The sight of 66 massive spinning fan blades will soon be common sight throughout southeastern La Salle County after county board members unanimously passed the first phase of a large wind farm project. Board members voted unanimously Thursday to grant special use permits on multiple tracts of property for 66 wind turbines, with a maximum of 4 turbines per tract on various parcels in Grand Rapids, Brookfield and Allen townships.

Woodford County residents sounded off about a proposed wind farm near El Paso at two nights of hearings before the county's Zoning Board of Appeals. About 40 residents addressed the board Tuesday and Wednesday nights. Most opposed the El Paso Wind Farm, proposed by Navitas Energy of Minneapolis. The wind farm is to include 40 wind turbines, 12 of them within El Paso city limits. If Navitas receives a special use permit to build the turbines on land zoned for agriculture, the farm will cover 2,943 acres. The board is expected to vote Wednesday on whether to recommend that the Woodford County Board grant the permit.

The Illinois Senate today approved legislation to set up a uniform way of determining the property taxes that wind farms will pay. Wind farms, a fledgling industry in Illinois, at present can be assessed in varying ways, depending on where they are located. Different counties have been using differing methodologies. But if the legislation becomes law, a wind farm installed in 2007 would pay a tax of $9,000 per megawatt, no matter where in Illinois it is. That figure would drop slightly each year because of physical depreciation. The legislation, which is designated House Bill 664, sailed through the Senate on a 53-0 vote and next moves to the House of Representatives. To become law, it must pass there and be signed by Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Another part of the bill would phase out an existing 7 percent cap on property assessments in Cook County.

EL PASO -- Opponents and supporters of a proposed 42-tower El Paso wind farm presented closing arguments to the Woodford County Zoning Board of Appeals Plans Wednesday evening. If approved, the towers would be built on the west side of El Paso. The board votes at 6 p.m. Aug. 15 at El Paso's Grace Fellowship Church.

The Woodford County Zoning Board took testimony from opponents of a proposed 42-tower wind farm near El Paso Tuesday evening. At issue were the economic, environmental and safety for residents and businesses within the Rt. 24 and Interestate 39 corridor.

CHICAGO - The governor announced an expansion of the Bureau and Putnam County Enterprise Zone on Monday, a move that should clear some final hurdles for construction of two wind farms. The enterprise zone, which allows income and job creation tax credits to companies that build within it, will be extended by a total of 18.2 acres for Midwest Wind Energy's Big Sky and Crescent Ridge II wind farms.

PPM Energy is hosting a pair of informational meetings this week regarding its proposed Cayuga Ridge wind farm project. The open house events will be from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Knights of Columbus hall, 806 Oakley Ave., Streator, and from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Odell.

SPRINGFIELD - Thanks to the duration of this year's record-breaking legislative overtime session, lawmakers are poised to vote on a plan that would establish a uniform method of assessing wind farms for property tax purposes. The proposal is the result of months of talks involving Rep. Frank Mautino, D-Spring Valley, county assessors, local governments, wind-energy companies and others..............Under the legislation, a wind farm installed in 2007 would pay a tax of $9,000 per megawatt. That figure would drop slightly each year because of physical depreciation of the wind devices. If enacted into law, the measure would expire - or "sunset" - after the 2011 tax year. The sunset date is meant to enable lawmakers to gauge how well the law is working.

Some Ogle County farmers try their hand at advertising to stop the possible development of wind farms. An ad was placed in the Mt. Morris newspaper by Bill Welty, a long-time farmer from Chana. The message is loud and clear, but the publicity sparked some debate. Bill explains, "We went to the meetings, don't agree with the wind farms for a long list of reasons and several farmers joined together and we're out trying to educate other farmers in the area to convince them not to do the wind farms. Not sign leases with the developers."

CHICAGO - The $1 billion electric rate-relief package that Illinois lawmakers approved this week contains not only savings for consumers but also an expected boon to the state's growing wind-farm industry. A provision of the bill that passed the House and Senate on Thursday requires utility companies to get increasing shares of their power supplies from renewable sources, especially wind turbines. The green threshold would start at 2 percent next year and would gradually increase to 25 percent by 2025, according to lawmakers and other proponents familiar with the details. Utilities previously agreed to voluntary goals, but environmental advocates have been pushing for binding requirements with penalties for companies that don't comply.

