Green energy tariffs that promise customers environmentally friendly electricity supplies face official scrutiny amid concerns that customers are not getting what they pay for. Ofgem will today outline plans to create a ratings scheme to highlight the most planet-friendly packages. The regulator is working with the Energy Saving Trust to determine a set of criteria under which the best schemes will be awarded five stars.

Aided by a tax break that helps keep costs in line with fossil fuels, the wind-energy industry has hummed in recent years, generating annual growth rates of 25 percent or more. Wind power, once the province of a few entrepreneurial executives looking for alternatives to coal and other "dirty" fuels, now churns out enough electricity to light 3 million homes. The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) counts more than 1,000 members, including giant companies such as General Electric. Five years ago, the trade group had just a couple hundred members. Along with the industry's growth has come new lobbying muscle, which includes a traditional lobbying tool: a map of the United States scattered with dots representing the jobs the industry creates.

The Democratic Congress is poised to pass the most green-friendly legislation in a generation. There are bills, either already on the floor or in committee, that would encourage the use of renewable fuels, improve energy efficiency and curb global warming. If there's a holdup, don't blame Republicans: Even President Bush has signaled his willingness to support some kinds of curbs in global warming. The hitch-and it's a big one-lies with the Democrats themselves. Earlier this year, in an attempt to rein in the federal deficit, House Democrats, put in place "pay-go" restrictions requiring any new entitlement spending or tax cuts to be offset by budget trims or tax increases.

Queensland Premier Peter Beattie today launched a $414 million climate change strategy to address what he called one of the "greatest challenges" facing the state. The new funding brings the total contribution to climate change initiatives to $1.3 billion, and proposes a number of key initiatives for business, industry and community through the ClimateSmart 2050 plan. One of the key components is the plan to increase the percentage of gas energy generation from the current 13 per cent to 18 per cent by 2020. He said using natural gas to generate power produces 50 per cent fewer emissions than coal.

A fortified Oregon business energy tax credit (BETC), which raises the maximum write-off for renewables from 35 percent on $10 million projects to 50 percent on $20 million projects, is all but certain to pass into law as HB 2811 before legislators head home from Salem. But a new BETC won't do businesses much good unless lawmakers also close a loophole that devalues tax credits in years such as 2007, when the state will pay out a business tax kicker. As things stand, the kicker lessens corporate tax burdens and, in turn, eats into the value of the credits for would-be buyers - costly both in millions of dollars to the economy and megawatts gone undeveloped.

Environmentalists love wind power and there is increasing bipartisan support for it among Republicans and Democrats concerned about energy security and global warming. But as wind power grows more prevalent the tax benefits from a production tax credit for wind is becoming increasingly expensive - now about $2.75 billion annually by one estimate - for an energy source produced by rich utilities that still generates less than one percent of the country's power...People are not always enthusiastic about having 400-foot high, or 122-meter, wind behemoths that sometimes kill lots of birds and bats as neighbors, as he conceded with his poster.

Mayor Herb Arbuckle and other members of the council expressed concern that land taken up by wind turbines could have detrimental effects on economic growth and development, property values because of obstructed views, noise or light pollution and possible electronic and radio interference that could affect emergency radio signals. "We've got to look 20 to 30 years down the road when we consider this," Arbuckle said. Council member Dick Jones said looking down the road, he can see the turbines harming residential property development west of town.

Local and federal officials are hoping to head off future encroachment issues as the expanding wind energy industry creeps toward the Dyess Air Force Base flight path. U.S. Rep. Randy Neugebauer, R-Lubbock, is hosting a meeting at Dyess Tuesday for representatives from the city of Abilene, Taylor and Nolan counties, the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy and the Federal Aviation Administration. At stake is the future coexistence of two major economic players in the Abilene area - Dyess and the burgeoning wind energy industry.

SPRINGFIELD - State lawmakers probably will end their spring legislative session without voting on a plan that would establish a uniform method of assessing wind farms for property tax purposes, said Rep. Frank Mautino, D-Spring Valley.

