Despite living in a state that hopes to become a leader in energy efficiency, people like the Flesches are discovering that obtaining approval to install turbines is difficult. The struggle is not with the state or even the power companies. The struggle is with county and local governments - many of which do not have laws in effect to deal with wind turbines.

The Allegany County Planning and Zoning Commission on Wednesday resumed discussion of the bonding and interference policies related to potential commercial or industrial wind energy installations. ...At issue is the bond amount the county could require wind energy companies to post. Hager presented a draft proposal to the county's zoning text that would require a $150,000 bond until an abandoned wind turbine has been taken down and the land restored similar to its original condition.

Gov. Martin O'Malley has garnered national attention for his goal of reducing Maryland's energy consumption 15 percent by 2015, but his Public Service Commission, which regulates the industry, has rejected nearly every power-saving program proposed by BGE, the state's largest utility. The commission, in an order last week, sent Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. back to the drawing board on all but one of the conservation and energy-efficiency programs submitted for approval. The commission said it would not saddle ratepayers with the total cost - $274 million - after determining that administrative expenses are too high and the payoff in terms of the number of people who would benefit is too uncertain.

Gov. Martin O'Malley admits he's not really sure how to best solve complex problems relating to looming energy shortfalls. But he said Saturday that state regulators are exploring how to direct utilities to find or produce new power generation sources. O'Malley said regulators are looking at ways to make companies address any "supply shortfalls that the market is not reasonably expected to deliver in time for us to keep the lights on in 2011 or 2012 and the years that follow."

A Maryland company and another in New Jersey hope to build wind farms at opposite ends of Maryland.

Frostburg resident John Bambacus wrote Delegate Wendell Beitzel in February, asking him to sponsor the repeal of a law passed in 2007 that exempts industrial wind farms from public scrutiny. He asked again this week in light of Gov. Martin O'Malley's apparent willingness to consider being a part of an industrial wind energy facility off the shores of Ocean City. This time, the former state senator received the answer he wanted. ...Right now, "land-based wind turbines are on a fast-track (approval process). They get no environmental, health or safety review" from the Maryland Public Service Commission, the Department of the Environment or other agencies, much less the general public.

The Maryland Public Service Commission will make the official decision on the Criterion Power Partners, LLC wind project on Backbone Mountain next week, but already PSC staff is recommending the company's request. "Staff recommends that the Commission grant Criterion's application," the recommendation reads. "... and advise Criterion that an exemption from the (Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity) requirement does not limit the authority of any state or local authority ..." The document, available through the PSC Web site, states that Criterion, a subsidiary of Clipper Windpower Inc. of Carpinteria, Calif., will have to go through the necessary permitting processes, and that it should also include the approval of a stormwater/sediment erosion permit by Garrett County agencies, as the county had requested be done prior to the acceptance of the application.

"The announcement the other day wasn't an announcement against wind energy or alternative energy. It was an announcement to preserve the public lands that we hold in trust for future generations," said Rick Abbruzzese, an O'Malley spokesman. "The governor is interested in doing all that we can to find alternative energy sources here in Maryland," he said. "But it didn't make sense to do at this particular state park." O'Malley's decision has "absolutely no impact" on the renewable portfolio standards or RPS bill ..."

In all, nearly 100 people attended the 45-minute presentation. After the meeting, Fannie Johnson, an Oakland native, thanked Griffin for helping to preserve "God's country." Delegate Wendell Beitzel, who in January joined state Sen. George Edwards in opposing the placement of wind turbines on public lands, called O'Malley's news "a wonderful announcement." "We were real concerned about the potential loss of our state parks and public lands," Beitzel said. "This city guy gets it," Griffin told Beitzel of O'Malley, a former Baltimore mayor. Edgerley noted that projects such as the one proposed by U.S. Wind Force on Meadow Mountain could create jobs. But much of the criticism of this particular project was its placement on public land, he said. "I think the issue of where they go has been resolved," Edgerley said. ...Former state Sen. John Bambacus, an opponent of wind turbines on state land, felt his concerns had been listened to by local officials and O'Malley, who noted Bambacus' effort during his remarks. Bambacus said he woke up Saturday morning "cautiously optimistic" about O'Malley's announcement.

Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) announced yesterday morning that he will bar commercial wind turbines from state-owned land, satisfying Western Maryland opponents of the turbines but disappointing supporters of the wind energy industry. Speaking at a scenic overlook in the Savage River State Forest in Garrett County, O'Malley said the state remains committed to exploring renewable energy sources but said the wind energy industry should look to other land for large-scale wind farms. "While we must continue to explore and make progress on creating a more sustainable and independent energy future for Maryland, we will not do so at the expense of the special land we hold in the public trust," he said. ...The idea attracted considerable opposition from residents who feared the turbines would mar the area's natural beauty and hurt tourism. "A big part of our economy is based on tourism. You'd have to put in roads, dig up property to put these things in," said Sen. George C. Edwards (R-Garrett). "It would distract from the scenery of the forestlands."

