LANCASTER - Initial test results are favorable for plans to create a 100-megawatt wind farm at the Phillips Brook property. Noble Environmental Power officials presented an update on their project to the Coos County planning board Wednesday night. "The indications from the data collected so far are very good," said Martha Staskus, vice president of Vermont Environmental Research Associates, which is consulting on the project. Pip Decker and Charles Readling of Noble provided an overview of the company and outlined the project proposed for the 24,000 acre Phillips Brook tract owned by GMO Renewable Resources. Readling said the project will likely consist of 33 to 67 wind turbines with a maximum height of just under 400 feet. The company erected two wind measuring towers earlier this year and has permits to put up two more this summer. In addition to evaluating the wind speed and direction, data is being gathered on birds, visual impacts, wetlands, and other environmental impacts. "We're not done collecting all the data," said Staskus.

LEMPSTER, N.H. --Construction on New Hampshire's first commercial wind farm project is expected to begin by the end of the summer now that the developer has received final state approval. After three years of planning and permitting, developer Iberdrola received the last of the required state approvals this month. The company hopes to begin producing electricity sometime next year, said project manager Ed Cherian.

Legislators in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic passed a number of bills applying to the electric power industry, with several states committing to emissions reductions through the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and other states making broad organizational changes to their regulatory processes.

LEMPSTER, N.H. --New Hampshire is a step closer to getting its first commercial wind farm. A 14-member committee representing environmental, forest, economic development, health utility and other interests, approved the project in Lempster on Thursday.

AMHERST - In March, 1,444 voters agreed with people in more than 160 other New Hampshire towns that reducing greenhouse gases is a good thing. That was the theory. On Tuesday, the town's zoning board will face the reality in the form of solar panels and wind turbines, both of which face big legal obstacles. "The fact that it's alternative energy doesn't make any difference," said town planner Charlie Tiedemann. "The zoning (laws) are still in effect."

A bill that originally would have allowed Public Service of New Hampshire to build a wood-burning plant in the North Country has morphed into fast-track legislation for all small renewable energy projects. Now a House committee is grappling on how fast that process should move and whether environmental safeguards will remain in place. Senate Bill 140 would give the Site Evaluation Committee - the multi-agency task force that sites energy plants - 120 days to make a decision on renewable energy plants, such as those that are powered by geothermal sources, wind, solar, and biomass.

A portion of the wind energy generated from newly installed wind turbines located in PEI was wheeled through PEI and New Brunswick and sold to the New England Power Pool (NEPOOL) via the international interconnection node in Keswick, N.B. The renewable energy certificates (RECs) that were generated from this transmission were sold separately to independent buyers located in the NEPOOL.

CONCORD (AP) - Gov. John Lynch has signed the proposal that promotes expanding renewable energy in New Hampshire, a move that's expected to reduce pollution and expand the alternative energy industry. The legislation requires electric utilities to buy a growing percentage of their energy from sources such as wood-fired plants, wind farms and hydro power. The goal is to have 25 percent of the state's electricity coming from renewable sources by 2025. As he signed the bill on Friday, Lynch said the plan will help lessen the need for foreign oil and expensive natural gas, build a stronger state economy and protect the environment.

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

New England Energy Alliance Survey Finds Consumer Concern about Future Electricity Supplies, Desire to Choose Electricity Supplier and Support for Addressing Global Warming

New Hampshire's Senate has voted unanimously to pass a bill to promote greater development of renewable energy, a move that's expected to reduce pollution and grow the alternative energy industry in the state. The legislation requires electric utilities to buy a growing percentage of their energy from sources such as wood-fired plants, wind farms and hydro power. The goal is to have 25 percent of the state's electricity coming from renewable sources by 2025. The bill passed the House and has Gov. John Lynch's support. The legislation is expected to encourage investment in alternative energy in New Hampshire, which supporters say could shore up the logging industry, create new jobs and improve the state's environmental quality.

The New Hampshire House's passage of a renewable energy bill April 5 might spur even more wood-fired power plant projects, such as Public Service of New Hampshire's 50-megawatt facility at Schiller Station in Portsmouth and several projects recently proposed in the North Country. One of those North Country projects involves Laidlaw Ecopower, which hopes to buy the mothballed 11-story boiler in the former Fraser Papers mill in Berlin and construct a 50-megawatt wood-chip-burning power plant around it. The other, proposed by North Country Renewable Energy, involves plans for a similar renewable energy park in Northumberland that would make ethanol from wood chips and operate a biomass power plant in the 45- to 75-megawatt range.

