It's round two for green power in Farmington today, with utility customers attending another City Council work session to protest a recommended $40 renewable energy fee. "A bunch of us are going to turn up again," said Mike Eisenfeld, New Mexico staff organizer for the San Juan Citizen's Alliance. "I think the city needs to do the right thing and shuck the recommended policy." ..."All I can do is present the information and they will make a decision." "Customers who choose to utilize renewable energy should do so because they believe it is the right' thing to do, but should also understand that these options are more expensive than traditional carbon-based resources," the report reads.

Gov. Bill Richardson approved all items in the capital outlay bill, including about $1.9 million to develop the site for and plan, design, construct, equip and furnish the North American Wind Research and Training Center at Mesalands Community College in Tucumcari. Going into the legislative session, Mesalands officials had expressed hope for a larger appropriation because costs of wind turbines escalate with the rising costs of fuel, metals and manufacturing. Mesalands has been on spring break for the past week and Phillip Barry, college president, could not be reached for comment. The college wants to install a single wind turbine that could be used for maintenace and operational training of technicians and research on wind energy.

Santa Fe city government wants to start buying its electricity from a new wind power company, but it may run into opposition from Public Service Co. of New Mexico, the state regulated power monopoly. Delaware-based Patriot Wind, in cooperation with Santa Fe-based Windforce Inc., has plans to build a 20-turbine wind ranch in eastern New Mexico. The ranch is to be built on 640 acres of state-owned land about 30 miles southeast of Springer. But before Patriot Wind can get financing for the project, according to a memo from Santa Fe City Attorney Frank Katz, it needs to get commitments from potential customers to buy the electricity -- a prospect that could prove daunting, considering PNM's monopoly..........PNM already has a program in place called Sky Blue that allows customers to purchase energy generated from a wind farm in southern New Mexico. Customers pay 22 percent more for their electricity after enrolling in the program.

Bingaman said he had supported tax credits aimed at developing wind power plants. With those credits ending in 2007, he said companies developing those operations were getting wary about starting new projects. The senator said he would propose extending those credits.