The massive power line project known as CapX 2020 has been approved by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission. The commission made one stipulation in its decision today: The line from Brookings, S.D. to the Twin Cities has to carry wind generated power. The lines will run between Fargo and Monticello, Brookings and the Twin Cities and the Twin Cities to La Crosse.

The Freeborn County commissioners on Tuesday accepted written comments gathered by the Planning and Zoning Department on a proposed transmission line to connect the planned Bent Tree Wind Farm to the Hayward electrical substation. As recommended by Planning and Zoning Director Wayne Sorensen, the commissioners resolved to consider public concerns in an environmental assessment to be done by the Planning and Zoning Department.

Minnesota lawmakers Tuesday gave a gust of support to bills allowing Winona County to form a corporation with private investors to build and operate commercial wind turbines.

A group in Freeborn County has concerns with the setbacks for the proposed Bent Tree Wind Farm, the health impacts of living close to wind turbines and the route planned transmission lines need to connect the turbines to the power grid. "It is not safe to put this size of turbines by residents," said Katie Troe, a resident of rural Clarks Grove who is spearheading a group called Safe Wind in Freeborn County.

Bruce and Marie McNamara look across the gravel road adjacent to their farm and see signs of what's coming. A tall tower off in the distance silently measures wind speeds across Belle Creek and Goodhue townships. The McNamaras can't see them, but in the homes under the shadow of that tower businessmen are pressuring residents to sign on the dotted line.

Michael Johnson compares being at the top of a wind turbine to standing on the end of a fishing pole. Only it's nearly 300 feet in the air. "The tower moves about three feet," said Johnson, a Rochester-based electrician. "When you look down, it's like a big metal straw." As wind power continues to sweep through southern Minnesota and the country, local electricians are training how to safely maintain the prodigious pinwheels.

To meet Minnesota's goal of getting 25 percent of its electricity from clean renewable wind energy by 2025, the state's utilities would need to build a 345-kilovolt line between Granite Falls and Shakopee at a cost of $460 million, according to a study released Friday. The 125-mile line would replace a 260-kilovolt power line that is 60 years old.

Another series of public meetings on the proposed CapX 2020 power line project began Monday in Marshall. However, in addition to the property and health concerns voiced at the meeting, some area residents said their voices weren't being heard. The CapX project, proposed by Great River Energy and Xcel Energy, would build 345-kilovolt transmission lines running from a substation near Brookings, S.D., to Hampton, south of the Twin Cities.

The Sargeant, Minn., resident said many of his fellow farmers signed agreements to have the wind turbines on their property, thinking they were helping their local school districts. But starting July 1, those dollars will no longer mean a boost in local school funding. And that has Gronseth upset. "The more I talked to people about this I just said, 'Enough is enough.' So I offered to help," he said.

He's becoming increasingly wary when it comes to the power that farmers like Rohlik want to sell back to the cooperatives. "A disadvantage for the cooperative is an advantage for the person," said Rohlik while joining in a discussion on an energy dilemma that is slowly charging up in rural areas. ...It's an unusual dilemma in the making: REAs see a need for new sources of electricity ...But small wind power can be too much of a good thing for REAs.

Recycled turbines that turn renewable wind energy into electricity are expected to begin appearing this summer in Anoka, Buffalo, North St. Paul and eight other Minnesota cities that are part of a power agency. ...Anoka Mayor Phil Rice expects the windmill will go up, but calls it a taxpayer-subsidized waste of money that will never cover the windmill costs. "In my mind it is foolishness," Rice said. "The government is mandating it, and we will comply so we don't have to pay a fine."

Local landowners who may have questions after being approached by wind energy firms, communities thinking about getting a piece of the wind energy pie and anyone else interested in the future of wind energy in Jackson County are invited to a public-service wind forum later this month in Lakefield.

The Great Plains have been called "the Saudi Arabia of wind energy." But because the windiest areas tend to be sparsely populated, much of that wind power might go unused without a way to move the energy to where the people are. Now a Michigan company is proposing to build a 765-kilovolt transmission line called "The Green Power Express" from the gusty Dakotas through Minnesota to Chicago. The 3,000-mile project, which is estimated to cost $10 billion to $12 billion, could be among the first of a new generation of energy superhighways.

About 100 people showed up Monday, February 16 at the St. George Parish Center when the New Ulm Public Utilities Commission held a listening session to hear concerns of local property owners. This was the first public meeting held in Nicoillet County by the PUC about the controversial wind farm project. ...There seemed to be an aura of frustration as some had hoped their questions would be responded to at the meeting.

Across the Great Plains the wind blows incessantly, while in the remote Nevada desert the sun bears down without relief. Each holds the potential of a vast new energy resource. While wind turbine and solar projects are ready to capture this new, eco-friendly energy source, where are the transmission lines to get the power to where it is needed?

A power line company wants to build a massive power line across seven states, including Minnesota. The line would carry electricity generated by wind to points east and the project could have major implications for Minnesota's wind developers. It would also require the erection of towers and lines across a big section of the state.

The wind-energy boom has been seeded by federal and state tax credits that generally are most beneficial for wealthy investors, partnerships and corporations who might have unrelated income to offset. The federal stimulus bill appears to allow the tax benefits to be claimed by such a taxable pool, increasing profits and dividends to a lot of smaller owners, said Lee Schafer, director of investment banking at Northland.

Minnesota's wind-energy industry is about to get a turbo-charged boost from the $789 billion economic stimulus package ...An extension of the production tax credit to three years plus the addition of an investment tax credit will inject new life and urgency into projects that were starved for financing, tax experts said. And the Energy Office in the Minnesota Department of Commerce estimated the bill could inject about $220 million into Minnesota.

A Lynden Township landowner isn't giving up on his plan to put a wind turbine on his property near the Clearwater River. The township denied his request in July after neighbors protested that the tower would ruin their view and affect property values. But now Russ Pearson is taking his request to Stearns County, proposing to put the turbine in an area where the county has authority. The case is the first real test of Stearns County's land-use regulations since they were revised last year to encourage more small wind projects.

Noble Environmental Power, the firm seeking to build a sprawling wind farm northeast of Moorhead, recently encountered turbulence from state officials and the financial markets. Noble's business practices are being investigated by the New York attorney general's office and an assistant attorney general in New Hampshire has questioned the financial ability of a Noble subsidiary to build and operate a wind farm in that state.