Supreme Court Judge Marianne Furfure said Tuesday she would not rule on a conflict of interest lawsuit against the town of Prattsburgh until a wind farm developer has a chance to be heard. The lawsuit, filed by Al Wordingham and the Advocates for Prattsburgh charges town Supervisor Harold McConnell acted unethically when he cast a tie-breaking vote at an April 21 town board meeting favoring a 36-turbie project proposed by First Wind. Before the April vote, McConnell told board members and residents he was paid by First Wind after helping broker a real estate deal for the developer.

On foreign oil use, Mr. Boone cited a Rocky Mountain Institute study that said only 3 percent of oil use in the United States goes to electricity production. And of that, five-sixths comes from useless byproducts of the refining process. So oil is not a competitor for wind energy. Wind energy, especially onshore in the eastern U.S., does not produce close to its rated capacity. The turbines produce the most during winter nights and the least during summer afternoons, when demand is highest. "It's out of whack seasonally and during the day," Mr. Boone said.

The citizens organization that opposes large-scale wind power development brought an Article 78 suit in March 2007 against the ZBA, claiming it incorrectly classified industrial wind turbines as utilities. Judge Hugh A. Gilbert dismissed the petition in August, ruling the classification was correct under existing zoning law. The group appealed the decision in September to the state Appellate Division, Fourth Department, Rochester. It also made a motion to have three documents that were not part of the lower court's administrative record included in the record of appeal.

Seven property owners in the Town of Prattsburgh must allow a wind farm developer to dig on their land. That's because the town board voted to proceed with eminent domain Tuesday night. ...Officials voted three to two to proceed with eminent domain. That's when a government can force a property owner to sell their land for a project that benefits the entire area.

The Prattsburgh town board has ruled in favor of eminent domain. The decision means First Wind, the company that wants to build a 36 turbine wind farm in Prattsburgh can now take portions of land from property owners who oppose the project. Eminent domain was proposed after seven property owners said they would not sell their land to the company. First Wind wants the property along the town highways to lay underground cables.

The Town of Enfield attorney has several concerns about the agreement between the developer of a proposed wind farm and the town. ...Councilman Rob Harvey said he's prepared to vote against the agreement based on Krogh's opinion. Harvey was ready to propose a wind-farm moratorium before Podufalski told the town board at a meeting earlier this month the proposed agreement would be voted on at its next meeting, and he gave Podufalski credit for holding back on the vote. "We want to do it the right way," Podufalski said. "No disrespect to Mr. Rancich. I like what he's doing. I think he's got a great sense of giving something to the community, but on the other hand I want to make sure it's right. I don't want the former town board members coming back at us and saying you're ethically wrong."

"We're hoping to get input from the public on what should be in that document," said Jack A. Nasca, the chief of energy projects and management division of environmental permits for DEC. He said the department is holding the sessions to create a broad list of the areas in which the public is concerned about the effects of turbines. There are areas where locals have more expertise than DEC. For example, Lawrence C. Barone, a village trustee and business owner, asked that special attention be paid to the historic significance of the island. ...The department will accept written comments through June 30. The draft scope is available at the Hounsfield town clerk's office, Hay Memorial Library and Henderson Free Library.

The plan calls for 90 wind towers just to be placed on Galloo Island, just miles off the Western shore of Jefferson County on Lake Ontario. Before anything can start, the state DEC office needs to prepare a final Environmental Impact Statement, showing what effect the wind farm would have on the island. That's why they hosted meetings Tuesday for the public to offer their opinions. ... "There's very little benefit to be gained from building wind turbines. It's the type of alternative energy which in my opinion is more symbolic than real," Town of Lyme Planning Board member Albert Bowers said.

Area residents expressed a mix of opinions Tuesday at a public hearing on a proposed wind farm. Upstate NY Power Corp. wants to erect up to 90 wind turbines on Galloo Island on Lake Ontario in the town of Hounsfield. The power would be wheeled on a new transmission line running through Jefferson and Oswego counties. The Department of Environmental Conservation scheduled two public hearings in Sackets Harbor on the environmental aspects of the project. The 3 p.m. session attracted about 75 people and went a little more than an hour.

The Department of Environmental Conservation has scheduled two public hearings, both on June 17 at the Hounsfield town court, West Washington Street, Sackets Harbor. The first hearing is at 3 p.m.; the second at 7 p.m. Upstate NY Power Corp wants to install up to 90 wind turbines on Galloo Island, which is in the town of Hounsfield.

The town board wants to renegotiate a community host agreement with Empire State Wind Energy. The board is willing to give up some of the profits anticipated from the wind turbine project in order to assume less risk. ESWE would be rewarded with more profits, if it's willing to take more risk.

