According to Tyler Fairbank, CEO of EOS Ventures, a renewable energy development company based in Hancock, four criteria must be acceptable before a wind project can move ahead: wind resource, electrical grid connectivity, community acceptance, and a sound financial structure. "If there is a big red flag in any of these four areas, there is a pretty low probability that anything is going to happen," Fairbank said. "You can very easily have a project that makes sense from a wind resource and electrical environment perspective, but the community is not going to accept it. That is a key evaluation that really needs to be looked at."

The suit, filed by the anti-Cape Wind group, Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound on Feb. 20 in Barnstable Superior Court, contends the agency's determination violates the law, according to a press release issued today by the Alliance. "In its decision on Cape Wind's impacts, CZM has clearly violated the law and abandoned its own mission to protect our coastal environment," Glenn Wattley, alliance president and CEO, said in a prepared statement.

A new report out by the state's Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs shows just how much renewable power could be generated on state properties - especially wind farms in forests that are already being used to harvest trees or frequented by snowmobilers. Some 946 megawatts of power - enough to power some 300,000 homes - could potentially be built on ridges and windy regions on state lands across the state, including October Mountain State Forest in Lee.

The waters around Cape Cod and the Islands are crowded with big ideas and confused seas. In addition to the proposed Nantucket Sound wind farm, there are at least two other major renewable energy projects and a myriad of smaller ones proposed for the ocean off Massachusetts, most within a short sail of local shores. But even though other developers are trying to avoid some of the political hurdles Cape Wind has faced, the outlook is hazy on how quickly their projects will be able to move forward.

After much discussion Monday about the benefits and disadvantages of selling a parcel of town-owned land known as the Blair Lot, between Routes 7 and 43 (New Ashford and Hancock Roads), the Selectmen unanimously approved letting the voters have the final say at town meeting in May. ...He said the land has the potential to provide an income of $20,000 to $30,000 to the town every 15 years or so from timber harvests and could be a future site for wind turbines.

Opponents of the project, which include Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) and other residents in the area, vowed to continue their fight. They maintain the 400-foot turbines would kill birds, threaten sea life, and hurt tourism and fishing. "I do not believe that this action by the Interior Department will be sustained," Kennedy said in a statement issued to the Associated Press. "By taking this action, the Interior Department has virtually assured years of continued public conflict and contentious litigation."

Gov. Deval L. Patrick on Tuesday called for a major increase in wind power in Massachusetts, a movement that could be a boon for Berkshire businesses that have already been pursuing turbines. Patrick set a goal on Tuesday of 2,000 megawatts of wind-power capacity by 2020 ...Patrick said in a written statement. "Now is the time to turn to wind power, where we should reach even higher."

Governor Deval Patrick announced today a goal of building enough wind turbines in the state by 2020 to supply energy to 800,000 homes. Currently, the state has about 6.6 megawatts of wind power capacity generated by nine wind turbines. The governor's new target to develop 2,000 megawatts of wind power capacity is about 10 percent of the state's current electricity demand.

After more than a year's worth of meetings, research, wrangling and debates, the project hit a brick wall of sorts last month as a report by AWS Truewind showed lower-than-expected wind speeds at the Legion Way site. Without strong enough winds, the project does not make financial sense. On Monday night, the Committee for Renewable Energy for Barrington, rescinded its recommendation to the town council to accept a bid for the construction of the turbine.

The developer behind the Fairhaven wind turbines is abandoning the special permit granted earlier this year but not the project, according to a letter sent to the town last week. CCI Energy will now work with the town on how to restructure the project using the recently enacted Green Communities Act in order to provide the greatest benefit to the town, according to James Sweeney, CCI's president.

In a letter to U.S. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthome dated Thursday, the congressman [Rahall D-WV] requests that the federal Minerals Management Service delay issuing its final environmental impact statement "until the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) has provided the public 60 days to review and comment on a third-party review of the radar study submitted by the Cape Wind project developers."

The alternative energy committee is focusing on solar-power possibilities as a viable way to help the town go green and reduce municipal power costs ..."We started out looking at that route [wind power] and there's still some interest there," Mr. Wojnar said. "But it appears at this point that the solar route for us seems somewhat viable, and that it would be the least cumbersome.

The Commission is an intervenor in Cape Wind's request to the state Energy Facilities Siting Board for a comprehensive certificate of public need that would roll up several outstanding state, regional and local approvals. The company needs them before it can run seven-plus miles of cable through state waters from its proposed 130-turbine wind generation facility in federal waters in Nantucket Sound. EFSB approval would compel the Commission, the towns of Barnstable and Yarmouth, and state agencies to issue necessary permits. It would overturn the Commission's denial.

A state panel that could ease regulatory hurdles for the proposed Nantucket Sound wind farm has begun to umpire a contentious debate over who should have authority to issue a transmission cable permit for the project. Yesterday, in a small hearing room above Boston's South Station Transportation Center, attorneys for Cape Wind Associates, the Cape Cod Commission and other groups interested in the project skirmished over the cable permit issue before representatives of the state Energy Facilities Siting Board.

The winds of change blew through the country this election week and the town of Orleans is once again making moves to harness one of Cape Cod's most abundant resources for energy. The board of selectmen agreed to allow the renewable energy/wind committee to use about $10,000 allocated by a 2003 town meeting vote for wind energy to study putting a wind turbine in the town's watershed. The committee said the plan was to examine placing one wind turbine in the watershed reviving an issue many thought was killed for good last year.

On Wednesday night, battle again was joined between supporters and opponents of a proposed wind turbine farm for the waters of Nantucket Sound. The prize this time was the approval or denial of a Chapter 91 permit from the state Department of Environmental Protection. The law regulates the use of state-owned tidelands either filled or under water along the coast of Massachusetts. This piece of the wind farm puzzle pertains to the proposal by Cape Wind Associates, the developer of the project, to run two power cables from the proposed project site through the seabed of tidelands in Barnstable and Yarmouth.

The city has scheduled a public hearing Monday at 6:30 p.m. to discuss a proposal to ease the city's 50-foot building height limitation to allow wind turbines in industrial zones. The hearing will be conducted by the Planning Board and the Town Council's Economic Development Committee. It will be held in the public meeting room of the Police Department on High Street. Town Councilor William F. Martin, who is also chairman of the Greenfield Redevelopment Authority is seeking the change.

In July, the Bay State's House passed a resolution in support of efforts to have independent safety assessments conducted at nuclear power plants in Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hampshire. ...The Legislature also resolved that it's time the nation begin its transition "away from nuclear power to an affordable, clean and sustainable national energy policy." ..."I understand the concerns raised by the Commonwealth," wrote Samuel J. Collins, an NRC regional administrator, in response to the resolution. "However, I feel it is necessary to address some of the statements and assumptions conveyed in that document to dispel any misconceptions you may have ..."

Visitors to Rehoboth Beach, Del., soon may be greeted by more than sand dunes, seagulls and beach umbrellas. If offshore wind advocates have their way, scores of 140-foot blades will be spinning in the ocean breeze nearly a dozen miles away, barely visible to the sunbathers. Offshore wind has taken a back seat to offshore drilling for oil and natural gas in the current energy debate.

In a move which acknowledges almost a year of bureaucratic missteps, Aquinnah selectmen have announced their plan to scrap an energy district of critical planning concern, created to help push through a pioneering bylaw on wind turbines. But those involved have voiced a determination not to give up on an initiative ...Earlier this week selectman Camille Rose scheduled a hearing to rescind the energy district with the Martha's Vineyard Commission for Sept. 16. If approved, it will end the energy district and lift the building moratorium.