The McEvoy Ranch’s plans to build a 189-foot-tall windmill on its North Marin property has put some local environmentalists in the uncomfortable position of protesting a source of alternative energy. Both environmentalists and neighbors are quick to point out that they aren’t opposed to wind power - or even to the prospect of a windmill at the McEvoy Ranch, a project the Marin Board of Supervisors will consider Tuesday. “We’re for renewable energy,” said neighbor Susie Schlesinger, whose Petaluma ranch is powered in part by solar cells and a small windmill. “But the county wouldn’t let someone put up a 19-story building anywhere else without saying something about it. This could be the tallest structure between the Golden Gate Bridge and Portland, Oregon.”

The power of wind in the Shasta Valley is undeniable. It can be measured in terms of force on a raised hand, or converted from meters per second, to revolutions per minute, and eventually, kilowatt hours. But harnessing that power and turning into electricity remains science fiction outside Weed, at least for now. While those who have looked into installing wind farms north of Weed believe that it would be a viable form of alternative energy, the consensus is there isn’t enough data yet available.

Environmental groups are divided regarding rules adopted this week by Alameda County designed to reduce the number of golden eagles, raptors and other birds killed in the spinning blades of Altamont Pass wind turbines. Under new permitting rules accepted after a 4-1 vote by county supervisors Wednesday, up to 4,800 privately operated turbines will be shut down during winter and turbine blades will be painted to make them easier for birds to see. The turbines will be shut down for two months or longer this winter and next, and for a quarter of the year or more beginning at the end of 2008. Other restrictions might be adopted if bird deaths don’t drop by a half within three years.

The first phase of a $1.85 billion high-voltage transmission system necessary for the development of one of the biggest collection of wind farms in the United States goes to the California Independent System Operator board on Jan. 25, the grid operator said on Friday. The Cal ISO staff recently recommended to the ISO board that it approve the project. “The project goes a long way to helping us green the grid,” said Cal ISO spokeswoman Stephanie McCorkle.

BP’s year-old wind power business plans to launch a host of new projects by year’s end, showing how a major oil company can quickly move into the ranks of major wind companies. Power output from the individual projects, which the company will announce today, tends to be somewhat smaller than typical plants fired by natural gas or coal. But it’s another sign of the growing enthusiasm for renewable power. “This is a profitable business for us today,” said Bob Lukefahr, president of Houston-based BP Alternative Energy North America. “Finding resources and bringing them to market on a large scale is a core function of BP, so over time these will become even bigger projects.”

BP Alternative Energy North America Inc. expects to begin construction on five U.S. wind power generation projects in 2007 across four states, including Texas. The projects — also located in California, Colorado and North Dakota — are expected to deliver a combined generation capacity of 550 megawatts.

Alameda County Supervisors on Thursday approved a settlement intended to reduce the number of birds killed by Altamont Pass windmills, but not all environmental groups are happy. The settlement forces the wind industry to commit to a 50 percent reduction in raptor deaths by November 2009, along with removing the deadliest turbines and continuing winter shutdowns of the wind machines.

A settlement expected to reduce the number of birds killed by Altamont Pass windmills will be considered by Alameda County supervisors today. At least one environmental group, however, has major concerns about the deal. The proposed settlement stems from a lawsuit filed against the county in October by the Golden Gate Audubon Society, Californians for Renewable Energy and four other local Audubon chapters. The suit challenged the county’s decision to renew permits for Altamont Pass wind turbines that kill hundreds of migrating birds each year. According to a study released in 2004 by the California Energy Commission, an estimated 1,700 to 4,700 birds die each year by flying into whirring turbine blades or being electrocuted by transmission lines that thread through the 50,000-acre Altamont Wind Resource Area. Those deaths include protected species. The lawsuit alleged the supervisors violated state law by failing to conduct environmental studies of the turbines’ effects on wildlife. All the plaintiffs in the case have signed off on the proposed settlement, and only the supervisors’ endorsement is needed for final approval.