LONDON, May 25 (UPI) -- The British government Friday said grants will be made available again for those who want to install micro-wind turbines and solar panels on their homes. The Department of Trade and Industry's Low Carbon Buildings Program has already allocated more than $13.5 million to householders and, following the addition of an extra $11.9 million in the national budget, applications are set to open Tuesday for an estimated $23.6 million remaining.

Britain has had three national policies in ten years. And it still hasn't made up its mind about nuclear energy

Marshland St James is an isolated, functional, centre-less village, little more than a ribbon of houses along a country road surrounded by farms. In the far west of Norfolk, close to the borders with Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire, it is a place that locals describe as "bandit country". It is not a place you expect an issue of national importance to find its focus. But on Monday, just a few days before the government released its white paper on energy, a local farmer was found dead in a drainage canal close to his home. A statement from his family linked his death to a battle over wind farms that has torn the village apart.

Four months after saying his "New Energy Economy" was more than a campaign promise, Gov. Bill Ritter will sign a half-dozen measures this week encouraging Coloradans to make more renewable energy and consume less fuel overall. On Tuesday, Ritter signed a bill that rewards utilities for promoting energy conservation. It was vetoed twice by his predecessor, GOP Gov. Bill Owens. Today, Ritter plans to sign measures to promote recycling and biofuels development, encourage construction of transmission lines from solar and wind farms and provide tax credits for renewable energy.

The desire to make amends for everything from a trip to the Oscars to a morning commute has spawned a plethora of for-profit and nonprofit carbon offset providers, whose offerings run the gamut in terms of how much they cost and what they say they will accomplish. But the growing retail market, which is largely unregulated, also is raising questions among environmentalists who say not all offsets are created equal.

EUREKA -- Wind farm projects in Woodford County may be delayed unless the state passes a law specifying how they will be taxed. County Administrator Greg Jackson said local government doesn't have all the facts needed to continue approving wind farm projects. He recommended the county board delay approval of future wind farms until potential tax revenue is set in stone.

LOGAN COUNTY - This county will have more tax revenue - about $2.3 million each year - after the Peetz Table Wind Energy Center is completed and placed on the tax rolls. The assessed valuation of the $700 million project will increase revenues for Logan County and also for the Peetz Plateau School District. To put it in perspective, the $2.3 million the county will receive equals an 8.8 percent addition to its current annual budget of $26 million. Over the next 30 years, this will total about $70 million. In addition, FPL is paying Logan County a one-time payment of $4.16 million in lieu of building permit fees and use taxes.

Locust Ridge Wind Farm owner Joe Green, of Shenandoah, would like the Mahanoy Township Board of Supervisors to give him a tax break on his wind energy enterprise. He would even be willing to give the township a share of his profits in exchange for a break in taxes. Tax law, however, prohibits local government from agreeing not to tax somebody. That's the legislature's job, according to township Solicitor Victoria Edwards.

The Dolgeville Central School District has been in discussions with the Manheim Town Council regarding the proposed wind energy project that will bring 41 industrial wind turbines to the town. Superintendent of Schools Ted Kawryga said Tuesday that he and Manheim Town Supervisor Tim Parisi have talked about the payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) agreement, and the share the school district will receive.

Big property-tax breaks for developers that construct clean coal-fired power plants and transmission lines carrying "clean and green" energy were approved by Montana lawmakers on the final day of the special session. "This is a classic jobs and environment bill," said Evan Barrett, chief business officer in the governor's office of economic development.

State lawmakers gave final approval Tuesday to a measure to encourage wind farms in Nebraska. The bill would permit public power districts to work with private developers and landowners to build electricity-generating wind turbines. All 49 lawmakers voted in favor of Legislative Bill 629, which now goes to Gov. Dave Heineman for his signature. Under the plan, developers and private equity firms would work with rural Nebraskans to build wind farms and collect federal incentives for alternative energy production. When the incentives expire after 10 years, the Nebraskans would attain full ownership of the projects.