Early work on a unified wind turbine policy was met with many questions at Thursday's Burleigh County Planning Commission meeting. Bismarck City Planner Gregg Greenquist said the policy should be split between "household wind energy systems" and larger wind farms. Greenquist said a large expansion is planned for a wind farm near Wilton into the Burleigh County jurisdiction.

Many people in North Dakota are thrilled that wind turbines are dotting the state. It is an alternate source of energy, and financially, it is good for the state's economy. But there are two sides to every story, and state legislators heard both sides on Wednesday in Valley City. The Energy Development and Transmission Committee first listened to NextEra Energy Resources representatives on wind facility construction and operation.

Just Wind asked the Stutsman County Commission to lower the application fee for a wind farm zoning permit during the commission's regular meeting Tuesday. The fee was set at $500 per wind turbine when the wind farm zoning ordinance was passed this spring. ..."According to your figures, a 250-turbine project will cost about $1.5 billion," said Noel Johnson, chief operating officer of the county. "And you're saying the $125,000 permit fee would kill it?"

The Morton County Commission heard a new pitch for a wind farm at its Oct. 8 meeting. In 2010, Nextera Energy of Juno Beach, Fla., wants to place 33 wind turbines between west of Mandan and New Salem. Thirty-three will be added for the next project. ...The company has submitted a letter of intent to the North Dakota Public Service Commission and a permit application to the Morton County Auditor's Office.

Fargo school and park officials are letting a potential wind turbine project blow by. The Fargo School Board and Fargo Park Board both unanimously voted Tuesday to drop the project. "A single wind turbine in today's economy is not financially feasible," said Dan Huffman, assistant superintendent of business services for Fargo Public Schools. "The revenue coming back from a tower that size doesn't really cover your upfront costs."

More than 60 people turned out Wednesday evening in Devils Lake to hear Jeff Metzger, president of Just Wind, LLC., explain its philosophy and to begin gauging local interest in a potential wind farm in the county. ...The company currently is developing large-scale wind farms in Logan and Emmons counties.

Newly approved projects should push North Dakota's wind energy generating capacity to more than 1,000 megawatts, state regulators say. When the decade began, the state had no commercial wind power. North Dakota's Public Service Commission on Wednesday approved construction of two wind developments that, when completed, will be capable of generating almost 300 megawatts of electricity.

State regulators declined to reopen a debate over the location of four new wind turbines in east-central North Dakota, saying they had already considered a neighboring landowner's arguments that they should be moved. The state Public Service Commission on Monday agreed to ask the project's developer, NextEra Energy Resources, if it would be practical ...in moving the turbines to alternative locations nearby.

State regulators say they won't hold another hearing to debate the siting of a wind farm in east-central North Dakota. The Public Service Commission says it will ask the wind project's developer to move four of the project's 80 wind turbines to satisfy complaints from a nearby landowner.

Neighbors protesting turbine locations for a wind farm near Luverne, N.D., are upset that work has begun while requests for reconsideration are pending before state regulators. ...Commissioners on Monday will discuss the requests for reconsideration by several neighboring landowners as well as Sen. Tim Mathern, D-Fargo.

A rural Barnes County couple had planned to enjoy retirement by moving back to North Dakota. But Dennis and Cathryn Stillings are finding a changed landscape even noisy. As WDAY 6 Reporter Kevin Wallevand tells us, the prairie has a different look and sound. ...Dennis Stillings and his wife Cathryn moved back to their native North Dakota two years ago. ..."We would never do this again; no if we had known [about the turbines] we would not have looked at the property."

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."

On Thursday, Takushi Harima of the Tokyo Broadcasting System interviewed Stillings, who lives near NextEra Energy Resources' wind farm about 15 miles northeast of Valley City. Harima asked Stillings what the view was like, whether he has noticed adverse health effects and about noise.

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.

Tanner Gue knows as well as anyone just how wet it's been this summer in some of North Dakota's prime waterfowl country. That's good for ducks, of course, even if it sometimes complicates life for people trying to study them. A UND graduate student, Gue, 25, is heading up the fieldwork portion of a two-year research project aiming to learn more about the impact of wind farms on the survival of nesting ducks.

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 have approved a new wind farm in east central North Dakota despite complaints about noise. North Dakota's Public Service Commission concluded most of the proposed wind towers will be far enough away from homes to meet federal noise guidelines.

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.

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.