The proposed project, currently being processed by the Riverside County Planning Dept. in Indio would put 360 ft. high windmills on the western ridgelines of the San Jacinto Mountains above Snow Creek and 410 ft. high windmills directly in front of the spectacular North Face of Mt. San Jacinto. This proposal, like the last Enron proposal will be on the “Fast Track” with public hearings starting in January in downtown Riverside. The meeting will start at 9AM and the public comments period begins at 11AM.

Officials in Burbank, Pasadena, Glendale, Riverside and Anaheim have told the Intermountain Power Agency in Utah that they're not renewing their contracts for coal-fired power with the company. They join Los Angeles, which already rejected plans to renew its contract with Intermountain.

Bolstered by new statistics and new leadership in the U.S. Congress, an alliance of environmental groups is preparing for another offensive against four hydroelectric dams on the Lower Snake River. The aim will be the removal of all, or at least some, of the dams so the Snake will flow more freely and help the entire Pacific Northwest salmon population recover to the bountiful levels of decades ago. “At one time, 50 percent of the entire Columbia Basin salmon production came out of the Snake River Basin,” said Trey Carskadan of the Northwest Sportfishing Association. “And we certainly know we are not seeing that production now.” Proponents of dam removal say it’s a clear choice between the dams and the fish, and a new study released by the salmon crowd contends that advances in the development of energy efficiency and wind generation, plus the potential of a revved-up fishing industry stretching from the mountains of Idaho to the Pacific Coast, means no one will particularly miss those dams.

If anyone needs another means to experience the energy of the Golden Gate, the narrow channel flowing between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, they someday may find it from their nearest electrical outlet. That is the hope of San Francisco officials, who are now studying ways to harness the tremendous power of daily tidal shifts deep in the Golden Gate's waters. In September, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom announced the city would commit $145,000 to a feasibility study on generating electricity from the channel's tidal and wave energy.

The whirling blades of 100 giant wind turbines sent a jolt of electricity into California’s power grid as a group gathered in Rio Vista on Wednesday to dedicate the Shiloh Wind Power Plant. Portland, Ore.-based PPM Energy’s plant, which has been coming online gradually over the last year, is the first renewable project in the Pacific Gas and Electric Co. service area since the state’s 2002 adoption of the Renewable Portfolio Standard, PG&E officials said. The plant will help California meet the recently updated goal of getting 20 percent of its power from renewable sources like wind energy and solar power by 2010. And it will help keep lights burning, water flowing and businesses transacting in the Bay Area and across the state, PG&E said......... Though wind energy is better for the environment, it is more expensive. It costs about 6.2 or 6.3 cents per kilowatt hour, compared with current nuclear energy sources or coal, which each run around 2 or 3 cents a kilowatt hour, experts say.

California's latest source of clean energy started spinning slowly in the wind above the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta last spring........ The Shiloh Wind Power Plant, which was unveiled to reporters and utility executives this week, represents a new generation of technology for wind power. Each of its turbines can generate the same amount of electricity as 15 older windmills, some of which still dot the same grassy hills....... It is one of the first wind farms to begin operations since California began ordering the state's utilities to use more renewable energy in 2002. Pacific Gas and Electric Co. buys half of Shiloh's electricity. The rest goes to Palo Alto's municipal utility and the Modesto Irrigation District....... The project also demonstrates some of wind power's limitations. It is spread across 6,800 acres, vastly more than a traditional power plant would require. At roughly $220 million, it also cost more to build than a plant burning natural gas or coal.

“There's legitimate debate about a couple of segments,” says Keith Raab, boss of Cleantech Venture Network. In some instances, valuations accorded to firms with no profits—and little chance of making any soon—were reminiscent of the excesses of the dotcom bubble. As Douglas Lloyd, of Venture Business Research, puts it, “There's too much money chasing too few opportunities. How is it possible that this many solar companies are going to succeed? They're not.”

Despite promoting its green endeavors, Pasadena's dirty secret is that two-thirds of its power comes from coal, a fossil fuel and leading contributor to greenhouse gases. "It's the cheapest of the fuels available for us," said Phyllis Currie, general manager of Pasadena Water and Power. And although PWP is working to increase its portfolio of renewable energy sources, Currie said, the technologies needed to wean consumers are not there yet. Like it or not, coal is an essential part of the energy supply, in part because of its low cost of about 4 cents per kilowatt hour, according to IPA General Manager Reed Searle, compared to 6 cents for natural gas and 6.5 cents for wind power.

