Horizon Wind Energy is delaying its 95-turbine Marble River Wind Farm project for a year but is still committed to the development. "We have decided to postpone construction until 2010 due to state-regulatory issues," said Charlie Turlinski, project manager. "These are tough, tough economic times ...

Upstate NY Power Corp. will soon apply for a state certificate for a greatly revised transmission line to connect the proposed Galloo Island Wind Farm to the state grid. Upstate NY Power ran a public notice in the Watertown Daily Times on Monday, a required step before submitting an application for a certificate of environmental compatibility and public need from the state Public Service Commission. The notice said the application would be filed on or around Dec. 31.

The ongoing credit crunch and economic downturn are expected to have little impact on wind energy projects in Wyoming County. ..."I think the financial situation has affected all industries, and wind is not immune to it," said Eric Miller of Invenergy on Wednesday. "But what we've seen is there's still credit out there. "People can be more selective in what projects they fund. There's still projects going forward, and our projects are going forward. But it is getting tighter."

First Wind, the developer of the Steel Winds wind-power project in Lackawanna, has shelved a wind farm in Attica because of a lack of wind and has postponed a similar project in Prattsburgh because of the economy. In addition, the Newton, Mass., company said that while a second-phase Steel Winds project in Lackawanna is still in the future, there are no plans for immediate construction.

Construction of energy-producing wind turbines in the town of Prattsburgh is on hold for at least a year. Prattsburgh officials were notified late last week of the delay by the wind farm developer - First Wind. "While we remain committed to wind development in the Northeast, we've made a strategic decision to postpone construction on the Prattsburgh wind project," said Chris Swartley, the company's vice president of development.

First Wind is pulling out of its proposed wind energy project in the town. The company is closing its GenWy Wind office at 18 Market St., spokesman John Lamontagne confirmed this morning. It had been considering a project which would have included portions of Attica, Bennington and Middlebury. "We're not going to develop the GenWy project in the Attica area," he said.

According to local officials involved in the project, a proposed Freedom- Farmersville wind park is on long-term hold. Noble Environmental approached the two towns approximately two years ago with its idea for a joint wind project that would be located on the border of the two Cattaraugus County townships.

This past summer Tom Stebbins, project manager at the Fredonia Branch of Horizon Wind Energy approached the Pomfret Town Board to update the progress of a potential wind farm within the town. At that time Horizon was eying a start date sometime in 2010. ...Stebbins said Horizon has run into many wetlands in Arkwright, and accompanied with the newly fallen snow, has delayed operations there, backlogging farms next in line like Pomfret.

In a few brief years, New York State has become famous for its wind farms. Thanks to government subsidies and aggressive targets for the production of clean energy, hundreds of turbines now dot the landscape upstate. But the planning and building of wind farms may be slowing. In late October, Noble Environmental Power has asked the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority for more time to finish some of its projects.

A group in Hammond aimed at overturning the recent wind farm law has been growing steadily in numbers and influence. Concerned Residents of Hammond, which began in late October after the town enacted a law regarding the creation of wind farms, has grown from 25 to 70 members. ...The original goal of the group was to have the town enact a moratorium on further development of wind turbines and test towers.

Wind development in New York has hit a bit of turbulence. The nationwide financial crisis has put the brakes on a wind farm under construction in northern New York and another developer has aborted possible projects in eastern and central New York after trouble securing land. And wind energy companies are now being asked to abide by a code of ethics by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer is calling for a public investigation of an energy-trading deal that has cost municipalities millions of dollars this past year. "Conducting the investigation behind closed doors just won't do," Schumer said. "We need FERC (the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) to open up the books and determine both how much this cost New Yorkers and if that money can be given back to consumers."

Noble Environmental Power's wind-energy projects in Cattaraugus and Allegany communities face an uncertain future both because of the global financial crisis and a legal snag. During a meeting of the Farmersville Town Board meeting Monday night, Town Supervisor Joe Brodka announced he had been advised that the area's development director for Noble was no longer employed and that the local energy projects may be shelved or assets sold, due to financing difficulties.

During his community forum in Irondequoit last night, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo told a group of Hamlin residents that he'd send an environmental attorney to look into the town's wind tower regulations and the circumstances under which they were passed. He was responding to repeated requests from a group of town residents, all members of the Hamlin Preservation Group.

Alfred residents found that where there is wind, there is a window of opportunity in a special Monday night meeting at the Alfred Station Fire Hall. Keith Pitman, president and chief executive officer of Empire State Wind Energy from Oneida, gave an hour-long presentation to Alfred residents to gauge how interested the community is in developing a wind project. So how did the Alfred community react to the possibilities of wind power? Compared to some other communities looking at wind, very peaceful.

Wind turbines are not operating in Noble Environmental Power wind parks in Clinton and Ellenburg because its power substation is expanding to include Chateaugay. "It is a safety condition," said John Quirke, executive vice president of development. "We can't have people working in a live building. ...Noble's wind-farm development in the North Country has hit snags, including allegations under investigation by the State Attorney General's Office that company representatives may have bribed or influenced public officials in some communities.

Noble Environmental Power has 257 wind turbines up in northern New York and about half of those have been generating power since early this year. But they recently stopped spinning. Noble said that's because of work being done at a substation, and once the work is complete, the windparks in Clinton, Ellenburg, Chateauguay and Altona will be running.

Shell WindEnergy Inc. has offered to pay legal expenses for landowners in the Albany County hill towns who had considered leasing their land to Shell for two large wind farms. Shell, a subsidiary of oil giant Royal Dutch Shell, told landowners this week it was abandoning the project for various reasons, including "insufficient" response to its offer and "potential permitting issues."

A group of concerned citizens has banded together in Hammond to try to get a moratorium on wind development, even though the town has passed an amendment to its zoning law that controls wind farms. "At this point we're just talking to citizens who've been to board meetings," said William A. Rogers, spokesman for the Concerned Citizens of Hammond. "We just want openness from the town and citizens' input." ..."Citizens were shocked how quickly the law went through," Mr. Rogers said. "There wasn't a lot of back and forth."

Shell WindEnergy has abandoned plans to develop two large wind farms in the hilltowns of Albany County. ..."We've ceased our wind development efforts in Albany County," Shell WindEnergy spokesman Tim O'Leary said in an e-mailed statement Thursday afternoon. "This decision is based upon a number of considerations, primarily not securing enough land for a viable project and the time projected to obtain project permitting.