With wind turbines literally on the horizon, Naples officials are again calling on state leaders to make sure the power-generating machines are farther away from the town's borders. ...Turbines on the hills near Naples became operational earlier this year. Plans for more turbines in Prattsburgh in Steuben County and Italy in Yates County give new urgency to the call for re-siting, said Naples Supervisor Frank Duserick

In Utah, state officials are fielding various combinations of energy proposals, a list that includes solar and geothermal installations and an energy storage project ...Scores of projects - some speculative, others well-funded and a few quirky - have surfaced with energy companies eager to take advantage of loan guarantees and tax breaks being promoted by President Barack Obama.

In the scramble to harness ocean wind power, floating turbine technology may be the holy grail. Turbines that can be floated into position and anchored in deeper water are the solution to much of the politics that confronts shallow-water projects, according to proponents of the concept. A pair of announcements this month seems to herald the next step into deeper water.

Wind power was among several concerns Obama's Ocean Policy Task Force heard during a public meeting in Providence, its only stop on the wind-rich East Coast. The meeting came a week after the task force recommended creating a National Ocean Council to coordinate and hold accountable a hodgepodge of federal agencies responsible for conservation and marine planning.

Renewable energy is too costly, takes up too much land and is unable to supply the continuous electricity needed to meet Abaco's power needs, presentations on behalf of the Bahamas Electricity Corporation (BEC) have argued, although attendees at the Wilson City power plant town told Tribune Business yesterday the alternatives had not been properly explored.

The tricky business of going green in Ontario just got more complex yesterday, as the McGuinty government introduced a mandatory "Buy Ontario" component for new solar and wind projects. The changes were part of a bundle of new policies designed to spark homegrown green manufacturing, as well as the wide deployment of its products -- everything from small, rooftop solar panels to industrial-sized wind farms. But in trying to strike a balance between competing interests, the Liberals appear to have rattled all sides.

Well over 100 people attended the public hearing called to receive feedback on the Oceans Management Plan, billed by the state government as a first-in-the-nation attempt to manage all development in Massachusetts waters. But just one issue dominated proceedings: wind generation. ...Overwhelmingly, the dozens who rose to speak were opposed to the plan, either outright or in part - although most also asserted their support in principle for alternative power generation.

Ontario will cover the total cost and provide "a reasonable rate of return" for investments in green energy projects through decades-long contracts with fixed electricity prices. The government said it is the first program of its kind in North America. ..."They're going to fast-track wind turbines ... without looking at the health related issues, and that ought to be a concern of everyone," he said.

This week, Concerned Citizens to Save Roxbury appealed the Maine Department of Environmental Protection's approval of the Record Hill Wind Project. The group wants the DEP's board to hold a public hearing to explore conflicting medical and technical information regarding the licensing of large wind turbine projects. The appeal comes while Gov. John Baldacci is on a trade mission in Europe to promote Maine as an attractive place to develop wind power.

Business leaders who huddled with Obama administration officials on Tuesday said an infusion of more than $1 billion in federal grants for renewable energy projects is driving a surge of private investment in wind and solar operations. But they said sustaining the boom could depend on whether Congress will require utilities to derive a share of their power from renewable sources.

Wind-turbine makers say growth in their industry could dramatically slow unless the federal government requires more electricity come from renewable energy. New federal stimulus grants helped restart a stalled wind-power industry, but Vic Abate, a General Electric Co. vice president in charge of its wind-turbine business, said orders for wind turbines to be built in 2012 and thereafter have been "extremely light."

A public informational meeting will be held Wednesday at the Butler Township Municipal Building for input into amending the township zoning ordinance to address wind turbine issues. The meeting, slated from 6 to 8 p.m., was announced at last week's meeting of the Butler Township Board of Supervisors by Chairman Kevin Kowalick, a Republican-Herald employee. The decision to amend the zoning ordinance was spurred by the plans of Broad Mountain Development Co. LLC to construct 27 wind turbines, or windmills, in the Fountain Springs area.

Through its sophisticated operations center here, the Iberdrola power company can instantly check on any of its 5,500 wind turbines in 10 countries, using giant electronic maps showing the locations and data from the machinery such as wind speed and temperature readings. By pushing a few buttons, operators can see whatever they need to make their global system more efficient as it turns wind into electricity, from blown-out schematics of each turbine to real-time photographs. What Maine officials would like to see is a few of those wind turbines in their state.

The governor made his first formal step in developing offshore wind resources, saying in a news release today that he has requested the formation of a federal-state-local task force. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine sent a letter this month to the U.S. Department of the Interior requesting the formation of the task force to guide and facilitate the leasing process of federal waters off the Virginia coast to develop wind power.

The flurry of recent renewable power decisions in Sacramento could have far-reaching - even contradictory - results. ...Renewable power advocates are still trying to assess the effects of all the things that Sacramento did and didn't do. But they see several likely results.

An Arran-Elderslie councillor wants his council to enforce its rights under the Ontario Municipal Act and impose a moratorium on wind energy projects. Elderslie ward Coun. Mark Davis said last week the municipality can impose moratorium legislation for one year, with the opportunity to extend it for another year, "if we feel an issue needs further study.

State energy officials are gauging interest from developers who would build an offshore farm of electricity-generating, skyscraper-sized wind turbines off the Worcester coastline. "The question is, how do we tap into the wind resources that we've got?" said Maryland Energy Administration Director Malcolm D. Woolf.

About 35 people, including fishermen, biologists, conservationists and others, on Wednesday night attended the third in a series of meetings being held along Maine's coast to gather information about proposed offshore wind power development. Following a legislative mandate, the state has identified seven areas that are possible demonstration sites for testing wind power equipment.

A company that wants to build a floating wind farm 23 miles off the coast of Martha's Vineyard has applied to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for a permit to install a demonstration platform at the project's proposed site. The application by Blue H USA proposes a semi-submerged deepwater platform held underwater by chains attached to a counterweight on the ocean floor.