Selectmen and a large crowd at Thursday night's board meeting came to hear a presentation by Boston-based wind power company First Wind on its proposed Longfellow wind farm project for Black Mountain and North and South Twin mountains. Instead, everyone learned that such a project might not even be viable, because First Wind studies so far show that wind atop Black Mountain is too strong for wind turbine engineering to handle, said Matthew Kearns, vice president of business development for First Wind.

Maine's quest to become a leader in developing an alternative energy industry has plenty of support in Augusta and Orono, but along the shoreline people are more wary. While some see the development of offshore wind energy as a powerful engine for economic growth in Maine, many in the state's beleaguered lobster industry fear that wind farms will be just one more item on a growing list of obstacles to fishing in the Gulf of Maine. Last month, the state's Ocean Energy Task Force tentatively identified four sites along the Maine coast as potential locations for testing offshore wind generators.

Harvard inked a deal yesterday to purchase 10 percent of annual electricity consumed on its Cambridge and Allston campuses from a leading wind provider in New England. This agreement, in which Harvard will acquire over 30 million kilowatt-hours of renewable energy, slates the University to become the largest institutional buyer of wind power in the region, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. ...Harvard will purchase 50 percent of the energy produced from First Wind's soon-to-be constructed wind farm in northern Maine for the next 15 years.

North America's largest utility company Hydro-Quebec has announced it will pay $4.4 billion for transmission lines of New Brunswick Power, a deal that would help the company secure greater access to electricity markets in the U.S. Hydro-Quebec announced Thursday that it expects to spend up to $23 billion over the next decade to boost its hydro electric output by 4,500 megawatts a year. Much of that will be exported to the United States and Ontario.

Wind turbines are a permitted use in town, but there's hardly anything on the books to regulate the devices, according to town officials. Article 2, Question 2, on the November referendum would change all that. "People are talking about (wind turbines) so we should have something out there to guide it," said Code Enforcement Officer Jodine Adams, who noted two turbines are already up and running in town. The Wells municipal code minimally addresses wind turbines, she said, but the proposed ordinance would establish a slew of guidelines that aren't yet addressed in town law.

Converting ocean winds into electricity could be a boon for the state but many obstacles need to be resolved before it can become a reality. That was the message former Gov. Angus King delivered Wednesday to more than 200 people attending the second Maine Coastal Waters Conference at Point Lookout. King said the state will need to factor the needs of shipping, fisheries and environmental groups when siting wind generators offshore. In addition, the technology to harness that energy has yet to be developed, he said.

Maine can have a reliable power grid for substantially less money, and with far fewer transmission towers and substations, than the $1.5 billion project Central Maine Power Co. is proposing, the staff of the Public Utilities Commission has concluded. In an analysis made available late Tuesday, the PUC staff said CMP has overstated and accelerated the need for its Maine Power Reliability Program, in part by using forecasts for growth in electricity use that have become outdated since the recession started. ... the staff concludes that the grid could be upgraded for $667 million under a basic plan, and for $852 million under a more extensive upgrade, depending on what is done.

Having considered seven sites along Maine's coast for offshore wind demonstration projects, state officials on Tuesday narrowed the list to four possible locations where researchers might explore the potential for wind power facilities. The University of Maine, which earlier this month received an $8 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy for wind energy research, and commercial developers will be able to test deep-water wind turbines.

Dozens of people listened to five speakers give their views on wind energy at a forum Friday. Linda Walbridge, of the Western Maine Economic Development Council, said the goal of the forum was to help residents make informed decisions about wind power on a local level. The speakers included one proponent and one opponent of wind power, a sound permitting specialist and two people involved with proposed wind turbine projects in Oxford Hills.

A resident's petition asking the town to approve a 180-day moratorium on wind power development was found sufficient by selectmen Tuesday night. There were 115 valid signatures on the petition. The decision on whether to hold a referendum at the polls or a special town meeting to vote on the issue was tabled until all members of the Board of Selectmen are present. James Parker's petition says that the full impact of wind turbines has not been fully explored.

