The current study, released in July of 2011 by the Economic Financial Studies School of Business at Clarkson University, cites losses of up to 40 percent on properties located within 0.10 miles of new wind turbine facilities. This has prompted him to revise his loss figure upward to a maximum of 40 percent and expected adverse impacts out to three miles, with effects becoming less extreme with distance.

Both McCann and Krogh said that a number of turbine neighbors had walked away from their homes, because they could not live with the impacts and no one would buy their homes. Others must find someplace away from the turbines to sleep and many have had to send their children to live with relatives to clear up various illnesses.

Wind power off California's coast is now just a thought among power developers, and there are no concrete plans to erect turbines at sea. But optimism is fueled by NASA and university studies indicating wind over waters off picturesque Cape Mendocino is strong and consistent enough to become one of the nation's best sources of electricity. Offshore wind and wave technologies are promising, but they're untried. They also raise concerns about potential damage to the coast's prized vistas and fish industry.

The city's press release stated: "AB1318 is essential to the future development of clean and alternative energy generation in the Coachella Valley because it will provide the ability to increase harnessing of renewable energy at the proposed peaker plant while maintaining the highest emission standards." Nichols took issue with that, saying, "I would like to know how."

A proposed wind turbine installation that would have covered more than 63,000 acres of the California desert on the eastern edge of Joshua Tree National Park has been canceled by the Bureau of Land Management, ReWire has learned.

Wind turbines may become part of the landscape among the high powered antennas out at the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex in the future, but the project is on hold for now. Military officials are conducting tests due to concerns that the wind turbines may interfere with military activity in the area, according to Dennis Mullen, energy conservation manager at Goldstone.

TransCanada has signed agreements with three wind energy developers to supply power to the company's proposed $3 billion electrical transmission line that would run from Wyoming to the Southwest. ...TransCanada and other Wyoming wind interests have been concerned about recent actions by the California Public Utilities Commission that they believe could limit renewable energy produced outside of that state.

Residents of Whitewater, North Palm Springs and Desert Hot Springs are planning a protest march against the proposed windmills this coming Sunday evening at 6 p.m. at the corner of Thomas Avenue and Indian Avenue in North Palm Springs. "The locals who have everything to lose will be there," said Chuck Wolf, resident of the affected areas where Dillon Wind plans to construct windmills almost 400 feet tall. "And now they must march to protect the life savings they've shed sweat and tears to."

Saying its blades will leave eagle blood in the air and on the ground, opponents of the Hatchet Ridge Wind Project are planning a protest rally. "It just really needs to be relooked at," said Radley Davis, a member of the Pit River Tribe and one of the protest organizers. The protest will be at noon Friday in front of the Shasta County Administration Center, organizers said.

The protesters held a mock funeral procession to mourn what they see as the loss of the Ocotillo desert, and "to demonstrate to the public that we are really unhappy with National Public Lands Day being celebrated in the face of destruction of many thousands of acres of land for land energy projects."

The state's public utilities commission opened an intensive three weeks of public hearings Monday on San Diego Gas & Electric Co.'s controversial $1.3 billion proposal to build high-power lines across the county with five hours of testimony at the county administration center. The company has been pushing for new lines, called the Sunrise Powerlink since 2005, saying they are needed to keep up with the county's growing electrical demand, prevent the region from suffering summer blackouts and to bring state-mandated "green" solar- and wind-created electricity to the region.

Wildlife researcher Jim Wiegand says "Green energy is a cover up and a lie because birds of prey are getting killed, people wouldn't believe how these turbines chop them up." Many members of the Pit River Tribe were among the protestors outside the Shasta County Administration Center touting the deadly effects wind turbines have on birds, particularly bald eagles.

A 6.5-mile stretch of wind turbines proposed for the Hatchet Ridge area, about 35 miles northeast of Redding, will be discussed at a public scoping session Wednesday. Shasta County planners will host the meeting to find out what people want studied in an environmental impact report on the project, Senior Planner Bill Walker said.

If the company decides to build a turbine farm, it would also have to put up seven or eight miles of transmission lines to deliver the energy to existing power lines. The California Desert Coalition and a second local group, Save Our Desert, are opposing the project.

County planners presented the wind farm proposal to an audience that filled the Lompoc City Council chambers. The public's comments about the impact of the wind turbines on birds and how they might alter views will be incorporated into an environmental impact report (EIR).

Many city representatives say that they are unlikely to give any go-ahead that would effectively enroll customers, who would have the option to opt out, without seeing final rates and having a clearer idea of where the program will get its electricity and how green it will be. ...Benefits, including local energy projects that could create jobs, are "intriguing," Kyes said. "But there really isn't any information yet that shows that's more than talk."

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.

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.

State utility regulators Thursday approved more sections of Southern California Edison Co.'s $1.8-billion Tehachapi renewable power transmission project as well as a 4.5% rate increase for Pacific Gas & Electric Co. The Edison project is designed to allow the flow of renewable power - mainly from wind farms in the Tehachapi area northeast of Los Angeles - and is key to the utility's push to increase the amount of renewable power delivered to its 4.7 million electricity customers. The Tehachapi project has 11 phases that by 2013 will have the potential to bring 4,500 megawatts of renewable power to the state power grid. The California Public Utilities Commission on March 1 approved the transmission line's first phase, which is for 300 megawatts. Phases 2 and 3, which the PUC approved Thursday, are for 400 megawatts.

California's investor-owned utilities will be allowed to pass on to customers the costs of building lines to transmit renewable power from sources such as wind farms, the California Public Utilities Commission ruled Thursday.