Shetland’s wind farm developers Viking Energy say that the Beauly-Denny inquiry will be crucial in deciding the direction their huge renewable energy project will take in the future. The inquiry will investigate whether to carry out the proposed upgrades to the Beauly to Denny power line, which acts as a spine for providing central Scotland with electricity. If the alterations were completed, the line would feed power into the national grid from wind farms in the Highlands and Islands, such as the 600 MW Shetland wind farm being proposed by the Viking Energy and Scottish and Southern Energy partnership. Viking Energy project officer David Thomson said: “Our connection application currently needs the Beauly-Denny upgrade to go ahead. Shetland is not involved in the inquiry but we have an interest. “It could happen without the upgrade but we would not be connecting near Beauly. It would make it more difficult for us.”

EverPower Renewables Project Manager Mike Speerschneider answered questions of Wayne Township citizens at a meeting Wednesday night, addressing wind turbines and the possibility of turbines in Wayne Township. Speerschneider touched on issues concerning electricity, road damage, local labor and the health of citizens living near the turbines. He said the turbines will not generate a decrease in the cost of electricity for Wayne Township because there is "no way to definitively say what it's (turbines) going to do to the electric."

In a 4-1 vote Tuesday, the project came to a halt amid concerns - expressed by board members and would-be neighbors - over noise, the turbine's appearance and possibly decreasing neighbors' property and home values.

Highlighting the environmental pitfalls of harnessing "green" energy, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's push to import nonpolluting power to Los Angeles could require building power lines and transmission towers through a national forest, two desert wildlife preserves and a rustic hamlet used in countless westerns.

Pacific Gas & Electric Co. has under contract all of the renewable power it needs to meet state mandates by 2010, if the promised power systems can be built in time. It's a big if. Expiring tax credits, the lag in building utility-scale renewable energy and increased competition for renewable power sources are potential roadblocks for the Northern California utility and the state's two other major utilities. ...Another issue for PG&E and the other utilities is that costs are rising 20 percent per year for renewable power.

Appellant party Maniototo Environmental Society (MES) counsel Mike Holm, of Auckland, lodged an application for new evidence to be heard in relation to possible cumulative effects of both Project Hayes and the Mahinerangi wind farm. As TrustPower's $400 million Mahinerangi project, which would sit southeast of the proposed Project Hayes site, was granted consent last month, there were possible cumulative effects of both developments to be considered by the Environment Court in dealing with Meridian's proposed 176-turbine farm on the Lammermoor Range.

More wind farms should be sited near to the population centres they serve in order to cut power losses and minimise the impact of pylons on the countryside, Friends of the Earth Scotland said yesterday as work began on Europe's largest onshore wind farm. As construction got under way at the Whitelee site on Eaglesham Moor near East Kilbride, FoE welcomed the fact that it would be closer to urban areas than some wind farms that have been proposed.

People in Mid Wales have been urged to fight the "deluge of proposals" for windfarms. Welshpool-based campaigner Dan Munford has collected almost 2,000 signatures. Worried residents across Wales have been signing up to fight the expected increase in the turbines. Many have voiced fears that any such increase could have disastrous effects on tourism.

Protesters are pushing for Clackmannanshire Council to defer a decision on a controversial windfarm until the end of a public inquiry covering nearby turbine plans. A combined push by concerned groups is asking Scottish ministers to intervene on a planning decision for Burnfoot Hill which is due to be taken by Wee County councillors on March 28. They say any decision should be put off until the public inquiry surrounding four other wind farms on the Ochils - the same range as Burnfoot Hill - is completed. The inquiry is currently hearing the cumulative impact of the four windfarm plans, which, combined with an already-approved windfarm near Glendevon, would cover the Ochils in windfarms, say the protesters

Landscape gardener and campaigner Jan Dixon hopes to gather 1000 signatures for a petition which asks the Government to consider halting all building of wind farms until national rules can be set. Mrs Dixon says though the Resource Management Act gives some protections, it only takes into account individual projects and not the effects that multiple developments will have on an area over time.

