The Barrington Town Council made it official Monday night: The wind turbine project proposed for Legion Way is off the table. ...At the meeting on Monday night, council member Kate Weymouth motioned to accept a recommendation from the Committee for Renewable Energy for Barrington to not move forward with construction of a turbine at Legion Way, "at this time."

A developer is proposing to build the first commercial-scale projects in New England waters to harness the power of the waves for electricity, but most of the energy they produce would actually come from attached wind turbines. Grays Harbor Ocean Energy Company, based in Seattle, applied for preliminary permits from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in October to explore mounting 100 jack-up platforms - similar to those used in the offshore oil industry - in seven tracts of ocean around the country.

The financial crisis is causing problems for First Wind, one of the backers of Deepwater Wind, the firm chosen by Gov. Donald L. Carcieri to build Rhode Island's offshore wind farm. ...First Wind declined to comment, but in its public filing the company warned: "If we are unable to obtain additional debt or equity financing, we may have to curtail our development activities or be forced to sell assets."

The report, completed by AWS Truewind, created a virtual met tower for the Legion Way location and shows readings for simulated hourly wind speeds, directions, temperatures, pressure and air density at 65 meters above ground level. It indicates a mean wind speed of 5.33 meters per second, which is significantly less than the previous readings town officials had collected. It also showed longer periods of inactivity for the proposed wind turbine.

A proposal that the town build a $2.4-million wind turbine seems poised to topple due to a new consultant's report showing that wind speeds at the prospective site are not as strong as previously believed. AWS Truewind, of Albany, N.Y., which initially gauged the average wind speed above Brickyard Pond at 13.4 mph, now says that the average speed per year is just under 12 mph.

Signs point to Gilford voters deciding next March whether to approve an ordinance dealing with wind turbines. The Gilford Planning Board on Monday evening discussed definitions of the ordinance, mainly dealing with sound level limitations, maximum unit height and setback restrictions. "We have always had decibel issues," Director of Planning and Land Use John Ayer said. "We will consult with a certified professional when dealing with the decibel limitations."

Kunz, an internationally known bat researcher and director of BU’s Center for Ecology and Conservation Biology, said wind turbines annually kill many raptors as well as tens of thousands of bats in the United States. Since these turbines have been promoted as an answer to America’s energy woes, Kunz called for more research into the environmental effects of wind power. He also warned that high numbers of bat fatalities may cause populations of insects to increase dramatically. ...Unfortunately, Kunz said, many power companies refuse to fund research on the impacts of wind farms and some even deny scientists access to turbines to count bird and bat fatalities.

Members of Citizens Wind Watch obtained and circulated copies of two e-mails sent from David Baum, the CREB chairman, to some town officials and other members of the CREB. The e-mails refer to a meeting on Nov. 14, in which council members June Speakman and Kate Weymouth, town manager Peter DeAngelis and Mr. Baum discussed the proposed wind turbine project. ..."The meeting and subsequent e-mail that David Baum sent ... smacks of backroom dealing, even if it was meant to be completely above board."

An internationally known bat researcher, however, says tens of thousands of bats are killed annually by wind turbines in the US. Unless researchers are monitoring a site, says Boston University professor Thomas Kunz, bat fatalities often go undetected, because their bodies are lost in the brush or eaten by scavengers. In a November 19 lecture sponsored by the Rhode Island National History Survey, Kunz, director of BU's Center for Ecology and Conservation Biology, labeled wind energy "brown," not green. He also warned that high numbers of bat fatalities may cause populations of insects to increase dramatically.

Gov. John Lynch signed into law House Bill 310, which sets maximum restrictions on what a community can do when someone proposes to erect a wind tower to generate electricity. ...The new law, explained Murphy, is different from other state land-use regulations "which allow towns to enact restrictions greater than those the state imposes; this one was framed in such a way to be the most restrictive. I believe the intent was so that towns, for whatever reason, could not totally outlaw wind tower use within their boundaries."

