The New England power grid will have 30,345 megawatts available today - use is expected to peak at a record 28,030 megawatts, even after energy companies have put out a call for people to voluntarily reduce power consumption, she said.

With the goal of advancing the wind farm/wind energy dialogue beyond the spin stage, Harwich Oracle sister publication The Cape Codder is sponsoring a roundtable discussion with key players in the Cape Wind debate and is conducting an online poll to gauge the opinions of Cape Codders. Cape Wind proposes to develop a 130-turbine wind farm for Horseshoe Shoal, in Nantucket Sound.

Among those ideas, he believes, are new solutions in alternative energies for future generations. That should not, however, include projects like the controversial Cape Wind offshore turbine project. "It's not a wind farm - it is a power plant, right in the middle of Nantucket Sound, and we should pass it on to future generations the way it is now," he said. "But there is a right way to do things, and not this way, which is really nothing more than a giveaway to a private developer for absolutely nothing. It is important to me that Nantucket Sound has been designated an ocean sanctuary by Massachusetts and that should be honored and respected - and it should be off-limits."

The roundtable is set for Aug. 14, and while it will not be held in a public forum, it will be produced by The Cape Codder for airing on local access Channel 17. Air dates will be announced in each of the newspapers. Staff coverage of the roundtable will appear in The Cape Codder's Aug. 18 issue, and in the sister publications the following week.

Cape Wind Associates is working with investment bank Lehman Brothers to secure financing, Rodgers said, adding that he was confident the project would clear a government regulatory review which is expected to decide on the project in 2007.

WORCESTER— Absent interest in lower-priced fuels, New Englanders should brace for continued high electricity prices, the byproduct of a regional system heavily dependent on oil, natural gas and coal, the head of the region’s power grid said yesterday.

CHATHAM --- Is wind power an important element in weaning the country away from its reliance on fossil fuels, or a boondoggle that will do nothing more than line the pockets of investors and power companies? And where does the proposed Cape Wind project fit into all of this?

The goal of the bill is to protect fisheries, preserve public access, enhance biodiversity and ecosystem health, address climate change and sea level rise, foster the sustainable growth of marine industries, trade, and necessary economic infrastructure. The bill would not affect Cape Wind's plan for a wind farm because that project lies within federal waters in Nantucket Sound.

Boston construction giant Jay Cashman wants to build a massive wind farm in pristine Buzzards Bay, but says there is one potential obstacle. "The one thing I am concerned about is birds," Mr. Cashman told a group in Fairhaven when he unveiled his $750 million renewable energy project earlier this month.

BUZZARDS BAY — Researchers at Massachusetts Maritime Academy are studying how the school's new 241-foot wind turbine is affecting the flight patterns of birds that fly around the windy campus.

When 1,100 environmentalists filled an MIT auditorium for a gubernatorial debate this month, Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey was a no-show to no one’s surprise, Attorney General Thomas Reilly pulled out of the forum at the last minute, and Green Party members were planning to disrupt the event because their candidate was being excluded.

On the North Shore, though, the approach to wind power could be summarized as "small is beautiful." Here, communities and private developers are looking at putting up one or two wind turbines to provide just a portion of their energy needs.

"On Friday, June 23, we issued a unilateral order regarding the failure of their erosion controls and that it was a violation of the permits we issued," Tor said. "We ordered them to correct the control failures and submit a plan for addressing the problem areas."

WESTPORT - The poor acoustics, muggy weather and barely readable projection screen added to the sour mood of about 80 area residents who attended a meeting on the Buzzards Bay wind farm in Fairhaven last week.

BOSTON — The state of Massachusetts would draw up an ocean management plan for state waters — including appropriate locations for offshore wind turbines — under legislation that got preliminary approval from the state Senate yesterday.

Cape Wind has been battling for years to build a clean-energy wind farm on Nantucket Sound. Now its parent company, Energy Management Inc., has announced plans to construct a fossil fuel burning power plant along the Chelsea Creek, 250 yards from a Chelsea elementary school complex that serves 2,000 students. The plant would be used as a backup system, ready to quickly provide additional energy if needed during times of peak demand.

New England recorded its highest power usage in history Tuesday, according to Ken McDonnell, a spokesman for ISO New England, manager of the region's power grid. The peak, reached Tuesday afternoon, was 27,374 megawatts of power, eclipsing the previous record set on July 27, 2005, when usage reached 26,885 megawatts.

"I think for farm and residential use they can be appropriate in some places," said Eleanor Tillinghast, spokeswoman for Green Berkshires, a group that has opposed every commercial wind farm in the county. "If a structure conforms to the local bylaws and serves a purpose to the homeowner or farm, then they could be very appropriate."

The candidates for this fall’s Massachusetts gubernatorial election explained some of their solutions to the state’s environmental problems during the Gubernatorial Environment Forum at MIT’s Kresge Auditorium Wednesday night.

His renewable energy proposal, called South Coast Wind, includes three clusters of turbines off the coasts of Fairhaven, Dartmouth and Naushon Island, one of the Elizabeth Islands. At peak winds, the project would produce 300 megawatts of electricity, compared with 420 megawatts forecast by Cape Wind