Energy advocates are eyeing wind turbines to create electricity along the North Shore. Bird researchers are studying where the migrating birds fly most often. Once they know, they can advise the energy people on areas to avoid. ..."We know we have a globally significant raptor migration route here that [wind turbines] could have a serious impact on if not done correctly,'' Niemi said. "But we also have these hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of passerines [small birds] that come through here at pretty much the same time that most people don't even know about. We have to look out for them, too.''

State regulators set a bad precedent for other energy projects when they gave the go-ahead to Alliant Energy Corp. to build a $497 million wind farm in Minnesota, two energy customer groups say. The groups filed suit in Dane County Circuit Court on Friday to protest the vote by the state Public Service Commission to approve the project under a less rigorous review procedure than is typically required of major energy projects.

The Winona County Planning Commission unanimously voted to approve a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) for a pair of wind turbines in Mount Vernon Township. And although the permit was for property owner LeRoy Kronebusch, this project is largely the county's. The county was enabled during the last legislative session to form a limited liability company to partner with investors and construct wind turbines, one of the first in the state.

The corn and soybean fields here could soon be sprouting new growth: windmills. Plans for the Greenvale Wind Farm have passed the first of four major steps toward getting state authorization. The proposed 11-turbine, 10.84-megawatt wind farm would be just northeast of Northfield. The farm would be run by two companies owned by the same extended family.

The emerging wind industry in Minnesota and the Upper Midwest could be shut down by the cost of connecting to high-voltage transmission lines if a proposal by the organization that controls the Midwest's power grid goes through, wind advocates say. The grid operator and some utilities say the wind industry is overstating the effect, but the long-simmering dispute over who should pay for new transmission lines boiled over Thursday.

Farmers, landowners, city and county officials packed a Springfield Community Center meeting room Tuesday to listen to industry experts shed light on wind energy development issues. Pam Bishop of the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation said wind forums became popular a couple years ago as the industry grew in popularity.

Woodbury wanted to think green. But now, it is having to think again. The city's ambitious plans to promote renewable energy are hitting a wall that is blocking green efforts coast-to-coast - homeowners' associations. The associations are fighting city efforts to allow solar panels and wind turbines. ...Because associations control about 70 percent of the homes in Woodbury, the resistance of the associations could cripple alternative-energy efforts.

Only 15 months ago, Duluth-based Minnesota Power asked for its first rate increase in 14 years. Now, it wants another one. In seeking a new rate increase before the end of 2009, the utility is citing, in part, the cost of increasing renewable-energy generation; under 2007 state legislation, utilities must generate a quarter of their energy from renewable resources by 2025.

Wind farms are rapidly expanding across the Midwest, and a growing number of residents who live near the wind turbines are complaining about noise. ...Leon Steinberg is CEO of Minneapolis-based National Wind. He said most wind farm developers already use setbacks that exceed state regulations. "I don't think the industry believes it's a significant problem," Steinberg said. "But I believe the industry is concerned with the perception that it may be a problem."

Minnesota regulators are inviting public comments on standards intended to protect residents from wind turbine noise. The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission, in response to growing concerns from residents in Clay County and elsewhere, is seeking comments on its setback standards for wind farms. ...The MPUC is soliciting comments to determine if current setback conditions "remain appropriate and reasonable," in light of the health department review.

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission will accept public comments in response to a document on the health effects of wind turbines and the issue of wind turbine setbacks. The comment period is in response to "Public Health Impacts of Wind Turbines," a document prepared by the environmental health division of the Minnesota Department of Health. The public comments will help the PUC determine whether or not to change the current setback conditions.

The Clay County Commission approved an ordinance Tuesday that establishes standards stricter than state law on where wind turbines can be erected and how noisy they can be at night. The new rules apply to projects not regulated by the state, which are those that generate less than 5 megawatts of power.

A new 201-megawatt wind farm will be built near Lakefield next year, according to an announcement Monday by enXco. Though details of where the 134 wind turbines will be placed has not yet been provided, the Lakefield Wind Project is expected to be operational by the end of 2010.

A moratorium issued last week by the Austin City Council gave city employees 120 days to finalize a draft ordinance concerning the construction of wind turbines within city limits. It is an issue that three Austin residents find imperative to the process of becoming more energy independent.

Unclear guidelines of where residents can erect wind turbines on their property has caused gridlock on the Otter Tail County Board. The issue came to a head after two residents requesting to erect wind turbines left the county's Planning Commission struggling to decide if the permits should be approved. The Planning Commission turned to the county commissioners for direction, suggesting a possible six-month moratorium on wind turbine permits.

An Illinois developer has scrapped plans to build a 100-megawatt wind farm in Winona County, after determining a potential site wasn't windy enough to turn a turbine. ...Sprawling wind farms like the one proposed in Harmony aren't likely to crop up in Winona County, Grover said. That's because this area's topography prevents wind speeds from reaching desired levels, except on bluffs and ridgetops.

Mower County officials have reached a settlement with wind-farm developer enXco in which the California-based company will provide $125,000 to repair township roads damaged while constructing more than 100 turbines near Grand Meadow.

State regulators plan to vote today on a Wisconsin utility's plans to build a massive wind farm in southern Minnesota. Wisconsin Power & Light Co., a subsidiary of Madison-based Alliant Energy, wants permission to start the first phase of the farm on 32,500 acres just north of Albert Lea in Freeborn County. Plans call for scores of turbines that would generate about 200 megawatts of electricity.

The bent tree wind farm project has been in the works since 2003. Now the Wisconsin Power and Light Utility Company is looking to secure a permit in Minnesota to begin construction on the project. But not everybody is happy.

Wind energy may be the wave of the future, but many Goodhue County residents still wonder what it means for them. More than 150 people attended a wind energy forum Thursday in Wanamingo sponsored by the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation and the Southwest Initiative Foundation.