Californians voted down a proposition that would have imposed a tax on oil companies drilling in the state. Fifty-four percent of voters rejected the initiative.

I am a volunteer at the Lindsay Wildlife Museum hospital (in Walnut Creek, Calif.). In the last two weeks we have had to euthanize three golden eagles and many other birds of prey that have fallen victim to the (Altamont) windmills. Too often the windmills chop them up so bad it is impossible to save them.

The wind still blows. But thieves are ripping off its harnesses. Over the past six months burglars have repeatedly trespassed onto the Altamont wind farm, where they have cut and stolen copper cables used to operate thousands of windmills. The thievery has become so prevalent that Alameda County Sheriff’s Department deputies conducted an early-morning sting Sept. 1 and took two men into custody before the officers even launched their helicopters.

A hard wind is blowing - and it's kicking up a lot of energy. In fact, the U.S. wind energy industry is on track to install a record 2,750 megawatts of generating capacity this year. That will produce about as much electricity as is used by the entire state of Rhode Island and help strengthen energy security, according to the American Wind Energy Association, which released its third-quarter market report this week.

Forests of turbines march up the foothills west of Mojave into the Tehachapi Mountains, turbines that take Valley winds and turn them into electricity. The power produced by these wind farms and their planned expansion is the basis for Southern California Edison’s proposed Antelope Transmission Line. The high-voltage electric transmission line will deliver this electricity for use elsewhere in Southern California. The proposed transmission line will help Edison meet the state-legislated requirement of 20% of its electrical power created by renewable sources and will allow for further expansion of the wind industry in eastern Kern County.

In a little-noticed decision, an Alameda County Superior Court judge has delivered a major setback to environmental groups that aim to prevent companies from killing wildlife. The October 12 ruling by Judge Bonnie Lewman Sabraw also served as a stinging rebuke to her stepson, another local judge.

Western Wind Energy Corporation has reviewed the wind energy marketplace across the United States and has determined to seek new wind energy development opportunities in California. The strategy is focused at 30 sites totaling over 1,200 Megawatts.

Wind turbines on the Alta-Mesa hill near Whitewater They're elegant, swooping testaments to the promise of clean energy. They're noisy, clanking blights on a once-pristine desert landscape. Opinions on the thousands of power-producing wind turbines spinning in the San Gorgonio pass are as varied as, well, the wind. But one thing is certain. Californians' growing appetite for electricity means more demand for juice from dozens of newer, bigger windmills on the way - whether the people who live beneath them like it or not.

Hollywood celebrities, Silicon Valley tycoons and energy companies are waging a multi-million dollar campaign battle over plans for a Californian oil tax. They are fighting over Proposition 87, which proposes raising $4bn (£2.1bn) to fund alternative energy projects by taxing oil production in California....... Backers of the proposition claim it will fund a $4bn programme aimed at reducing the state's petrol consumption by 25%, promoting wind, solar and bio fuel energy alternatives and reducing air pollution. Its critics say the tax will drive up petrol prices, increase California's reliance on foreign oil and create an unaccountable bureaucracy to spend the proceeds.

An environmental group said today that it’s considering appealing a judge’s dismissal of its lawsuit alleging that wind-farm operators in the Livermore area violate state law by killing migratory birds. In a decision issued last week, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Bonnie Sabraw said windmill operators aren’t violating the state’s unfair competition law because the Center for Biological Diversity didn’t lose property or money. The center, which filed its suit in 2004, had claimed that the birds are part of the public trust and therefore are the property of the public.

An Alameda County Superior Court judge has dismissed a lawsuit against wind-farm operators in the Altamont Pass that claimed windmill operators had violated state law by killing migratory birds in the area. Judge Bonnie Sabraw ruled Thursday the operators were not in violation of the states unfair competition law because the Center for Biological Diversity, which filed the suit in 2004, did not lose property or money. The center had claimed the birds were part of the public trust and therefore wildlife property of the public.

Over the protests of a homebuilder and several Desert Hot Springs residents, the Riverside County Board of Supervisors Tuesday approved the placement of two giant windmills just north of Palm Springs. On a unanimous vote, the supervisors greenlighted construction of two wind turbines that will top out at 411 feet and generate an estimated 3 megawatts of electricity.