A windfarm objector is encouraging Tynedale councillors to reject the advice of their own officials. The council's development control committee is being asked for its views on Amec's planning application to install 16 wind turbines in the Kirkwhelpington area. Tynedale's planners have advised councillors there are no grounds for objection to the application, which is currently under consideration by the Department for Trade and Industry. That is on the proviso that proposals for a further four turbines near the famous Wanney Crags are withdrawn, as recommended in an independent environmental survey carried out by the Arup consultancy. Campaigner Peter Bennet, who lives near the Wanney Crags, welcomed the news that plans for those four turbines were likely to be withdrawn, but he encouraged Tynedale councillors to use their own judgement with regard to the rest. He said: "How can they not lodge an objection when so many others, who they represent, have objected? "Northumberland National Park, the RSPB, the Campaign to Protect Rural England and Newcastle Airport, among others, are against this, as well as over 150 residents." Tynedale Council's development control committee will consider the matter on Wednesday.

Opponents of three proposed wind farms in Northumberland last night called for a public inquiry to be postponed, after plans for a new scheme were submitted. Plans for turbines at Moorsyde, Toft Hill and Barmoor, all near Berwick, are due to be heard at an inquiry beginning on May 6. Now however a planning application has been submitted for another eight turbines at West Ancroft, in close proximity to the three inquiry sites.

...largely fruitless debate over recommended changes to its ordinance regulating wind energy, the board passed a 70-day ban on permits for wind turbines. ...Ron Dietrich, a member of the committee that proposed the changes, which would increase the distance between turbines and houses, schools, hospitals and other structures, said he was disappointed the longer moratorium didn’t pass, but glad the board hadn’t rejected the committee’s recommendations.

CHILTON — Dozens of Calumet County residents testified to their fears over the effects almost 100 huge wind turbines will have on their health, safety and wallets at a county hearing Thursday. Those worries include epileptic seizures, sleep deprivation, diminished property values and the impact 400-foot windmills will have on aircraft navigation, especially flight-for-life helicopters. About 120 people attended the hearing.

A plan to place 150 of the state's largest wind turbines in Calumet County is still on the table. An afternoon meeting of the planning and zoning committee lasted three hours Thursday after about 100 people showed up. Many were residents asking for tougher restrictions to keep those turbines away from their houses.

Wind turbine construction is off the table in Calumet County for the time being as supervisors regroup from a court decision that invalidated their restrictions on placement of the systems. The Calumet County Board passed a moratorium on turbine construction Tuesday that could remain in effect until the end of the year. It could end earlier should the board change or replace the ordinance.

CHILTON - Calumet County's rules on siting wind turbines won't change as long as the lawsuit a group of property owners has filed against the county is pending. The county's Planning and Zoning Committee on Thursday declined to discuss proposals that would increase the setbacks for wind turbines to 1,000 feet from a property lines and add a setback from helipads.

Giant windmills won't appear in Calumet County for years - if ever. Just the same, their phantom silhouettes are a very real part of the county's landscape. ...and the still unbuilt windmills have set off a battle over property rights - mostly between farmers and residential property owners. ..."In the end, we're still going to have regulations that govern the placement and operation of these facilities," Gentz said. "I just want to make sure we have looked at all of the data and all the angles necessary to protect the health and safety of our people. In the end, I'm sure there are going to be people who are jumping for joy and people who will be very disappointed." Meanwhile, Lisowe's farm is off-limits to some turkey hunters who've used his land in the past. He and some of the other large landowners are thinking about cutting off access this season to snowmobiles, too. "We feel like doing it to make a point," he said.

Dozens of Calumet County residents have expressed worry about how noise and vibration from the huge turbines will affect adjoining property owners. "We need to take our time, because if we don't do it right we're not going to be able to change it in the future," Supv. Alice Connors said. "This is a very, very important decision, and I think we need this moratorium to learn from our neighbors." Others suggested a long moratorium would just drag out what has already been a long process. Opponents have demanded tougher restrictions since the county adopted the existing ordinance in mid-2006.

Calumet County Board supervisors approved changes to the county's wind ordinance when they met last Tuesday, March 18. Among the biggest changes to Chapter 79 of the county's ordinances is boosting the setback distance for wind turbines from the existing 1,000 feet to 1,800 feet. Public participation at the meeting included residents from the New Holstein area speaking to the 1,800-foot setback requirement. Speakers said they felt citizens surrounding the farm property no longer had a voice. Implications of not passing the ordinance will have self evident effects," one speaker said. The construction of wind turbines was described as "the most contentious issue" this county has faced in years.