Opponents of Wind Farms and of Northern Pass are backing an effort to explicitly require the state's Site Evaluation Committee to consider effects on view sheds, home values, opinions of town governments and other factors, when permitting new energy projects.

Committee member Don Kent of the Natural Heritage Board said he felt the pre-construction bird studies were inadequate and indicated he will seek a year of additional bird studies as a condition of the permit. The committee requested more information on the collapse of a wind turbine in Alton, N.Y, owned by GRP's parent company, Noble Environmental. Also requested was an onsite habitat assessment of the land proposed as mitigation in the settlement agreement.

The New Hampshire Site Evaluation Committee rejected approval of a proposed 10-turbine wind project late Thursday, but the company behind Antrim Wind Energy said it is still considering the options following the highly anticipated ruling.

The Site Evaluation Committee will hold a public meeting at 8:30 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 28, to consider motions for rehearing on a recent decision to allow a wind farm along a northern Coös ridge line. ...On Aug. 14, just inside the 3-day appeal window, the state Fish and Game Department filed a motion for rehearing or amendment. That same day, motions for rehearing were also filed by GRP, Counsel for the Public Peter Roth of the state Attorney General's Office, and Lisa Linowes, executive director of the Industrial Wind Action Group (IWAG).

Fuller Clark talked about existing transmission lines in New Hampshire's North Country and the issue of who pays for expansion of lines, and by what method energy might be moved from that area to meet demands in the rest of the state and New England. While the expansion cost for Hampton Falls is the responsibility of Public Service of New Hampshire, it actually falls on the ratepayers, Fuller Clark said. "If PSNH can't come up with a solution to transmission, (we) turn to Canada," Fuller Clark said, describing Canada as having "extraordinary plants. Ideally, we would prefer to develop our own resources here."

The amendment would give some of the money generated by carbon auctions back to ratepayers, and the remainder would go to energy efficiency programs run by the state's utilities. Currently, all RGGI proceeds go into an energy efficiency fund run by the PUC.

Instead the Senate voted 23-1 to establish two study committees to review the state Site Evaluation Committee's ability and capacity to do its job and the criteria for siting wind farms.

Under the net metering law, the consumer who generates his or her electricity can essentially run the meter backwards. Thus, during peak hours, the consumer not only saves electricity, but can actually sell it back to the utility. ...The current law limits the size of generators to 100 kilowatts. The new law allows one-megawatt generators.

After a sorely disappointing eight-month trial period, the town of Kittery, Maine, is shutting down the 50-kilowatt wind turbine it installed at the Transfer Station last fall. Real-time data from the 124-foot turbine shows that it generated less than 15 percent of the electricity expected between October and May.

Aug. 15 (Bloomberg) -- New York, New Jersey and five other Northeast states set a goal of cutting power-plant carbon dioxide emissions by 10 percent over 10 years to help curb global warming.

NEW YORK – Seven northeastern U.S. states have signed the country's first plan to create a market for heat-trapping carbon dioxide by curbing emissions at power plants, New York Gov. George Pataki said Tuesday.

Labor and business groups were outnumbered today in a hearing to put a moratorium on any wind farm or electrical transmission line project. House Bill 580 calls for an energy plan to be written before permits are issued for projects such as Northern Pass or wind farms such as the one on Tenney Mountain in Plymouth.

Several state lawmakers say they support the possibility of locating windmill turbines off New Hampshire's coast to generate electricity, though with some reservations.

But many neighbors don't want it. For some, it's a matter of losing the view they love and having the peace of their homes disturbed by the constant whir of turbines. And for others, Antrim Wind Energy has been much too vague about project details and the full environmental impact of the project.

The committee tonight will consider whether to review the project, a first step in a process that could take up to a year or more. Lempster has no zoning and there are concerns that the small town lacks the resources to regulate an energy project.

LEMPSTER, N.H. The state is deciding whether it should review plans for a wind farm in Lempster (New Hampshire) after requests from town officials and residents.

LEMPSTER (AP) -- The company proposing a controversial wind farm on Mount Lempster has taken the first step in the state's evaluation process. The developer, Community Energy Inc., has filed its application with the state Site Evaluation Committee, which voted unanimously to oversee the project at the request of residents and town officials.

"Proper siting involves a multitude of considerations, including environmental impacts," the statement read. "We felt strongly that this proposed project failed the ‘proper siting' criteria. Clearly, the SEC agreed."

"The committee deliberated for three full days after hearing more than 11 days of evidence and ultimately decided the project would cause an adverse effect to the aesthetics of the area primarily because of the visual impact," SEC attorney Michael Iacopino said. The project's nearness to the New Hampshire Audubon-held Willard Pond Wildlife Sanctuary played a part in the decision, as well as the opposition voiced both in testimony and written statements.

The state has signed a $4 million contract with ConEdison Solutions of Burlington, Mass,. to supply it with wind-generated power through May 2010. The contract was signed after a bidding process that involved traditional and renewable energy suppliers, according to Gov. John Lynch's office. Lynch in a statement said the contract helps the state move toward its eventual "25/25" goal "" that renewable energy sources provide 25 percent of all power consumed in New Hampshire by 2025.