Windham County Sen. Peter Galbraith announced Monday his plans to introduce legislation banning a controversial gas-producing practice and wind projects on Vermont-owned property. ...Galbraith pointed to the hotly-contested Lowell Wind Project as evidence his legislation is needed.

The neighbors gathered in Dan and Tina FitzGerald's kitchen had a list of grievances about five wind turbines proposed for the mountain in his backyard. The list began with this: A fear their voices will not be listened to. "We feel there is a tremendous amount of money stacked up against us," said Darlene Ross, who would have a view of the turbines from her home on Arrowhead Lake.

The developer of a four-turbine commercial wind project in Milton has agreed to pay a $10,000 fine and contribute $10,000 to a private remediation fund for multiple violations of its state permits during blasting for the nearly complete project.

Developers of a three- to five-turbine commercial-scale wind project along the Milton and Georgia town line - the first of its kind in Chittenden County - today received a certificate of public good from the Vermont Public Service Board.

As part of their energy plan the town of Manchester is considering investing some of its money in "green" or environmentally-friendly funds. ...There are two definitions for green funds, O'Keefe said. One is a company that produces green products - such as wind turbines - but does not produce them in a green way. The other are companies that produce products that are not green, but produces them in a way consistent with environmental values - automobiles being an example. ...The possibility of investing in such funds is still in its infancy as O'Keefe said ..."It's not a done deal," said O'Keefe. "We have to be careful with public money and make sure that we're not playing social politics with it."

Blades have begun to turn on 121 wind turbines here and in neighboring Ellenburg, a 35-minute drive northwest of Plattsburgh. Saturday, they turned with a soft whush, whush, whush. "Whush, whush, whush, all day long, all night long - I moved here because it was so peaceful and quiet," groused Allen Barcombe as he pointed to the nearest tower, jutting up 400 feet into the sky behind his house. ...The New York turbines, in two projects developed by Noble Environmental Power, are the first of nearly 400 expected to go up in five towns on a windy plateau just south of the Canadian border. When completed, the development about 90 minutes from Burlington will represent the largest concentration of wind turbines in the eastern United States.

Tapping into a "deep feeling" in northern New Hampshire that the Northern Pass project would mar the region's beauty and undermine its tourism industry, Newt Gingrich said he would withhold his support unless the power lines go underground.

LONDONDERRY -- Developers have officially called off their plans to build a wind generation plant on top of Glebe Mountain.

SOUTH LONDONDERRY — Residents decided Friday night to hold a secret, all-day ballot in a week on whether the town should support commercial wind development on Glebe Mountain.

But the board criticized GMP starting deliveries before road conditions were examined in advance. GMP, in its own proposed plan approved by the board, agreed to give towns and the state one to two months for preliminary road surveys.

Green Mountain Power is continuing to investigate the possibility of a seventeen-turbine wind farm outside of Lowell Mountain, in Orleans County, Vermont. ... Dave Hallquist, CEO of VEC, ...acknowledged the "aesthetic issues" at play in the decision to build a wind farm. Hallquist said that since the billboard ban in 1968, he felt that Vermont had worked hard to preserve an open, rural image, and that he understood the need to maintain that image.

Agency of Natural Resources Secretary Deb Markowitz said her agency has been to the site and is assessing the damage. Markowitz said at the agency's request, Green Mountain Power asked the Public Service Board not to give final approval to its conservation easements until the issues are resolved.

Green Mountain Power officially unveiled its Kingdom Community Wind project Friday, a plan to build 21 turbines along three miles of ridgelines in the northern Vermont town of Lowell.

The Nelsons have claimed that the property is theirs. They launched a lawsuit over the property this fall after GMP sued them to stop the protests from hindering the blasting. Court action over the wind project continues on various levels.

Green Mountain Power has won a court order that requires opponents of its Lowell Mountain wind project to stay away from its construction zone during blasting periods.

Irasburg selectmen and some residents have questions about the economic value of the Lowell wind project. The utilities hoping to build Kingdom Community Wind on Lowell's ridge line want to answer those questions.

A batch of good news will be revealed to Goshen residents at a public informational session at 7 p.m. Thursday in the town hall. Financing to purchase a new fire truck is in place and the town will also be receiving two large monetary settlements from the Lempster Windfarm project. Neither one will require formal approval by Goshen voters. ..."We have a contractual agreement to receive $30,000 by Dec. 28 to cover Goshen's legal expenses on the windfarm presentation before the state hearing along with background work," Carrick said. The $30,000 will replace funds Goshen actually spent with this effort. He said an agreement has also been worked out with Lempster Windfarm to provide an additional $50,000 in the future when the project first comes on line.

If the merger is approved, GMP and its parent company, Montréal-based Gaz Métro, would control roughly 70 percent of the state's electric wholesale, retail and distribution markets. "No one is likely to examine it with the healthy skepticism and independence necessary in a deal of this significance to the state," Burak told Fair Game.

Gov. Jim Douglas took his clearest position yet on industrial wind projects in Vermont on Friday, saying they would be "an imposition" on Vermont's landscape. Industrial wind turbines on ridge lines would not aesthetically suit Vermont's small scale landscape, Douglas, a Republican, said at a brainstorming session with leaders of large and small businesses Friday afternoon at the Gateway Center. To give up Vermont's brand for an energy source that could only produce 6 percent of Vermont's energy needs isn't a good idea, Douglas said. "I can't make the case there's enough gain for the pain," he said. "I just don't think it's worth it."

Douglas readily admits that he is not a fan of large wind turbines on Vermont's mountaintops. He said that if Vermonters were more aware of the relatively low power output wind has to offer, they would likely agree with him....... "I see letters to the editors sometimes from people who apparently believe that (wind power) could replace Vermont Yankee, well that isn't even close to the amount of power that we get. So, I think if you weigh the relatively small amount of power versus the impact on the natural beauty of Vermont ... I come out on the side of saying it's not worth it.