It's hard to believe, but enXco Development Corporation appears to be looking out for the interests of citizens who are critical of the proposed wind energy project in Mower County. For a second time, the Mower County Board of Commissioners has delayed action on all of the requests from enXco, concerning their wind energy project in Pleasant Valley and Grand Meadow townships. ...EnXco has waived the 60-day rule which by Minnesota statute requires a decision by the county within 60 days of the original CUP application.

Because it is uncharted territory, Community Development Director Gordon Hydukovich is requesting a temporary moratorium on wind turbines. The city attorney will be asked during Tuesday's Fergus Falls City Council meeting to draft such an ordinance. It is necessary, Hydukovich said, until city code can be written clearly stating where they can be placed. The moratorium was prompted by an individual requesting to place a turbine in a residential area. Another request was submitted by an industrial user in the city.

Although the state will permit projects of 25 megawatts or larger, a new law will also require the state to consider county ordinances when it reviews those projects. "The state must show (just reasons) why they wouldn't (use) the county ordinance on a 25-megawatt or larger project," Biren said. The Lyon County ordinance on wind projects is stricter than state regulations in several ways, Biren and county commissioner Bob Fenske said.

Officials in Tower received a reality check on Monday that is likely to forestall any wind power development in the city for the foreseeable future, but could prompt the city to join forces with Mt. Iron on a joint project somewhere on the Iron Range. The change in direction came during a nearly two-hour meeting with consultant Gary Cerkvenik ...Cerkvenik had wind data which suggested those sites would likely be disappointing. The same data showed the immediate shore of Lake Vermilion has significant wind potential, but Cerkvenik said public opposition would likely prove a major hurdle to a wind project there. Cerkvenik also discouraged consideration of installing just one or two turbines.

Uncertainties about the funding and risk involved in a wind energy development led the Rochester School Board on Tuesday to authorize a withdrawal from the project. In November the board entered into an agreement with developer Johnson Controls Inc. and 23 other Minnesota school districts to pursue the planning of a 10- to 20-megawatt wind farm in a yet-to-be-determined location. ..."There are so many unknowns, and I'm very uncomfortable with it right now. In principle, I love it. But I don't feel we're at a point where we can put our budget at risk," Fischer said.

Plans are under way for a new wind farm in western Dodge County that could power up to 100,000 homes. Nature Energies, a European-based company, hopes to build a 450 megawatt wind farm with up to 300 wind turbines, said Jeff Cook-Coyle, the company's development vice president. Cook-Coyle, a Rochester resident, said western Dodge County is an ideal spot for the project -- thanks in part to good wind and a nearby transmission line. ...The area's strong wind is helping attract wind farm developers. He said he first met with Nature Energies representatives a year ago. The company has not submitted any applications to the county at this time. But Nature Energies has sponsored public meetings for landowners to learn more about the project and consider leasing space for wind turbines.

Seven 196-foot meteorological towers will be erected early this spring in southern Nobles County to measure the wind. The temporary towers will be constructed by Tower Associates LLC, a Juno Beach, Fla., company, to determine if the sites are suitable for future wind development. Steve Stengel, spokesman for FPL Energy, which is conducting the project, said the meteorological towers will collect wind speed data for 18 months to two years before a decision is made regarding possible construction of wind turbines on the sites. "What you're seeing in (Nobles) County is the early stages of investigation," Stengel said. "It certainly is not a signal that a wind project is imminent.

As expected, the Mower County Board of Commissioners agreed Tuesday to table action on three requests for an EnXco wind energy project. The firm received the recommendation of approval for their requests a week ago from the Mower County Planning Commission. However, many concerns were raised by residents of Pleasant Valley and Grand Meadow townships, who live near the high voltage transmission line route or the substation EnXco plans to construct. The commission recommended the commissioners table action until the petitioner and the citizens can meet to discuss the issues.

Wind energy companies are hoping for quick action on a tax credit affecting their industry when congress resumes work later this month. The credit is set to expire at the end of this year. The organizer of a wind project in western Minnesota says that is creating uncertainty which could slow development of Minnesota's growing wind production. ...Most people in the wind industry expect Congress will act soon to extend the tax credit past the end of the year. Brent Olson of Big Stone Wind says that should happen in the next few months. If it does not happen, he and others will scramble to decide how that decision affects their corner of the wind energy world.

The largest wind turbine manufactured in the United States is running into some technical difficulty. Clipper Windpower Inc.'s 2.5-MW Liberty wind turbines at the 20-MW Steel Winds facility in Lackawanna, N.Y., are malfunctioning due to faulty gear sets. "At first, we were receiving great performance from the turbines," said Michael Alvarez, executive vice president and COO of UPC Wind Partners LLC, which co-owns the facility with BQ Energy LLC. "Over the summer, a gear-timing issue in the drive train's secondary stage was detected in some of Clipper Windpower's Liberty wind turbines at the Steel Winds site. The cause was found to be a supplier quality deficiency in the drive train attributable to the suppliers' manufacturing process. As part of Clipper's warranty, upgraded drive trains will be installed into all eight turbines at the Steel Winds site. Currently, two turbines are in operation."

