Jo Dunphy, first assessor welcomed everyone. Dunphy issued a special welcome to former governor Angus King and Robert H. Gardiner, who own Independence Wind LLC of Cumberland, and have joined forces with Wagner Forest Services (who own some one million acres of land in Maine) to construct some 40 windmills in Highland Plantation on Wagner land. ...King noted that once the wind towers were operating they might be able to pay the first 500 kilowatts of electricity in each household in Highland each month and that 90 percent of the taxes of those living in Highland would be paid by the Independence Wind Company.

[T]here are some negatives associated with the increasingly popular form of alternative energy, according to a University of New Hampshire expert. But the cons - mainly noise and vibrations from the rotating turbines - are generally things people can live with, UNH assistant professor of geography Mary Lemcke said. In South Berwick, a 300-foot-high ridge across from Marshwood High School is being eyed as a possible location for a wind farm. A Cape Neddick-based alternative energy company is conducting a yearlong wind study there with the hopes a wind farm would be viable. For Wisconsin resident Gerry Meyer, however, the sound of five 400-foot-tall wind turbines located within three quarters of a mile of his home is simply unbearable.

The town will host a member of the Maine Public Utilities Commission and Gov. John Baldacci for a ribbon cutting ceremony Tuesday morning, officially unveiling the town's new 50 kilowatt wind turbine. The event will be held at the town's solid waste facility on Mackenzie Lane and is slated to be emceed by Town Council Chairman Jeff Thomson.

The debate over wind power soon will be blowing into additional Maine towns. First Wind, the Massachusetts company behind Maine's two largest wind energy facilities, plans to file applications with the state late this year or early next year for a facility with roughly 30 turbines in the southern Aroostook County town of Oakfield. The company also is moving forward with plans for projects in Rumford in western Maine as well as on Grand Manan Island just across the Canadian border.

Wind power advocates from across Maine talked about economic and environmental impact and turbine noise during a panel forum Thursday night at Black Mountain Ski Lodge. ...Kearney and Shaw, who live near the Mars Hill wind farm, addressed noise and visual issues associated with wind turbines. "My family lives 3,000 feet from the turbines on the east side of the mountain," Kearney said. "There's no doubt we do hear noise, but we don't focus on it. ...It sounds like a low-flying jet aircraft or a waterfall. You put these big, beautiful 100-foot blades up there and you have to hear something."

The anemometers, which measure wind speed, were installed by the Cape Neddick-based Ra Power Solutions company as part of a yearlong study to determine if a commercial wind farm would be viable there. If it is, a small-scale "niche" wind farm consisting of up to 300-foot high turbines could be constructed. It would be the first commercial wind farm in southern Maine, according to Dean Scontras, a former congressional candidate and vice president of business development for the company.

A month into its road construction for the 44-turbine Kibby Wind Power project north of Eustis, TransCanada Energy Corp. is holding a press conference on Thursday morning to announce a conservation agreement it's reached against developing 1,100 acres of ridgeline surrounding the wind project area and, additionally, that it will donate $500,000 towards the land conservation along the Grafton Loop Trail.

With two windmill projects tentatively planned for the River Valley area, the Natural Resources Council of Maine with the River Valley Growth Council, decided to hold a panel discussion on wind power. ...With two windmill projects tentatively planned for the River Valley area, the Natural Resources Council of Maine with the River Valley Growth Council, decided to hold a panel discussion on wind power.

Wiscasset is being considered for the largest energy development proposal - and potentially the largest development project of any kind - in the history of the state. A Toronto entrepreneur who has developed Canadian wind farms has floated the idea of building a massive $2 billion underground hydropower station at the old Maine Yankee nuclear power station site. The project would be one of the first of its kind anywhere. The proposal raises questions about impacts on the Back River and groundwater, and it would use as much energy as it creates.

A group of Fort Kent residents is proposing a moratorium on industrial wind turbines within town limits until local officials can develop ordinances governing the enormous structures. The group has gathered roughly 220 signatures on a petition seeking a 180-day moratorium on construction of commercial wind power facilities as well as processing of any applications. The petition would allow the Town Council to extend the moratorium or cancel it once Fort Kent's zoning and land-use ordinances have been amended to address wind power facilities.

