Altalink may be making headway in its bid to install a 1,250 megawatt-capacity transmission line that will transport power generated by Pincher Creek wind farms to Lethbridge. "Right now we're just in the final stages of something," AltaLink spokesman Scott Schreiner told The Echo recently. He declined to elaborate, but added that details would be made available soon.

TRURO - Plans are underway to erect up to 22 wind turbines on Nuttby Mountain. "We're well through most of the permitting process," Cobequid Area Wind Farms Inc., co-owner Clare Peers told Colchester County Council this week. The company is in the process of completing an environmental assessment, which includes public consultation. If approved, the project is expected to cost from $70 million and $90 million and will see between 15 and 22 turbines erected just below the Nuttby fire and communications towers.

Municipal politician in three Eastern Townships communities have thrown their support behind a proposal to erect giant wind turbines in local farmers' fields to generate electricity for markets south of the border. In separate meetings Monday, the town councils of Pike River, Stanbridge Station and Bedford Canton - the three communities directly affected by the project - voted in favour of the Stanbridge Station Wind Plan.

The Lake Huron shoreline will soon have another wind farm with the erection of six turbines near Ravenswood west of Grand Bend. Glen Estill of Sky Generation says work on the turbines will begin this month and should be completed by November.

A wind-turbine bylaw under consideration by Pictou County council may include some of the province's most restrictive conditions. If the bylaw passes a public hearing and final readings next month, large wind turbines capable of supplying electricity to the power grid will have to be placed at least 600 metres from homes. That's the farthest distance legislated so far in Nova Scotia, said Pictou County Warden Allister MacDonald, adding that other jurisdictions call for a 500-metre setback.

Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh reeve Ben Van Diepenbeek says a recent meeting with Environment Ministry officials produced some interesting discussion but not much else. The municipality had asked the Ministry several months ago for some clarification and verification of two reports that claimed low-level noise from wind turbines was worse during the night than during the daytime. Van Diepenbeek says they want the Ministry to confirm that claim so they can find a suitable distance for setbacks in creating a bylaw for wind turbines. He says the Ministry has now promised to review the reports and get back to them this fall.

Canadian Hydro Developers Inc. has jumped over two hurdles that stood in the way of the construction of two of Canada's biggest wind power projects. The Calgary-based company has received key approvals from the Ontario Municipal Board that should help it move ahead with an 86-turbine project on Wolfe Island near Kingston and another 88-turbine wind farm in the Township of Melancthon, northwest of Toronto. During the OMB hearing concerning the Wolfe Island project, Canadian Hydro negotiated a settlement with local residents who said the project was too close to homes and bird habitats. The company agreed to a number of changes and will locate the turbines further away from wetlands and buildings.

He was hooted and heckled and confronted with counter-arguments by an angry crowd of 300 Eastern Townshippers. But the promoter of a controversial project to turn a dozen farmers' fields near the Vermont border into a gigantic industrial wind park got his point across last night...... At issue is a plan by Cliche's company, SM International Inc., to erect 31 towering, three-rotor wind turbines in local fields, hoping to generate two megawatts of electricity for Hydro-Qubec from each, for a total of 62 megawatts, starting in 2011 for export to the United States.

The heated debate over wind farms quietly passed a milestone when Bruce County's planning committee recommended 15 official plan amendments to govern commercial wind farms. The additions put the county on the leading edge of a controversial issue that's had little direction from the province, said planner Chris LaForest. They come after months of review and public input, including a huge file of written submissions.

Seventeen companies are vying to build the province's next wind farm. Manitoba Hydro is looking to add about 300 megawatts of wind-generated electricity to the province's grid, more than triple its current capacity. The agency says it will take a couple of months to choose from the proposals it received by last week's deadline. The proposals varied from smaller farms generating just 25.5 megawatts each to huge ones that can create the full 300 megawatts.

After seven hours of calculations, presentations and protestations, the Subdivision and Development Appeal Board for the Municipal District of Pincher Creek decided to take a recess before announcing its decision regarding a local developer's appeal. "We need to sit down and go through the new information that's been presented, and to clarify things," said Appeal Board Chairman Wade Mitchell, concluding the July 26 proceedings. The appeal, launched by Allan Kettles, follows the MD's Municipal Planning Commission's (MPC's) decision in June to reject his application to build the Heritage Wind Farm, consisting of 112 Vestas V-90 turbines about 12 miles northeast of Pincher Creek, in Summerview.

