Stetson Mountain is more ridgeline than mountain, running like a backbone for six miles through the rolling hills that dominate Washington County's northernmost border with Canada. Moderate winds sweep across those hills from Canada and pick up speed as they zoom up Stetson Mountain, which at roughly 1,100 feet is among the tallest ridges in this sparsely peopled corner of Maine. That combination of high winds and low population has one company seeing green.

The Maine Use Regulation Commission voted 6 to 1 on Wednesday, June 6 to reopen the Public Record for Maine Mountain Power's wind farm proposal for Northern Franklin County. A letter dated May 9, 2007 by MMP requested LURC to reopen the Public Hearing and Public Record because it had reevaluated its initial petition in response to both a strong opposition that raised concern about the project and on a modification recommendation proposed by the Natural Resource Council of Maine. During the lengthy Public Hearing process, NCRM suggested that the petitioner revise its original proposal and develop only the Black Nubble Mountain Range to reduce the size of the development area which will reduce the potential for impacts.

FREEDOM-The on-again, off-again wind turbine project on Beaver Ridge may have gotten the final green light on Tuesday when voters agreed to repeal the commercial zoning ordinance that all but doomed the project earlier this year. Residents agreed by a 159-112 margin to repeal the ordinance, which was established last year in response to Portland-based Competitive Energy Service's plan to install three 400-foot turbines on the ridge.

On April 25 the staff of the Land Use Regulation Commission deemed the application from TransCanada Maine Wind Development Inc. complete. The application includes the rezoning of 2,908 acres in the Kibby and Skinner Townships to become a Planned Development Subdistrict for the purpose of constructing the Kibby Wind Power Project. The proposal includes a 132 megawatt wind farm consisting of 44 turbines, transmission lines, gravel access roads, maintenance and operations building, a substation and related activities.

State regulators agreed Wednesday to consider a scaled-down proposal for a controversial wind farm in western Maine near Sugarloaf/USA rather than force the developer to start the review process from scratch. The Land Use Regulation Commission also named intervenors and set tentative public hearing dates for two less-contentious wind energy projects proposed for northern Washington and Franklin counties. In the latest twist in an already complicated case, LURC voted 6-1 to essentially keep alive a revised application from Maine Mountain Power to build a wind farm in Carrabassett Valley.

Three environmental organizations agreed to back the proposed Kibby Mountain wind-power project in Franklin County after the developer agreed to pay $500,000 to protect several high-elevation acres in Oxford County. According to a late Tuesday afternoon report, the Appalachian Mountain Club, Maine Audubon and Natural Resources Council of Maine negotiated the deal with TransCanada Maine Wind Development Inc.

The [land use regulation] commission will decide whether to accept a staff recommendation to reject Maine Mountain Power's proposal to put 30 wind turbines on Black Nubble Mountain and Redington Pond Range in Franklin County. At the same meeting, the commission will also decide whether to accept a staff recommendation to reopen the record to consider a much smaller version of he same project with 18 turbines on Black Nubble only.

Representatives of TransCanada Energy Ltd. will hold an open house Thursday to field questions on the proposed $270 million Kibby Wind Power project in northern Franklin County. The company plans to site 44, three-megawatt turbines on private land that is actively managed for forestry on Kibby Mountain (17 to 19 turbines) and Kibby Range (25 to 27 turbines) in Kibby Township and Skinner Township, about 8 miles north of Eustis.

A 46-page commercial development review ordinance, adopted nine months ago, was meant to give Freedom the authority to adequately review projects that could have substantial impact on the town. Motivated in large part by a $12 million proposal to build three 400-foot-tall windmills on Beaver Ridge, the ordinance also spells out development standards for cell towers, landfills, water extraction, adult businesses and other commercial enterprises. "It was a tool for the town to guide development," Glen Bridges told about 40 people at a public hearing Tuesday, May 15. "The tool broke down when it was put to the test. It was never intended to kill the [windmill] project."

FREEDOM - A wind turbine project that failed to meet the town's standards will move ahead if residents vote to remove those standards next month. That was the message those in favor of the project delivered to approximately 100 people who attended Tuesday's hearing on repealing the town's Commercial Development Review Ordinance.