A second lawsuit has been filed against the town of Stamford over issues related to a proposal to develop a wind farm. Ellen West, of Hobart, filed an Article 78 last week in Otsego County, protesting the Stamford Town Board's approval Feb. 13 of a resolution to accept an application by Moresville Energy, which wants to build a wind-energy facility. ...The Wests contend "the application is therefore perjured and should have been rejected by the Stamford Town Board."

A $4.5 billion bid for Energy East Corp. has again brought pressure on state regulators from Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., who suggested Monday the regulators are being "stone-headed." The bid by Iberdrola SA of Spain for the company that owns Rochester Gas and Electric and New York State Electric and Gas is under review by the Department of Public Service. The department's administrative law judge, Rafael Epstein, is working on an advisory opinion for the department's five-member Public Service Commission, which will vote on the proposed sale.

A smaller company based in Minnesota is rolling out a different model on the High Plains of the Midwest. National Wind is developing 700 megawatts of wind power by inviting the host communities to become co-owners. CEO Leon Steinberg told David Sommerstein traditionally wind developers buy leases from landowners to erect turbines on their property. National Wind takes a different approach.

Across Lake Champlain, many Vermonters are asking the same question. While wind energy sails along at a healthy clip in New York and much of New England, in Vermont it's been as flaccid as a limp windsock. Currently, all of Vermont's grid-scale wind power - a meager 6 megawatts total - comes from 11 turbines in Searsburg, in southern Vermont. A 16-turbine project in Sheffield is due to break ground later this year, but that is by no means a done deal. If it does move forward, the modest project would increase Vermont's wind energy output fivefold. That's still a pittance compared to Vermont's neighbors.

Determining which way the wind blows has rarely been as important to a politician as it is to Gov. David Paterson. Paterson's ambitious goal of increasing renewable energy to 25 percent of New York's power by 2013 will hinge on wind turbines. Since most of New York's renewable energy comes from hydroelectric power plants with little capacity to grow, and the pace of growth in solar energy has gone at less than light speed, with only 15 megawatts of installed capacity to date, the wind industry will likely account for most of the desired growth in so-called clean energy. Local companies like AWS Truewind and MSE Power Systems, both founded in Albany, are poised to profit from New York's promotion of wind energy.

The proposed project in Pomfret, according to Stebbins, would lie within a border south of Webster Road, north of Bacheller Hill Road, east roughly being Route 60 and west being the National Grid 230 electrical line. "The area along the lake is windy and I've certainly had a lot of landowners come to me and say we want a wind farm and we'd like to be a part of it. This area is a bird flyway. There's a lot of bird activity here," Stebbins said as to the reason for the cut-off. "The proposed Pomfret layout is looking at 20-30 turbines in higher areas. We use existing gas wells and roads wherever possible. Our proposed project area is relatively small and I think that's in part because we've been working here a long time and we're very familiar with the realities of the area."

The state Department of Environmental Conservation on Wednesday released preliminary plans for the surveys and information required on the Galloo Island Wind Farm environmental impact statement. The 36-page draft scoping statement includes plans for studies on the effects of the wind project on the land, Lake Ontario, public safety, archaeological resources, wetlands and wildlife. The plan does not include the effects on public roads or from noise and shadow flicker from the turbines, because the site is remote, the plan said. Interested parties have more than a month to file comments with the department before the scope of the impact statement is finalized.

Both sides of a dispute over eminent domain proceedings in the town of Prattsburgh weighed in with vigor Thursday night in the volunteer fire station. ...Before residents had their say, project manager Brian Cocca told them First Wind has worked diligently to reach agreements with landowners. Since the town board's decision last month to begin the proceedings, one of the original eight landowners has signed an easement, he said. ...While the public benefit of the project was hotly debated, the issue of eminent domain was more emotional. "This doesn't benefit the general public," one man said. "It benefits a private wind developer. Eminent domain itself is a, a gross interference...You are attacking your own citizenry."

The developer -- Texas-based Babcock and Brown Renewable Holdings Inc. -- said the project it has proposed looks so promising that it wants to add a second wind farm of equal size in an adjacent area that comes closer to the Pennsylvania border. But first, the developer has to show that its plans do not represent an ill wind that blows harm to the community, or to migrating birds. Migrating birds and bats often fall victim to fatal collisions with wind turbines, and that has become a major concern in the development of wind farms nationally. ...But it has already sent up red flags for organizations like the Industrial Wind Action Group ...Linowes said people should closely investigate the threat such a plant could pose to migrating birds and bats, as well as issues with noise and aesthetics.