As wind power continues to generate excitement for a "green" energy source in the future, developers are looking to Fillmore County as a potential source of the needed winds, especially in the southwestern part of the county. During its monthly meeting Nov. 15, the Fillmore County Planning Commission heard Minneapolis-based representatives of enXco present the second and third requests this year to put up meteorological towers to obtain information on winds.

Wind is apparently a hot commodity in the Kenyon area. Just months after the state approved a nine-turbine wind farm in Kenyon and Cherry Grove townships, a company has expressed interest in harvesting wind energy from that same region. Goodhue County commissioners on Thursday approved a conditional-use permit allowing Horizon Wind Energy to construct a temporary meteorological test pole in Kenyon Township.

WILLMAR - Preliminary work is continuing on the Willmar Municipal Utilities' proposed wind energy project. "We're still moving forward with the project,'' said Bruce Gomm, utilities general manager, in a report Monday to the Municipal Utilities Commission. A study by Jon Folkedahl of Folkedahl Consulting of Willmar has recommended Ridgewater College and Willmar Senior High School as sites for the turbines, and Folkedahl has recommended two turbines be constructed at each site.

The utilities also argue that the drive for alternative sources of energy -- chiefly wind turbines -- requires more transmission lines to move electricity from the breezy bluffs of rural southwest Minnesota to customers in urban areas.

NEW ULM - A few years from now, District 88 may begin to reap some benefits from wind energy. The school district is registered as an "interested party" in a federally funded program that would potentially provide it with a revenue source from the sale of wind energy produced at a wind farm in western Minnesota, Superintendent Harold Remme told the Board of Education last week. The school district will be participating in a Phase II grant process facilitated by Johnson Controls. All costs associated with the project are covered by a federal grant. The grant will pay for 10-year interest-free bonds to fund the wind farm project.

Anticipating a higher demand for wind energy, Benton County is making it easier for landowners to erect taller windmills. The county board Tuesday changed its land-use ordinance to allow the county's planning commission to decide how tall an energy-producing wind turbine can be. Previously, the ordinance set strict limits on how tall such structures could be - generally no higher than 100 feet in industrial areas and 60 feet in business or farm areas. Exceptions required a variance from the Board of Adjustment. The rule change removes the limit, allowing the planning commission more flexibility when deciding appropriate height, said Chelle Benson, county development director.

The Mower County Planning Commission has endorsed the first farmer-owned wind farm cooperative in Mower County. It may also be one of the first wind energy ventures in the state by farmers who want to invest in producing electricity by wind energy and selling it themselves. The key words are "farmer-owned."

The first major wind turbine project in Yellow Medicine County has received approval from the county commissioners. During the Yellow Medicine County board meeting Tuesday, the board voted to approve the proposed project that would see 20 megawatts developed in Fortier Township near Canby. Jeff Hemish of Canby received support from the Yellow Medicine County Planning and Zoning board during the June 19 meeting which helped get the 20- megawatt project approved by the county commissioners. The 20-megawatt project will be spread over 10 wind turbines Hemish said.

A Mower County resident is seeking to build what he calls the first farmer-owned wind farm in the region. James Hartson, a farmer in Waltham Township, along with his wife, Jane, got support for an initial step Tuesday night from the county's Planning Commission. The commission voted unanimously to recommend the Mower County Board approve a conditional-use permit for the Hartsons to build a meteorological tower on vacant farm land, east of Minnesota Highway 56. It will gather data for a potential wind farm. Community Wind Development Group, based in Bingham Lake, Minn., is the petitioner for the tower. It mainly focuses on assisting communities, farmers and small businesses with renewable energy projects, according to its Web site. The county board will hear the request July 10.

Xcel Energy is asking Minnesota regulators for permission to build and own a 100-megawatt wind farm in the Grand Meadow area. Xcel Energy has contracted with enXco Development Corp., which develops, operates and manages wind-energy projects throughout the United States, to build the wind farm on 40 square miles of land in central Mower County, including in Grand Meadow, Clayton and Pleasant Valley townships, about 20 miles east of Austin. The city of Elkton is also within the study boundary. The proposed Grand Meadow Wind Farm would be the first wind farm Xcel owns in Minnesota, and would consist of 67, 1.5-megawatt wind turbines.

