There wasn't much official business to discuss at Wednesday evening's Ellis County Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, but that didn't prevent escalating tensions and heated arguments from taking over the meeting room. Commissioners had received one document proposing changes to the current zoning regulations, as part of a months-long endeavor to revamp existing rules. The proposal, suggested by the Ellis County Environmental Awareness Coalition, was tabled until next week so board members could review the document and prepare their discussion. "I would just like to have time ... we need time to go over it and read it," said commissioner Barbara Anderson. Since the regulations pertained to wind energy, county counselor Bill Jeter could not be present, due to a conflict of interest he cited during the wind farm deliberation last spring.

Visionaries who believe America can -- indeed, must -- change its power consumption habits through lifestyle changes and increasing reliance on renewable resources such as wind met up with the harsh realities of long-entrenched utilities Monday night. While an energy consultant and wind developer extolled the benefits of wind power, ... vice president for Westar was declaring as myths the idea that energy efficiency could prevent the need for new power plants, or that renewable sources can replace fossil - or nuclear power plants.

The packed house and tense air at Wednesday night's meeting of the Ellis County Joint Planning and Zoning Commission saw no serious surprises. In a unanimous vote, the commission recommended approval of a conditional-use permit for Hays Wind LLC to install three 60-meter meteorological instrument towers on separate sites southwest of Hays. And there almost was no discussion against the move. But the crowd of more than 40 people -- and the nervousness apparent on many people in the room -- indicated one thing: It's been four months since a request for a conditional-use permit to erect a massive wind farm outside of Hays came up one vote shy of the unanimous approval it needed to pass the Ellis County Commission, but parties involved still are highly interested.

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius formed a group Monday to promote wind power, but two key legislators were skeptical it would make a valuable contribution to energy policy. ...But the Democratic governor's announcement received a cool response from two prominent Republicans, House Speaker Melvin Neufeld, of Ingalls, and Rep. Carl Dean Holmes, of Liberal, chairman of the House Energy and Utilities Committee. "We need to actually do serious study on total energy needs and resources for the future," Neufeld said. Neufeld and Holmes strongly support a proposal from Sunflower Electric Power Corp. to build two coal-fired power plants outside Holcomb in Finney County. They argue that such plants are necessary to meet the state's growing, around-the-clock need for electricity. ...Sebelius and [Lt. Gov. Mark] Parkinson disagree, arguing that aggressive conservation programs and new wind farms will be sufficient. In October, Rod Bremby, Sebelius' secretary of health and environment, rejected a construction permit for Sunflower's $3.6 billion project, citing the coal plants' potential carbon dioxide emissions.

State regulators are saying Westar Energy Inc.'s plans to invest in wind power are prudent but aren't allowing the utility to increase its profits. The Kansas Corporation Commission's decision created uncertainty about Westar's plans to invest in 295 megawatts of generating capacity from wind farms in three counties, enough to power 88,000 homes. ...Construction costs and the fact that wind doesn't blow consistently means that electricity from wind turbines more expensive per kilowatt hour in the short term than power from coal-fired plants. But commission spokeswoman Rosemary Foreman said Westar shareholders' risk was lessened because regulators will permit the utility to recover its investments in wind farms through its rates. "The commission just didn't think it justified, the ratepayers paying an additional cost," she said. "The risk to the company is minimized."

Whether Kansans will get electricity from wind power was up in the air late Thursday after state regulators ruled that Westar Energy won't be able to make an extra profit for developing wind farms. The Kansas Corporation Commission rejected a key part of a proposal by Westar that would have added 1 percent to the company's rate of return for developing wind energy. Westar has said that it wanted the premium to compensate for the increased risk of developing wind power compared to fuels such as coal and natural gas.

Wind generators have been the Rodney Dangerfields of the electricity market. They're unreliable, traditional utilities say. And expensive. So when Rob Gramlich, policy director of the American Wind Energy Association, got up to address the fifth Kansas Electric Transmission Summit on Friday, he seemed to be suppressing a smile. A previous presenter had just dropped a couple pretty stunning figures: about 13,000 megawatts of wind projects have been queued up for study, and the total could reach 40,000 to 60,000 megawatts in the near future. To put that in perspective: total peak demand in the heat of summer is only a little over 40,000 megawatts. ...A huge stumbling block for wind development is that the cost of connecting the wind farm to the electric grid can fall to the local utility. Most of the wind potential in Kansas is in rural areas served by small electric cooperatives, who therefore could be forced to underwrite connection to the network even though they may not use any of the electricity.

With hearings on a wind power case set to begin Monday in front of the Kansas Corporation Commission, a complication is developing. One of the three commissioners already has recused himself from the case, and now a watchdog group wants the other two recused, suggesting they may have been improperly influenced by Gov. Kathleen Sebelius. The governor's office says she did no such thing but has no idea how the matter would proceed if there was nobody to hear it. ...But even if Moffet and/or Wright wished to recuse themselves at this point, they could not, according to the office of Attorney General Paul Morrison. Citing a legal principle known as the Rule of Necessity in Administrative Law, the office said that commissioner who may be subject to disqualification for "bias, prejudice or prejudgment of the issues" are not disqualified if their absence prevents a decision from being made.

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius' administration Thursday was in damage control mode over its decision to reject two massive coal-fired plants in western Kansas. In a speech to a Rotary Club in Topeka, Lt. Gov. Mark Parkinson repeatedly emphasized development of alternative energy projects in western Kansas, and the accompanying economic activity. ..."I think they are trying to create a vision that things are all perfect," said Kreutzer, a plumbing and mechanical supply contractor. But, he said, denial of the coal-fired plants has chased off a lot of potential development in the region. And Sebelius' refusal to allow the plants to be constructed has produced a potential political standoff, he said.