The New Hampshire House yesterday easily passed a requirement that New Hampshire power companies use more renewable resources in their electric generating plants. By a 253-37 vote, it adopted House Bill 873. The bill requires the state to get nearly 25 percent of its energy by the year 2025 from renewables, like wind, solar, hydropower, geothermal and wood-fired sources.

About 20 residents attended an informational meeting Wednesday night where Lempster selectmen revealed the details of a proposed agreement with the developers of a windfarm. "We've had a lot of meetings and it's near completion," Lempster Selectman Bill Murgatroy said of the proposal. "It's a working document." Community Energy Inc. and Lempster Wind LLC, (collectively known as CEI) have proposed the construction of 12 windmills for electrical generation atop Lempster Mountain.

The town of Lempster plans to disclose the details of an agreement reached with the developers of a windfarm during an informational meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday. "We have reached a tentative agreement with Community Energy," Lempster Selectman Bill Murgatroy said. "It indemnifies the town and protects the town's interest." Community Energy Inc. and Lempster Wind LLC, (collectively known as CEI) have proposed constructing 12 electric generating windmills on a 35-acre lot atop Lempster Mountain. The meeting is designed only to inform the public about the contents of the agreement. The Site Evaluation Committee will hold a hearing on April 9 in Concord to discuss concerns from the town of Goshen over power line placement and also scrutinize the proposed agreement between Lempster and CEI. Both meetings are open to the public.

Unitil Corp., hasn't operated a power plant since the 1950s, but the electricity company would like to start again. Unitil has been one of the most vocal opponents of allowing utilities to build power plants, saying that would stunt the growth of a competitive market in New Hampshire and turn back the clock on important deregulation laws passed 10 years ago to break up electric monopolies. However, this week, it said building small, renewable power plants in its service territory could help protect customers against recent double-digit rate increases, without disrupting the competitive market. Renewable power is generated by harnessing local resources, such as wood, wind and solar energy.

BETHLEHEM, NH - Alternative energy facilities, such as the Pinetree Power plant that operates on Route 116, and has for the past 20 years, are watching House Bill 873 closely this legislative session. The bill will require power companies that sell directly to consumers to purchase power from renewable energy producers such as Pinetree, which turns wood chips into power, thereby stabilizing their future in the energy marketplace in New Hampshire, said Mark Driscoll, the Pinetree plant manager. The bill will also encourage other renewable energy producers such as those planning an energy park in the town of Northumberland, to move forward with their plans, said state legislators who are sponsoring the bill in Concord. And the bill promises to improve the environment and public health at the same time by encouraging more "green" power sources and making sure producers install the latest emissions controls.

Getting more money to preserve land, operate state parks, protect wildlife and regulate polluters top the 2007 environmental agenda of a broad coalition of groups. Legislative leaders embraced this first-ever collaborative effort the Granite State Conservation Voters Fund organized and promoted at a breakfast meeting of lawmakers Thursday. “I think great things are going to happen this year, and it’s great to feel like you’re in the mainstream,” said former state Sen. Rick Russman, a Kingston Republican who serves on the GSCVF board of directors.

Goshen officials are concerned about the power lines coming through their town from the proposed Lempster windmill project and have filed a petition with the New Hampshire Site Evaluation Committee for limited intervening status. “We’re trying to protect the appearance of the village,” Goshen planning board chairman John Wirkkala said Tuesday. Community Energy Inc. and Lempster Wind LLC, (collectively known as CEI) have proposed 12 electric generating windmills constructed on a 35-acre lot owned by resident Kevin Onella. If the windmills are constructed as planned, transmission lines will run along route 10 from Lempster through Goshen and into Newport where the electricity generated will tie into the power grid. “We’re asking for an alternative site for the lines or to bury the lines,” Wirkkala said.

A lot of regulatory issues had to be settled, including the decision by Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire that the switch to wood counted as a renewable energy project. This was vital because it allows the Northern Wood Project to earn Renewable Energy Certificates, or RECs. Those certificates can be bought and sold like shares, and are a major incentive for alternative energy projects, such as the proposed Lempster Wind Farm north of Keene. “We probably would not have proposed, nor won approval for this, unless the REC market existed,” said Martin Murray, PSNH spokesman.