Two appeals filed against the approval of the Lompoc wind energy project are on the board's agenda, but the project applicant requested Friday that they be postponed. The supervisors received the letters from Acciona Energy asking for a 60-day continuance, because it would provide more time to work with the appellants - Lompoc area residents George and Cheryl Bedford and the California Department of Fish and Game. ...The state Department of Fish and Game was more concerned with bird and bat deaths that are common to wind turbines.

The nearly 8 percent rate increase Redding Electric Utility will seek Tuesday for next year and 2010 could be just the beginning of a long, steady and rather steep cost climb for customers. Rate forecasts through 2014 show REU imposing identical 7.84 percent increases each year while still chewing through wads of cash. ...Redding has made up for the lost hydropower, in part, by commissioning a pair of large gas-fired turbines at its plant on Clear Creek Road. The utility has also entered long-term contracts for wind and biomass power. The wind and biomass have allowed REU to meet state renewable energy mandates. But all three power sources cost more than twice as much as hydropower, adding $10.5 million each year on average to REU's fuel tab, Hauser said.

Two appeals filed against the approval of the Lompoc wind energy project are on the board's agenda, but the project applicant requested Friday that they be postponed. The supervisors received the letters from Acciona Energy asking for a 60-day continuance, because it would provide more time to work with the appellants - Lompoc area residents George and Cheryl Bedford and the California Department of Fish and Game.

The permitting disputes demonstrate some of the hurdles that renewable energy developers face not just in California, but nationwide, and cast a light on the difficulties policy makers face in trying to balance clean-energy development with other environmental goals. "There has to be some reconciling of two very important societal values: protection of wildlife including birds, and moving forward with some haste to get alternative energy going," said Doug Anthony, deputy director of the Santa Barbara County Planning and Development Department's Energy Division.

The towers are visible from the back of Milligan's Cavi at The Big Oaks, but he says it's not those power lines that concern him. The restaurateur is bothered by the lines that Southern California Edison will soon install midway down the slope in Bouquet Canyon as part of the Tehachapi Renewable Transmission Project. The towers would dominate the view from Milligan's backyard bar and grill and he believes they would spoil Bouquet Canyon's rare natural environment.

Electricity generated by a massive "wind farm" of giant windmills near Tehachapi will be carried through transmission lines to Southern California. ...But not everyone sees the rosy side of Edison's "green" project.

Lincoln County Commissioners, during their regular meeting November 10, said they were not opposed to the development of wind-generated power in the County, but would rather seek different locations than the ones being proposed. Mission Edison Group, a subsidiary of Southern California Edison, had approached the County about building wind generators on Mt. Wilson and Table Mountain, both a little north of Pioche. County Commissioners have said they do not think those locations are the best places for such large generators.

Whether San Diego Gas & Electric Co. should build a massive power line into the Imperial Valley goes to the heart of a debate that's gripping California and the country as it works to wean itself from fossil fuels. Is it better to rely on huge solar, wind and geothermal power plants far away or generate that power close to where it is needed?

If California expands its renewable power generation to be a third of electricity delivered in the state by 2020, it may cost $60 billion, the state's utility regulator said in a report issued on Thursday. It is more costly to make electricity with renewable power -- solar, wind, geothermal and other sources that emit no or low amounts of global-warming greenhouse gases -- than with natural gas, nuclear and coal power plants. ...On Tuesday, California voters overwhelmingly -- 65 percent of the vote -- rejected a statewide ballot measure that would have required 50 percent of power to be generated from renewables by 2025.

If state regulators follow through with an administrative law judge's recommendation to reject the Sunrise Powerlink, San Diego Gas & Electric Co. still has other options to get the transmission line it seeks. The California Public Utilities Commission decision may be appealed to the courts, or SDG&E could ask the federal government to override state regulators and authorize the big line. A 2005 law allows utilities and other power-line builders to go to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission if they want to build a line rejected by state authorities in areas where federal officials believe there isn't enough electric transmission.

On a day of big decisions around the country - election day - the Shasta County Board of Supervisors will be weighing approval of a 6 1/2-mile long string of wind turbines atop mountains overlooking Burney. While the Shasta County Planning Commission approved the 100-megawatt Hatchet Ridge Wind Project with a 5-0 vote on Oct. 3, a pair of appeals the following week now has the supervisors reviewing the plans. The appeal hearing is set for 1:30 p.m. Tuesday.

