A transformer at the Maple Ridge Wind Farm's substation off Rector Road was destroyed by fire late Monday afternoon. Martinsburg firefighters were dispatched to the substation about 5 p.m. but had to wait until the facility was shut down before extinguishing the blaze, said Lewis County Fire Coordinator James M. Martin. ...The Columbus Day fire was the second transformer fire at the site, with a similar incident occurring July 4, 2007. In that case, 491 gallons of mineral oil leaked from the damaged transformer

With construction ramping up again unexpectedly in Cohocton, town officials are looking at their legal options in keeping the work by developer First Wind in line with agreements signed between the parties - even if it means a court date. Town Supervisor Jack Zigenfus announced at Monday night's town board meeting major work is being performed on the 50-turbine wind-powered electricity generation project on Pine, Lent and Dutch hills.

Public Service Commission spokeswoman Anne Dalton said the agency requested information from Noble on turbine equipment and operations before the collapse, debris scatter and whether the company had proper emergency response and maintenance procedures, as well as whether they were followed.

State investigators from the Public Service Commission are looking into the fiery collapse of a wind power turbine at a turbine farm in Clinton County. A preliminary examination by Nobel Environmental Power, owner of the $200 million, 65-turbine Altona Wind Park, and General Electric Co., manufacturer of the 1.5-megawatt turbines, found "wiring anomalies" prevented two turbines from shutting down as designed during a power outage.

Noble Environmental Power officials say they have detected a "wiring anomaly" in two Altona wind turbines, including the one that snapped in half last Friday. As the preliminary investigation continues into how a massive turbine suddenly collapsed, Noble officials said this week that the entire wind park experienced a loss of power Friday and that two of its 65 turbines apparently malfunctioned.

Many residents were shocked that a massive wind-turbine could come tumbling down and officials say it could take months to learn why one collapsed Friday. Mike Fellion flew over the wreckage Saturday morning and was amazed to see that pieces of the structure appeared to have been thrown "about a quarter-mile away."

Noble Environmental Power has confirmed that a turbine collapsed at its Altona, N.Y., wind park Friday morning, but said no one was injured in the collapse and ensuing fire. In a statement released by the company Friday, company spokeswoman Maggy Wisniewski confirmed one turbine had collapsed and that a small fire resulted, but she refused to speak on the record with a NewsChannel 5 reporter.

The windmills — officially called “Liberty 2.5 Megawatt wind turbines” — are the first of their kind to be used commercially. They brought national attention to Lackawanna for its creative reuse of an abandoned industrial site. The state-of-the-art turbines are so new that ClipperWind had anticipated a need for some tweaking here and there. But resolving the problem has been more difficult than expected. “This one’s a pain because you need a big crane,” acknowledged Bob Gates, ClipperWind senior vice president. The work is expected to take several months, Gates said. ...While the gear boxes are being replaced, Gates said a reinforcing bond will be applied to the fiberglass blades to prevent any major damage from tiny cracks that have developed on some.

It's one of the most visible sights in Madison County; one of the blades on the Fenner Wind Turbines broke in mid-November, and is still not fixed. ...They still don't know, what caused the blade to break; they say that this has happened at Fenner before, and hope to find out why once they're able to remove the blade.

One of the turbines at the Fenner Wind Farm hasn't been spinning since Wednesday night, because one of its blades has apparently been badly bent. ...A person who lives near the site says it sounded like a car crashing when the blade broke. There no word yet on when it'll be fixed.