Members of the Cape Vincent-based citizens organization's legal committee wrote and posted a petition online for Gov. David A. Paterson, which had more than 390 signatures as of Thursday evening. The group opposes large-scale wind power development.

The Lyme Town Council on Wednesday once again extended a moratorium on wind power development. Richard J. Freshour was one of four members of the public who asked for an extension. "You might want to wait until a decision is made on the court case that is pending," he said. "That may give you guidance. Every other week, it seems there is new information unfolding on health and safety and wind turbines."

Noble Environmental Power has refinanced three of its wind parks, including two in the North Country. Noble recently announced that it has received long-term capital for its Altona, Chateaugay and Wethersfield wind parks. ...GE Energy Financial Services invested more than $200 million in the three wind parks as part of a syndicate of banks and financial institutions.

State regulators voted Tuesday to block consideration of rate increases this year for Rochester Gas and Electric Corp. and New York State Electric and Gas Corp. The Public Service Commission, voting unanimously, said the Rochester-based companies hadn't proved that the safety and reliability of their operations were threatened without more money.

Public Service Commission spokeswoman Anne Dalton said the agency requested information from Noble on turbine equipment and operations before the collapse, debris scatter and whether the company had proper emergency response and maintenance procedures, as well as whether they were followed.

Attention over the sound made by wind turbines recently erected in Cohocton has alerted those in nearby towns considering wind projects to the potential effects of noise. But questions remain about what action - if any - towns affected by the turbines should take to protect their citizens. One wind farm has been completed in Cohocton while projects are being considered in the towns of Prattsburgh, Hartsville and Howard.

In early January, the blades in the 53-turbine First Wind project in the town of Cohocton began to spin. It was the first project in Steuben County to generate renewable energy and one of five under consideration in the county. Within weeks, dozens of Cohocton residents went to the town board in neighboring Prattsburgh to warn that the machines were proving to be noisy and harmful. "Don't let (the developers) buffalo you," Cohocton resident Hal Graham told the Prattsburgh Town Board in late February.

Town officials and a few dozen residents heard expert opinions on the impacts of wind farm development at a community forum Saturday morning organized by the town Planning Board. The hearing, held at the Henderson Fire Department and Free Library building, was part of the board's effort to review portions of the zoning law that deal with wind energy development.

The New York Regional Interconnect said Friday it is suspending plans to build a 190-mile power line in the state, saying a recent decision by federal regulators makes the $2.1 billion project too risky. The company had asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to reverse a rule established by the region's power grid operator, saying it gave utilities too much power over the project. But the commission denied the request this week.

The town of Westfield will no longer be hearing the name "Babcock and Brown" so often, now that the board passed resolutions changing the name of the responsible party to Ripley-Westfield Wind LLC and State Line LLC. "Babcock and Brown is in the process of divesting its windpower division, including the Ripley-Westfield project," Town Supervisor Martha Bills said.

A standing-room-only crowd voted Tuesday night to support studying possible development of a wind farm on Mollyockett Mountain. The Wind Power Committee, chaired by Selectman Mark Silber, and representatives from Kean Project Engineering Inc. of Turner answered questions from about 40 residents.

About $9 million of mechanic's liens filed in New York against Noble Environmental Power will have no effect on the company's ability to finance its $257 million plan to erect 33 wind turbines on peaks in Coos County and should not worry the people of New Hampshire, according to the company's chief financial officer. ...Christopher Lowe [Noble CFO] said that most of the liens are being settled and that the same issues would not be repeated in New Hampshire.

Many of the north country's 165 businesses that receive Empire Zone tax breaks could lose the benefit under the state's new budget agreement. State officials say the Empire Zone program is being abused by companies that are getting tax breaks without generating new jobs. ...In the new regulations, a measure is included to kick out businesses that have not matched dollar-for-dollar wages and capital investments with the tax breaks they received.

The town board sent an open letter to the media Monday afternoon outlining its intentions on monitoring noise generated by the 50 wind turbines erected in the town in 2008 following complaints by residents and leaseholders involved with the project. ...Under the town's wind law, the letter states, there is a distinction between participating landowners - like Graham, who has several turbines on his property - and non-participating landowners. ..."Participating landowners are viewed under the Town's local laws as, in essence, First Wind's co-applicants."

A total of 19 liens have been filed in connection with the Noble Wethersfield Wind Park completed last summer. The liens are the latest blow to Connecticut-based Noble Environmental Power, which experienced a spate of difficulties including a turbine collapse March 6 in Franklin County. ...Each of the 19 liens was classified as "mechanics lien," which is filed when a person or business doesn't receive payment for a service or materials. Each lien renders the property owner unable to obtain a clear title to the property. The liens can also damage the owners' credit scores, affecting the owners' ability to obtain loans and lines of credit.

The Holland Town Board recently approved an ordinance to define zoning laws regarding wind farms, but the underlying message has stayed the same: there are no proposals to bring wind turbines to the Town of Holland. ..."No projects have been proposed by anyone for the Town of Holland," Kasprzyk has said in the past. "We just want to be on the forefront if and when it ever becomes a topic for the town."

Nearly 50 liens attached to property whose owners granted easements for wind-farm operations here are expected to be cleared up within 10 days. Representatives from Noble Environmental Power reportedly are calling each of the impacted families in northern Franklin County to assure them the liens will be gone in about a week.

While liens were being filed against Noble Environmental Power and its subsidiaries in Franklin County, similar documents are being filed on landowners in Clinton and Wyoming counties including one filed in Clinton County by a local business owner. According to documents at the Clinton County Clerk's office, a total of $6.4 million in liens have been filed on various subsidiaries of Noble Environmental Power LLC.

Just a week after it was first reported that mechanics liens had been filed on three area property owners on land used by Noble Environmental Power LLC, 43 more such documents were filed in the Franklin County Courthouse including two on the Village of Chateaugay. ...Late Tuesday and early Wednesday, the 43 new liens totaling just shy of $3 million were filed in the Franklin County Clerk's office.

Charles E. Ebbing, retired engineer with Carrier Corp. with nearly 50 years' experience, explained the source and stress effects of low-frequency noise to the committee, which met Tuesday night. Low-frequency noise ranges from a few thousand hertz down to nearly zero hertz. "A house shuts out all high-frequency noise and allows in only low-frequency," he said. "The noise level of low-frequency can be greater inside than outside, because of the resonance inside buildings."