Experts suggest as many as 200 proposals could result from a call for clean energy projects issued last June by B.C. Hydro, the province's Crown-owned power utility. Energy proponents have until Nov. 25 to register their plans with the utility. The Crown corporation will announce its choices in June 2009. ..."The dilemma with this field is there is a lot of hyperbole and a lot of dramatic positioning driven sometimes by very real ecological concerns, sometimes by other factors," he said. Dauncey said the power issue in British Columbia has always been locked in an environmental debate between builders and preservationists.

When the 50-turbine Dokie wind farm just outside Chetwynd is up and running next year, it will be B.C.'s first commercial wind power project, making the province the last in Canada to have such a power project. A farm near Dawson Creek, B.C., called the Bear Mountain project is also scheduled to start generating power next year, and there are many other prospective sites being considered. ...And a group of homeowners near Bear Mountain has been rallying against the project there, insisting the wind farm will be too close to people.

Advocates, including Gov. Rendell, for long-in-the-making legislation that would increase requirements for alternative-energy use in Pennsylvania expressed pessimism Monday that passage could be accomplished before the General Assembly breaks for its summer recess.

LIBERAL leader Ted Baillieu has taken aim at the wind-power industry, saying wind farms divide rural communities and pledging a moratorium on new wind farms in Victoria. Mr Baillieu also announced large tracts of the state would become no-go zones for wind farms under a Liberal government and he wants to give sole planning approval for the turbines to local councils.

The winds of change that swept the Baillieu government to power in Victoria could see an exodus of renewable energy producers from the state. Wind farm developers yesterday warned that Victoria would lose investment due to a Coalition policy enforcing a 2km exclusion zone between houses and wind turbines.

Gov. John Baldacci was in Washington, D.C., on Friday to discuss opportunities for more regional cooperation between Atlantic Coast states and the federal government for developing offshore wind energy facilities. The same day in Augusta, a group of critics of Maine's wind power policies held a press conference just outside of Baldacci's office calling for a statewide moratorium on new permits for land-based wind farms. Baldacci, a strong proponent of wind power in Maine, promptly rejected the idea of a moratorium.

Gov. John Baldacci and a national energy expert on Tuesday touted Maine's capacity to become a major producer of wind power and manufacturing jobs as the nation shifts to greener sources of energy. But just outside the wind energy conference where the two men spoke, several dozen protesters accused the Baldacci administration and wind power companies of ignoring the impacts that the enormous turbines can have on the health and property values of nearby residents as well as on wildlife.

Wind farm policy is shaping as a turbulent federal election issue in Moorabool. Endorsed Liberal candidate Mark Banwell has called for a moratorium on building more wind farms until more details are known about their impact on peoples health. While Ballarat federal Labor MP Catherine King acknowledged residents concerns, she said presently the approval of wind farms rested with state and territory governments.

Maine - The parent company of Bangor Hydro-Electric Co. intends to buy the company that owns Presque Isle-based Maine Public Service Co., a move officials say will improve chances of building a power transmission line linking northern and southern Maine and bolster economic development in Aroostook County. In a deal valued at approximately $108 million, BHE Holdings Inc. ...plans to buy Maine & Maritimes Corp., or MAM, which owns Maine Public Service Co.

In a phone conversation last month, Jigar Shah of Carbon War Room (formerly chief of solar-as-a-service company SunEdison) disclosed that while solar leasing companies can install residential solar for between $4.00 and $5.00 per Watt, they routinely claim federal tax credits on the "fair market value," a price nearly twice as high. ...this practice also applies to the cash grants (Section 1603) in lieu of the federal Investment Tax Credit.

The town of Cherry Valley's Citizens Committee on Renewable and Alternative Energy is sponsoring a presentation next week by town of Caroline supervisor Don Barber. Caroline town officials have put together a proposal to build a 10-turbine, 2.5 mega-watt generating facility that would be financed, owned and operated by the town. The town would issue bonds to finance the project, and once those bonds are paid off, revenue generated by the turbines could be used to reduce property taxes. ...The smaller scale would address some of the residents' concerns about the visual impact of the industrialscale turbines, Garretson said.

