The city has scheduled a public hearing Monday at 6:30 p.m. to discuss a proposal to ease the city's 50-foot building height limitation to allow wind turbines in industrial zones. The hearing will be conducted by the Planning Board and the Town Council's Economic Development Committee. It will be held in the public meeting room of the Police Department on High Street. Town Councilor William F. Martin, who is also chairman of the Greenfield Redevelopment Authority is seeking the change.

In July, the Bay State's House passed a resolution in support of efforts to have independent safety assessments conducted at nuclear power plants in Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hampshire. ...The Legislature also resolved that it's time the nation begin its transition "away from nuclear power to an affordable, clean and sustainable national energy policy." ..."I understand the concerns raised by the Commonwealth," wrote Samuel J. Collins, an NRC regional administrator, in response to the resolution. "However, I feel it is necessary to address some of the statements and assumptions conveyed in that document to dispel any misconceptions you may have ..."

Visitors to Rehoboth Beach, Del., soon may be greeted by more than sand dunes, seagulls and beach umbrellas. If offshore wind advocates have their way, scores of 140-foot blades will be spinning in the ocean breeze nearly a dozen miles away, barely visible to the sunbathers. Offshore wind has taken a back seat to offshore drilling for oil and natural gas in the current energy debate.

In a move which acknowledges almost a year of bureaucratic missteps, Aquinnah selectmen have announced their plan to scrap an energy district of critical planning concern, created to help push through a pioneering bylaw on wind turbines. But those involved have voiced a determination not to give up on an initiative ...Earlier this week selectman Camille Rose scheduled a hearing to rescind the energy district with the Martha's Vineyard Commission for Sept. 16. If approved, it will end the energy district and lift the building moratorium.

A company that wants to build a floating wind farm off the coast of Martha's Vineyard has received a boost from the state's congressional delegation. In a letter dated June 26, the entire Massachusetts delegation asked the U.S. Minerals Management Service to review an application by Blue H USA LLC for a lease to test floating platform technology and collect data at the site for the proposed wind farm. The company announced the congressional support for its application at its U.S. headquarters in Boston yesterday.

Wind farms are springing up in Midwestern fields, along Appalachian ridgelines, and even in Texas backyards. They're everywhere, it seems, except in the windy coastal waters that lap at some of America's largest, most power-hungry cities. That's partly because the first large-scale effort to harness sea breezes in the U.S. hit resistance from an army led by the rich and famous, waging a not-on-my-beach campaign. For almost eight years the critics have stalled the project, called Cape Wind, which aims to place 130 turbines in Nantucket Sound about five miles south of Cape Cod.

Massachusetts' first major energy bill in a decade has hit a snag over a provision that would require utilities to secure part of their power from gasified coal-fired plants, groups on both sides of the debate said Monday. Environmentalists and industry advocates are at odds over an alternative portfolio standard, a requirement that works much like a renewable portfolio standard. But in this case, the utilities are required to purchase a set amount of power from gasified coal-fired generation, combined heat and power and other alternatives. ...Angela O'Connor, president of the New England Power Generators Association, said that environmental groups need a "reality check" when it comes to portfolio planning in New England.

A local company has lost out on part of a $45 million project in the Midwest because federal tax incentives for renewable energy sources - an integral part of the economics of all renewable energy projects - are set to expire on Dec. 31. Roughly $200 million invested in two Pittsfield projects that would produce up to 50 megawatts of energy and 50 million gallons of biodiesel is also likely to be affected. Two wind turbine projects in North County that would collectively produce nearly 38 megawatts of energy could also face significant funding obstacles. ...If the extension fails, Fairbank, of EOS, said, on Jan. 1, "the industry just takes a massive blow because you just can't make the economics of these projects work without incentives."

Gov. Deval Patrick signed into law Wednesday a measure that will establish the nation's first management and protection plan for a state's ocean waters. The law sets ground rules for all offshore projects and businesses, including energy ventures and conservation areas that lie in state waters. The state controls all water within three miles of the coast, about 1.6 million acres of water. ...The law comes as numerous projects are being proposed for the waters off Massachusetts. They include liquid natural gas terminals, wind farms, and sand and gravel mining operations. Currently, the state approves projects case by case. The law acts much like zoning, laying out what can be built where.

In Berkshire County, where three paper mills have closed and a water bottling company has balked on plans for a new facility all because of the high cost of power, small and medium-size businesses are reeling. Local economic development officials are seeing the hills that they must climb to attract new businesses — and retain existing ones — grow ever steeper as Western Massachusetts Electric Company (WMECO) continues to increase its commercial rates for power. This is the setting that U.S. Sen. John F. Kerry chose for a field hearing of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, during which local business leaders will testify on the cost of energy and the effect it is having on their ability to make a profit and maintain employment levels.

Gov. Deval Patrick is expected to give quick approval to a first-in-the-nation ocean management act that would decide how and where projects such as wind turbines and LNG terminals could be built in state waters. The legislation would also open up most of the state's ocean sanctuaries to renewable energy development, including Boston developer Jay Cashman's proposal for a wind farm in Buzzards Bay. The renewable energy projects would have to comply with the terms of the ocean management plan, to be written by Dec. 31, 2009, and approved by the state secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs.

