Green may be in vogue, but that doesn't mean utilities want the government forcing them to build windmills. It could happen. Rep. Tom Udall, D-N.M., proposes making the biggest utilities across the nation acquire 20% of their electricity from renewable energy sources like wind, solar and geothermal power by 2020. The plan is gaining momentum as the House of Representatives readies for debate on a massive energy bill this week. "We've had growing support over the last 10 days," says Udall, noting the proposal's 150 co-sponsors and support from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. "I think we're coming very close to the numbers in terms of our count, but the leadership's working very closely with us."

People are more worried about the soaring cost of their household energy than their health, according to a new survey.

The switch to “clean green” energy sources will cost households up to 40 per cent more on their power bill, Federal Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane has said. Mr Macfarlane said it was inevitable there would be “big jumps” in power bills, but said most people were unaware of the looming increases. “I don’t think the consumers fully understand the price tag associated with lower greenhouse gas emissions,” he told The Courier-Mail in an exclusive interview.

The Montana Alberta Tie-Line has been given conditional approval for the 230-kilovolt power line that will import and export electricity between Lethbridge, Alta., and Great Falls, Mont. The Alberta Energy and Utility Board said in a news release late Thursday afternoon that the Montana company must hold discussions with affected landowners along the approved route "to address the mitigation of specific impacts" on them. The board also ordered that Montana-Alberta Tie-Line must report back to them about this process by April 30. The board says it will not issue a permit for the project "until it is satisfied that MATL has satisfied this requirement." The $129 million project was approved by the National Energy Board last April and the Alberta board was the last step.

...calls for electricity companies to achieve higher targets of power bought from renewable sources such as wind - and it comes just as work is about to start on the town's pioneering £6.5 million renewable energy centre at Ness Point.

The expansive project, known as the Shepherds Flat Wind Farm, calls for 300 turbines to cover 32,000 acres near Arlington in Gilliam and Morrow counties.

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.

A wind-farm proposal has been abandoned because the area where it was to be built is used by golden eagles and red kites. Perth-based Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) has confirmed it will not proceed with its proposal to build 20 turbines at Glen Tarken, near Comrie.

Ministers agreed to pursue efforts on renewable energies but countries like France refuse new binding targets until priority is placed on low-carbon sources, including nuclear, to achieve overarching climate goals.

The three schools are a large consumer of electrical power in town, with the middle-high school using more electricity than any other building. To help cut back on costs and be more “green,” the Energy Committee has begun looking into harnessing the power of the wind through turbines. Its thought is that one large turbine could be erected at the Recycle Transfer Facility, and a second smaller turbine could be erected at the high school, both of which could save the town a lot of money. In these difficult fiscal times, saving money where possible would be a plus.

Members of the Alternative Energy Initiative Committee are disappointed that town meeting voters rejected a request for $55,000 to study possible sites for wind energy. ...The request was for up to $55,000 to study two places believed to have enough wind velocity to harness energy.

Mr. Baum said there is a lot of information circulating about wind turbines and wants to make sure his board's website becomes a definitive source for reliable details. He wants people to get an accurate picture of the project. "We don't want misinformation hurting this," he said. Wind turbine talk started more than a year ago in Barrington. Officials studied the potential for a wind turbine in town and were encouraged when their application for a $2.1 million no interest loan from the IRS was approved.

It's the hope of the energy committee, which met Tuesday for the first time since the selectmen voted to kill the project they've been working on for six years, that Town Meeting will have a straw vote on the project - a project voters overwhelming approved last year.

The Committee for Renewable Energy in Barrington (CREB) met on Tuesday, Aug. 5 and scheduled three outreach meetings for residents concerned with the proposed wind turbine project. Legion Way and Barrington High School have been picked as potential locations for the wind turbine ...CREB has scheduled the outreach meetings - Aug. 20 and 27 and Sept. 10 - for anyone who has concerns with the wind turbine project or who wants to learn more.

The committee presented a 71-page summary of the feasibility study conducted by Atlantic Design Engineering which indicated that a small turbine would not generate enough revenue to pay for itself, while a larger turbine at that location would have too great a negative impact on the neighborhood.

After 10 months of work, the Committee for Renewable Energy for Barrington (CREB) has recommended the town accept a bid to install a 600 kilowatt wind turbine generator at the Legion Way site. The town council is saddled with the final decision - whether to follow the CREB recommendation and award the bid for the work to Lumus Construction Inc. ...The recommendation report goes into detail, explaining specifics about the proposed project. The council was scheduled to hear from CREB members at Monday night's meeting and were expecting some other vocal residents to attend also.

There are already plans for at least four more wind farms to add to the one already up and running at Burton Wold, near Kettering. Many more of the eco-friendly power generators could be built as borough and district councils begin identifying sites and encouraging power companies to build the wind farms. Plans have been submitted, or are due to be submitted, for 46 wind turbines at four separate locations in the county or close to its borders and it may not be long before more schemes are put forward.

The Massachusetts Technology Collaborative has been busy this fall, approving $2.7 million to spur Bay State alternative energy development. The quasi-state agency approved $575,000 million in loans and set aside $2.1 million to build a 500-kilowatt to 750-kilowatt wind turbine at Cape Cod Community College, officials said. New England investment executives characterize the public funding as good news, but also say that cultivating an alternative energy cluster in the region will require a similar commitment from private investors due to the industry’s capital-heavy investment needs.

The state's four largest utilities today are expected to receive bids from solar, biomass, wind and other renewable energy firms for long-term electricity contracts ...But some energy firms and business groups are publicly and privately expressing concern that the Patrick administration has spent too much time pushing wind energy.

From Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to E.ON, the world's largest companies are investing in wind power, the best-performing energy in the past year. Led by Vestas Wind Systems and Iberdrola of Spain, utilities and governments in the United States, China and Europe will spend as much as $150 billion on wind projects in the next five years, according to CLSA Research. Lawmakers are providing financial incentives because windmills are non-polluting and cost less than solar projects. "Wind has the biggest potential to meet renewable energy targets over the next decade, compared with solar and biofuels," said Philippe de Weck, who started the Pictet Clean Energy fund last month for Pictet in Geneva.