The Bismarck Planning and Zoning Commission this week tabled action for a draft wind turbine ordinance in city limits and its extra-territorial zone. City planner Gregg Greenquist, tasked with creating the ordinance with a committee, said the new draft was conservative in terms of sound levels and aesthetics. He expects as technology evolved, it would be amended.

The grass around Minot may not be the only thing that's green in a few years, as Basin Electric Power Cooperative is looking at two potential sites near town on which to build a wind farm.

Basin Electric Power Cooperative will cut out the middleman and go directly to the wind on its own. The cooperative, long associated with lignite power and gasification plants, has formed a subsidiary to build a 77-turbine wind farm along Highway 83 south of Minot, where it installed two turbines in an earlier project. Public scoping meetings were held Wednesday and construction is scheduled to start next year. The $240 million wind farm will add 115 megawatts of electricity to Basin's power portfolio when it goes on line in 2010.

North Dakota's Public Service Commission has approved the state's larges wind project to date. The wind farm will be located about six miles south of Langdon in northeastern North Dakota. The proposed wind farm will include 106 wind turbines. It will be capable of generating up to 159 megawatts of power. It represents an investment of more than 250 (m) million dollars.

The Stutsman County Commission heard information from one of the leading wind farm developers in the nation during its regular meeting Tuesday. ...A principle point of contention in the proposed Stutsman County wind zoning ordinance is a requirement that all wind turbines be set back a distance of five rotor diameters from property lines unless neighboring property owners have signed waivers.

Backyard wind towers would be limited to 35 feet in height under an ordinance proposal being considered by the Minot Planning Commission. An ad hoc committee of the commission reported Monday on its recommendations for wind towers. The commission formed the committee in response to a turbine request from landowners in a rural subdivision that falls within the city's zoning jurisdiction. The commission voted 10-1 to recommend the Minot City Council deny the request from William and Sandra Carlson for a turbine of up to 100 feet in height at 5408-6th St. SE.

North Dakota's Public Service Commission is holding a hearing next month on the location of a proposed wind farm. It's south of Langdon in northeastern North Dakota. Public Service Commission President Susan Wefald says the hearing will be held at 10 a-m on May 8th. The site will be determined later. The proposed wind farm will include 106 wind turbines. It will be capable of generating up to 159 megawatts of power. It represents an investment of more than 225 (M) million dollars. Wefald says the hearing will allow people who are affected by the project to voice any concerns they may have about it. The commission has jurisdiction over the siting of the wind farm including where individual wind towers will be placed. The farm is being developed by F-P-L Energy L-L-C of Florida, Minnkota Power Cooperative of Grand Forks and Otter Tail Power Company of Fergus Falls, Minnesota. Minnkota and Otter Tail Power will be buying the wind farm's electric output.

The Luverne Wind Farm may have to wait until November or later for final approval. The North Dakota Public Service Commission indicated Monday that the 157.5-megawatt wind farm may not be approved until M-Power, LLC, the community-owned developer, completes archaeological and wetlands surveys - and that may not be until after the fall harvest. M-Power asked that the wind farm siting be approved, contingent on cultural and wetlands survey results and other data meeting state regulations.

The Stutsman County Commission approved a zoning ordinance concerning commercial wind farms during its regular July meeting Tuesday. The ordinance passed unanimously after four amendments were made to the document prepared over the past nine months by the Stutsman County Zoning and Planning Commission.

The subcommittee of the Stutsman County Planning and Zoning Commission continued work on a zoning ordinance to regulate commercial wind farms in the county Thursday. In what was intended to be the final meeting of the subcommittee, it made changes regarding safety issues concerning meteorological towers, placed a decibel limit on the noise generated by the turbine, added a cap on the site application fee, removed expiration dates for site authority and defined road testing.

The Public Service Commission is holding a hearing in Ashley this week on a proposed transmission line for a new wind farm in North Dakota. Tatanka Wind Power is planning a project across the North Dakota-South Dakota border. State regulators say the company wants to build a ten-mile power line to connect the turbines to North Dakota's electrical grid. Tatanka is planning to build about 120 wind turbines, capable of generating about 180 megawatts of power.

The Public Service Commission has scheduled a hearing here on a proposed transmission line for a new wind farm in North Dakota. Tatanka Wind Power LLC is planning a project across the North Dakota-South Dakota border. State regulators say the company wants to build a 10-mile power line to connect the turbines to North Dakota’s electrical grid.

Last month the Natural Areas Acquisition Advisory Committee advised the governor to deny the sale. Opponents have said that there is already enough land in Sheridan County set aside for wildlife and that the sale could hurt economic development by restricting the placement of wind turbines or pipelines.

Other renewable energy legislation is in the wind, now that North Dakota's wind energy development is firmly established with commercial wind farms in Burleigh and Oliver counties in this region and others elsewhere in the state. The North Dakota Renewable Energy Partnership has outlined a concept to restore wind farm siting authority to the Public Service Commission for wind projects of more than 20 megawatts. The oversight would include the issues of landowner compensation and perimeter setbacks. The PCS's authority was stripped of anything under 100 megawatts in the last session.

Sen. Tim Mathern, D-Fargo, is asking the North Dakota Public Service Commission to reconsider its approval of several turbine locations for a wind farm near Luverne to accommodate concerns from neighbors. In a letter sent last week, Mathern asked the commission to consider imposing longer setback requirements for four turbines located near a bed-and-breakfast as well as a dogsled operation.

Minnesota’s new mandate requiring 25 percent of the state’s electricity to be derived from renewable energy sources by 2025 likely will boost wind-power development in North Dakota. The so-called “25 by ’25” initiative sends a signal to regional power providers that demand for wind energy will grow significantly, said Brad Crabtree, of Kulm, N.D., director of an initiative by the Great Plains Institute to reach consensus about how to reduce greenhouse gases. “I think the implications are large for North Dakota,” he said. Minnesota, especially the growing Twin Cities metro area, is a big export market for electricity generated in North Dakota, he said. “The political sentiments are pretty obvious in Minnesota, and we need to provide a power mix that is customer-oriented,” Crabtree said.

A public hearing on wind facilities is slated for 5:30 p.m. Thursday before the Morton County Planning and Zoning Board at the commission room of the Morton County Courthouse. In preparation for the meeting, a Planning and Zoning Subcommittee sifted through a wind generator policy and the application process this week. According to County Auditor Paul Trauger, no applications for wind facilities have been received for generators, but there have been five inquiries.

A Minnesota-based utility company intends to install 33 wind turbines in south-central North Dakota within the next two years. In mid-June, Minnesota Power applied for a special use permit to install 17 wind turbines in Morton County. A permit application is pending for 16 others in Oliver County.

State regulators approved the location of a new wind farm in east-central North Dakota despite complaints from some nearby residents about potential disruptions from turbine noise. The North Dakota Public Service Commission on Wednesday said one of the project's 80 wind turbines must use an alternative location to avoid disturbing a rural bed-and-breakfast business.

State regulators are planning a hearing next month on a proposed 368-megawatt wind farm in south central North Dakota. The project is called Just Wind. It includes 160 wind towers in Logan County, near the community of Napoleon.