A civil dispute over alleged defects in wind-energy generation turbines filed by a regional power agency is headed to federal court. Last week, the Southern Minnesota Municipal Power Agency filed suit in Olmsted District Court asking a district judge to order the defendant, Vestas American Wind Technology Inc., to enter into arbitration to resolve the dispute. SMMPA claims it has suffered damages exceeding $7 million stemming from defects in four wind-energy generation turbines in western Minnesota.

The project's official name is "Capacity Expansion by 2020," or "CapX2020" for short. It is being driven by an alliance of 11 different utility companies throughout the region, which covers all of Minnesota as well as parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa and Wisconsin. The power line planned for this area is one of three 345 kV lines proposed at different areas of the state as part of the the CapX2020 project. The project also includes construction of one 230 kV line between Bemidji and Grand Rapids. A public hearing for residents of this area is scheduled for next Tuesday, in Cannon Falls. It is one of many meetings still to come during the CapX2020 planning process. ...Rate payers from all area power utility companies will see an increase in their bills as a result of the CapX2020 construction, he added. Though Fordice could not put a specific amount on how much the increase to utility bills will be - probably $1.50 to $2 a month - the project itself is going to cost $1.4 billion, which will be divided among all 11 utility companies.

A power agency claims it has suffered damages exceeding $7 million stemming from defects in four wind-energy generation turbines in the western Minnesota. Southern Minnesota Municipal Power Agency, based in Rochester, is asking a district court judge to order the defendant, Vestas American Wind Technology Inc. of California to resolve the dispute through arbitration. ...SMMPA alleges that the turbines have design and manufacturing defects. Duffy said Vestas has refused to address the defects. As a result, he says, SMMPA has lost revenue from down-time caused by system failures. In addition, the defects have accelerated the depreciation of the turbines and their components, there has been a loss of future revenue from the down-time, there have been increased costs, and there has damage to crops and long-term damage to cropland from ground compression due to crane movement.

Horizon Wind Energy's expansion efforts have generated a new need: maintenance of the turbines and the system. LeRoy's the likely site of a facility for an operations building that's planned by the wind energy company. "It's not concrete yet, but it's very likely," said Horizon's operations manager Kevin Clark. "One way or another, we'll be building an operations building next year, and right now, it's almost certain it will be in LeRoy." ...The 200-megawatt site being built next year, called Pioneer Prairie, will consist of 122 turbines, with plans to possibly add 60 more turbines in 2009. The wind farm will run west from LeRoy to Stacyville, Iowa.

Minnesota's first major power line project in a generation is moving forward, and 630 miles of high-voltage wires are expected to be strung across the countryside by 2015. What the final project will look like and the exact route of its three lines, however, is still far from decided. Some of that will depend on what the public deems important. ...The project has even split environmental leaders, who are caught between the desire to encourage more wind farm development in remote areas, and concerns about how the new lines would affect hundreds of landowners and millions of ratepayers. ...Grant said that some electricity from coal-fired plants will likely be sent over the new power lines, but that most of it can be generated by wind farms.

Minnesotans soon can tell state officials what they think of a plan to add hundreds of miles of electric transmission lines across the state. A group of 11 utilities, led by Xcel Energy and including Otter Tail Power Co., has proposed building three high-voltage transmission lines in Minnesota, claiming they are needed to improve service and prepare for growing electricity demands in areas such as the Red River Valley. ...Red Wing attorney Carol Overland has tracked the CapX 2020 proposal and operates a Web site that attempts to debunk the utilities' claim about needed transmission expansion. Overland said a better alternative would be to add generation facilities close to where the electricity is needed. "We're dealing with this false justification of need," said Overland, who will challenge the utilities' claims at the upcoming meetings.

They gave their word and in return farmers gave up their land. Now a broken promise by the state to turn wind energy dollars into funding for schools has at least one farmer fuming. ...Al says, "I had to sign a 30-year lease; I am married to these." Of course there's financial gain for the Stier's to have these on their property, but being civic-minded, they also just wanted to help their schools.

Minnesota renewable energy advocates see great opportunity in wind-generated electricity, but the state struggles to reach that goal. ...efforts to increase Minnesota's use of wind energy face an inconvenient reality: The state lacks enough transmission lines to move the new electricity from wind turbines to customers. ...Also, while wind-generated electricity is more than half of Minnesota's renewable energy, even supporters acknowledge it only works when the wind is blowing, so other energy sources still are needed.

It's back to the '70s for the south metro, as a new generation of major powerlines is being proposed for rural land -- and activists and farmers begin to meet. ...The companies are seeking state approval for a cluster of major lines. Two of them -- 345-kilovolt lines with towers as high as 150 feet, one stretching 230 miles west to South Dakota and the other 150 miles southward to Wisconsin -- would cross Dakota County. No specific pathway has yet been laid down, but the general outlines of the corridors -- mostly 10 to 12 miles wide -- are clear. Points of controversy are expected to include whether the lines are needed, whether they pose health risks and how much landowners should be paid.

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.