Amid voter frustration over record-high fuel prices, U.S. Senate Democrats plan to bring up on Tuesday legislation that takes aim at oil companies, speculators and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. The vote marks the Democratic party's most comprehensive response to rising gasoline, jet fuel and diesel prices, and will kick off a debate that is expected to last at least until the presidential elections in November. Republicans are expected to block the plan ...The U.S. Senate is also voting this week on whether to proceed with a tax bill that would extend tax credits for projects to generate energy from solar power, wind, and other sources of renewable energy.

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius spent a day this week in Houston, the city of big oil, to promote another energy source -- big wind. In her speech Monday to the annual convention of the American Wind Energy Association, Sebelius called on the federal government to renew its production tax credit for wind energy due to expire at year's end. She urged Congress: "Make it clear to investors that this incentive will last for several years." The governor's message echoes a concern of wind developers, who complain they can't make plans to build in places such as Kansas without a multi-year tax credit in place to boost their emerging industry. The U.S. Senate recently approved a single-year extension, but the bill remains pending in the House.

The commission's probe of the program began in September when it asked FPL for documents and explanations of how it has spent about $10 million collected from the program's 38,000 subscribers. Again and again, FPL filed requests to keep its records confidential, saying they contain "proprietary business information" and "contractual vendor data." But FPL records not under seal show that out-of-state renewable energy companies benefited more from the Sunshine Energy Program than did Florida companies. "I think it's disappointing for FPL customers who fully expected and assumed they were putting their hard-earned money into developing renewable energy in Florida," said Holly Binns, field director of the nonprofit environmental group Environment Florida. "This is one example of why voluntary green energy programs aren't sufficient to develop a renewable energy economy here."

Most of the comments submitted to Franklin County commissioners prior to their vote this week approving a tax break for TransCanada's wind farm appear to oppose the deal, a review of the documents reveals. Commissioners Tuesday unanimously approved creation of a $9 million, 20- year tax break for TransCanada's 44-turbine project to be built in the unorganized Kibby and Skinner townships near the Canadian border. The debate over the tax issue elicited dozens of letters, public comments, emails and phone calls to the three commissioners and to the county office. ...Under the TIF, out of TransCanada's $22.2 million property taxes over 20 years, a maximum of $9 million will be returned to the company and Maine's Unorganized Territory will receive $9.3 million.

The Franklin County commissioners on Tuesday unanimously approved creation of a 20-year tax break for TransCanada's Kibby Wind Power Project that will be built in the unorganized territory near the Canadian border. Public opposition to the deal has revolved around the $9 million of property taxes TransCanada would have paid on the $220 million taxable investment that under the Tax Increment Financing program, will be returned to the company. That money would have lowered municipality's county taxes substantially, local officials have said. ... Public comment at last week's public hearing was overwhelmingly opposed to the TIF.

Vic Abate, vice president for renewables for GE Energy a maker of turbines, said that wind could become a "mainstream fuel source" with the right policies in place. Given the regulatory uncertainty in the United States, GE and others are spreading the investment risk around the globe by funneling manufacturing and other operations to Europe, China and India, he remarked. Ditlev Engel, chief executive of Denmark-based turbine builder Vestas, noted that the company was launched in 1986 when oil cost about $14 a barrel. Now, Vestas employs 18,000 people and America is its largest market. "Having potential and realizing it are two different things," he said. "A lot of things have to be done."

Delaware's two big wind-power initiatives face an uncertain future as millions of dollars in federal subsidies are being held up in Congress. ...In the absence of an extension for the credit, Delmarva would likely have to wait out a delay in construction, or pay more for the power. The Bluewater project's timeline is longer, making it less susceptible to the short-term political stalemate. But the uneven history of the credit underscores a risk to the Bluewater project, observers say. ...Bluewater spokesman Jim Lanard said it was "unimaginable" that Congress would stop funding the tax credit, and that Bluewater was prepared to move forward with the project even if Congress elects to fund the tax credit on a year-by-year basis.

During the last night of the 2008 Minnesota Legislative session, Gov. Tim Pawlenty vetoed the wind energy production tax revenue proposal for Minnesota's rural school districts. Pawlenty held a gun to the head - figuratively speaking - of legislators, threatening to veto the property tax relief bill if the wind energy production tax revenue provision was in the bill. "I was in Southland that day visiting with Gary Kuphal for our regular superintendents' meeting," Brown recalled. "Here I was driving up and down Mower County roads and everywhere I went there were wind turbines, generating electricity from the wind. "When I heard the news, I literally got sick to my stomach," Brown said. "Districts like Grand Meadow and Southland were about to lose again."

The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity recently approved an expansion of the Freeport/Stephenson County Enterprise Zone to support the 100-megawatt EcoGrove Wind LLC wind farm proposed for northwest of Lena. In March, the Stephenson County Board approved the enterprise-zone extension, but the state's final approval of the initiative marks a milestone for the EcoGrove project, said Shawn Gaffney, president of EcoEnergy LLC, the company that will build the EcoGrove farm. Freeport-based EcoEnergy is a division of The Morse Group. "It was critical to the project," Gaffney said of the state's approval of the e-zone extension. "That's really the last big hurdle we had to move forward on the project."

Franklin County commissioners were urged Thursday night to reject a tax break for a Canadian wind-farm developer because the company didn't need "corporate welfare" and the project should rise or fall on its own merits. A majority of the 40 or so people speaking at a hearing on a 20-year tax agreement between Franklin County and TransCanada said the Canadian energy company could well afford to build the project. They also said a tax break was never discussed during the application process at the Maine Land Use Regulation Commission, and the company's wealth was touted at that time. ...Sure the county is going to get $4 million, Heeschen said, "but in order to do that we have to pay $9 million to the developer. If we didn't do the TIF, I believe the project would go on."

