More than two dozen picketers from small towns across Maine staged a protest in front of the Augusta Civic Center Tuesday over what they say is a flawed and unfair process to develop industrial wind projects in the state. Inside, Governor John Baldacci and other state officials were hosting a daylong wind energy conference. Protestors say they want to put the state and wind developers on notice that they won't stand idle any longer.

Freedom residents wondering how their taxes could have gone up this year despite a new $10 million wind development crowded into the Dirigo Grange Hall Sept. 30 expecting to have questions answered by an official from the Property Tax Division of the Maine Revenue Service. But the official never turned up, and the meeting that followed was fraught with speculation, suspicion and accusations, mostly to do with the wind turbines.

Maine was one of 10 states to create the nation's first market-based system to fight climate change. By putting a price on carbon dioxide emissions, it encourages large power plants to become cleaner and more efficient. It's too early to measure any effects on pollution or on electricity prices, especially given a recession that has reduced production - and thus emissions - far more than any government action.

Offshore wind power may have the capacity to help the state free itself from its dependence on foreign oil, but plenty of Mainers have concerns as well as hopes about its potential. More than 70 people gathered Tuesday night at the Samoset Resort for the last in a series of information sessions about several proposed test sites for offshore wind power generation held throughout September along the Maine coast. Many of them, including Margaret Schuler of Edgecomb, shared their opinions ..."Why would we lay waste to some of our best and most beautiful areas for a test site?" she asked.

The Board of Selectmen gave its approval Sept. 24 for the town to pursue a state grant to develop two wind generators at the police station. The funds, explained Conservation Commission chairman Sarah Lachance, are part of a federal stimulus package given to the state. "It offers opportunities for municipalities and schools for community demonstration projects up to $50,000 with a 20 percent match," Lachance said.

At a confidential meeting today, parties including the staff of the Maine Public Utilities Commission and Central Maine Power Co. will seek ways to settle CMP's landmark request for a $1.4 billion upgrade of its transmission system. But two prominent parties in the case say the settlement attempt - initiated at CMP's urging - reflects political pressure by the utility's parent company and threatens to short-circuit a legal process that's meant to test whether the project is necessary in its proposed form.

The town plans to explore the possibility of wind power. The only question is whether it will move forward on its own or with a prospective developer. The Town Council last week authorized Town Manager Roger Raymond to move forward with wind testing on a 51-acre parcel the town purchased last year from the Buck Estates. The property is the highest point in the town, and the town has viewed it as a potential site for wind generators.

Residents will have a chance Monday to learn about and ask questions on a proposed moratorium ordinance on potential wind farm development. ...The proposed ordinance was prompted by a tentative proposal by Patriot Renewables LLC of Quincy, Mass., to construct eight to 20 wind turbines along the ridge that includes Colonel Holman Mountain.

Public reaction to a proposed wind turbine test site near an island off York's coast revealed both enthusiasm and concern. ...During the meeting, everyone from birdwatchers to lobstermen expressed concerns about the plan and how it could affect the region. Jim Henderson, of the Southern Maine Lobstermen's Association, said he had concern about the wreck of the Empire Knight cargo ship on the ocean floor near Boon Island.

Opponents of a wind farm project approved last month by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection are appealing that final order. Through attorney Rufus Brown of Portland, Concerned Citizens to Save Roxbury, 37 individual camp or property owners, and the Silver Lake Camp Owners Association filed the appeal on Monday. Roxbury Pond is also called Silver Lake.

This week, Concerned Citizens to Save Roxbury appealed the Maine Department of Environmental Protection's approval of the Record Hill Wind Project. The group wants the DEP's board to hold a public hearing to explore conflicting medical and technical information regarding the licensing of large wind turbine projects. The appeal comes while Gov. John Baldacci is on a trade mission in Europe to promote Maine as an attractive place to develop wind power.

Through its sophisticated operations center here, the Iberdrola power company can instantly check on any of its 5,500 wind turbines in 10 countries, using giant electronic maps showing the locations and data from the machinery such as wind speed and temperature readings. By pushing a few buttons, operators can see whatever they need to make their global system more efficient as it turns wind into electricity, from blown-out schematics of each turbine to real-time photographs. What Maine officials would like to see is a few of those wind turbines in their state.

About 35 people, including fishermen, biologists, conservationists and others, on Wednesday night attended the third in a series of meetings being held along Maine's coast to gather information about proposed offshore wind power development. Following a legislative mandate, the state has identified seven areas that are possible demonstration sites for testing wind power equipment.

By a 3-1 vote at Thursday night's meeting, selectmen decided not to convene a special town meeting to allow residents to vote on a petition-initiated moratorium of 180 days on any development of wind farms on town hills. Their reasoning? Acting Chairman Frank DiConzo and Selectmen Mark Belanger and Robert Cameron all agreed that no emergency exists to warrant slowing the process.

The town is poised to become Maine’s first municipality to enact guidelines aimed at eliminating adverse impacts allegedly caused by industrial wind sites, Town Manager Dale Morris said Wednesday. Intended for First Wind’s $120 million wind-to-energy facility proposed for Oakfield Hills, the guidelines set a post-construction protocol for noise complaints and require post-construction sound monitoring, Morris said. They also require First Wind to fix problems that occur, he said.

Residents from all over southern and Mid-coast Maine turned out Tuesday night to hear details on the state's plan to open between one and five offshore sites for deepwater wind turbine testing. ...Residents who filled the audience Tuesday night, however, offered mixed reviews of the idea. Many lauded the state's initiative in aggressively exploring renewable energy possibilities, while others worried the test turbines could disrupt views of the Atlantic Ocean and intrude on the territory of commercial fishermen.

At the Maine Medical Association's annual meeting, the group took up the issue of wind energy and public health. The MMA approved a resolution, submitted by Dr. Albert Aniel and Dr. Michael Nissenbaum, to encourage studies of the health effects of wind turbines.

A well-attended, one-hour informational meeting on wind turbines Thursday night was followed by a public hearing and a Planning Board meeting on the subject. Resident Jim Parker said he agreed that the wind turbines would increase the town's tax base and reduce taxes. However, he pointed out that in a few years the state would reduce the Revenue Sharing funds to the town because of the higher tax base.

Franklin County can expect to get $200,000 a year for 20 years to use for economic development in the unorganized territory in the tax break deal struck with the owner of the Kibby Wind Power Project going up near the Canadian border. This week, county commissioners moved forward on their plans to have Greater Franklin Development Corporation administer that annual amount.

A town committee will release recommendations for a proposed $120 million wind-to-energy facility on Oakfield Hills that, if implemented, will make the town a standard-bearer among communities with wind sites, the town manager said Tuesday. The Oakfield Wind Farm Review Committee has worked since mid-June reviewing the mammoth application submitted by First Wind of Massachusetts.