Building new transmission lines in the name of wind power is the latest attempt to strengthen coal's grip on the country's electricity generation, said a critic of plans to build new power lines throughout the Midwest. "Wind in 2009 is the rationale for companies who want to build transmission lines," said David Morris, vice president of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, Minneapolis, which provides environmentally friendly development strategies.

The "listening" meeting that New Ulm Public Utilities has scheduled for next Monday in St. George is not a part of the permitting process that the utility must hold if and when it attempts to install five wind turbines in that area, Utilities Planning and Development Engineer Pat Wrase emphasized Friday.

The Flat Hill project is one of several proposed wind farms that could, if built, transform the landscape of eastern Clay County and neighboring Becker and Otter Tail counties. ...Combined, the trio of projects could mean almost 375 towers dotting a landscape that contains important wildlife habitat areas - and altered views for the homes that increasingly are being built in the gateway to Minnesota lakes country.

Clay County residents will get a glimpse tonight of details for a proposed wind farm that could bring 134 turbines and 27 miles of new access roads. ...The wind farm, pending before Minnesota regulators, is proposed by Noble Environmental Power, a Connecticut company that has developed more than 3,800 megawatts of wind capacity in eight states.

" ... it is clear that the economic and financial downturn have begun to take a serious toll on new wind development." Jeff Wright, vice president at Minneapolis-based Midwest Wind Energy Finance, said several factors led to the state's modest showing in 2008: a logjam of wind-energy projects, a power-transmission system in need of repairs and a shortage of adequately financed wind farms.

"I don't think we're surprised to find isolated pockets of good wind in the high bluffs of that region," said Eric Norberg, Minnesota Power's senior vice president of strategy and planning ...But Norberg said he doesn't see the sort of broad areas that would appear suitable for the development of a large-scale wind farm. He noted that many of the upland sites identified in the study would be difficult to access with heavy equipment. Migrating birds and bats could pose another challenge.

The 10 wind turbines at the Taconite Ridge wind farm will probably still be motionless until early February, a company spokesperson said Thursday. Nine of the ten wind turbines now are having repairs done to blades, instead of just five, that was reported earlier. The completion date for repairs has been pushed back from mid-January, said Amy Rutledge, Minnesota Power communications manager.

A 33-year-old man is recovering from a severe electric burn he sustained Tuesday afternoon while working on a wind turbine north of Dexter ...Officials believe the turbine was electrically charged when Chlan was working on it, giving the worker an electrical burn on his left arm, Amazi said.

The next driver and the major incentive from here out is the Renewable Portfolio Standard ..."It's going to be a challenge," Huelskamp said, to meet the RPS. A prime challenge facing the industry is transmission. Somehow, renewable energy has to get onto the transmission lines. The need exists to relieve congestion and improve reliability in the existing transmission system, he said. The infrastructure is maxed out.

Shakopee will be one of 11 Minnesota cities to be the site of a wind turbine to create renewable electricity under the "Hometown WindPower" program. The location for the turbine in each community will be determined by local permitting authorities. "Wind power is most efficient when it can be used at the point of generation, rather than being transmitted many miles away," said Avant Energy President Derick Dahlen.

Johnson was among dozens of area residents seeking answers about the proposed CapX2020 project during an open house at Grandpa's Event Center in Cannon Falls. Earlier in the day, about 100 people stopped in for an open house for the project at the Oronoco Community Center. CapX2020 is a joint initiative of 11 utility companies -- including Rochester Public Utilities and Xcel Energy -- to build a $1.7 billion power line from Brookings, S.D. to La Crosse, Wis.

For Big Stone Wind, being at the cutting edge for community-owned wind power might bring the unkindest cut of all. The Big Stone County group is on the verge of axing its plans for a 20-megawatt wind farm. It was to be owned entirely by land owners and residents of the county. ... Olson blames the possible demise of the community wind power project on the high costs of completing the engineering studies required to access the electrical transmission grid, and to what he charges is Otter Tail Power's unwillingness to support community owned wind.

Minnesota Power's Taconite Ridge wind farm isn't producing nearly as much electricity as anticipated in recent months, with seven of the 10 wind turbines shut off for repairs. The $50 million project, built on 450 acres of land overlooking U.S. Steel's Minntac mine, came fully online early this summer. But this fall, inspectors with the turbine manufacturer discovered defects in seven of the wind turbines' blades. Those turbines were shut down.

Every day the wind is blowing dollars away from District 861 as it sits in legislative limbo over a wind energy project that is otherwise ready to go. Though other municipalities and government bodies are just beginning to wade through the complexity of creating a wind energy initiative, District 861 has been working steadfastly with a cooperative since 2005 on a project that should already be making the district money.

As expected, Medina council members voted unanimously at their Nov. 18 regular meeting to approve the resolution to build a wind turbine in Medina at the Hennepin County Public Works Facility. ...Although only a handful of people attended the Nov. 18 meeting, in comparison to Nov. 5, it was clear that the subject of a wind turbine Medina still aroused controversy.

A wind farm worker is okay following a crane accident Sunday morning. A Winnebago County Sheriff's report confirms Billy Cody was trapped in a crane at the construction site located between Forest City and Thompson.

The Stearns County planning commission last week approved permits for [two meteorological] towers, which will be erected within the next six weeks. ...Although the project is still in the early stages, the company is looking to build a 40- to 95-megawatt farm, with 20-50 towers that each produce about 2 megawatts of electricity. Each tower is about 262 feet high, Daum said.

Winona County signed a development agreement with Juhl Wind, Inc., to build two turbines in Mount Vernon Township, the second partnership on the development effort in three years. County Board member Marcia Ward was the only commissioner who didn't feel comfortable with the agreement, listing concerns with the proposed site, whether the turbines will really perform, and how much control the county will have in its investment here on out.

Winona County still has questions about a plan to build a commercial wind turbine, but it now has a new partner in that effort: Juhl Wind Inc. County commissioners voted 4-1 Thursday, with Marcia Ward dissenting, to sign a contract with Juhl to develop the turbine in conjunction with the county's Economic Development Authority and private investors who would pay most of the cost to build the turbine.

While the focus on renewable energy may be good for the environment and the local economy, the turbines themselves can be a traffic nightmare for those who must figure out how to move the massive parts across the country. Some also say they pose a safety risk. ...Lisa Linowes, executive director of the Industrial Wind Action Group, cited problems caused by large wind loads ..."Under the pressure to get construction done, corners get cut," Linowes said.