The first met tower will be installed this fall near Atwater. The other two will be installed in the spring. A prospectus, which will provide stock offering details for potential investors, is also in the works. Until that legal document is approved, the board of directors cannot discuss financial opportunities, Bergo said. In general, local individuals will invest several million dollars in the project, but the bulk of funding will come from large equity investors who are looking for payback in the form of a federal tax credit for renewable energy. After about 10 years, the majority ownership will revert to Lake Country Wind Energy and its investors.

Transmission problems, turbine demand threaten growth of wind-generated power. All the wind turbines in the world won't reduce the need for fossil fuels if transmission lines don't connect the power those turbines create to the energy grid. In fact, transmission difficulties - along with high demand for wind turbines - are generating concern that Minneapolis-based Xcel Energy that it might not be able to meet a 2007 request to use at least 500 megawatts of power generated by community-based wind farms.

Although the 400-foot turbines can sometimes delay air medical rescues, emergency personnel are trained to cope artfully with such situations, said Claire Rayford, spokesperson for Flight for Life ...The pilot decides what is safe and makes a decision based on many different factors at the time of the incident, Rayford said.

Two more "met" (meteorological) towers for the EcoEnergy wind power company were given initial approval by the Fillmore County Planning Commission during its monthly meeting Aug. 28 and will be passed along to the Fillmore County commissioners with a recommendation for approval. ...The requests sailed through the Planning Commission process as EcoEnergy representative Don Miller, of its new Harmony office staff, explained some project details and answered questions.

The landowners group will voice its concerns Monday at a Nicollet County Planning and Zoning Commission meeting. In a letter sent to area media, the group said surrounding landowners, including those who have signed land-use leases with the New Ulm Utilities Commission, have opposed the project from the start. The letter stated the landowners entered into the leases only for fear of losing large portions of their crop lands to eminent domain procedures. "There are a lot of concerns and unanswered questions," said landowners group member Jeff Franta, adding that the group will wait until the meeting to air specifics.

A company that develops wind energy projects will be allowed to put more data-collection devices in northern Mower County, which could lead to a project involving more than 170 wind turbines. The Mower County Board unanimously approved on Tuesday a request from Renewable Energy Systems America for conditional-use permits to install and operate two meteorological towers in Waltham Township, one tower in Sargeant Township and one in Dexter Township.

Four Renewable Energy Systems Americas, Inc. (RES) conditional use permit requests for meteorological towers were endorsed by the Mower County Planning Commission. However, they all came under attack by another wind energy developer. RES is a national leader in the development and construction of renewable wind energy. This summer RES was awarded five utility scale wind projects in Canada with a total capacity of 954MW. RES critic James Hartson is a Waltham area farmer who is trying to develop the state's only community-based (i.e., farmer-owned cooperative) wind project in Mower County, Green Acres Wind Farm.

The MinnDakota Wind Power Project near White is set to expand by one-third. Iberdrola Renewables, of Portland, Ore., on Friday announced a $100 million expansion, called the Buffalo Ridge Wind Power Project. It would add 50 megawatts of potential power production from about 50 new turbines. There already are 100 turbines in the original MinnDakota wind farm capable of producing 150 megawatts.

While Randolph's chairman is optimistic about a 145-megawatt wind farm development, he's bothered by how much money - or rather how little - the town will get in the deal. ...Under the Wisconsin Department of Revenue's shared revenue utility payment guidelines, $2,000 per megawatt of power generated is split between the county and town. The county gets two-thirds, while the town gets one-third. For a 145-megawatt project, that would provide roughly $96,667 per year to be split between the towns of Randolph and Scott, which also would house some We Energies' turbines, while the county would take in about $193,332.

How big a deal is two cents? Well, it's a big deal if you're trying to produce wind energy. A federal production tax credit of 1.9 cents per kilowatt hour is set to expire at the end of the year. Wind energy producers generally expect lawmakers to renew the credit, but Congress has yet to act. With time running out, the wind power industry is scrambling. ...Xcel's Frank Prager said the end of the tax credit on December 31, is rippling through the wind industry. He said many U.S. companies are rushing to finish projects before the deadline.

