In the final few hours, however, there was an attempt by Rep. Jeff Mayes (D-Bangor Chtr. Twp.) to add a provision in legislation that would have exempted all property taxes on wind energy devices. Currently, wind turbines and related property are taxed as personal property with revenue going to local governments. ...no action was taken by the Senate on the legislation.

Assessment agency looking to finance ministry for answers on renewable-energy technologies and property tax increases.

The Municipal Property Assessment Corp., a non-profit organization responsible for assessing municipal property taxes in Ontario, has asked the finance ministry to clarify rules that could prove a major setback for renewable energy projects in the province. At issue is whether wind turbines and solar panels add enough value to a property to trigger an increase in annual property taxes. The concern is that the tax increase would offset energy savings or the revenues from clean electricity sold into the grid, reducing the incentive to embrace renewable-energy technologies.

The turbines do bother some folks, including Glenn R. Schleede, a retired power company executive from Round Hill, Va., who said the wind power industry puts out “absolute baloney” to justify its existence. “I’m tired of subsidizing Warren Buffett companies,” Schleede said, referring to federal tax subsidies that go to MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co., a division of Omaha-based Berkshire Hathaway Inc. that is headed by Buffett. Those are MidAmerican’s turbines in the fields around Schaller. Schleede’s criticisms, mostly in academic-style papers he writes, concentrate on the economics of wind power and what he called “false claims about how this is good for an energy system.” “In fact, these things, because they’re intermittent and volatile and unpredictable, they don’t really add a lot of capacity to an electric grid,” he said. “When you see these things advertised, they talk about how many megawatts of capacity, the number of homes served and all that garbage. “I would maintain that they don’t serve any homes.”

A local farmers' advocacy group told Ashe County commissioners yesterday that the county should allow windmills to generate electricity that could be sold as an alternative income for farmers. The recommendation came a month after Watauga County became the first county in North Carolina to adopt regulations for windmills. Extension agent Charles Young, a spokesman for the county's Agriculture Advisory Committee, told Ashe commissioners that it's in the county's best interest to gain support and recognition for wind power as a way to preserve farmland.

A day after a landmark energy security summit in West Lafayette, a coalition of farm and consumer groups want to blow new life into the push for wind-generated electricity in Indiana. The Indiana Coalition for Renewable Energy and Economic Development (ICREED) wants the state to pass a renewable electricity standard, which would require 10 percent of Indiana's electricity to be generated from sources such as wind and bio-mass by 2017.

Ashe County residents will have to wait at least another seven months before they learn the fate of a developer’s controversial request to build large wind turbines on or near Big Springs Mountain. At the conclusion of a 3 1/2 -hour hearing yesterday to consider the proposal, the N.C. Utilities Commission took one action: It scheduled another hearing for Aug. 8.

"As our investigation continues, we hope to hear directly from Solyndra's executives next week - the same executives who visited Capitol Hill as part of a PR campaign in July and misrepresented the company's financial situation," the lawmakers said.

The U.S. Energy Department has decided to focus on applications that can be processed by Sept. 30, the expiration of the agency's loan-guarantee program. Experts say Cape Wind, the nation's first offshore wind project, will have a harder time lining up financing without federal backing.

The council says it appears the Federal Government will not budge anytime soon and it is up to state governments to increase targets.

"In the past there was more of a calculation by the majority of the developers that it would get extended. There were more of them willing to make that bet and move forward with their projects. The shift in political tone, the increasing gridlock, the harsher rhetoric against incentive for renewable energy, has really had an impact."

The Prince Wind Energy Farm, situated on 20,000 acres of land northwest of Sault Ste. Marie, qualified for the one cent per kilowatt-hour incentive under the ecoENERGY for Renewable Power initiative. The wind farm's 126 turbines are capable of generating up to 189 megawatts of clean, renewable power ...Over ten years, this ecoENERGY program will provide about $53 million to the wind project and ensure that renewable energy generated at the wind farm can be delivered at competitive prices for Canadian consumers.

It appears that the federal government is determined to prove that its stated commitment to alternative energy was not just hot air. A local wind farm project recently became the first company in Canada to receive $16.5 million of support from the government under the ecoENERGY for Renewable Power Initiative, introduced in January. The recipient of the money, Kettles Hill Wind Energy Inc. is currently finishing construction of a 63-megawatt wind-power facility located five kilometres east of Pincher Creek.

An almost two-year fee-free period for wind farm development will not be long enough for NSW to catch up to other states, the Greens say. Premier Nathan Rees has announced incentives to boost investment in clean energy generation, including moves to fast track planning decisions relating to wind farms. The development fees that are associated with such projects will also be waived until June 30, 2011.

California's innovative financing plan to help relatively small renewable energy firms get their power to market over high-voltage transmission lines won approval from federal regulators on Thursday. Developers of new power plants generally pay the cost for building high-voltage "trunklines" to connect their plants to utilities that deliver the power to consumers. But most renewable energy companies are smaller firms that develop wind, solar or geothermal resources in remote locations that need new lines, which they often cannot afford to build. The U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission gave the OK for the California Independent System Operator to spread the cost of building the new lines among the utilities that receive the power.

After conducting technical studies, the energy department proposed a subsidy cut of 10% for power from onshore wind. But the chancellor is under pressure from back-benchers to scrap subsidies, and is said to favour a 25% cut. The industry body, Renewable UK, says it may take legal action if the government makes a decision that overrides its own technical evidence.

WASHINGTON -- A rebellion by oil-state Democrats over $16 billion in new taxes on oil companies is threatening to upend House Democratic leaders' plans to swiftly pass energy legislation. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi remained confident she would have the votes to pass the energy package Friday ahead of Congress' monthlong summer recess, according to her aides. But she needs solid Democratic support to overcome staunch GOP opposition. "I know they're looking for votes," said Rep. Gene Green, D-Texas, one of the Democrats who has balked over the oil industry tax increases. Green said some of the "Blue Dog" Democrats - moderate to conservatives, including lawmakers from oil producing states - were threatening to withhold their support. "I think it's too much to hit one industry with," Green said in an interview.

In a state where environmental issues often find ample support, an initiative to compel utilities to use cleaner energy should be the least controversial of the three measures on the statewide ballot in November. But after months of little to no debate over the measure — which would require the state’s large utilities to increase renewable energy sources to 15 percent of their supply by 2020 — opponents have started speaking out, arguing that Initiative 937 would raise customers’ rates. “It’s a feel-good initiative,” said Chris McCabe, spokesman for the Association of Washington Business, which is opposed to the measure. “Everyone wants a cleaner environment. It’s easy for people to buy into that. It’s one of those things where the devil is in the details.”

Houston-based Reliant has sparked a debate over subsidies that has the EPA, citizens and consumer advocates concerned

Scottish and Southern Energy has acquired Ireland's leading renewable energy giant Airtricity in a deal worth E1.46 billion. While the buyout deal is the latest in a string of 'green' corporate investments, the financial viability of the acquisition is yet to be tested, and alternative renewable resources and underlying uncertainties in the UK's energy markets could threaten wind power strategies. ...However, the financial implications of wind power expansion plans are not yet clear. The landscape of the European energy markets is changing rapidly and it is possible that wind power could be replaced by competing technologies and fuels. An obvious threat to wind power investments will be the decision on new nuclear plant builds. Wind power could also be undermined by extensive investments in alternative renewable energy sources. Furthermore, while the price and allocation of carbon permits under the EU Emissions Trading Scheme is a major driver behind wind power investments, if prices were to collapse as they did in 2007, this could spell trouble for investors and shareholders alike.