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.

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.

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.

The public is invited to hear John Stahl speak at the Arguello Group of the Sierra Club’s meeting at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the First Presbyterian Church of Lompoc, 1600 Berkeley Drive.

When peak demand hits, as it did during this year's sweltering July, the center would be called into action, the company said. The plant, planned to be built on Clawiter Road near PG&E's Eastshore substation, would only operate during peak demand periods, according to the company...... The Eastshore plant would use less water annually than five residences, the company said, with its engines cooled by a closed-water system. It would be built using state-of-the-art air emissions control technology.

Up to 49 wind turbines could line 6½ miles of ridgeline near Burney -- and might be visible from parts of downtown Redding. If approved, the $180 million Hatchet Ridge Wind Project would harness up to 125 megawatts of electricity at the site of the 1992 Fountain Fire, seven miles west of Burney and north of Highway 299. The turbines could reach 500 feet tall.

The Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a request Tuesday to the California Public Utilities Commission for a 60-day extension of a comment period regarding a Southern California Edison power line project in the Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys. Edison's project would construct additional high-power transmission lines and towers from the Antelope Valley to the Pardee power station in Santa Clarita. The power provider has proposed a 500 kilovolt transmission line from Tehachapi to its Antelope substation. The second-stage, 25.6-mile segment would stretch to Santa Clarita from the Antelope Valley.....Alis Clausen, Edison's northern region manager, said the project was part of a Utilities Commission request to Edison to find a way of sending wind energy from Kern County into the electric grid.

"Wind is more an intermittent energy supply," said Amy Morgan, a spokeswoman for the California Energy Commission, which certifies solar and wind systems that are eligible for state tax credits. Morgan said only about 2 percent of the applicants asking for tax credits are using wind energy. Most are choosing solar.

The visibility of wind turbines, which in this case will be up to 490 feet high from the top of the blade to the ground is a common problem, and bird deaths are another potential drawback, Day said. Bird deaths were common in the Altamont Pass, near the Bay Area, but this project is different, he said. These turbines will not be visible from Lompoc and to people looking across the Valley from Vandenberg Village, they will look like toothpicks, Stahl said.

In a battle over blades and breezes, the county Board of Supervisors on Tuesday tightened rules regulating home wind turbines that produce electricity.

Complaints over noise prompt a fee hike in the high desert. Users see unfair disincentives.