Portage RD, Blair County. Milliron kept the lawsuit largely intact although he dismissed several counts of the legal complaint including one that charged Gamesa Energy and its subsidiary, Allegheny Ridge Wind Farm LLC, with creating a public nuisance.

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, under Democrat Governor Edward G. Rendell's administration, put together an Alternative Energy Package that was passed last year, where the state borrowed $500 million to stimulate conservation efforts and alternative energy sources, such as windmills and solar. Rep. Stern explained that all of those efforts combined are good, but at the same time, he questioned the state's investment of $500 million in taxpayer dollars. The state's reasoning to invest such a large amount of money was to gain investment return dollars.

The Logan Township Planning Commission is scheduled to vote Tuesday on a request to expand the wind zone so turbines can be built above Avalon Road north of Altoona. The vote, in the form of a recommendation, will be a key factor for supervisors to consider when they address the request in January.

Jill Stull from Portage says her life and farm have turned upside down ever since some unwelcome neighbors moved in 2006. "We want the noise to stop. I want my husband to be able to sleep in our home," Stull said. The noise she's referring to is from the six turbines surrounding her 100-acre farm. At least once a week, Stull says she can hear and feel the turbines humming, and it's a sensation she says comes at irregular intervals.

Doylestown Township officials held a public hearing last week on a proposed ordinance that would regulate the placement and size of windmills in the township. The supervisors seemed ready to approve the ordinance until Philo pointed out that it said nothing about advertising being painted on the windmill. They voted unanimously to table the ordinance for further consideration by the township planning commission.

Construction of a 36-turbine wind farm that covers three townships in Somerset County is likely to begin this winter. Officials from Allegheny Township, Musser Engineering and the E.On energy company ...have received mixed community feedback. But officials said the farm is scheduled to be finished by the end of 2009 and will dot the mountains of Allegheny, Stonycreek and Shade townships with turbines.

Construction of the 35 windmills in the second phase of what will be one of Pennsylvania's largest wind farms is completed and should be in operation before the end of the year, an official with Gamesa Energy USA said. News of the anticipated startup comes as sound experts working on behalf of Portage Township completed the study setting the level of the existing - ambient - noise at and near North Allegheny Wind Farm, which is adding nine turbines to the skyline in the Blue Knob area of the township.