A local company has lost out on part of a $45 million project in the Midwest because federal tax incentives for renewable energy sources - an integral part of the economics of all renewable energy projects - are set to expire on Dec. 31. Roughly $200 million invested in two Pittsfield projects that would produce up to 50 megawatts of energy and 50 million gallons of biodiesel is also likely to be affected. Two wind turbine projects in North County that would collectively produce nearly 38 megawatts of energy could also face significant funding obstacles. ...If the extension fails, Fairbank, of EOS, said, on Jan. 1, "the industry just takes a massive blow because you just can't make the economics of these projects work without incentives."

Franklin County commissioners will hold a public hearing Thursday on a proposed 20-year tax-increment financing agreement between the county and TransCanada, a Canadian-based energy company. TransCanada is proposing to build a 132 megawatt, 44-turbine commercial wind farm along Kibby Mountain and Kibby Range in Kibby and Skinner townships in northern Franklin County. The total investment to develop the project is estimated at $270 million. The hearing on the proposed Franklin County Enterprise Development and Tax Increment Financing District (TIF) will discuss the number below.

If the project goes forward with a TIF agreement, it is expected there would be an 8 percent decline in the tax rate in the unorganized territory in the first year, he said. The rate would drop from $8.08 per $1,000 of value to $7.43 per $1,000. According to Carrabassett Valley Town Manager Dave Cota, if there were no TIF, all municipalities would also see a decrease in county taxes. With a TIF, Cota said in a letter to commissioners, there would be a significant loss of property tax revenue and a corresponding tax shift back to Franklin County municipalities, especially high-valuation communities that will ultimately pay for the TIF. County Commissioner Gary McGrane said commissioners did listen to concerns from municipal leaders about the TIF and tried to make it fair for all.

If the proposed tax break for a Canadian energy company's 44-turbine wind farm in Northern Franklin County is approved, millions of dollars would be available to market the scenic attractions of the unorganized territory and promote economic development. ...The deal would give Franklin County $4 million a year of the "captured" property tax money to target economic development. Another $8.9 million would be returned annually to TransCanada to invest in the project. ..."I am shocked," Cota said. "Instead of giving property tax relief, we are getting these new programs when we need money for county services." He questions whether the new programs are really needed and if residents in the unorganized territory really want them. Dain Trafton of Phillips also argues that "putting money back into people's pockets" is the most beneficial thing to do. He said TransCanada had originally told the community the company had no plans to apply for a TIF. TransCanada's project director, Nick DiDomenico, has since said the company needs the tax break in light of soaring costs and a drop in the value of the dollar.

The House passed a $54 billion tax package Wednesday that Democratic backers said would help relieve dependence on imported oil while easing the economic strain on parents, homeowners and businesses. ...The measure would provide some $17 billion in tax incentives for renewable energy sources like wind and solar power, carbon capture and sequestration projects, plug-in cars and technology for green buildings. It would also create a new category of tax credit bonds to finance state and local government initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The town's chances for a rebate from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative for its proposed wind turbine may not be as good as they were last fall. An MTC program director said Tuesday the agency has had "active discussions" regarding its review process of small wind turbines after a consultant found estimates of their energy potential to be too optimistic. ...To be eligible for the rebate, a 10-kilowatt turbine like the one proposed in Westport must be projected to produce 8,760 kilowatt-hours per year of electricity, Christo said. ...A report of 19 MTC-funded small wind turbines by environmental consultant The Cadmus Group said "installers almost universally overestimate annual energy production. Often this overestimation is quite significant." Even a small error in calculating wind speed "can result in a very significant impact on energy production," the report said.

A disagreement over the terms of a tax deal for a windfarm development in Prattsburgh will apparently have to be settled in court. The Steuben County Industrial Development Agency refused to change the terms of a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement Thursday for a 36-turbine project by First Wind, formerly known as UPC. Attorneys for the Prattsburgh and Naples school districts requested a renegotiation, claiming the company should be paying hundreds of thousands of dollars more in taxes. The tax agreement involves First Wind paying a fixed amount to the school districts, the town of Prattsburgh and the county over a 20-year period.

Maverick oilman T. Boone Pickens' plan for a mammoth wind farm in the Texas Panhandle is a $2 billion bet that Congress will extend a tax credit critical to the environmentally friendly industry. ...But the [wind] industry has relied on federal tax credits to survive, a point Pickens made Thursday. "I believe that Congress will recognize that it is critical not only to this project, but to renewable energy in this country, that they enact a long-term extension of the Production Tax Credits," he said.

A disagreement over the terms of a tax deal for a windfarm development in Prattsburgh will apparently have to be settled in court. The Steuben County Industrial Development Agency refused to change the terms of a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement Thursday for a 36-turbine project by First Wind, formerly known as UPC. Attorneys for the Prattsburgh and Naples school districts requested a renegotiation claiming the company should be paying hundreds of thousands of dollars more in taxes. ...The Prattsburgh school district is being shorted about $1 million, school attorneys claim.

Marking the start of yet another bid to move the stalled extension of renewable energy tax credits through Congress, the House Ways and Means Committee yesterday approved a $50 billion tax package that contains a slew of incentives for clean energy and biofuel production. The committee passed the legislation on a largely party-line 25-12 vote after several hours of debate on amendments that mostly had little to do with the bill's energy provisions. ...The legislation provides for an extension until the end of 2009 of the wind power production tax credit -- a measure that renewable energy advocates say is pivotal for survival of the industry. Other alternative energy sources -- such as biomass and geothermal -- are extended for three years.