Days after North Dakota's biggest wind farm began operating near Langdon, a developer has filed plans to construct a larger one in Barnes County, east of Lake Ashtabula. The company hopes to finish the project by year's end. North Dakota's Public Service Commission was notified this week of FPL Energy's intentions to construct a 200-megawatt wind farm, which would include 133 turbines. ...Public Service Commissioner Kevin Cramer said FPL Energy has already obtained the needed leases to place its wind towers. A zoning change is needed for the property, which Barnes County officials are considering. FPL Energy needs to finish the project by Dec. 31 to qualify for a federal tax break for the wind farm, Cramer said.

The $250 million Langdon Wind Energy Center near here could not begin to deliver wind energy throughout eastern North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota without a new $10 million transmission line. The project - a 35-mile 115-kilovolt transmission line between Langdon and Hensel, N.D., along with substation improvements - is a joint effort between Minnkota Power Cooperative, Grand Forks, and Otter Tail Power Company, Fergus Falls, Minn.

Wind energy developer Tim Simons says the queue is making business difficult. He is referring to the list of projects awaiting action by the Midwest Independent System Operator, a Carmel, Ind., -based power grid monitor that oversees electric transmission in the region. MISO manages a transmission "footprint" of nearly 1 million square miles and 100,000 megawatts of power in the Midwest. ...Dombek said MISO received about 80 applications in 2005, about 130 last year, and 190 so far this year. Together, projects in the MISO queue total 70,000 new megawatts of power. Of those, 55,000 megawatts would come from wind. North Dakota has 42 projects in the queue, nine of which have been approved, with 33 waiting.

Right now, MISO, headquartered in Indiana, has 290 projects in its queue, more than any in its history. All but 70 of them are wind projects. MISO manages a transmission "footprint" of nearly 1 million square miles and 100,000 megawatts of power in the Midwest. Not one - from a 1 megawatt wind turbine to a 1,500 megawatt nuclear facility - gets on the grid without an agreement. Its spokesman, Carl Dombek, said the agreements require studies to make sure there's room for the power, to determine where the power would go and what would happen downstream on the line. Dombek said the average wait now is at least 19 months. Similar to a checkout line, it doesn't matter the size of the order. First come is first served. ..."Wind is popular right now, and they're (FERC) taking notice," Dombek said. To put the 291 applications in MISO's queue in perspective, Dombek said one doesn't have to look back very far. In 2005, MISO received approximately 80 applications. In 2006, that number increased to 130. So far in 2007, they have received 190 applications, Dombek said. Taken all together, projects in the MISO queue total 70,000 new megawatts of power. Of those, 55,000 megawatts would come from wind.

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.

The driver of a truck hauling a wind tower column that hit the underside of an Interstate 94 overpass near Casselton was fined $100 on Monday for violating his state-issued travel permit, the North Dakota Highway Patrol said. ...The truck, trailer and 114-foot-long tower column had a combined weight of 152,200 pounds, Hischer said. ... It's unknown whether the tower column is still usable. Christiansen said the column is sitting at Industrial Builders Inc. in West Fargo, and DMI won't look at it unless repairs are necessary. The trucking company is responsible for the bridge damage, Hischer said.

A wind tower column from DMI Industries in West Fargo that was being hauled on a semitrailer flatbed clipped the underside of an Interstate 94 overpass just east of this city, damaging it. No one was hurt, but traffic was disrupted while the mess was cleaned up, the Highway Patrol said. ...The impact about 9:30 a.m. Saturday in the westbound lanes scattered chunks of concrete across the road, damaging at least nine vehicles. The damage ranged from flat tires to punctured radiators, authorities said.

The sight of hulking wind turbine blades strapped to oversized semi-trailers has been known to unnerve motorists as the giant blades move through traffic destined for wind farms across the country. ...Gjovik said he has seen some trucking quotes of $15,000 to $20,000 and recently saw one for $27,000 for a shipment to Oklahoma. And those prices are only for one load of one or two blades. With each load containing one blade, it would take three loads to ship the blades needed for a rotor to run one wind turbine.

