Three Illinois wind farms within 100 miles of Chicago were acquired Monday by an Irish energy company making its first U.S. investment amid hopes that President Obama's economic stimulus package will bolster the renewable energy business. Dublin-based Mainstream Renewable Power bought the assets, which are at various stages of development, and plans to invest $1.69 billion over four years to fully develop them.

Horizon Wind Energy wants to more than double its Twin Groves Wind Farm by adding more than 300 turbines in Merna, Cooksville, Colfax and Anchor. "We've been talking to farmers since March last year," said project manager Caton Fenz. ...Four public meetings are scheduled this week and next so neighbors can learn more about the project and review a map with proposed turbine locations.

Judy Campbell, the Livingston County Board member who distributed a survey form in late May involving a proposed wind farm, was scheduled to meet with some area postmasters on Friday afternoon to discuss making amends for the manner in which deliveries of some of the questionnaires occurred. Campbell distributed 46 copies of the survey to rural residents in southern Broughton and northern Sullivan townships in Livingston County. The surveys concern a proposed K-4 wind tower project being proposed in these areas.

Sugar Creek Wind One has the potential to make history as the tallest wind farm in the U.S. Developers of the planned wind-to-energy project, to be constructed in the New Holland and Middletown areas, have asked Logan County zoning officer Will D'Andrea for a variance that would allow wind towers to be built taller than 500 feet.

A wind farm developer filed an application on Friday to put more wind turbines in Livingston County. The application was made by Minneapolis-based Navitas Energy for the proposed Minonk Wind Farm project, which would scatter 100 turbines over a 12,000-acre area from Minonk to Flanagan.

When some residents of the eastern side of Livingston County opened their mailboxes earlier this week they had a blank white envelope inside with their mail. According to the letter inside, Livingston County Board member Judy L. Campbell had delivered the non-addressed, non-stamped envelope to the mailbox. While Campbell may have identified herself as a county board member, Livingston County Board Chairman William Fairfield said the board has no part in this survey and did not even know of its existence.

Illinois' first significant wind farm didn't start up until 2003 in Lee County. Today, the state has an installed wind energy capacity of 1,121 megawatts. ...Significant wind energy generation in Southern Illinois below Interstate 70 is questionable at this point given the current technology, Borgia said. Average wind speeds need to be around 15 miles per hour, minimum, to generate enough power.

One of the most distinctive symbols in the iconography of clean, sustainable energy is the spire and blades of a wind turbine, glistening in the sunlight amid rolling hills, tranquil farmland or over the deep blue of the open ocean. These mammoth towers are statements in the paradigm shift taking place on the topic of energy. They produce no emissions, no residue or chemical waste, none of the traditional environmental concerns lamented by the green movement.

Navitas Energy filed an application Friday for a brand new wind farm project between Minonk and Benson. The application lists the construction of 52 wind turbines generating 100 megawatts of energy under the name of Roanoke Wind Farm LLC. It will be built on 6,000 acres west of Interstate 39. The land was first leased in 2005 and again last year. The turbines will be 410 feet tall.

A Chicago-based company wants to develop a wind farm on 28,000 acres in northeastern Champaign County and in western Vermilion County, and it hopes to begin construction by next spring. Invenergy LLC has signed agreements with property owners in Ogden and Compromise townships in Champaign County and Pilot Township in Vermilion County to host as many as 133 wind turbines, according to John Doster, business development manager with Invenergy.

Residents of western Sangamon County, where a Springfield company is planning to build a large-scale wind farm, insist that they are not opposed to wind energy. Instead, they want fellow landowners to have input in a project that, "may have tremendous impacts on the health, comfort and home values of families living nearby," according to an informational flyer put out by a group calling themselves Sangamon County Citizens for Wind Rights.

A Minnesota-based company will likely apply for permits soon to establish a sizable wind farm on property stretching across Stephenson, Ogle, and Winnebago counties southeast of German Valley. The company proposing this "tri-county" wind farm is Navitas Energy, based out of Minneapolis, Minn.

Despite earlier concerns from some area residents, a Libertyville company on Friday ceremoniously unveiled a 120-foot wind turbine it will use as an alternative energy source. Representatives of Aldridge Electric, 844 E. Rockland Road, say the turbine will save the company money and generate cleaner energy.

Ben and Michele Anderson invite 350 of their closest friends and neighbors to their 40-acre farm in Waterman every July for a pig roast. This year, however, the guest list must be carefully drawn up. Because this year wind turbines - even if none are visible - will get in the way.

As wind farm developers look to put more windmills in Illinois fields, questions have been raised about the safety of crop dusters who have to navigate them. The issue is a clear one to Rick Reed, who owns an agricultural aviation company in Mattoon, Ill. "The more obstacles there are, the more difficult it is for us to get our jobs done ..."

The basic advice for individuals approached about leasing ground for a wind turbine is to keep their eyes wide-open whenever entering a contract with a major corporation. The speakers also stressed it is important for land owners to know what limitations they can accept and be willing to walk away from the financial incentives if they believe the project will be too detrimental to their farming operations.

Project officials say all 67 turbines have been erected for the EcoGrove Wind LLC wind farm northwest of Lena. Now, each turbine will have to be "commissioned" before the farm can begin generating power. When a turbine is categorized as "commissioned," it means the turbine is completely finished and ready for production, said Eric Schneider, director of communications for Acciona, the company that owns the project.

Amid the legal wrangling, work continues on the $1.5 billion Cayuga Ridge South Wind Farm, a 155-turbine project spread over 15,000 acres between Odell and Emington in Livingston County. Michael Iasparro, the attorney representing the wind farm opponent group People Protecting Cayuga Ridge, filed a motion Wednesday in Livington County Circuit Court to voluntarily dismiss the group's lawsuit without prejudice.

Holland has it. California has it. Kansas and other prairie states have it, so why shouldn't Kane County? What is it? Wind. And according to Michael Hoadley, director of business development for the Chicago-based consultant firm of GSY Energy Inc., Kane County has a lot of wind. "There's a wind blowing across the prairie, and you are in the way in Kane County," Hoadley told members of the county's energy and environmental committee recently.