A draft decision released late Wednesday by a California Public Utilities Commission judge would authorize the use of tradable renewable energy credits in efforts to comply with the state's renewable mandate. The decision, crafted by administrative law judge Anne Simon defines rules for a tradable REC market. ...With an eye on protecting ratepayers from excessive payments for tradable RECs, a transitional price cap of $50/REC used by investor-owned utilities would be implemented, the plan says. This means an IOU could not use for RPS compliance a tradable REC for which it paid more than $50 on a levelized basis.

The permit allowing windmills to go in didn't say they could sit there broken. Palm Springs is getting tough. If windmills are going to exist in the city they must be operational. A city that has welcomed windmills since it was first approached about them in the early 1980's is finding that many of those windmills are no longer working and it wants them fixed. The question is who's responsible for fixing them? Florida Power and Light (FPL), the owner of the inoperable windmills, was allowed to install and operate local windmill farms under a conditional use permit (CUP) stipulating if the windmill does not run for six months, it's declared a public nuisance and without a hearing, must be abated. ...So far FPL is all talk and no action as it has not been able to satisfy the city's or landowners' concerns.

Unless the DWP moves quickly to lock in contracts with alternative energy providers, it risks paying exponentially higher rates for green power to meet a 2010 deadline to double its renewable energy supply. Despite assurances from the Department of Water and Power, some city leaders are skeptical the utility will be able to meet and sustain the 20 percent renewable energy mandate set by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. ...customers are already paying more to cover the transition to green power. The DWP can and has tacked on a surcharge of as much as 4 percent a year to customer bills to cover renewable energy and natural gas expenses.

In California, the titles given to ballot initiatives can mean everything to their success or failure. Which may be why Proposition 7, which goes by the name "The Solar and Clean Energy Law of 2008," seemed like a surefire winner in summertime polls. ...But renewable-energy companies, environmental groups and the Democratic Party - virtually every constituency pushing to wean the state off fossil fuels - have joined hands with the major utilities, the business establishment and the Republican Party to oppose it. They argue that it is loaded with loopholes and upends a system that is already working, replacing it with one that is problematic at best.

Two appeals have been filed against the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission's approval of the Lompoc Wind Energy project, according to county staff. Residents who live near the proposed project, George and Cheryl Bedford, and the California Department of Fish and Game appealed the Sept. 30 decision.

Residents in the East County are sounding an environmental alert about future wind farms in their community. The battle is heating up over plans to build hundreds of wind turbines near Boulevard. ..."And we're talking over 500 to 600 turbines for now, over 400-feet tall silhouetted on that ridge line," she said. That ridgeline to the south is in Mexico, where Sempra Energy - the parent company of SDG&E - Is planning on building a massive wind farm. So big, in fact, it will be visible from San Diego County.

The Shasta County Planning Commission unanimously approved plans for a string of wind turbines atop Hatchet Ridge near here at its meeting tonight. Commissioners approved the electricity-generating project on a 5-0 vote after listening to three hours of testimony ...Opponents of the 100-megawatt project said they plan to appeal the decision to the Shasta County Board of Supervisors.

"While we are gratified that the Court of Appeal reaffirmed the traditional public trust ownership of wildlife, we are disappointed that it rejected the possibility of a lawsuit directly against those who are illegally killing wildlife," said Rick Wiebe, the attorney representing the Center for Biological Diversity. "A lawsuit against those who are killing wildlife is the most direct and effective means of protecting wildlife and vindicating the public trust in wildlife."

ACCIONA wants to build up to 65 wind turbines near Vandenberg Air Force Base. Supporters of the project said it would be an historic move to bring new forms of energy to the Central Coast. ...But opponents are not sold. The landscape around the proposed area is mostly rural agricultural land. Some want it to stay that way. "We bought here because of that beautiful view that we see," said homeowner Jane Fasold, who opposes the project. Among other concerns: birds and bats killed because of these windmills. The cattle ranch owned by Jennifer Cruz's parents sits right where the turbines would be built. Her neighbors are worried about noise and a drop in property value.