Two Wisconsin electric utilities on Wednesday signed agreements to tap power for their customers from a wind farm under development in north central Iowa. Madison Gas & Electric Co. said it plans to invest $56 million to buy 18 wind turbines and develop a portion of the Top of Iowa Phase II wind power project. The utility signed a contract with Midwest Renewable Energy Projects LLC, the developer of the project near Mason City, Iowa. The Madison-based utility said the deal would enable about 5% of the utility’s electricity to come from renewable energy sources. That would be enough for MG&E to comply three years ahead of schedule with the first phase of the state’s first renewable power mandate.

Conditional use permits and zoning variances for a proposed $200 million wind farm have been approved by Franklin County. The action came at a public hearing held Thursday night, Sept. 14, at the Hampton-Dumont Middle School by the Franklin County Board of Adjustment. About 100 people attended the meeting, which included outlining some details of the plans for the wind farm, which is being planned by Iowa Winds, LLC, of Iowa Falls. The permits, with standard setbacks of 1,200 feet from residences, were approved for proposed parcels in Marion, Morgan, Hamilton, Oakland, Lee, Grant and Osceola townships. Parcels in Reeve Township also were approved, but with a stipulation of a 2,500-foot setback from public use facilities such as Mallory Park, Maynes Grove Park, and the Maysville Schoolhouse.

HAMPTON — Franklin County’s Zoning Board of Adjustment approved 192 applications for conditional use permits and variances Thursday, advancing one of the nation’s most ambitious wind farm projects. The permits cover 350 farm fields involved in the Franklin County Wind Farm project, County Zoning Administrator Russell Wood said Friday. Some landowners have multiple parcels. Iowa Winds LLC of Iowa Falls plans to build a 200- to 300-megawatt wind farm covering about 40,000 acres around Bradford in southern Franklin County.

The first hurdle has been cleared to bring the nation's largest wind farm to eastern Iowa. Iowa Winds, LLC wants to build nearly 200 wind towers to generate electricity in southern Franklin County.

Rural electric board member Roger Arthur of Postville, Iowa says efficiency involves renewable energy sources, such as wind power, however he says back-ups are necessary to make it reliable. “When people throw that switch on they expect to have power,” Arthur told Brownfield from the regional meeting Tuesday, “so you have to able to do that 99.99 percent of the time that throw that switch.”

Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack challenged regulators and utility companies in his state a few years ago to produce 1,000 megawatts of renewable energy by 2010. The push, known as a renewable portfolio standard and other incentives, has helped develop Iowa into a national wind energy leader. With 135 giant wind turbines towering in the rural landscape of Wright and Hamilton counties and several other wind farms in north-central Iowa, the state has become the nation’s third-leading wind-energy producer behind Texas and California.

A California-based company specializing in wind power for electrical generation has come to terms with one Guthrie County landowner on an easement that will allow study of wind and weather monitoring for the alternative energy source. Information filed in the Guthrie County recorder's office shows Clipper Windpower Development Company, Inc. of Carpinteria, CA has signed a windpark easement agreement with Ricky Sheeder of rural Adair.

HAMPTON, Iowa - Northern Iowa could have one of the nation's largest wind farms by 2008. Iowa Winds LLC wants to build a 200- to 300-megawatt farm covering about 40,000 acres in Franklin County. A county zoning board will consider approving permits for the $200 million project next month.

A Dubuque County couple trying to get permission to erect a wind turbine on their property is one step closer to their goal. The Dubuque County Supervisors gave the couple its permission last (Monday) night. Kathy and Fritz White want to put the turbine on their eight-acre property to provide electricity for their home.

FOREST CITY: Officials from Florida Power and Light explained details about a proposed string of heavy electric wires that would cross the area. The transmission line would carry power from a proposed wind farm near Crystal Lake to a power station south of Manly.

He says the deal will help build a wind turbine in Winnebago County, where electricity generated will be put on the power "grid" and sold to the buyers in Chicago.

Iowa Winds, based in Iowa Falls is gearing up to enter the next stage of the engineering process of a 200 to 300 mega watt wind energy farm in southern Franklin County. Iowa Winds has been working closely with county supervisors and zoning officials in preparation of filling conditional use permits with the Franklin County Zoning Board. Conditional use permits will allow for the final positioning of the turbines.

Siemens Power Generation announced plans today to open a wind turbine blade manufacturing facility that will employ 250 in Fort Madison. The Fort Madison facility will be the first U.S. wind turbine operation for Siemens, which currently manufactures wind turbine blades in Denmark. The turbine blades will incorporate Siemens patented IntegralBlade technology, in which the blade is cast in one piece in a single step from glass-fiber reinforced epoxy resin.

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA - With large pieces of wind turbines as a backdrop, U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman touted the Bush Administration's energy policies today during a visit to the Clipper Windpower plant in Cedar Rapids.

Construction of 82 wind turbines in northwest Iowa is expected to begin this year as part of a MidAmerican Energy Co. wind expansion project.

ESTHERVILLE, Iowa -- Al Blum has been involved in many economic development projects as president of the Estherville Industrial Development Corporation.

Erie and Sherrard school districts in the Illinois Quad-City area are closer to being powered by wind energy.

DES MOINES, Iowa - Iowa's largest energy company plans to double its wind-generated electricity and has state approval to eventually nearly triple its output.

A California-based energy company is planning a wind-farm in eastern Crawford and western Carroll counties. Tom Fieler is in charge of Midwest development for Clipper Windpower. Fieler says it's one of the oldest, most established companies in the wind industry and is the only one in the U.S. that manufactures wind turbines, builds windfarms, and then does the operations and maintenance.

Officials in Crawford County are offering a warm welcome to windpower, and a proposal to build more than a hundred generators. Crawford County Zoning Administrator Duane Zenk says they've cleared the way for some zoning changes in rural areas near Schleswig and Ricketts at the request of a developer.