The Logan Township Planning Commission is scheduled to vote Tuesday on a request to expand the wind zone so turbines can be built above Avalon Road north of Altoona. The vote, in the form of a recommendation, will be a key factor for supervisors to consider when they address the request in January.

Jill Stull from Portage says her life and farm have turned upside down ever since some unwelcome neighbors moved in 2006. "We want the noise to stop. I want my husband to be able to sleep in our home," Stull said. The noise she's referring to is from the six turbines surrounding her 100-acre farm. At least once a week, Stull says she can hear and feel the turbines humming, and it's a sensation she says comes at irregular intervals.

Doylestown Township officials held a public hearing last week on a proposed ordinance that would regulate the placement and size of windmills in the township. The supervisors seemed ready to approve the ordinance until Philo pointed out that it said nothing about advertising being painted on the windmill. They voted unanimously to table the ordinance for further consideration by the township planning commission.

Construction of a 36-turbine wind farm that covers three townships in Somerset County is likely to begin this winter. Officials from Allegheny Township, Musser Engineering and the E.On energy company ...have received mixed community feedback. But officials said the farm is scheduled to be finished by the end of 2009 and will dot the mountains of Allegheny, Stonycreek and Shade townships with turbines.

The presence of the federally-endangered Indiana bat may delay plans to install wind turbines in southern Logan County, but shouldn't have an impact on Champaign County, said a wind company representative Friday. "We are aware of the bat being found and we're working closely with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources," said Michael Speerschneider with Everpower Renewables.

A New York firm apparently is the only viable company remaining among three suitors interested in using publicly owned land on Conneaut's East Side for a wind turbine farm, City Council learned at Monday's work session. City administrators have heard nothing from two companies that months ago expressed interest in dozens of acres within the East Conneaut Industrial Park, council was told. As a result, the city will extend an invitation to BQ Energy to submit a proposal for the property, council agreed.

Construction of the 35 windmills in the second phase of what will be one of Pennsylvania's largest wind farms is completed and should be in operation before the end of the year, an official with Gamesa Energy USA said. News of the anticipated startup comes as sound experts working on behalf of Portage Township completed the study setting the level of the existing - ambient - noise at and near North Allegheny Wind Farm, which is adding nine turbines to the skyline in the Blue Knob area of the township.

City officials are willing to pay to literally find out which way the wind is blowing. The City Council on Nov. 3 approved spending up to $16,000 as the city's share of a wind monitoring study with Grusenmeyer Land LLC. The funds, one-half the project cost, will be used to purchase, install, service and monitor an anemometer east of the city to test wind speed and direction.

Supervisors on Tuesday approved plans for BP Alternative Energy to build a portion of a wind-turbine facility in the township. The company wants to build up to 87 turbines within the boundaries of Noxen, Eaton, Forkston and Mehoopany townships. Up to 35 of the turbines will be located in Noxen, BP business developer Kevin Davis said.

Part of a wind turbine project proposed in Logan Township, north of Route 36 near Avalon Road, will be visible not only to nearby residents, but to those who live and drive as much as five miles from the site. "I totally oppose this," Avalon Road resident Mark Twardon said. "You're going to be coming down 17th Street, and instead of the mountains, you're going to see these huge towers." Twardon was one of 18 people who asked questions and offered comments, mostly in opposition.

The state will play a major role in deciding whether a windmill is installed at Green Tree Park to generate electricity and help pay for the town's energy costs. The borough has applied for two Department of Environmental Protection grants, each for $168,000, to fund a proposed $173,000 windmill and solar electric system. The borough would pay $5,000 toward the overall cost. ...Council President Mark Sampogna said, however, he is unsure if council will approve the project, even if funding is secured. The height of proposed installation, 100 feet to 120 feet, could detract from the appearance of the park, he said.

Four large balloons are to be visible Wednesday morning in the sky above Avalon Road, representing the proposed locations for wind turbines. Gamesa Energy, seeking Logan's approval to build a wind farm inside and outside the township's wind zone, arranged with the Federal Aviation Administration to put up red and yellow balloons ...The commission, which is reviewing Gamesa's request for a proposed wind farm, has received more than 30 postcards, some with multiple signatures, opposing turbines.

The plan to erect wind turbines on the Burnside Mountain south of Shamokin has been stalled because of the sour economy. Penn Wind LLC is still actively pursuing the project, but the failure of some of the nation's largest financial institutions makes the market for the important tax-credit piece of financing for such a large project a tough one ...While Penn Wind is a small Sunbury-based company, it is affiliated with an international alternative energy giant in German renewable energy company Juwi GmbH.

The first company to make a pitch for a wind turbine farm on Conneaut's East Side was also the first to see its proposal rejected by City Council. By a 5-2 vote, council Monday night rejected a contract with SGR Site Associates of Willoughby that would have sold the company nearly 160 acres of land within the East Conneaut Industrial Park. The contract, tabled earlier this month for further study, was revived for a deciding vote at Monday's meeting. The measure would have given SGR a two-year option on the land and the chance to buy the property for $2,400 an acre.

Union Twp. residents will have to decide whether they want zoning regulations for wind turbines. Energy companies have made proposals to erect numerous windmills in the county, including Union Twp. The issue is on the Nov. 4 ballot. ...The regulations, which were drafted by a township zoning commission, do not adequately protect area homeowners, said Julie Johnson, a Union Neighbors United representative. Among the problems, she said, the regulations rely on the state to set a noise standard for the turbines, and would measure setbacks from homes, instead of property values.

Contrary to comments made Monday by Councilman-at-large Jacob Chicatelli, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources has not indicated wind turbines will be taboo on east side property. ...At Monday night's work session, while members were debating the merits of various wind farm proposals, Chicatelli said he was told by a member of the state Division of Wildlife that turbines will never be erected on city-owned land because of bird migratory patterns in the area. Recently, Chicatelli said he learned the comment was made by someone from a federal - not state - wildlife agency.

Three environmental groups said Wednesday afternoon that they have obtained federal government records that show that the proposed site of the Shaffer Mountain Wind Project outside Ogletown is indisputably occupied habitat of the endangered Indiana bat, and that habitat used by the species already has been illegally destroyed.

Supervisors on Tuesday accepted plans from BP Alternative Energy to build part of a proposed wind farm in the township. BP plans to build 35 wind turbines in the township as part of a larger wind turbine facility of up to 87 turbines that will also be located in Eaton, Forkston and Mehoopany townships. Noxen supervisors on Tuesday did not take action on the plans.

Councilman-at-Large Jacob Chicatelli Monday night railed against peers reluctant to consider a contract with the first firm to publicly express interest in a wind turbine project on city-owned land near the state line. Chicatelli said the city is guaranteed to earn more than $300,000 through a pending contract with SGR Site Associates of Willoughby. Companies that want to lease the land, within the East Conneaut Industrial Park, can't promise a similar return, he said. Chicatelli said he will move to revive the SGR contract in time for next week's regular meeting.

A proposed wind turbine at the Cuyahoga County Fairgrounds faces one more hurdle before it can be approved by the city. After being approved unanimously by both the Board of Zoning Appeals and Planning Commission, the turbine is now before City Council.