Freedom residents who hoped the wind turbines on Beaver Ridge would bring a lower tax bill got a surprise this year as other factors sucked up most of the windfall. ...Freedom town officials, with help from the state, valued the Beaver Ridge development at $9.7 million and the Central Maine Power transmission lines running up the ridge at an additional $480,000. But the value added to the town made barely a dent in the mill rate, which went from 17 to 15.5.

Gov. Chet Culver is defending his focus on Iowa's renewable energy industry, saying his effort has created "thousands of jobs" and leaving little doubt he'll make it the centerpiece of his campaign for a second term. The Democratic governor made the creation of a $100 million Iowa Power Fund the centerpiece of his 2006 campaign, and he dismissed a report by the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency that found the fund has had limited success.

Residents voted 36-10 during all-day voting Saturday to approve a tax increment financing deal the Board of Selectmen negotiated with First Wind of Massachusetts for the town portion of the company's Rollins Mountain project. First Wind plans to build 40 1½-megawatt turbines along the Rollins Mountain ridgelines that run through Burlington, Lee, Lincoln and Winn.

Despite a potential windfall of $300,000 a year or more for schools, the Mineral County Board of Education will not take a position in support of the proposed Pinnacle Wind Farm prior to the September hearing on the project to be conducted by the West Virginia Public Service Commission. Officials from U.S. WindForce appeared before the school board earlier this month to preview the project atop Green Mountain just west of Keyser, as well as the plan to divert about three-quarters of the wind farm's property tax revenue to the school system. Opponents of the project appeared before the board at the same time.

Oregon lawmakers tried to save millions of taxpayer dollars by trimming state subsidies enjoyed by wind energy farms, but Gov. Ted Kulongoski said today he plans to veto that effort. In doing so, the governor signaled he has little tolerance for any retreat on his vision for the state as a national center for alternative energy -- recession or no. ...Sen. Ginny Burdick, D-Portland, who led the effort to rein in wind farm tax credits, said ...the tax breaks go too far and cost too much.

Wind farms generate a lot of electricity, but not a large number of permanent jobs once the construction phase is over. And although the projects are desirable because they use an abundant renewable natural resource, the only significant revenue the units are generating in Wyoming at this point is through property taxes in the counties where they are located. Their property tax bills so far are modest.

The District 300 school board approved a pilot all-day kindergarten program ...The money - an estimated $2 million a year after six years - made from the wind farm would be used to offset the district's energy costs. ...But board member Monica Clark questioned whether it is too good to be true.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) announced proposals yesterday for RBS and Lloyds to boost lending to stricken wind-farm developers, which have been hit hard by the credit crunch ...A spokeswoman for RBS said that nothing had been signed and that it would be "at least two months" before a final decision was taken on whether to proceed with the scheme.

Members from DKR Wind, the company looking to build a windmill farm near Oilton, approached Commissioner's Court on how much tax abatement they are requesting. They are looking for a $280 thousand abatement over a ten year period.

A contract has yet to be drafted, but there was discussion during a work session Tuesday among the county commissioners and representatives from US Wind Force as to how the company would guarantee tax money to come into the county. "I'm trying to protect the people in Mineral County," Commission President Wayne Spiggle said. "I want to try to ensure they have the tax income from this industry. This industry has a unique taxation base."

An amendment to a state renewable energy law is expected to encourage wind and solar power by making it easier for projects to be paid when they produce more electricity than they use. The amendment, signed by Governor Carcieri this month, reduces restrictions on a law enacted last year that for the first time in Rhode Island allowed "net metering." The law was designed to compensate green energy producers for surplus electricity they pump back into the power grid.

A Texas professor urged members of Congress to drive a growing West Texas industry by funding wind-energy research. ..."I believe if research and education investments are made on the scale proposed that this industry can provide 20 percent of the nation's electrical power by 2030," the Lubbock professor said in testimony.

Spanish clean energy firm Iberdrola Renovables has said that it is hoping to secure between $400 million and $500 million in US government aid over the coming months in order to develop new wind projects in the US. ...offering direct funding for 30% of such investments (covering approximately 95% of the cost of the wind farm).

Putting up towers and turbines, building roads between them and hooking them to the power grid can be expensive. Offering a little leeway on the front end in the form of tax relief - up to about $10 million until recently - has helped Oregon bring in the farms during the past decade.

Salt River Project announced Friday that it was considering raising electricity rates 8.8 percent, opening the next chapter in a long string of rate hikes to hit Arizona consumers over the past decade. But it also offered a glimpse of the future, where more energy will come from cleaner, renewable sources - but will come at a premium. If approved, the increase could go into effect in October.

Low electrical transmission capacity is not only making it difficult for wind power developers to figure out how to connect to the grid; it's created another hurdle for development of a uniform tax-exempt policy. The Jefferson County Industrial Development Agency was charged with creating the policy to guide all payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreements for wind farms by the county Board of Legislators last year.

The government released guidelines Thursday for allocating stimulus money to renewable energy projects, a move expected to help kick-start an industry dragged down by the recession. The guidelines from the Treasury and Energy departments detail how developers can apply for grants to finance up to 30 percent of wind farms, solar plants, biomass facilities and other renewable energy operations.

Ohio lags far behind the rest of the Midwest -- and most of the country -- in wind power use. ...So why does Ohio have one wind farm -- the four turbines at the Wood County Landfill in Bowling Green -- instead of windmills all over the northern part of the state? "In the past, other states have offered better incentives," said Joe Woods, managing director of North Coast Wind and Power LLC in Port Clinton.

A Canadian energy company and an arm of the U.S. Energy Department are working on a deal to complete financing for a proposed Montana-Alberta power line that would span 214 miles and carry power from the region's emerging wind industry, officials said Tuesday.

A state program that subsidizes green energy projects got trimmed Friday when lawmakers gave final approval to a bill that reduces tax credits for Oregon wind farms. Gov. Ted Kulongoski hasn't decided on the bill. His aide said he doesn't want to roll back Oregon's incentives for alternative energy because they have delivered "tremendous economic returns." At the same time, he recognizes that the state needs all the money it can get in the next two years.