Property owners in Manitowoc County installing small wind turbines likely won't be required to own large lots of land to locate their energy-generating systems, according to proposed county ordinance revisions supported by members of a county commission. The Manitowoc County Planning and Park Commission voted unanimously at its Monday meeting in favor of the proposed revisions, said Mike Demske, commission director.

Like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, the elements needed to put together a 5-megawatt wind energy farm northwest of New Ulm are all coming together for the New Ulm Public Utilities Commission. Giant steps were taken at the NUPUC meeting Tuesday as the commission approved the land and wind easement leases with three landowners in southwestern Nicollet County to provide space for the wind turbines needed to generate that amount of "green" energy. In all, New Ulm Public Utilities would be leasing a total of 237.03 acres just off Highway 7, about 5 miles northwest of Klossner.

For several years, wind energy production has been an issue of debate in Monroe County. In 2006, the county passed an ordinance on wind turbines, but for some, the ordinance wasn't enough. Several townships in Monroe County have passed wind energy ordinances of their own this summer to create more specific guidelines on the location and decibel levels of wind turbines. ...While the issue of wind power in Monroe County will likely continue, the option of wind farms is a possibility. Now, in several townships, there will be increased regulation.

Milwaukee-based WE Energies wants to build a 90-turbine, 234-megawatt wind farm located between the Columbia County villages of Cambria and Friesland. ... The project would gather power from up to 90 turbines, each with a half-acre footprint, by using up to 50 miles of 50-foot-wide corridors for collector cables. Twenty miles of permanent roads would be used to access the turbine sites, according to the application.

It's a plan, not everyone is thrilled about. On a stretch of land, just southwest of Fond du Lac, Curt Kindschuh lives near a windmill farm. It's an area where Flight for Life and Theda Star say landing could be extremely tough, and that's why pilots are being told to avoid it, even if there's an emergency.

The modern windmills may create clean energy but they are a clear and present danger to air ambulances. Milwaukee-based Flight for Life has notified first responders in Fond du Lac County that air ambulances will not land near the windmill clusters here. "They are up in the air," said Flight for Life's Claire Rayford. "We have to be aware of them. Depending on how high they are, they may not be lit."

The state Legislature will try again to establish statewide wind farm standards, but the one-size-fits-all approach faces the same opposition. ..."It's a scary prospect to put (turbines) in here among all the homes," said Mike Luethe, chairman of the town of Ridgeville, which last week joined the town of Wilton in passing an ordinance establishing half-mile setbacks for wind farms. "Local governments should still have a say in the matter."

County officials in 2006 enacted two ordinances - one for turbines 170 feet or shorter and another for turbines taller than 170 feet - after residents voiced concerns about potential public health and safety issues with turbines located near their backyards, Demske said. Navitas Energy Inc. had proposed to build a 49-turbine wind farm in Two Rivers, Mishicot and Two Creeks, dubbed the Twin Creeks Wind Park. ...Bauhs said the county "overreacted" in drafting regulations for the small turbines because of public criticism of the Twin Creeks wind farm project.

State Rep. Ken Tschumper, DFL-La Crescent, hosted a community forum last week featuring a panel of environmentalists. Tschumper and others question whether the project's estimates of demand are accurate. He also is concerned that ratepayers could end up financing a project that could harm the area's environment. Other worries include possible health effects and what the potentially 150-foot-high transmission towers would do to the region's scenery. "There are decisions being made here with this high-voltage transmission line ... that are going to impact people's lives for the next 30 or 40 years," Tschumper said.

Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle said Friday that his support for exploring nuclear power is in line with the position of presidential candidate Barack Obama and not a reversal from his previous stance. But state Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch, R-West Salem, said Doyle told him in 2003 he would veto any bill that lifted a moratorium on building new power plants. Huebsch said Doyle's position had "thawed" by 2007, when the governor said he'd be open to studying nuclear power as an option. The change in Doyle's position comes as he's been actively campaigning for Obama. Both presidential candidates spent this week talking about energy, which is shaping up to be one of the biggest issues of the race.