FREEDOM - An ordinance to guide commercial development that was passed just last year may already be on the chopping block. The town has scheduled a hearing for 7 p.m. on Tuesday at the Grange Hall to repeal the Commercial Development Review Ordinance just a year after voters approved it. The ordinance was developed in response to Portland-based Competitive Energy Services plans to install three electricity generating wind turbines on Beaver Ridge. While the planning board approved the turbines, in March the board of appeals rejected the project after finding it failed to meet the the noise levels and that Competitive Energy had not met bonding requirements spelled out in the commercial development ordinance. A referendum ballot vote on the ordinance is scheduled for June 12.

There was mixed reaction from environmental groups Wednesday to a plan to scale back a controversial wind power project. Maine Mountain Power proposed stripping 12 wind turbines on environmentally sensitive Redington Pond Range from the Redington Wind Farm application that was rejected in January in an unusual 6-1 vote in which the Land Use Regulation Commission went against the recommendation of its staff. In a letter dated Wednesday, Maine Mountain Power asked the commission to reopen the record to reconsider the proposal with only the 18 wind turbines on nearby Black Nubble Mountain.

A second lawsuit — this one brought by neighboring property owners — has been filed at Waldo County Superior Court over the Board of Appeal's March 8 decision on the project...In their action, the Bennetts and Keating claim the appeals board — even though it ultimately supported their view that the project should be denied — erred in a number of findings.

Gov. John Baldacci signed an executive order Tuesday that creates the Governor's Task Force on Wind Power Development in Maine. "Maine must be aggressive in pursuing alternative sources of energy," Gov. Baldacci said. "We know that climate change is real. We know that people are contributing to the problem. And we know that wind power is a good source of clean, renewable energy." The Task Force will review regulations that affect the development of wind power projects in the state and recommend any changes that would assure that Maine has a balanced, efficient and appropriate regulatory framework for evaluating proposed developments.

The developer of a controversial wind farm proposed for Maine's western mountains plans to submit a scaled-down version in hopes of winning approval from state regulators, the Land Use Regulation Commission said Wednesday. Maine Mountain Power plans to drop its request for building 12 wind-power turbines on Redington Mountain. That would reduce the company's proposal to 18 turbines located on Black Nubble Mountain.

State regulators indicated Wednesday that they plan to pay closer attention to potential noise levels generated by wind farms proposed within the Unorganized Territory. Members of the Land Use Regulation Commission said the state should learn from the noise concerns that have arisen since a wind farm in the Aroostook County town of Mars Hill became operational earlier this year.

A proposal to build a 38-turbine wind farm in rural Washington County passed its first administrative hurdle recently when state regulators officially accepted the application for review. The Maine Land Use Regulation Commission recently deemed as "complete for processing" Evergreen Wind Power LLC's application to build a wind farm along Stetson Mountain in northern Washington County.

FREEDOM - Competitive Energy Services has decided to take the town to court in an effort to gain approval to erect three electrity-generating wind turbines on Beaver Ridge. The Portland-based company filed an appeal in Waldo County Superior Court on Friday, near the end of the 30-day window of opportunity allowed by the town's ordinance.

Wind power is in its infancy in Maine, a TransCanada Energy Ltd. representative told Franklin County commissioners Tuesday. The panel received an update on the proposed Kibby Wind Power project in northern Franklin County and asked questions of company representatives. An application was filed with Maine Land Use Regulation Commission on Jan. 8 to rezone 2,900 acres and to build the wind farm on ridges of the Boundary Mountains. A fifth volume of documents about the project was filed last week with LURC, project manager Nick Di domenico told commissioners. Wind power has been measured and environmental studies conducted on birds, bats, and Canadian lynx among others with results incorporated into the application.

ROCKPORT - An ordinance drafted by the town would allow the building of electricity-generating wind turbines in town, if it gets voter approval in June. The proposal is prompted by the work of students aiming to put up such a turbine at Camden Hills Regional High School.