A bill to clarify what wind energy developers should pay communities that host wind projects has received unanimous support from the Legislature's Utilities and Energy Committee. A wind energy project now can earn swifter approval from regulators if a developer provides "significant tangible benefits" to a community. That language is too vague, said Pete Didisheim, advocacy director for the Natural Resources Council of Maine.

Voters at Monday night's annual town meeting will decide the fate of a proposed municipal commercial wind energy facility ordinance. A little over a year in the making, the proposed ordinance grew out of discussions surrounding the potential of a large-scale wind farm running through this northern Maine town.

With no discussion and little fanfare, Thorndike residents voted at Saturday morning's annual town meeting to adopt a comprehensive, strict wind energy ordinance, which would require mile-long setbacks between wind turbine towers and homes. ...With the vote, Thorndike joins the nearby towns of Dixmont and Jackson in adopting ordinances that give towns high levels of control.

Proposed rules for commercial wind-energy production on state trust lands have met with a minimum of concern in a series of hearings across the state. The Office of State Lands and Investments held a hearing in Cheyenne on Thursday on draft rules that will eventually be presented to the Board of Land Commissioners.

A 76-signature-petition to impose a 180-day moratorium on wind power development was presented to selectmen Tuesday. The question will be voted upon at the March 29 Town Meeting. ...The town's Planning Board is currently considering an application from Patriot Renewables LLC to erect three to five commercial wind towers on Spruce Mountain, but the company has committed to a total of 10 towers eventually, Maxfield said.

Residents will decide at Saturday's annual town meeting whether this small Waldo County town will become the latest Maine community to clamp down on potential wind energy projects. A lengthy wind energy facility ordinance, which follows a yearlong moratorium on wind development voted into effect at the 2009 town meeting, would require mile-long setbacks between wind turbine towers and nearby homes.

The towns of Blue Hill, Orland, Brooklin and Stonington also are in various stages of considering a moratorium. ...Many of these smaller towns have limited land use restrictions, Jenkins said Thursday, and developers of commercial wind turbines and communications towers are attracted to those areas where the permitting process is relatively easy.

Several months after TransCanada announced plans to expand its Kibby Mountain wind project to adjacent Sisk Mountain in western Maine, the Maine Land Use Regulation Commission has begun reviewing the request. Local residents turned out to wholeheartedly endorse the project. But several environmental groups are only offering partial support. They're worried about development of what they say is an ecologically sensitive area.

TransCanada's petition to add 156 acres to the state's accelerated, wind power development permitting process drew mixed reaction during a public hearing Wednesday. ...The company proposes to add 15 turbines to the 44 already permitted in 2008 for the Kibby Wind Power Project in northern Franklin County.

The Maine Board of Enviromental Protection rejected an appeal to withdraw a permit for a wind power project in western Maine. Former governor Angus King is one the principal investors of Record Hill Wind. The company received a state permit last summer and is the process of building a 50 megawatt wind farm in Roxbury, just northwest of Rumford.

Over 40 voters gathered Saturday and agreed to give town leaders time to draft an ordinance for wind power, said Selectman Robert Ellis. During the 180-day wind-power moratorium, town officials will create an ordinance for any future wind-power projects within the town, he said.

Fred Smith hopes that the passages of a wind farm moratorium in New Vineyard last Saturday doesn't hinder the process of building a possible wind farm on his and others property. New Vineyard residents voted for a moratorium, which will allow the Planning Board to draft an ordinance guiding the permitprocess.

In a special session that begins today, Washington's legislature will consider limiting current tax exemptions to wind equipment owned by or generating power for in-state utilities. Washington state governor Chris Gregoire called the special session in an attempt to agree measures to address the state's $2.8 billion budget gap.

By October, the Jefferson County Industrial Development Agency had paid its consultants about $38,000 to develop a model property tax exemption policy for wind power developments. But the big money paid to JCIDA attorneys came after Oct. 6, and that number will remain secret because it has been paid by the company bringing Galloo Island Wind Farm to Jefferson County.

A 180-day wind turbine moratorium will provide residents a chance to learn more about wind power and establish policies or ordinances for the development of commercial wind projects. Those supporting a moratorium at Saturday's town meeting said that although the wind farm permitting process has become easier for developers, research questions the long-term effects on health, property values and the environment.

Two of Maine's larger electric utilities would merge under an agreement announced Friday, increasing the impetus for a north-south power transmission line for wind farms. In a deal valued at about $108 million, BHE Holdings Inc., parent company of the state's second-largest electric utility, Bangor Hydro Electric Co., plans to buy Maine & Maritimes Corp., which owns Maine Public Service Co., the state's third-largest electricity provider.

Maine - The parent company of Bangor Hydro-Electric Co. intends to buy the company that owns Presque Isle-based Maine Public Service Co., a move officials say will improve chances of building a power transmission line linking northern and southern Maine and bolster economic development in Aroostook County. In a deal valued at approximately $108 million, BHE Holdings Inc. ...plans to buy Maine & Maritimes Corp., or MAM, which owns Maine Public Service Co.

The question of whether or not there will be a number of wind turbines dotting the landscape of Van Wert and Paulding counties may come down to a familiar issue - taxes. According to Dan Litchfield of Iberdrola Renewables, one of a handful of companies vying for local land rights for turbines, the tax rates could end up preventing the construction of Blue Creek Wind Farm. That project was to use approximately 160 turbines, 120 of those in Van Wert County.

The Town of Alfred's planning board submitted its first complete version of wind energy laws Thursday night, while Supervisor Tom Mansfield and others expressed anger at knowledge the town is being omitted from payment arrangements between Alfred State College and the Village of Alfred.

Oil dealers say it would kill their industry and cost thousands of jobs. They and other critics also say the electricity from offshore wind would be very expensive, and note that customers would have to pay higher electricity bills to make it possible. ...the cost of offshore wind power and how to pay for it got a bit more real when Chuck Digate stepped up to testify. Digate is managing general partner of Neptune Wind LLC, a Massachusetts company that is interested in developing an ocean wind farm in Maine. It will cost an estimated $1.5 billion to build a 250-megawatt ocean wind project, he said. Its power would cost 22 cents a kilowatt hour, and with no state support to help financing debt, he said, it would add $8 a month to the average household's electricity bill.