MINNEAPOLIS - Electricity and natural gas company Xcel Energy Inc. on Monday asked state regulators for approval to build and own a 100-megawatt wind farm in southern Minnesota. Xcel Energy has contracted with enXco Development Corp., an EDF-EN Co., to build the wind farm in Austin, Minn., which will have 67, 1.5 megawatt wind turbines on 40 square miles. The farm is expected to be operational by the end of 2008. The company said enXco filed a separate permit application.

Construction of nine wind turbines in Goodhue County is expected to begin this summer now that a state commission has approved a final site permit for the project. The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission voted 3-0 on Thursday to issue the permit to Kenyon Wind LLC for the 18.9-megawatt large wind-energy conversion system east of the city of Kenyon in Cherry Grove and Kenyon townships. The power generated will be sold to Xcel Energy. The commission's decision at a meeting in St. Paul came after more debate on the project involving Kenyon Wind investors and a group of township residents who opposed the plan, the Citizens for Environmental Rights and Safety.

More than 100 wind turbines could be built in northern Mower County if a power company constructing a meteorological tower there finds good conditions. Depending on the wind data, construction could begin in late 2008 or 2009, said Jeff Broberg, an official with the Rochester-based McGhie & Betts Environmental Services Inc., which is working with Renewable Energy Systems. RES, based in Austin, Texas, and with an office in Minneapolis, gained approval Tuesday from the Mower County Board for a conditional-use permit to build and operate a 190-foot tower in Sargeant Township for wind data.

Among Iron Rangers, it's known as "the hill." Perched above the city of Virginia, near the Laurentian Divide, U.S. Steel's Minntac Mine churns out about 14 million tons of iron pellets a year. Beginning in 2008, a project at the mammoth taconite plant will produce something new: electricity. Minnesota Power officials will announce today that the company intends to build, own and operate the first commercial wind-energy facility in Northeastern Minnesota.

Two wind power projects under consideration in Swift County won support Tuesday from the Swift County Board of Commissioners.

A new group is trying to block the Kenyon Wind project, a proposed 18.9 megawatt wind farm in southeastern Minnesota. Citizens for Environmental Rights and Safety filed a petition last week with the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission. President Mike Chase said members don't oppose wind energy but want more time spent on examining the proposal.

As it stands right now, Granite Falls gets 36 percent of its power from "green" sources, well within the recent legislation that was signed into law mandating 25 percent of renewable energy resources to be in place by the year 2025. Nonetheless, the city is looking at wind generation as another possible power source.

The commission was satisfied with the setbacks which meet and exceed the existing and new county wind energy ordinance, the noise level the turbines will produce and other features of the project. The commission did include a list of specific conditions on the CUP to ensure the setbacks would remain as proposed, the state law governing noise would be met and other issues would be addressed. The county board approved the CUP with all of those conditions.

ROCHESTER, MN -- It's been in the works for several months and many in the area still aren't warming up to the idea of a wind farm in their back yard. Investors say the concerns are a bunch of hot air but some people won't give up the fight until they blow out of town. The people who want to put up these giant turbines say the whole project is win, win, good for the environment and for Kenyon. But several people who live in the area say they feel like the whole thing is being shoved down their throat and no one is taking them seriously. Kenyon resident Chris Mallery says, "We all brought up these concerns and we were all told that these were inflammatory and that these issues don't exist."

Lyon County's planning and zoning commission is recommending county commissioners approve the largest wind tower project planned for the county. The commission approved a continuation of a meeting Friday afternoon recommending approval of four conditional use permits for nine wind towers on sites in Sodus Township. Missouri River Energy will receive the energy and provide it to Marshall Municipal Utilities. Commissioners meet Tuesday. Friday's meeting was a continuation of Wednesday night's commission meeting where several wind tower issues were raised and discussed. "We're basing this on the best information we have at the time," county zoning administrator John Biren said Friday. After the meeting, Biren said he will not ask the county board or the planning and zoning commission to make any changes in the new wind energy ordinance, although one county resident has asked the county to change the new ordinance. Biren said the new ordinance is good, and the state will also have new legislation in January on wind energy.