SOMERSET - The Somerset Town Board gave itself six more months to establish guidelines on constructing windmills.

MEDFORD - The Pinelands Commission has signed off on an ordinance adopted by the Township Council that removes windmills and other structures from a list of structures that were previously exempt from height restrictions. The Township Council adopted an ordinance in December revising the section on height limitations in its land development ordinance. The ordinance adopted required a formal review and approval by the Pinelands Commission because the section of the township south of Route 70 is in the protected Pinelands. The ordinance eliminates monuments, windmills, chimneys, smokestacks, derricks, conveyors, masts and solar energy facilities from a list of structures that are exempt from height limitations. That means special permission would have to be granted by the township Zoning Board for those structures above a certain height.

BERLIN, N.H. --Three windmills on a Mount Jericho wind farm have been vandalized, likely destroying one and badly damaging the others.

JORDANVILLE — If nothing stalls the 130- to 150- megawatt Jordanville Wind Project — 75 wind turbines planned for the rural towns of Warren and Stark — they'll start going up next spring. But winds of opinion have already started blowing in both directions in the two towns. Some residents support the project for the financial gain on personal and town-wide levels. Others fear health problems or bad influences on scenery, history and culture.

Sutton voters rejected the proposal in their advisory vote by a ratio of about 6 to 1. Sutton is not interested in negotiating for financial compensation, said Robert Michaud, chairman of the town Planning Commission. He pointed out that the town plan prohibits commercial development on ridgelines.

Kansans interested in the future of energy in their communities will have an abundance of workshops available next week at the Kansas Renewable Energy Conference at the Ramada Inn in Topeka

About 25 windmills in the north Palm Springs area were approved this week by the Riverside County Board of Supervisors. The windmills will be part of the Dillon Wind Project, which will have a total of 45 windmills north of Interstate 10, east of Highway 62 and west of Indian Avenue. The windmills will be 327 feet tall, or about 33 stories high.

But what some call "wind farms" to emphasize their clean and renewable nature, others see as a blight, and a deadly one at that. They call them "wind mines."

With a recent state Supreme Court ruling in its favor, Energy Unlimited believes its windpark project proposed for Penobscot Mountain is headed forward, but the Bear Creek Township solicitor says a previous court decision has already doomed the project. On Tuesday, the state Supreme Court denied a petition from a citizens group opposed to the project that challenged a township zoning board ruling. The ruling essentially cemented the company's assertion that the site near Crystal Lake "is generally a good place to put a wind farm," said Ed Schoener, a consultant on the project. ...The company's original land plan was rejected with about two dozen conditions the company had to satisfy. Before the company could submit a revised plan, the township passed a stricter windpark ordinance and said the company's new plan would be required to follow the new ordinance. The company argued the new ordinance made its plan impossible.

Saying New England holds tremendous opportunity for wind energy development, Connecticut-based Noble Environmental Power today announced that it is teaming up with Vermont-based Vermont Environmental Research Associates (VERA) to explore potential windpark locations throughout the region.

IRISH wind farm operators Airtricity and Swiss engineering giant ABB have completed a study into creating a European 'supergrid' linking national grids to be powered from offshore wind farms. Such a grid - which would cost billions - would carry power to where it is needed.

A Shetland-based green energy firm has branched out onto the Scottish mainland by setting up a new distribution and training centre, near Stirling. Shetland Windpower has become one of only 10 UK suppliers of domestic wind turbines from Kilmarnock company Proven Energy.

Windpower Maungatua is seeking public input into the wind farm development, hopeful it will be ready to apply for resource consent by June, Windpower director and project manager Dave Tucker said yesterday when contacted. ‘‘We will commission a number of experts to consider a variety of matters including landscape, visual, ecological, traffic and noise effects. It is more important to discuss the proposal with the people who live and work in the community,'' Mr Tucker said in a letter sent during the weekend to about 50 interested parties.

Wind power supporters have received a boost from a study that shows Britain has the best wind in Europe because it blows all year round and peaks when there is greatest demand for electricity.

The experts were invited to address the Legislature ahead of a special committee's recommendation whether the body should be for or against a local, offshore wind farm. The Legislature previously went on the record encouraging the possibility, but this past summer, opposition erupted in the Youngstown area, especially.

Emotions ran high for the second night in a row last night at meetings to explore the environmental impact of LIPA's proposed offshore wind park.....Despite the sharp sentiments, Doug Slitor, the minerals management official who is overseeing the project, said emotion is apt to play little or no part in his analysis of the environmental impact of the project.

A wind turbine plant has closed just months after announcing a $2.5 million expansion and plans to add 90 workers. Ron McNees, co-owner of the plant's parent company, blamed the closing on the ongoing struggles with green energy. It joins a list of other faltering or failed green projects.

DTE Energy unveiled two ‘’solutions'’ Friday for turning windmills back on at Laker Elementary School, but neither option will work, school officials say. Laker leaders say DTE officials don’t seem to understand how windmills work and the coal-burning utility continues to drag its feet on the project. A DTE engineer is supposed to be back at the school on Monday to study the turbines.

With concerns about the possibility of someone attempting to put wind energy turbines in the city of Salem, members of City Council's rules and ordinance committee looked closely Thursday at some regulations proposed by Housing and Zoning Director Pat Morrissey.

Auburn Zoning Inspector Frank Kitko said he re-evaluated the information regarding the use of the turbine, "and agriculture was not justified." One of the issues has been how much energy can be generated by the turbine, how much will be used by the farm and what will be done with any excess energy.