Gov. Martin O'Malley plans to announce today that his administration will prohibit the construction of wind turbines in Maryland's state forests and parks, according to administration sources. The decision ends a hotly protested proposal by a Pennsylvania company to clear about 400 mountaintop acres in two Western Maryland state forests to build 100 wind turbines. O'Malley is scheduled to announce his decision this morning atop a scenic mountain overlook in Savage River State Forest that would have been altered by 40-story windmills. ...O'Malley listened to both sides but finally sided with preserving open space. "The governor feels very strongly that ... we need to protect our conservation lands because we hold them in trust for future generations," said one administration source. Maryland has no wind farms today.

Gov. Martin O'Malley has decided against allowing private companies to build windmills on state park land in western Maryland, WBAL TV 11 News has learned. The governor strongly supports developing solar and wind energy. Wind power is a pollution-free energy source that can generate enough electricity to power 55,000 households. But clear-cutting acres of state forests to install the windmills is being met with overwhelming public opposition, and the governor is choosing to put the quality-of-life of those most impacted ahead of profits, 11 News reporter David Collins said.

The governor's office will not reveal its decision until Saturday morning, but he is expected to say no to wind turbines on public land. "The picture people have now of the beautiful cascading mountains; 450-million-year-old mountains rising up out of the mist will be completely replaced by massive, skyscraper-sized industrial development, and that is all that people will see," said Jon Boone, Friends of Backbone Mountain. "What are the drivers for the windmills; it is money. ..."

Gov. Martin O'Malley has scheduled a trip to western Maryland to announce whether his administration will allow wind turbines on state forest land. ...The planned announcement will cap four months of heated debate over a company's proposal to lease and clear hundreds of acres in the western mountains to erect about 100 turbines for electricity generation.

A bill that would have committed Maryland to fight global warming died in a House committee last night after lobbying from industry and from factory workers fearful for their jobs. The Economic Matters Committee voted against the measure, which had been endorsed by Gov. Martin O'Malley and had passed the Senate, albeit in a weakened form. The bill would have mandated a 25 percent reduction by 2020 in greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, which scientific authorities say are warming the climate. It also would have set a goal of curbing emissions 90 percent by 2050. O'Malley said he was disappointed that the bill failed, but "glad we had the debate." He predicted that the bill would be back.

An eco-friendly governor, an activist attorney general and a willing legislature arrived at the State House this year with plans to make Maryland a testing ground for some of the nation's most ambitious environmental policies. Then the economy tanked, and they found that it's not easy being green. Much of Gov. Martin O'Malley's environmental agenda is headed toward passage in the General Assembly - at least in some form. He has backed new goals for reducing energy consumption, boosting renewable energy and protecting the Chesapeake Bay. ...Some lawmakers and lobbyists have said the environmental and energy proposals would have dire consequences. They have drawn comparisons to the state's effort to deregulate the energy industry, an idea championed by the legislature a decade ago and now lampooned by many of those same lawmakers, who say it only led to higher electrical rates. "No one should think that these bills have been diluted to no effect. They are still big policy shifts," said Del. Anthony J. O'Donnell, the House minority leader from Southern Maryland. "This has huge ramifications for our lifestyle and our economy."

A month has passed since the end of the comment period on development of a policy for wind turbines on state land, and according to Maryland Department of Natural Resources, no decision has yet been made. A spokeswoman for DNR said the agency hopes to have an event mid-April once a decision has been made on the department's stance on turbines located on state land.

Recommendations made by the Garrett County Planning Commission are not possible, according to the Garrett County commissioners, who say they will not pursue a moratorium on wind turbine development or legislation to provide regulation of the industry. "A moratorium would (have to) be on all building construction, not just wind power," Monty Pagenhardt, county administrator, said. "They have to regulate everything. What the planning commission tried to suggest through some kind of legislation just can't be done outside of countywide zoning." The commissioners sent out a statement saying that they looked into both suggestions made by the planning commission Wednesday, and that they were advised by legal counsel that neither the moratorium nor the legislation on wind turbine projects in the county would be possible.

Questions brought up over wording in the comprehensive plan have led to a decision by the Garrett County Planning Commission to recommend legislation and a moratorium on wind power in the county. The decision for the board to make the suggestion to the county comissioners was made Wednesday in a 6-2 vote, with an additional unanimous vote to remove the wording of county support for wind power from the comprehensive plan draft. "I've listened to arguments about parking places and signage," John Bombacus, a local resident, said. "These things are going to be 400 feet tall." Some of those in attendance were worried that by letting regulations go through their traditional processes, it might be too late to effect new, smaller projects from getting approval at a state level.

A proposed 40-turbine wind power project in Garrett County would shrink to 28 turbines — small enough to avoid some of the public scrutiny that has hampered its progress — under a change sought by developer Clipper Windpower PLC. The project’s maximum output would drop from 101 megawatts of electricity to 70 megawatts, Clipper said in a filing with the state Public Service Commission. At that size, under a state law passed last year, the project wouldn’t need a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity — a power plant construction permit the PSC awards after lengthy rounds of reviews and public hearings.