They've considered more hydroelectric plants, but depending on the water year they can be unreliable. They’ve also thought of wind turbines, but again those are only as reliable as the wind, and according to them nuclear power isn’t an option for at least 20 years.

Can the United States, the first nation to put a man on the moon, develop deepwater wind turbines capable of harnessing the ocean’s vast wind resources? The answer is "yes." Unfortunately, it’s not the right question, because the real puzzler is whether deepwater technology can be made cost-effective. If it can - and experts believe the answer to that question may be at least a decade away - deepwater wind farms could offer a real alternative to fossil fuels or nuclear energy.

The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) announced last week that it would miss a legal deadline in a suit that alleges the department is preventing wind farm construction across the nation. The department had until August 28 to file their response to the Sierra Club’s claim that it has created a virtual moratorium on the construction of new wind power plants by failing to complete a study of windmills’ impact on radar by Congressionally-mandated.

Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack challenged regulators and utility companies in his state a few years ago to produce 1,000 megawatts of renewable energy by 2010. The push, known as a renewable portfolio standard and other incentives, has helped develop Iowa into a national wind energy leader. With 135 giant wind turbines towering in the rural landscape of Wright and Hamilton counties and several other wind farms in north-central Iowa, the state has become the nation’s third-leading wind-energy producer behind Texas and California.

A doctor, a utility board member, a health-care executive and a state lawmaker are among the nine people who will help decide the way Florida gets, produces and uses its energy for the next several decades. They are members of the new Florida Energy Commission, which was created as part of a major energy law passed by state lawmakers this year that is designed to lessen the state's dependence on expensive natural gas and foreign oil. Among other things, the group is charged with figuring out how the state should best develop and use renewable sources of energy, such as solar, wind and biomass. The commission also must decide how to increase the safety and construction standards for utility lines and poles so they can better withstand hurricanes.

Amid concern about global climate change, the state Legislature gave final approval Thursday to AB 32, a bill to combat global warming.

Kansas officials said Thursday they'd prefer to wait for the federal government to place new caps on carbon emissions rather than follow California's aggressive approach to curb global warming.

In U.S. Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman's Message to Stakeholders for the Department of Energy's recently released 32-page Strategic Plan, he explains "The mission of the Department of Energy is to discover the solutions to power and secure America's future.

The state has formed an energy coalition, which has a goal to find ways to secure 25 percent of the nation's energy production from renewable resources by 2025.

The state will need to produce an additional 4,900 megawatts of new power sources by 2025 - either by building new baseload plants, decreasing demand through conservation measures or a combination of both - in order to meet expected growth and avoid energy shortages.

Gov. Jim Douglas took his clearest position yet on industrial wind projects in Vermont on Friday, saying they would be "an imposition" on Vermont's landscape. Industrial wind turbines on ridge lines would not aesthetically suit Vermont's small scale landscape, Douglas, a Republican, said at a brainstorming session with leaders of large and small businesses Friday afternoon at the Gateway Center. To give up Vermont's brand for an energy source that could only produce 6 percent of Vermont's energy needs isn't a good idea, Douglas said. "I can't make the case there's enough gain for the pain," he said. "I just don't think it's worth it."

Owens Corning, a supplier of fiber reinforcement materials to the wind energy market, has launched a new Web log for designers, engineers and other technical professionals who work with composite materials in wind energy.

Sept. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Eurus Energy Holdings Corp., Japan's biggest wind power supplier, may scrap a plan to build turbines in the north of the country after the regional utility said it will cut purchases of wind-generated power because supply is unreliable.

An MIT researcher has a vision: Four hundred huge offshore wind turbines are providing onshore customers with enough electricity to power several hundred thousand homes, and nobody standing onshore can see them. The trick? The wind turbines are floating on platforms a hundred miles out to sea, where the winds are strong and steady.

John Roth stood on his 88-acre farm, looking up at the land he owns on the mountain ridge. He hopes that someday he will see a new crop that needs no fertilizer and renews itself -- windmills that generate electricity and, most importantly, a steady flow of income.

Only state-owned companies took part in a tender this month to build wind farms, highlighting shortfalls in the country's investment plan to promote clean energy sources.

Gov. Rendell announced yesterday that the state government would double, to 20 percent, the amount of electricity it consumed from renewable energy sources, moving Pennsylvania up among the nation's largest annual purchasers of green power.

MONTPELIER, Vt. -- The state Department of Public Service has announced that it and the state's two largest power companies will make available $980,000 in grants to support small solar and wind power projects.

"You really don't count on wind energy as capacity. It is different from other technologies because it can't be dispatched," said Christine Real de Azua, assistant director of communications for the American Wind Energy Association.

Editor's Note:This was first published on 8/21/06

Houston-based Reliant has sparked a debate over subsidies that has the EPA, citizens and consumer advocates concerned