DeWind Inc., a subsidiary of Irvine, Calif.-based Composite Technology Corp. (CTC), has completed the construction of the 2 MW DeWind D8.2 wind turbine at an offshore testing site in Cuxhaven, Germany.

Wind-turbine opponents are meeting tonight to plot their next moves in their efforts to block windmills planned for south of Desert Hot Springs. Oregon’s PPM Energy is proposing 45 wind turbines on 1,510 acres. Forty of the windmills would be on unincorporated land; the other five would be in Palm Springs. Joyce Manley, who lives less than a mile west of the proposed windmills and is helping organize the meeting, said she and others tonight will encourage a letter-writing campaign asking county officials to nix the proposal.

A California company announced a deal Wednesday with Alta Windpower Development LLC to put up additional wind turbines in the area. Southern California Edison signed a wind energy contract that will provide 1,500 megawatts of clean power to customers. The power will be generated by new projects being developed in the Tehachapi area of California.

California property owners are poised to gain yet another reason to go green. In a decision closely watched by the solar industry, the California Public Utilities Commission recently signaled its intent to award the ownership of credits earned from renewable energy sources to the residential and commercial owners of such systems — and not to the utility companies. If this preliminary decision by the PUC becomes final during its Jan. 11 meeting, it will allow the state to establish a market where these renewable energy credits can be bought and sold. The PUC has wrestled with the question of who owns the credits for the past two years.

The massive 1,500 megawatt wind power deal announced Thursday by utility Southern California Edison (EIX) and a subsidiary of Australian company Allco Finance will crank up California’s wind energy capacity by 65 percent. That will go a long way in helping the state meet a mandatory target of generating 20 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2010. But renewable energy projects like the huge wind farms to be built in SoCal’s Tehachapi region face a big hurdle: insufficient or non-existent transmission lines to connect the windy and sunny parts of California to the power grid. Yesterday, as the Tehachapi project was being announced, the California Energy Commission released a report warning that, “the lack of transmission infrastructure to access remote renewable resources is the most critical barrier to meeting California’s 20 percent target by 2010.”

Placing a big bet on the wind, Southern California Edison Co. said Thursday that it would buy the power produced by a massive Tehachapi energy project that would dwarf the nation’s largest such operations. The Rosemead-based utility agreed to purchase at least 1,500 megawatts of power from the planned wind farm under a 20-year contract. The price was not disclosed.

The city of Desert Hot Springs has voted “no” on giant windmills being built near the town. The city council voted 4-to-1 for a resolution opposing plans for new windmill construction outside the city limits.

A resolution to officially oppose 40 planned windmills just outside of town is expected to be approved at tonight’s City Council meeting. “There’s nothing binding. It’s just a resolution to the Board of Supervisors of Riverside County” declaring the council’s position, Councilwoman Yvonne Parks said. Windmill developer PPM Energy of Portland, Ore., is proposing the project and must ask for several variances from the county Planning Commission to do so. The project must ultimately be approved by the county Board of Supervisors. The City Council’s opposition comes in conjunction with a grass-roots movement by residents to stop the 327-foot wind turbines.

Residents of Whitewater, Painted Hills and some residents of Desert Hot Springs gathered at the Carl May Center to speak out Thursday night against Dillon Wind’s proposal to build more windmills in three locations in and near the city’s sphere of influence.

A grassroots movement to stop construction of 45 30-story windmills is gaining steam among Desert Hot Springs residents. About 50 people - nearly all of whom opposed building more wind turbines - gathered Thursday at Carl May Community Center to devise ways to stop the behemoths from being built in their back yards.

OAKLAND Calif. – A blue-ribbon Scientific Review Committee (SRC) and an Avian Monitoring Team appointed by Alameda County to study bird fatalities at Altamont Pass has begun a groundbreaking monitoring program aimed at finding solutions for reducing the high number of birds of prey killed at some wind turbines. This monitoring effort is intended to detect trends in bird mortality at Altamont Pass and evaluate the effectiveness of mitigation measures implemented to reduce avian mortality. The goal is to reduce deaths of target raptor species by 45 percent.