North Dakota may see the construction of more wind turbines - possibly some in the Jamestown area. Terry Wanzek, who farms west of Jamestown, said he signed an easement contract with FPL Energy for a possible wind farm on his property. "We are looking at additional opportunities in the state," said Steve Stengel, spokesman for FPL Energy, the firm that constructed the wind farm west of Edgeley and is in the process of building a wind farm near Langdon and expanding the wind farm in Oliver County.

Most of North Dakota’s wind turbines have barely begun operating, but state regulators have started drafting rules that would apply if the massive towers quit producing electricity. ...North Dakota’s proposed rules say the property that hosted a wind turbine site would have to be restored to ‘‘substantially the same physical condition’’ as existed when the site was built. ‘‘To the extent possible, the site must be restored and reclaimed to the topography and topsoil quality that existed just prior to the beginning ... of construction,’’ they say. A wind turbine would be targeted for decommissioning if it had not produced electricity for at least one year, the proposed rules say. Removing a wind tower and its associated equipment would have to be done within 18 months after it reached the end of its use.

North Dakota's wind-power industry has grown dramatically in recent years and shows signs of continuing the upward trend. However, the industry also faces increasing obstacles in exporting electricity because of transmission bottlenecks. That was a message industry figures made in presentations Wednesday to the Empower North Dakota Commission, a new board that will help steer state energy-development policy, at North Dakota State University.

Renewable energy sources will continue to grow and are an important part of the country's energy future, but are only part of the equation because the nation is far from reducing its dependence on fossil fuels. ...Despite forecasted growth in renewable energy forms like ethanol, wind power, biomass and nonpetroleum-based fuels, the nation will continue to depend largely on fossil fuels and electricity generated by coal power plants, the committee was told. One reason is the country's forecasted increased consumption of fuel and electricity. “The key to our country's energy future is a mix,” said Gerald Groenewold, the director of the EERC. “Fossil fuels are a part of that.” ...Another wind challenge is the need for future transmission line capacity, said Chris Zygarlicke, the EERC's deputy associate director of research.

North Dakota's largest wind farm already has growth plans, state regulators said as they approved a shortened application period for siting 27 new wind turbines near Langdon. ...The commission approved the present wind farm's site plan, and its president, Susan Wefald, said regulators' familiarity with the area may help siting work for the expansion. "There is not a lot of new land that's going to be added," Wefald said. "A number of the turbines are going to be placed on land that has been sited already."

North Dakota ...has abundant resources in coal and wind, making it a logical place to produce energy for its less resource rich neighbors. ...Because the state is far away from the metropolitan areas that demand a lot of electricity, any extra power produced here will require a lot of transmission capacity to get it to its potential buyers. ... the main challenge is that many different interests have to come together and agree on terms before new power lines can be built. For even the most basic transmission construction projects, the different power companies that will utilize the lines have to agree how to split the costs of paying for the project. Also, some of the landowners along a route may object to the lines crossing through their property.

The location of nine turbines in the Oliver Wind II project will be altered from the original plan, requiring a return of the project to the Oliver County Planning and Zoning Commission next week. Oliver Wind II will go into full-blown construction soon, but changes with landowners and design mean that some of the wind turbines will be moved outside of the previously approved project area. County land use administrator John Wicklund said the change is a relatively small tweaking of the project and that the new locations will be adjacent to the land that was originally zoned for the project.

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.

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.

Montana Dakota Utilities Co., says it plans a 20-megawatt wind farm near Baker, Mont., just over the North Dakota border.

Wisconsin Public Service Corporation, a subsidiary of Integrys Energy Group (NYSE: TEG), is looking to build or buy a wind generation facility of approximately 100 megawatts of nameplate capacity somewhere in the Midwest. "To help meet our renewable energy requirements, we are exploring wind options throughout the footprint of the Midwest Independent System Operator (MISO), our regional electric transmission authority," said Public Service Director - Renewable and Special Projects Rob Benninghoff. "That includes the area roughly from the Dakotas to Illinois."

Another wind farm is in the works in North Dakota. B-P Alternative Energy has finalized an agreement with the McIntosh County Commission, to develop a wind farm. The first phase of the project is set for land southwest of Wishek.