The Bureau County Board and a wind farm company could be headed to court over road repairs the county claims the company is responsible for, following its work at Providence Heights wind farm in rural Tiskilwa. Following a closed session Tuesday, the county board voted to take legal action in an apparent attempt to force wind farm company Iberdrola Renewables to comply with a county road agreement.

A wind farm could be coming to the area if a proposed project by the Northern Illinois Municipal Power Agency continues to progress. The proposal of the joint-action agency is for the Eagle View community wind project, a set of wind turbines that might be located in the Rochelle area. Rochelle Municipal Utilities General Manager Gary Larsen said the proposed project includes up to eight wind turbines that would be located near IL Route 64, west of IL Route 251, near the Village of Kings.

I have three notebooks full like this" says Peggy Whitney. Whitney has done her research on wind farms. And from what she's found, she doesn't want them anywhere near her home. "They all come to the same conclusion these can cause dizziness, nausea, increase in migraine headaches" says Whitney.

Community Unit School District 300's plan to invest in a wind farm as part of a consortium of school districts from across the state is more than just hot air. Now that plan has $44,000 behind it. The D300 Board of Education voted Monday to approve Phase I of its School Wind Consortium plan, which would create the first wind farm owned by such a consortium in Illinois.

Lawyers for the Village of Lee are asking a judge to examine how court summons were served to village board members who are being sued for rejecting a request by an energy company to build six wind turbines near the village. ...The document filed Wednesday asks a judge to investigate who was involved in filing the lawsuit and serving the summons. The document also asks a judge to throw the lawsuit out because it was filed improperly.

Gurnee has become the most recent community to take pause on wind and solar power. The village board this week in a 5-0 vote decided to impose a nine-month moratorium on wind turbines, solar panels and other such devices. Like other communities, the village anticipates an influx in requests to use wind turbines or solar energy devices, be it for commercial or individual use, and wants to make sure guidelines are in place to deal with issues such as size, noise and "shadow flicker."

The Village of Lee has filed a motion asking that a judge dismiss a lawsuit filed against them by a company that wants to build wind turbines near their borders, and the law firm representing the village of just over 300 people on the western edge of DeKalb County says the village plans to "vigorously" defend against lawsuit by the company building a wind farm mostly in southwest DeKalb County.

The rural townships in southwestern DeKalb County are a hubbub of activity, with 485 men and women on site. Crews are working six days a week, from sunrise until after sunset. That's because it takes 13 semi-trucks to bring in all of the components for a single turbine, Palmer said. And roads that regularly see a dozen or fewer vehicles a day are carrying hundreds of heavy trucks.

A growing dispute between Bureau County and the owners of one local wind farm may bring both parties to court if an agreement isn't reached soon. According to county officials, Iberdrola Renewables - owner of the Providence Heights wind farm in Milo and Indiantown townships - is in violation of its roads agreement with the county.

A company that wants to build six wind turbines within the Village of Lee's jurisdiction is suing the village board, saying members improperly denied construction permits after an Aug. 31 public hearing. The complaint, filed by FPL Energy Illinois Wind, LLC in DeKalb County Court, says the Lee village board "arbitrarily" denied the company's application for permits and demands a judge compel approval of the permits and allow construction to move forward.

Training and equipment for specialized rescue will be needed by at least one fire department if a wind turbine farm is built in western Boone County. Advance Fire Chief Jim Caldwell said Thursday, Sept. 10, his 35-man department hasn't equipment for "high-angle" and trench rescues, nor are all of his personnel trained in those specialties. David Cook, an AFD captain, had said at a wind forum seminar last week that he thought wind farms would "destroy the community."

Some Woodford County Board members are attempting to unseat the chairman of their Zoning Board of Appeals for what they say is his less-than-professional public behavior. By a 5-0 vote Tuesday, the county's Conservation Planning & Zoning Committee sent the message they have no confidence in Bob Harbers.

There are four major issues with which landowners should be comfortable before agreeing to allow a wind farm project on their property. The first two involve the land to be given over to the wind energy company, and exactly what the company will do on the land. Third is the terms of the agreement, or contract, between the landowner and wind energy company. Fourth is the rent the landowner will receive for the part of his property the wind farm occupies.

Hancock County Board member Tom Scheetz said EcoEnergy is no longer pursuing a wind farm project in the county. The official reason was the county is in a goose flyway. Two other wind farm projects in Adams and McDonough counties are moving forward. The wind test tower at Scheetz's farm was taken down Aug. 6. The tower collected wind information for the past three years.

A wind farm is breaking ground this summer at the home of Bureau County Farm Bureau President Rob Sharkey. "They wanted to bring them in several years earlier, but there was just a tremendous amount of opposition," noted Sharkey, who along with his duties as head of the organization, rents the farmland where a number of the wind turbines are going.

Every summer, DeKalb County goes green with fields of crops ripening for the harvest. However, this summer the county began going green in a very different way. NextEra Energy Resources, out of Juno Beach, Fla., broke ground in Afton Township after July 4, said Anthony Pedroni, the project manager for DeKalb County's wind farm project. If the construction time line goes according to plan, the project should be fully operational on Dec. 31, Pedroni said.

Champaign City Council members were unanimous Tuesday in wanting to encourage development of wind turbines as an alternative, sustainable energy source. By a vote of 9-0, the council directed city staff to develop an ordinance to allow wind energy conversion systems in the city. Council members expressed strong opposition, though, to any suggestion that large wind turbines would be outright prohibited within their 1.5-mile extra-terratorial jurisdiction.

The deadline for the special-use permit for development of a 36-turbine wind farm near El Paso expired Tuesday. Last month, in an 8-6 vote, the Woodford County Board denied Pattern Energy's request to extend the special-use permit for the El Paso Wind Farm until Dec. 31, 2010. The company said it needed the extension because of poor economic conditions. County zoning director John Hamann said that in a phone call Tuesday, a representative of Pattern Energy said the company would not be able to pull the project off.

A public hearing on Winnebago County's first foray into the siting of wind farms - which ran more than five hours Monday night - will continue tonight at Veteran's Memorial Hall. At issue is the creation of an ordinance that lays out what the county would require of corporations and developers that want to build wind farms in the area. Under consideration, at the moment, is a proposal by Navitas Energy Corp.

Some farmers who signed contracts with Navitas Energy for a wind tower have become disillusioned with the project near El Paso. "If I had it to do all over again today, I wouldn't sign the contract," John DeLaney, who farms southwest of El Paso, told the Woodford County Conservation, Planning and Zoning Committee Tuesday. "I'm really getting the feeling that we've been taken advantage of," he said.