The heated debate for and against wind farms quietly passed a milestone last week when Bruce County's planning committee recommended 15 Official Plan amendments that will govern commercial wind farms. The additions will put the county on the leading edge of a controversial issue that's had little direction from the province, said planner Chris LaForest. They come after months of review and public input, including a huge file of written submissions.

An Ontario company is looking at marshlands near Amherst as a potential location for a wind farm that could include up to 40 turbines. Invenergy Canada recently erected test towers in the Mount Whatley area and at another location near the Missaquash River on the Converse Marsh to determine their suitability as potential wind farm sites. "Our company is looking at the opportunity to put wind farms up in Atlantic Canada. Everyone has said for years and years that there's plenty of wind in the Tantramar Marsh area and we're here to prove it," company director Mark Bell said. "We've started an exploration campaign with two test towers."

Potential neighbours of a proposed wind farm near St. Joseph, Man., are raising concerns about problems the turbines could bring to their community. Manitoba Hydro has been encouraging new wind farms across the province. The Crown utility is currently reviewing 83 proposals submitted by 17 developers in response to a request for proposals in March. One of the proposals calls for 63 wind turbines to be installed near St. Joseph, Man., 85 kilometres south of Winnipeg. The proposed wind farm would be similar in size to a project near St. Leon, Man., that is already generating power for Manitoba Hydro. Some people who live in St. Joseph have raised concern that the proposed wind farm could lower property values and be just plain annoying.

Wind power advocates are unhappy with the Alberta government for suggesting that the current cap on wind energy in the province might be raised, rather than eliminated completely. Last year the province's energy operator set a "threshold" of 900 megawatts for wind power production, because of concerns that amounts above that level could destabilize the power grid. As wind is intermittent and requires backup, anything above that level could be a problem, the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) said. About 500 MW of wind power is generated in the province already, and many more projects in the planning stages would push past the 900 MW mark.

Projects are picking up the most speed in Ontario, where the provincial government has embraced wind energy as a symbol of its green friendliness, and municipalities are signing on with a fervour because the province's above-market prices mean they can reap cash in land sales and tax revenues. But as Canada experiences a rapid rise in these developments, there is a growing opposition to wind power as a clean energy alternative, with complaints that it is high-cost, energy-inefficient, causes noise pollution and even wreaks havoc on birds' migratory patterns. After raising many of these concerns with the Ontario Municipal Board, residents of Wolfe Island, Ont., celebrated a victory this week when plans for an 86-turbine megaproject by Canadian Hydro Developers, Inc. was modified to place the turbines farther away from residential areas and wetlands.

The Stelmach government foresees nearly doubling the amount of wind-power generation allowed in Alberta, even as the province remains the only jurisdiction in Canada to cap the production of wind energy. "There is every possibility that (the cap) could move to, in the interim, someplace around 1,500 megawatts," said Energy Minister Mel Knight. "As we move along and Alberta's system becomes more robust, and we're able to integrate more wind, I can see it moving beyond that."

CALGARY - The Stelmach government foresees nearly doubling the amount of wind-power generation allowed in Alberta, says Energy Minister Mel Knight, even as the province remains the only jurisdiction in Canada to cap the production of wind energy. Industry groups are demanding the province go further than raising the amount of production permitted and remove the cap.

PUGWASH - The Gulf Shore Preservation Association is going to make another attempt to resolve its ongoing dispute with the Municipality of Cumberland over a proposed wind farm project. Lisa Betts confirmed Friday her organization is discontinuing planned legal action against the county in hopes of reopening the dialog to have the county's recently implemented siting guidelines amended. "We really want to resolve this in a non-confrontational manner. We know council was divided on this issue and feel if we can sit down as adults and discuss this that we can come up with something that works for the county, the developer and us," she said.

QUEBEC - The nationalization of Quebec's hydroelectric power in the 1960s was the crowning achievement of Rene Levesque, then a Liberal energy minister, who later became the first Parti Quebecois premier. More than 40 years later, some suggest the province should follow in his footstep and nationalize a booming new industry - wind power. Government-owned Hydro-Quebec has become a symbol of Quebec's pride and know-how and developed into the largest single electricity producer in North America. The utility has a virtual monopoly on the distribution of electricity in the province, most of it produced by its own dams. Quebec has been called the "Saudi Arabia of wind energy" and experts say it gives the province a bright future.