Iberdrola Renewable Energies USA has filed three new conditional-use permit applications with the Ellis County Environmental Office, requesting permission to install three meteorological towers. The towers would be located in the southern portion of the previously proposed wind farm area. The towers would stand 60 meters tall, the same height as the tower installed to collect wind data in 2006, said Project Manager Krista Gordon. ...Wing said the submitted applications are incomplete, and that further information is needed. For example, the application is missing a list of the affected landowners, he said. "There's no way it's going to happen," Wing said of the Nov. 28 meeting. "They're incomplete."

...commission's Monday night meeting, where regulations on private wind turbines eventually were approved on a 6-0 vote. ...The new zoning code section sets out a series of steps that must be followed, such as having the site surveyed, rules limiting height to 200 feet, setbacks from property lines must be at least 1.5 times the height of the tower and generally limiting the number of turbines to one per 80 acres. Commissioners questioned a few provisions, including one requiring turbines be shut down during icy weather, with some saying that rule would be difficult to enforce. Koepsel said she'd read reports of 2.5 pound chunks of ice being thrown as far as 800 feet from turbine blades, so icy weather is a safety issue.

Countywide zoning, conditional-use permits and tower construction topped the Ellis County Commission agenda Monday morning. But for once, the discussion wasn't related to wind energy. Commissioners heard from opponents to construction of a 300-foot tall communications tower southeast of Victoria city limits. Commissioner Perry Henman said ... "The problem I see we're getting into is every time we have an industrial application," Henman said. "When we have a project deal, we don't have any problems with any of those. Once we have an outside or bigger industry wanting a conditional-use permit, we have this problem every time.

For the anti-nuke crowd, the storage pool's ghostly appearance hints at potential catastrophic fallout from reliance on an energy source with a waste stream so toxic it must be guarded for centuries. ...The nation's tolerance for atomic power is about to be tested by an industry intent on welcoming a new wave of nuclear plants and drowning memories of accidents at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl. Legions of activists will surface to obstruct the flow of this nuclear gambit. The exchange is likely to spark a relapse into polarizing environmental, political and regulatory debates that dominated nuclear power's emergence at Wolf Creek and plants carrying the names Copper Station, Turkey Point, Vermont Yankee, Peach Bottoms, Beaver Valley, Comanche Peak and Grand Gulf. ...Stuart Lowry, a Topeka lawyer who works with power cooperatives and serves on the Kansas Energy Council, said he didn't need surveys to grasp that nuclear power had to play a larger role in the nation's energy future.

So far nobody has asked for permission to put up a wind farm in Saline County, but Vicki Koepsel, the county's planning and zoning director, said it's just a matter of time. "There are people who are interested," Koepsel told the Saline County Planning and Zoning Commission during a study session Monday night. The commission took a first look at proposed regulations for private and commercial wind generators, with an eye toward adopting final regulations by December.

At today's Ellis County Commission meeting, a motion to guarantee a moratorium on wind-energy developments within the county failed due to the lack of a second. The motion, which chairman Vernon Berens and commissioner Dennis Pfannenstiel opted not to second, was made by commissioner Perry Henman. Henman suggested a one-year moratorium, or until such time as the county would have a comprehensive zoning plan in place.

Davis also said it is important for commissioners to solidify the necessary conditions in the county's zoning regulations before entering a contractual agreement. "When you buy a house, you don't sign a contract and say 'let's go back and talk about the roof that leaks,' " he said. "At the point you sign the contract, you lose the ability to negotiate."

In a 2-1 decision, the conditional-use permit application for the proposed wind farm was denied by the Ellis County Commission during today's meeting. Vernon Berens and Dennis Pfannenstiel voted in favor of the conditional-use permit application, while Perry Henman said the county should start the application process over and revisit zoning regulations. "I've been, in the past, for it with conditions. And I've sort of changed my mind on that," Henman said. "I'm pretty much thinking that we need to re-do our zoning rules and regs. They're insufficient."

On Tuesday morning, Vernon Berens, Dennis Pfannenstiel and Perry Henman will make arguably their biggest decision as Ellis County commissioners: wind farm or no wind farm. ...Henman said he's decided not to let the over-arching debate of wind energy as a whole effect his decision. The issue is based on zoning regulations, property rights and local quality of life, he said. "Personally, I'm trying to not let those things influence my decision -- if wind towers are evil or good," Henman said. "To me, they're a machine. It makes electricity, and we just need to decide, through zoning, where we need to put them."

At Monday's Ellis County Commission meeting, it was suggested Iberdrola Project Manager Krista Gordon would appear on next week's agenda to answer questions regarding the proposed wind farm. But there's been a change of plans. Gordon's appearance has been canceled, and there will be no wind farm discussion during Monday's meeting, said Chairman Vernon Berens. The decision was made because commissioners didn't want to reopen the public hearing portion of the application process, Berens said. "Plans changed because too many wanted to come back on the agenda, and we've heard all we wanted to hear," he said. "So we said anything with the wind farm will be nixed for Monday, and we'll make a decision on (Sept. 4)."

It will be November before a final decision is made, but at least two companies have indicated an interest in building a transmission line that would pass near Hays. One of those companies - ITC Great Plains - officially is on record that it would like to build the line, which would run from Spearville to the Knoll substation just northwest of Hays and then to Axtell, Neb., just south of Kearney. While it's significant that the line would come close to Hays, it's also the first line that a relatively new state agency - on its own accord - has proposed building if no private company steps forward.