What county officials want to examine is what will happen if a company constructs a wind farm and abandons the turbines along with the rest of the operation. That is the purpose of a Warren County Zoning Board of Appeals and Plan Commission meeting set for 7 p.m. Aug. 14. The session will be held in the County Board meeting room on the first floor of the Warren County Courthouse. A number of counties are looking at who will get stuck with the cost in such a case.

EL PASO - Plans for wind farm proposed for the El Paso area, which is seen as an economic asset to some and an eyesore to others, are in the hands of the Woodford County Zoning Board of Appeals. The board took testimony from wind farm supporters this week. Now, interested parties have until 5 p.m. Wednesday to submit requests to speak at the next hearing on Aug. 7. That hearing will be at 6 p.m. at El Paso's Grace Fellowship Church.

La Salle County's Zoning Board of Appeals Wednesday unanimously approved a special use to allow the Grand Ridge wind farm. Final decision on a special use for the wind farm sought by Invenergy -- which is proposed to include 66 wind turbines on farmland in Brookfield, Allen and Grand Rapids townships -- will be at the County Board's Thursday, Aug. 9 meeting.

Wind farms are under discussion in Livingston County, but the County Board has done nothing official beyond accepting an application and hiring consultants to study it. "Basically in an informal term, we say thank you for the applications and then put it on file," said Jeanne Rapp, chairwoman of the County Board's agriculture and zoning committee. "It is now the county's responsibility to review those applications and go through the proper channels and then give a public meeting." Last week, the board has hired the Chicago law firm of Schain, Burney, Ross and Citron Ltd., which has practices in environmental law and land-use regulation. In June, it hired Conestoga-Rovers and Associates, a firm with Chicago offices and specializing in environmental issues, in June.

BELVIDERE - A judge sided with Boone County by rejecting a proposed wind farm on unincorporated land. In a memorandum filed Thursday, Judge Gerald Grubb ruled that the county justifiably denied a request to construct wind turbines on farm land north of Caledonia and Poplar Grove in Boone County.

FREEPORT - About a dozen protesters picketed the county administration building Wednesday to draw attention to their belief that their rights have been violated by Stephenson County Board members. Between 10:30 a.m. and noon on streets that surround the county building, protesters handed out yellow "democracy" leaflets and silently carried signs printed with phrases stating "You Count," and "Be Heard" and "Speak Up." Those protesting were peaceful but encouraged people who stopped to talk to contact their county board representative. The dozen were protesting a July 11 board vote that changed the county zoning definition for primary agriculture land to include wind farms as a permitted use. The prior definition for property zoned A-1, required a special use permit for wind farms.

The group trying to stop a proposed a 100-turbine wind farm straddling the McLean and Woodford county lines will likely have to wait a while to find out if there are successful. McLean County Judge Charles Reynard has denied a second attempt the get a lawsuit thrown out. McLean County Assistant State's Attorney Brian Hug says he still plans to argue at a hearing planned for September that he county board has legal immunity when it comes to passing laws. While it appears no resolution is in sight, Hug says the county isn't trying to run out the clock while construction starts. A group of wind farm opponents, Information is Power, sued to have the wind farm halted in March, claiming they weren't give a fair chance to speak out at the 12 zoning hearings that were held before the county approved the wind farm.

Some Stephenson County residents took to the streets Wednesday, protesting a new county policy they say restricts their rights. It all comes down to this, no one seems to know how many landowners there are in the county and that's a figure that's impacting a controversial zoning decision.

Developers of a wind farm on the McLean-Woodford county line and the landowners who oppose them will have another day in court. Judge Charles Reynard ruled on Tuesday that a lawsuit pending against Invenergy Wind LLC and McLean County officials who approved zoning permits for the project can move forward. He denied several motions filed by the developer and the county that could have dismissed the lawsuit filed in June. The legal action filed by the nonprofit group Information is Power contends the county and the wind farm company violated the due process rights of landowners who oppose the project.

County zoning regulations state that a protest containing signatures from 5 percent of county landowners will alter how a vote is taken on zoning changes. If a protest is ruled valid, the changes would have to be approved by a three-fourths majority vote of the County Board, as opposed to a simple majority. On July 11, the county declined to recognize the protest and the zoning changes were approved in a narrow 12-9 vote. County officials maintained that the county's ordinance did not clearly define how many signatures were needed to equal 5 percent. They also said they could not determine the total number of landowners in the county.