Assemblyman Will Barclay (R,C,I-Pulaski) said today too many questions remain unanswered for windmills to be allowed to be built along the Lake Ontario shoreline. The New York Power Authority announced in December 2009 it is accepting requests for proposals (RFPs) from prospective wind mill companies to construct wind turbines along Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. The period for proposals to be accepted will come to a close in March.

A dispute over transmission lines for the proposed Nantucket Sound wind farm landed in court this week. ...Barnstable officials filed a complaint in Barnstable Superior Court Wednesday claiming the Cape Cod Commission has exclusive jurisdiction over the transmission cables that would link the turbines to the shoreline. In October, the commission rejected a plan to have the transmission cables make landfall in Barnstable, and Cape Wind appealed that decision to the state Energy Facilities Siting Board. In the complaint filed Wednesday, Barnstable officials contend the state Energy Facilities Siting Board does not have the authority to review the commission's denial of the transmission lines.

Edison Electric Institute President Thomas Kuhn told the subcommittee that under any scenario, the emissions reductions in the cap-and-trade bills before Congress will be expensive. ...Kuhn warned that if targets and timetables are not aligned with the expanded use of energy efficiency and renewables in the short term and with widespread deployment of new nuclear plants and advanced coal and carbon capture and storage technologies in the long term, "the costs of compliance would become astronomical and consumers would be compelled to curtail their use of electricity dramatically, with resulting consequences to the economy and the standard of living."

Basin Electric Power Cooperative will cut out the middleman and go directly to the wind on its own. The cooperative, long associated with lignite power and gasification plants, has formed a subsidiary to build a 77-turbine wind farm along Highway 83 south of Minot, where it installed two turbines in an earlier project. Public scoping meetings were held Wednesday and construction is scheduled to start next year. The $240 million wind farm will add 115 megawatts of electricity to Basin's power portfolio when it goes on line in 2010.

Currently, the state commission is trying to figure out how best to determine just how much solar developers should be paid by utilities for their electricity. That's to the chagrin of at least one developer, Interconnect Solar of Boise, which fears a delay ordered last week so the state could get a handle on things could doom its project.

Australia's electricity is about to be greened-up big time - but not without a fight first. Laws to ensure that a fifth of energy comes from renewable sources by 2020 have been tabled in federal parliament. ...Power prices will rise to pay for the Renewable Energy Target (RET), which will be a huge boon to wind, solar and geothermal power. But there's a hurdle to be cleared: whether big polluters should be largely exempted from paying for it.

Most New Yorkers could care less about a ruling that an administrative law judge could make on the Iberdrola-Energy East merger as early as Friday. But the decision could have huge implications for upstate New Yorkers and their energy usage. ...Staff at the department, who provide guidance and recommendations to the five-person Public Service Commission that must ultimately approve or deny the merger, have argued that the deal does not provide the public with enough benefits and that it could cause disruption to the state's wholesale electric market. Agency staff believe Iberdrola will hold too much sway over the state's wholesale electric market if it owns a substantial amount of generation in the state, which is why the company has been pushed to sell Energy East's power plants and divest itself of its wind business in New York.

A fight over renewable energy and biofuels led to a temporary shutdown of Pennsylvania's state government and, despite a compromise being reached, the opponents will resume battle in September. At issue is Governor Edward Rendell's energy independence strategy to promote renewables, energy conservation and biofuels. The Democratic governor hoped to fund an $850 million effort through a surcharge of 0.05 cents/kWh on utility bills, but Republican Senate leaders who oppose taxes resisted the idea. They also objected to measures requiring utilities to opt for conservation and renewables when customer load grows. And they opposed requiring utilities to install 'smart' meters that allow customers to see time-of-day prices and cut usage accordingly.

Massachusetts is joining a race against other U.S. states for wind power development funding to build infrastructure necessary to keep innovation here, and reverse a track record of letting wind technologies drift out to the Midwest. In addition to playing catch-up, Massachusetts officials face roadblocks including coastal Cape residents who vocally oppose windmills messing up the Atlantic horizon, lack of industry presence, and a lack of infrastructure to support development. There’s also some gale force competition blowing in from Texas and Iowa where sweeping prairies and open spaces provide ideal conditions for wind power generation.