Armed with books, studies, facts and figures, several proponents of windmill projects addressed members of the county legislature during last night’s meeting. Fairfield resident Dennis Kaczeroski urged the county to accept Community Energy’s reported offer of $7,500 per megawatt for the 136-megawatt Jordanville Wind Farm for a payment in lieu of taxes agreement. The money would be split among the taxing entities involved - the county, the towns, and school district. The county has been seeking a higher figure, based on a consultant’s estimate of $40,000 per megawatt that they said the county should be able to expect. “Get what you can get; the market is the market. Don’t be short-sighted and derail this,” said Kaczeroski. “Your responsibility is to get the best deal for all of us.”

Yet, despite the operation of New Jersey’s small wind project since January, there is uncertainty about whether wind farms, particularly gigantic turbines positioned off the region’s coastline, will be embraced here. On Long Island, a 40-turbine project being considered off the South Shore is facing stiff resistance from opponents who argue that the turbines will damage pristine ocean views, fail to deliver cost-effective electricity and create environmental problems. In New Jersey, powerful local politicians have lined up behind wind power, where up to 80 turbines — rising 380 feet or more above the water along the South Jersey coastline — have been proposed to take advantage of the near-constant breezes.

Energy from the proposed South Shore wind farm will cost Long Island ratepayers as much as double the wholesale cost of energy from other sources, according to previously confidential bidding documents obtained by Newsday. The wholesale cost that the Long Island Power Authority would have to pay for power from the wind farm would be $94.97 a megawatt hour, well above the $20 to $60 that LIPA, the project’s sponsor, now pays for power from other sources, including existing KeySpan plants. The $94.97 cost would increase to more than $150/mwh over the 20-year life of the project because of a stipulated 2.75 percent annual increase.

The project is set to receive millions in tax breaks from the state and federal government, including about $5 million in state tax credits for developing on a brownfields site. Although Steel Winds won't have to pay property taxes, BQ Energy will pay the City of Lackawanna $100,000 every year for the next 15 years.

The Long Island Power Authority, responding to criticism that its Green Choice program unfairly levies a fuel surcharge on ratepayers who've opted to support nonfuel renewable energy, has quietly proposed a rebate to ease the burden of going green - for some. But the rebate, as suggested to municipal governments last week, thus far doesn't have an equivalent for consumers or businesses.

The wind energy company that has proposed building wind turbines in rural Herkimer County is relying heavily on support from communities in the Lower Hudson Valley for funding. Community Energy convinced many downstate towns, businesses and individuals to subsidize electricity produced from what would be its first wind farm in New York. The Jordanville Wind Project would have as many as 75 wind turbines on private land that would generate enough power for as many as 60,000 homes.

The Long Island Power Authority's Green Choice plan is being placed under scrutiny by local officials who are questioning the marketing campaign of the program.

But I was sitting at my kitchen table in North Buffalo, far from the wind farms of the Southern Tier, and such distance makes for simple, black-and-white comprehension. There are places in Western New York where wind energy isn’t so clear a choice. Places with names like Perry, Sheldon and Arkwright, rural towns perched atop the high glacial ridges to the east and south of the city, whose landscapes might soon be dominated by hundreds of towering, 400-foot windmills. As wind companies eye their windswept fields and make overtures to local town boards, divisions run deeper and deeper between citizens who disagree on the merits of wind farm development in their backyards. In such locales, the gray areas of wind development come into sharp focus.

In a meeting broadcast at JCC on Thursday, Gay Canough, president of ETM Solar Works, said Chautauqua County could sell electricity to its neighbors after a relatively cheap investment of $20,000 in solar panels and wind turbines.

ALBANY — Among his 202 budget vetoes, Gov. George Pataki blocked a move by the Legislature to take control of grant money earmarked to spur renewable energy projects around the state.

ALBANY -- One of the first veto battles of this year's legislative session may start today as observers predict Gov. George Pataki will nix a proposal to shift control of some $200 million worth of utility surcharges from a state agency to the Legislature.

ALBANY -- Some $200 million in utility surcharges slated for alternative-power plants and energy-efficiency projects is caught in a power struggle between Gov. George Pataki and the Legislature.

Handing out packets of Lipton tea and slices of sugared ginger, a group of anti-wind farm residents from areas in rural New York staged their own “Albany Tea Party” last week, calling a surcharge on electricity bills “taxation without representation.”

Also on Monday night's agenda is a resolution to introduce a law that would not allow property tax exemptions on land used for solar or wind energy systems or for farm waste energy systems.

ALBANY — Outspoken residents from the rural North Country, Mohawk Valley and Otsego County lobbied legislators in Albany on Monday against unfettered development of wind generators and electric-utility fees that help pay for them.

With the price of energy at an all time high, taxes and surcharges in your bill are under a lot more scrutiny.

The belief that Green Choice would reduce the amount of oil and other fuels LIPA must purchase for energy -- and thereby reduce costs the more it's used -- appears to be widespread. The reality is somewhat different.

Time is of the essence when it comes to the proposed windmill projects in Herkimer County. At least that is what the legislators were told Wednesday night.