Supporters and opponents of the Town Hall wind turbine have each been given new ammunition in their fight over whether to build a town-financed turbine. Data from a test tower built by Lees Market on the west side of Main Road shows better energy potential than first expected, but a report on small wind turbines says energy production estimates are often too optimistic. The Board of Selectmen received both reports last week when it met to vote on a contract to build a 120-foot turbine behind Town Hall. No vote was taken on the contract, and the board will resume discussions tonight.

A landmark bill designed to better manage everything from wind farms to whale watching in the coastal waters off Massachusetts is making its way through the Statehouse and could emerge from a key legislative committee as soon as this week. ...A single, compromise version of the bill is expected to be released this week. ...Senate President Therese Murray, D-Plymouth said the bill is needed as the ocean waters are increasingly coming under pressure. "Our ocean is the last great stretch that has not yet been developed," Murray said when the Senate approved their version of the bill. "We have well-established laws for planning how we use our land, but nothing for our ocean."

The state would open up ocean sanctuaries to renewable energy development under a legislative agreement that could allow a controversial wind farm in Buzzards Bay to be built under certain conditions. ...Under current law, development can only take place in the state's ocean sanctuaries if it is deemed a "public necessity." The five protected sanctuaries are on the North Shore, Cape Cod Bay, the southern Cape and islands and Buzzards Bay. The new law would allow renewable energy projects, but they would be subject to an ocean management plan to be drawn up by a special commission by Dec. 31, 2009, according to people familiar with the agreement. The commission will decide the specific regulations, including allowable distance from shore, scale and type of technology, community benefits and environmental impact.

Just months after House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi killed a bill that was designed to block a controversial liquefied natural gas project from being built on 73 acres in Fall River, the landowner, Jay Cashman, sold the property to the terminal developers and made a $14.2 million profit, according to a Globe review of real estate and legislative records. ...DiMasi said he sought to open up Buzzards Bay to wind farm development because he strongly supports alternative energy, not because Cashman was interested in developing the site. "We don't talk about those things. It was all policy-driven," DiMasi said. Cashman declined to be interviewed. His spokesman, George Regan, said Cashman did not discuss his financial interest in the LNG terminal in Fall River or in the wind farm in Buzzards Bay with the speaker.

A dispute over transmission lines for the proposed Nantucket Sound wind farm landed in court this week. ...Barnstable officials filed a complaint in Barnstable Superior Court Wednesday claiming the Cape Cod Commission has exclusive jurisdiction over the transmission cables that would link the turbines to the shoreline. In October, the commission rejected a plan to have the transmission cables make landfall in Barnstable, and Cape Wind appealed that decision to the state Energy Facilities Siting Board. In the complaint filed Wednesday, Barnstable officials contend the state Energy Facilities Siting Board does not have the authority to review the commission's denial of the transmission lines.

House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi, who many on SouthCoast contend aided developer Jay Cashman's effort to sprinkle giant wind turbines across Buzzards Bay, went out on the water today to look at ground zero. Returning to land, he said he remains committed to strongly pushing for renewable energy alternatives, including wind turbine farms, as the state faces an energy crisis. ...Rep. [Rep. John F. Quinn, D-Dartmouth] said the wind turbines could have a potentially serious impact on quality of life for those living along the water as well as impacts on shipping and fishing. He said he invited Rep. DiMasi to view the location because it is highly visible from land and could potentially cause noise and other problems.

Edgartown and the Martha's Vineyard Commission have formally joined the fracas over the wind farm proposed for Nantucket Sound. In a petition filed last week with the Massachusetts Energy Facilities Siting Board, the Edgartown selectmen declared, for the first time, their opposition to what they consider to be Cape Wind Associates' attempt to circumvent local permitting authorities. ... "In the event that (the siting board) concludes that it may circumvent and override the (Cape Cod Commission), the town advances that such a decision would undermine the authority of the (Martha's Vineyard Commission) and would be detrimental to the town's interests," the selectmen wrote in their petition to intervene. The Edgartown selectmen also raised concerns over the company's attempts to get around local permitting authorities in Yarmouth and Barnstable.

House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi has taken up Rep. John F. Quinn's offer of a boat tour of Buzzards Bay on Wednesday to get a firsthand look at the location of a proposed wind farm. Rep. Quinn, D-Dartmouth, and Speaker DiMasi have been at odds over House legislation that would open up Buzzards Bay and other ocean sanctuaries to large-scale renewable energy development. Rep. Quinn insists Buzzards Bay, with its busy shipping, fishing and recreational routes, is unsuitable for a wind farm for safety and environmental reasons.

With Bay State ocean-based wind energy projects languishing and demand for renewable energy climbing, a top energy official said Wednesday, April 2, that land-based wind development is both an opportunity and a challenge for Massachusetts. Swampscott has investigated the possibility of placing wind turbines in town, most recently through efforts of the Renewable Energy Committee. New England wind energy industry leaders said the land-based wind industry is robust and capable of producing 9,500 megawatts of wind power. Land-based community projects are on the rise in New England, despite stalled high-profile projects like Cape Wind, said industry officials.