During the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) public hearing in Harmony on Monday, Nov. 9, to gather public input regarding the proposed EcoHarmony West Wind Project, several individuals voiced concern as to how the wind farm would impact the karst topography of the area. The proposed wind project will be sited in an area of about 23,000 acres west of Harmony.

A wind farm planned for southern Dakota County is getting some blowback from nearby residents. In a barrage of comments submitted to the state's Public Utilities Commission, neighbors and even a few people from other parts of the metro area criticized the proposal for a 10.84 megawatt wind farm in Greenvale Township, northeast of Northfield. The project would be the first to concentrate multiple windmills in the seven-county metro area, and many people objected to that idea.

Critics of a proposed wind farm near Goodhue urged a state commission Thursday to scrutinize the project. Goodhue County landowners attended the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission meeting asking commissioners to question Goodhue Wind's status as a Community-Based Energy Development. C-BED developments are supposed to guarantee some level of local project ownership. The group also briefly discussed setback concerns.

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) held a public hearing in Harmony on Monday evening to gather public input regarding the proposed EcoHarmony West Wind Project. The proposed 280 megawatt wind project will be sited in an area of about 23,000 acres west of Harmony and will consist of about 134 turbines ...The hearing was part of the public process for EcoEnergy's certificate of need and site permit application.

It's one step forward, two steps back for the Greenvale Wind Farm. The two local companies behind the development of a proposed wind farm have asked to temporarily halt any further action on the 11-megawatt project located in Greenvale Township. In an Oct. 14 letter to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission, Sparks Energy and Medin Renewable Energy, the two companies behind the development of the proposed wind farm, say they need more time to listen and respond to residents' concerns about the development.

A proposed wind farm near Parkers Prairie won't hamper agricultural activities, nor will the noise affect residents, according to Prairie Wind Energy LLC Board members. Four board members, including President Terry Carlson, attended the Otter Tail County Board meeting Tuesday to answer any questions regarding the project and also update the board that it is completing its due diligence on the project. Twenty people attended the meeting.

The blades of a wind turbine at Burnsville Walser Honda still turn with the breeze, as they have for decades - but these days, that's pretty much all they do. "The wind turbine stopped functioning about nine years ago - apparently, the dynamo or generator stopped working," said Doug Sprinthall, Walser's director in charge of new vehicle operations. ...The turbine is the only one of its type in Burnsville. The city is examining whether to change its existing wind-power ordinance, which dates back to 1982.

The city of New Ulm doesn't want a few farmers to break wind, so to speak, and it will pay them not to. But the farmers are having none of it. "It's not a money issue or a wind turbine issue anymore. It's the way we were treated by New Ulm," said farmer Clete Goblirsch, who maintains that his wind rights aren't for sale at any price.

Wind energy production nationwide increased by 1,649 megawatts during the third quarter, but you'd never know it by looking at wind installation in Iowa and Minnesota, the largest wind energy states in the Midwest. Both states recorded no gain in installed wind energy, although they have a total of seven wind projects under construction as the fourth quarter began.

For the first time in Minnesota, the powerful government tool known as eminent domain could be used to take property rights in a wind energy project. There's been a growing public backlash against wind energy; complaints about noise, visual pollution and even bird kills. The city of New Ulm, as other cities around Minnesota have, wants to put up five wind turbines as a power source. The proposal has angered a group of landowners just across the Minnesota River from the southern Minnesota city.

Wind power turbines are going up in five metro cities, with Anoka set to get one on Monday, as a multi-city consortium moves forward with plans to use recycled windmills to generate renewable energy. In Anoka, the 115-foot-high white structure will rise just north of Anoka High School, following on the heels of windmills recently erected in Buffalo and North St. Paul. The cities are among the 11 members of the Minnesota Municipal Power Agency (MMPA), which bought the refurbished windmills for $300,000 each from Palm Springs, Calif.

A proposal to build the metro area's first major wind power project reaches an important turning point this week, with proponents and opponents lining up to be heard. The state of Minnesota is accepting public comments through the end of today on a proposed wind farm in southern Dakota County that has many residents in the rural farming community in an uproar, even as renewable energy advocates keep their fingers crossed.

Residents expressed concerns about potential problems that could be caused by a proposed commercial wind farm. The concerns raised during Tuesday's Otter Tail County Board meeting were a noise level that could impact residents' health, safety, a negative economic impact for land owners and an inability to spray crops. Prairie Wind Energy LLC is proposing a 40-turbine project to be located in Parkers Prairie, Elmo, Effington and Folden Townships, according to a June letter written by Prairie Wind Energy President Terry Carlson.

The Otter Tail County Board is scheduled hear from a property owner regarding a proposed wind farm near Parkers Prairie. ...The discussion on the wind farm, proposed by Prairie Wind Energy LLC, is scheduled to take place at 9:45 a.m. The company is proposing to build a 40-turbine wind energy project.

As 37-mile-per-hour gusts blasted downtown Minneapolis on Thursday, hundreds of wind-energy executives were inside the Minneapolis Hilton, discussing the challenges their industry still faces. Chief among those challenges: weather-related down times and - perhaps more surprisingly - utilities unwilling to accept energy from wind farms because their high-voltage transmission lines can't accept any more power.

Minnesota regulators on Thursday approved a 200-megawatt wind farm in southern Minnesota that would be paid for by Wisconsin utility ratepayers. The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission said Wisconsin Power & Light Co.'s project can be built just north of Albert Lea in Freeborn County. The utility received a permit for a 200-megawatt wind farm, the first phase of what officials hope will eventually become a 400-megawatt project. The first phase would generate enough energy to power 50,000 homes.

Wisconsin Power & Light Co. won approval Thursday from regulators in Minnesota to build a wind farm in southern Minnesota to supply renewable energy to its Wisconsin customers. ...Exactly when construction on the project will begin remains unclear, because of uncertainty about the Wisconsin lawsuit.

Officials from the two wind energy companies quelled rumors at an informational meeting Thursday and said they continue competing for landowner support to build wind farms in the Goodhue area. "It's a competitive industry," said Goodhue Wind's Charlie Burdick. "We're on separate tracks and we're each pursuing our own individual projects."

The two local companies behind a proposed, 11-megawatt wind farm in Greenvale Township, may reduce the number of potential turbines in the wind farm to address concerns expressed by township residents. But fewer turbines might not mean a lower power output, according to Sparks Energy CEO Anna Schmalzbauer.