Residents got a chance to ask a panel of experts about what wind development, and passing the ordinance would mean for them. It was clear from the number of cards being filled out, people in Dixmont had a lot of questions about wind power development in their town, which currently has a moratorium on wind power development. That measure was put in place to give the town time to draft an ordinance to regulate development. The planning board has completed the first draft of that ordinance, and Monday, residents got a chance to anonymously ask a panel of experts about it.

Under the whisper of a whirling 410-foot wind turbine, 250 people stood at the top of Kibby Mountain today to help celebrate the start-up of half of TransCanada's $320 million Kibby Wind Power Project and, somewhat unexpectedly, hear plans for the expansion of Kibby's 44-windmill project by adding 15 more on nearby Sisk Mountain. The proposed $100 million expansion project on Sisk Mountain would be located just west of the Kibby range and mountain project.

Maine's pursuit of renewable energy got a stiff tailwind from two directions Thursday. U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced that a consortium led by the University of Maine has been awarded as much as $8 million to develop technology to harness winds and deploy two floating, offshore turbines in the Gulf of Maine. Also Thursday, Gov. John Baldacci's office announced it would help start up the first half of a Kibby Mountain wind power project.

Though Lynne Williams supports alternative energy production and doesn't oppose the use of windmills to create it, she is fighting wind power in Maine just about every way she can. A Bar Harbor attorney representing the Friends of Lincoln Lakes, Williams is pursuing two appeals of decisions that, if reaffirmed, would help clear the way for an industrial wind site on Rollins Mountain ridgelines in Burlington, Lee, Lincoln and Winn.

At least two foreign business groups plan to visit Maine to explore wind power investment possibilities, following the governor's trade mission to Spain, Germany and Norway last month. StatoilHydro is expected in mid-November. The Norwegian energy giant has the only deep-water wind turbine off its coast, and it has an agreement with the University of Maine to explore the feasibility of putting such a turbine in the Gulf of Maine.

Questions ranging from how installing wind turbines might affect tourism and wildlife, to beliefs that such devices could cause physical and mental illnesses were put forth by some of the members of a panel Tuesday night that explored the possible ramifications of building a wind farm atop three local mountains. Conspicuously absent were representatives from First Wind LLC, the Newton, Mass.

A forum scheduled for next week will feature several representatives from proposed wind farm projects in the Oxford Hills. The Wind Energy Educational Forum will take place from 7 to 9 a.m. at Four Seasons Function Center on Route 26. Town Manager David Holt of Norway will moderate the forum, which is sponsored by the Western Maine Economic Development Council. The event is free and includes a continental breakfast.

A subsidiary of the state's largest wind power manufacturer will get Maine's first long-term electricity supply contract for its proposed 60-megawatt Rollins Mountain project in Penobscot County, officials said this week. The Maine Public Utilities Commission unanimously approved awarding the 20-year contract to First Wind Holding LLC ...While a state permit allowing construction of the project, which has yet to attract investors, has been appealed by a group opposing the wind farm, proponents are optimistic that the contract will help secure investors in the project.

A $250 million project to erect 48 wind turbines on four peaks in Somerset County was outlined at a meeting of about 30 people Thursday night. Because Highland Plantation is considered an unorganized territory, Independence Wind principals Angus King and Robert Gardiner are expected to file an application for permits for their plan with Maine's Land Use Regulation Commission by early November.

Selectmen on Tuesday learned of a citizens' petition calling for a 180-day moratorium on wind power development in town. Kirk Nadeau, president of Kean Engineering of Turner, has proposed erecting three, 1.5 megawatt turbines on Streaked Mountain but said he will not proceed without the town's support. James Parker, who is gathering signatures to bring the petition to selectmen, and ultimately to townspeople for a vote, said the full impact of a wind facility has not been explored.