As First Wind of Massachusetts finishes building a wind farm on Stetson Mountain and prepares applications for another on Rollins Mountain, New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo continues probing allegations that the company dealt improperly with public officials in upstate New York. Begun in July, Cuomo's investigation probes whether First Wind and another company based in Connecticut improperly sought or obtained land-use agreements with residents and public officials; whether public officials received improper benefits to influence their actions; and whether they entered into anti-competitive agreements or practices.

Developers of a proposed wind power project sweetened the pot this week by offering to provide a significant amount of free electricity to every house and seasonal home in town year-round. To get it, the town must decide on amending its comprehensive plan and the new zoning ordinance to allow wind power facilities on town hills by year's end, according to a Monday letter to selectmen from Brunswick-based Independence Wind LLC principals Angus King and Rob Gardiner.

Officials with the Maine Power Connection wrapped up a weeklong tour of Aroostook County on Thursday morning, addressing business leaders, legislators and community members about a proposal to build a new $625 million transmission line from central Maine to connect northern Maine to the New England electric grid. The project would bring wind turbine projects online and close a 25-mile gap between the Maine Public Service system lines in Houlton and the Maine Electric Power Co. ..."Northern Maine customers will be held harmless," he stressed. "Northern Maine delivery rates can't go up - that is our goal. If that doesn't happen, this project is a no-go."

Delays concerning creation of a mountain zoning district to allow wind power facilities on town hills have yet to critically affect wind power developers. The latest delay came at Tuesday night's selectmen's meeting when Chairman Mark Touchette resigned, effective as of the board's Sept. 23 meeting. Touchette resigned to care for his 17-year-old son ...His decision leaves Independence Wind LLC developers Angus King and Robert Gardiner idling in the wind, because Roxbury has just one selectman.

Lee will join three other towns in hiring a Bangor-based law firm to handle pending tax-break negotiations for a proposed $120 million wind farm, officials said Tuesday. With only seven residents attending, the Board of Selectmen agreed during a special town meeting Monday night to hire Eaton Peabody of Bangor to represent Lee in talks with Evergreen Wind Power LLC regarding its Rollins Mountain wind farm. There was no dissent.

Imagine 30 wind turbines whirring ATOP two remote Maine peaks. The 300-ton towers, with blades sweeping 400 feet high and aglow with aircraft-warning lights, would each produce 9,000 megawatt-hours of renewable electricity per year. So what's wrong with this picture? A lot, according to groups like the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) and the Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC)–like the fact that the windmills in this proposed farm would be visible from a 34-mile stretch of the Appalachian Trail.

Work on the $320 million Kibby Wind Power project has started on Kibby Mountain in northern Franklin County. The project that will span Kibby Mountain and Kibby Range in Kibby and Skinner townships has moved from the regulatory and business development stage to the implementation stage. The 44-turbine commercial wind farm has received all permits to move forward, project manager Wolfgang Neuhoff said Thursday.

The three attended a public hearing at Mattanawcook Academy on Wednesday to see how Evergreen Wind Power LLC's proposed $120 million wind farm would appear if it gets Maine Department of Environmental Protection approval and is built on Rollins Mountain. They examined several drawings and photographs depicting the 40 1.5-megawatt windmills. Then came their verdict: "It's hideous," Roy said. "If I had known it [the wind farm] would look like this," Washburn said, "I would never have put in all the work I have done on my place." "If this project goes through," Roy said, "it should be postponed for two years so landowners near it can sell their properties."

The last of 27 massive component parts of the three wind turbines arrived Aug. 15 at the top of Beaver Ridge, where they now lie, waiting to be assembled. Andy Price of Beaver Ridge Wind, developers of the project, said he expects the turbines to be standing by the second week of September. The blades will remain locked until the end of October, by which time Central Maine Power estimates it will have completed the transmission system. At full capacity, the turbines will generate 4.5 megawatts of electricity

Horizon Wind Energy hopes to build as many as 400 wind turbines in the farm fields and forests of Aroostook County, thereby transforming northern Maine from a producer of world-class potatoes to the premier exporter of wind energy in the northeastern United States. ...Horizon Wind's private negotiations with landowners, while necessary from a business sense, have created uncertainty among some in the communities. That uncertainty has bred concern, mistrust and even fear of this out-of-state corporation. Some locals worry that the sight of so many wind towers could deter hunters, fishermen, snowmobilers and other tourists who previously made the long trek north to enjoy the "wilds" of Aroostook County.