City Council members moved closer to backing a plan for the city manager to convene a review committee to review proposals of two firms that are proposing to develop the farms. Two firms, Off Grid Technologies Inc. and Mercury Wind Energy, responded to the city's request for proposals.

Enjoy the wind, while it's still free. Next year, you'll be paying for it in your electric bill. While wind itself doesn't cost anything, buying, installing and maintaining the equipment to turn it into megawatts of electricity is expensive. In Kansas, the cost is likely to reach into the billions. Starting next year and for the next few years, you can expect to pay about $2 to $2.50 more a month on your Westar Energy bill as the company brings on line the first phase of its wind expansion plan. Overall, that 300 megawatts of wind power will increase the company's rates by $55 million in 2009, its first year of operation, according to documents filed with the Kansas Corporation Commission. The 20-year cost works out to $830 million, the documents show. ...The governor wants to increase the use of wind power to 20 percent by 2020. Assuming future wind projects have similar costs, Kansas consumers could end up paying about $4.8 billion over the next 20 to 30 years to meet those goals. ..."I have not been against development of any kind of alternative energy," said Rep. Don Myers, R-Derby, a 15-year veteran of the House Utilities Committee. But Myers and others say the biggest drawback of wind is that utilities using it will have to maintain conventional power plants to back it up on days when the winds are calm, usually in late summer.

"We're in the process of reviewing the town's proposed wind law," he said. "It's going to be tough. As you saw, sides are already being taken. It will be important to keep an open mind, regardless of personal agendas."

Evergreen Solar Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection yesterday, completing a stunning reversal of fortune for a high-flying alternative-energy company that once seemed to herald a new era for the Massachusetts economy. ...Yesterday, Evergreen's stock closed at 18 cents. The company shuttered its manufacturing plant and Massachusetts is one of its top creditors, owed $1.5 million in rent.

Evergreen's ultimate fate will be similar to that of Solyndra LLC, the California maker of solar-power technology that shut its pricey new plant, filed for bankruptcy and struggled to find a buyer in a market glutted with the departures of failed solar-power-equipment makers.

Attorney Jack A. Van Kley, representative for Union Neighbors United (UNU), continued to ask Speerschneider questions pertaining to his written testimony and EverPower's application to build the second wind turbine project. The areas of focus included shadow flicker, blade failure and other safety concerns about turbines.

In a press release obtained by the Olean Times Herald Monday, the complaint asks the Cattaraugus Supreme Court to enforce the terms of development contracts between EverPower and the town and to enjoin the town board from violating these contracts.

Everpower Renewables is expected to proceed with a project that would build numerous wind turbines in the eastern part of Champaign County. ...The project, which has been in the stages since 2006, would include building more than 70 turbines across 6 townships in Champaign County, Speerschneider said. He said it would take about a year for the application to be reviewed by the state.

Everpower Wind Holdings Inc. of New York has asked the Ohio Power Siting Board for permits to construct 70 wind turbines in Champaign County, west of Columbus. Michael Speerschneider, Everpower's project development director, said the company has leases on 10,000 acres in order to expand and is seeking permission to flow up to 200 megawatts from the wind farm.

Everpower Wind Holdings and Howard officials broke ground on the $100 million Howard Wind Project, an enterprise establishing 25 wind turbines in the town with the potential for two more in the future.

Canadian manufacturer of solar cells and modules Photowatt (PHWT) filed to go public last week; its prospectus contains an overview of the renewable energy industry, and trends in solar energy. The excerpt below is from the company's F-1 filing:

The experts have offered their opinion, the advisors have advised, questions have been asked, and each side has made its case. Now all that’s left for those on both sides of debate over the site of two commercial wind turbines in Prospect is to wait for the Connecticut Siting Council to render a decision.

Roach’s issue involves BZA member Dave Schilling, who came under fire late last year when it was learned he received payment for a lease agreement from a company seeking to possibly erect windmills in Whitley County. That company, Wind Capital Group, is erecting meteorological towers to test wind to see if windmills are feasible here.

Arran-Elderslie councillors should not have openly discussed their reluctance to fight any legal challenge to the township's new bylaw concerning wind power projects, the author of the bylaw says. ...Mayor Ron Oswald and Coun. Paul Eagleson said after the bylaw passed that they would not support using municipal funds to fight any legal challenge to it.

The investigation was sparked by complaints in February by Klickitat County officials, who relied on Weiler to help wind farm developers find ways to compensate for the unavoidable environmental toll of building roads, pouring cement and erecting towers.

The Massachusetts native who helped found controversial wind-energy developers Cape Wind and First Wind expressed surprise late last week at news that his one-time partner in a separate wind-energy company in Italy has been arrested and charged with fraud. "I read about it in the papers, and I was very surprised," Brian Caffyn said from Hong Kong, where he is now building wind-energy farms in China and the Philipines.

A retired Western Washington University professor testified to a Republican-controlled state Senate committee Tuesday that climate change stopped in 1998 and that human-caused greenhouse gases are not responsible for fluctuations in the Earth's temperatures or melting polar ice caps.

Finch said he had never voted against a gubernatorial nominee in his eight years in the Legislature. He voted against Adams' confirmation. He was joined by Sen. Carol Weston, R-Waldo, and Rep. Peter Johnson, R-Greenville. Seven members supported his nomination and three lawmakers were absent.

While he was Maine's chief utilities regulator, Kurt Adams accepted an ownership interest in a leading wind energy company. One month later, in May 2008, he went to work for that company, First Wind, as a senior vice president. Adams was chairman of the Maine Public Utilities Commission for three years beginning in April 2005. Before that, he was the in-house counsel for Gov. John Baldacci, who appointed him to the commission.

Weiler also convinced wind companies to give his institute a total of $120,000 for raptor research. The Wildlife Department conducted the research, but the institute kept 10 percent, or $12,000, for managing the funds and paying invoices for equipment ordered by wildlife employees. The effect on birds and bats is one of the biggest environmental concerns about wind farms.