Shortly after the Financial Town Meeting, where residents voted to approve funding for the construction of a wind turbine in town, Ms. Cuzzone started researching wind turbines and attending meetings for the renewable energy committee. She said the project's initially proposed location - the Barrington High School campus - propelled her to get involved. She lives on Lincoln Avenue, not far from the high school. A new location has since been selected - Legion Way near Brickyard Pond - but Ms. Cuzzone is still interested in the project.

As the state moves forward with the creation of zoning regulations for Rhode Island's coastal waters, commercial fishermen are worried their interests will not be adequately represented when key decisions are made about where they can fish. ...The fishermen, for their part, say they are supportive of efforts to develop renewable energy and are not looking to derail the SAMP project. "We can absolutely live together," said Wallis. "We just want to have a good say in that."

The chairman of the committee exploring a wind turbine for the town is warning that the project is facing "paralysis by analysis" and he is calling on Barrington's "silent majority" to "break the deadlock and move forward on this first-of-many renewable energy solutions." ...Critics have called for actual wind measurements to determine if the breezes will be strong enough to make a turbine at Brickyard Pond economical. The committee has, instead, relied on historical wind speed data collected from other locations, data that have been extrapolated for the Barrington site.

Even though a New York-based wind farm developer has abandoned its plans to build a facility off the coast of Rhode Island, the company is still hoping to get into the wind-energy business here. Allco Renewable Energy Group Ltd. has approached a half-dozen Rhode Island communities with what some see as an appealing offer. The company will finance, build, operate and own a wind turbine within a town and sell the power at a price that's at or below what's available from the local utility company. And Allco will guarantee that price for 20 years.

Public Service Company of New Hampshire has filed for almost a 10 percent hike in electric rates for next year. ...Part of the increase has to do with both the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, designed to curb carbon emissions, and the Renewable Portfolio Standards, set up to move the state toward getting 25 percent of its power from renewables by 2025. Murray estimated that amount 20-30 percent of the increase can be attributed to those two programs, but indicated those costs haven't been completely determined yet. "In terms of RGGI, this is all quite new to us," he said.

The thought of a wind farm in waters off Rhode Island is "frightening" to commercial fishermen, an industry representative told state officials Wednesday at a meeting of those potentially affected by a proposed wind farm. ..."I can't stress enough how frightening this is for the commercial fishing industry," said Lanny Dellinger, president of the Rhode Island Lobstermen's Association. "I see people getting displaced."

The Planning Board is looking into putting forward a zoning ordinance to voters in March that would regulate the construction of residential wind turbines in town. The board got the ball rolling recently by reviewing a model "Small Wind Energy Systems Ordinance" put out by the state's office of Energy and Planning. ...The bill, signed into law by Gov. John Lynch in July, states towns can no longer limit or hinder small wind energy systems through ordinance or regulations.

[T]here are some negatives associated with the increasingly popular form of alternative energy, according to a University of New Hampshire expert. But the cons - mainly noise and vibrations from the rotating turbines - are generally things people can live with, UNH assistant professor of geography Mary Lemcke said. In South Berwick, a 300-foot-high ridge across from Marshwood High School is being eyed as a possible location for a wind farm. A Cape Neddick-based alternative energy company is conducting a yearlong wind study there with the hopes a wind farm would be viable. For Wisconsin resident Gerry Meyer, however, the sound of five 400-foot-tall wind turbines located within three quarters of a mile of his home is simply unbearable.

A contingent of opposition soaked up the first 90 minutes of a public workshop on the proposed wind turbine project in Barrington on Tuesday night. One by one, residents, some of whom were members of the group Citizens Wind Watch, approached the microphone at the front of the Barrington High School auditorium and reeled through questions and concerns about the project while some offered reasons the town council should not support building a wind turbine on Legion Way. ... Despite all the comments, the majority of council members said the workshop did little to sway their thoughts on the proposed project.