Being green, without annoying your neighbors, was high on the list of residents' requirements for the regulation of small wind energy conversion systems at last week's special meeting of the planning commission. While not calling for a ban on wind turbines, many residents requested that commissioners write regulations to make the wind turbines as difficult to install as possible and suggested the alternative of a wind farm here, located on one property, rather than allowing individual systems on eligible parcels.

To add to the hot/cold air swirling around the subject of wind turbines in Estes Park, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) said last month there are challenges in making small residential wind turbines workable here. ...There is currently a moratorium on wind turbines, until Dec. 9. The public is invited to attend and comment at the meeting, as commissioners consider draft regulations on small-scale residential wind turbines, based on input received in a recent public survey.

Public input has been the driving force for the issue of wind turbines in Estes Park. Town staff recently conducted a voluntary-response survey related to wind turbines that received 804 responses. Results indicate that the majority (65.1 percent) do not want wind turbines to be banned by the Estes Valley Development Code. Of that majority, 53.7 percent want wind turbines to be regulated and 32.4 percent of respondents want to see wind turbines banned outright. The planning commission will continue wind turbine discussions at its regular meeting.

A Wyoming wind power developer, Wind Holding LLC, has lost its $500 million contract with Colorado State University to build a wind farm at Maxwell Ranch near the Wyoming-Colorado border. Wind Holding was to finance and build the wind farm on land leased from the university. CSU and Wind Holding would then sell the power to recoup construction costs. Wind Holding was not chosen through a competitive bidding process, but instead had approached the university.

The Colorado State University Research Foundation announced Nov. 2 that it could not reach agreement with Wind Holding LLC on a path forward for development of the Maxwell Ranch wind farm. Given the expiration of the Oct. 31 deadline for Wind Holding to cure problems in its lease, the foundation has found the private company officially in default.

A weak market for wind turbines in the U.S. will slow job growth at Vestas Wind Systems' four Colorado plants, Ditlev Engel, the company's chief executive, said Tuesday. "When the world's biggest market takes a breather for a year, it's tough," Engel said in a telephone interview.

Entegrity Wind Systems Inc., a wind turbine manufacturer that based some of its operations in Boulder, has gone bankrupt after failing to develop a plan to tackle millions of dollars of debt. The business was declared bankrupt pursuant to the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act of Canada, where it was incorporated, according to a document posted to the front door of Entegrity's locked offices.

CSU's developer in building a wind farm north of Fort Collins to help power the university will have to fix several "problems" with its project lease, including "outstanding financial obligations," by the end of next week after CSU held the company in default over the summer. But Bruce Morley, the CEO of Wind Holding LLC, said last week that the contract it has with the university, which he said "is self-extending for things that are out of our control like the financial crisis," makes CSU's deadline obsolete. "The international financial crisis has caused a delay of the project," Morley said.

Lisa Billings and her neighbors in the Red Mountain area of north Larimer County were thrilled when Wind Holding LLC missed its deadline last summer to start work on a wind farm on nearby Maxwell Ranch. “This is great news,” said Billings, president of the 54-member Greater Red Mountain Protection Association. “A lot of people are really concerned about this.” ...Billings and her neighbors are holding their breath and hoping the project first announced in March 2007 may still fall completely apart. And it’s not because they aren’t fans of alternative energy.

The developer of a $500 million wind farm slated to be built at CSU's Maxwell Ranch now has until the end of October to solve problems with its lease agreement with the university. The Colorado State University Research Foun-dation on Friday voted to extend a 60-day deadline by a month for Wind Holding LLC to get the wind farm project back on track.

The developer of a wind farm slated to be built at CSU's Maxwell Ranch now has until the end of October to solve problems with its lease agreement with the university. The Colorado State University Research Foundation on Friday voted to extend the deadline for Wind Holding, LLC to Oct. 31 because the company said it is making progress.

Vail Resorts Inc. said Monday it will not renew its three-year commitment to purchase wind-energy offset credits. ..."going forward, we intend to channel our efforts on more comprehensive projects, which help protect the climate and also offer habitat and watershed benefits to local communities, such as the Hayman Restoration Project," Katz said.

The private developer partnered with CSU to build a $500 million wind farm near the Wyoming border is "actively" working to get the project back on track after being given 60 days to sort things out, CSU officials say. Wind Holding LLC was notified in July that it was in danger of seeing its deal with the university's nonprofit development arm cancelled.

On a drive to the Pawnee Buttes overlook in Weld County, the slowly rotating turbines of the new Cedar Creek Wind Farm spread east from Grover across the Chalk Bluffs, providing a decidedly postmodern backdrop to one of northeast Colorado's most famous natural scenes. ...Birdwatchers, she said, are concerned the windmills might harm birds. One of the bird enthusiasts concerned about the Cedar Creek Wind Farm is Ken Strom, interim director of the Audubon Society's Colorado branch.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's office said Saturday that he would veto legislation requiring a third of California's energy to come from renewable sources by 2020, choosing instead to mandate the change through an executive order. The Democratic bills that passed the state Legislature just before the end of the legislative session Friday would have set up the most aggressive renewable energy standards in the nation. But they also sought to limit the amount of energy from sources such as wind, solar and geothermal that could come from out-of-state.

Debtors are knocking at their door and time is running short for promoters of a $500 million wind farm to deliver or lose their lease. The Colorado State University Research Foundation on July 23 voted to give Wind Holding LLC 60 days to pay vendors who are threatening to take legal action to recover the cost of goods and services provided. By the same deadline, Wind Holding must begin construction of the wind farm and secure an agreement with a transmission provider.

Public interest is catching up to a fast-moving plan to build a major electrical transmission line from Pueblo to the San Luis Valley. ...Another federal mandate seeks to fast-track the transmission lines needed to move renewable energy. Some of the nation's best wind and solar sites are remote areas. A decision on the San Luis Valley route could come by early next year. Others say, not so fast.

Despite the push towards cleaner energy, one Colorado town is putting a hold on wind turbines used to generate electricity. Concerns over how the turbines look in Estes Park have prompted the town to put a temporary halt to any new electricity-generating windmills.

Community development director Bob Joseph told the Estes Valley Planning commissioners Tuesday night that a public meeting held last Thursday night regarding residential wind turbine regulations has led to some useful discussions. "We're starting to see people's opinions form," he said. "We're hearing them. We will continue with this effort to get some kind of code adopted during the moratorium."

Disgusting, ugly, atrocious monstrosities... These are words some local residents used to describe residential wind turbines a few homeowners have purchased and installed on their properties in and around Estes Park. The one wind turbine within town limits, located on Highway 7, steered the focus of the meeting on Thursday, called to open public discussion on re-regulating the turbines. Due to public opposition, town officials issued a 120-day temporary moratorium.