A group of Butler Township residents has challenged a permit issued to a company planning to erect wind turbines along the Broad Mountain that would allow structures higher than the 35-foot limit. During Tuesday's meeting of the Butler Township Board of Supervisors, it was announced that an appeal has been filed to reverse the decision by township Code Enforcement Officer Tom Squires to allow the variance.

The wind, a favorite power source of the green energy movement, seems to be dying down across the United States. And the cause, ironically, may be global warming - the very problem wind power seeks to address. The idea that winds may be slowing is still a speculative one, and scientists disagree whether that is happening. But a first-of-its-kind study suggests that average and peak wind speeds have been noticeably slowing since 1973, especially in the Midwest and the East.

The company proposing to develop a wind turbine farm on Buck Mountain will go before Black Creek Township for approval of its land development plan. The township supervisors accepted preliminary plans at its Tuesday night meeting. Penn Wind LLC of Sunbury wants to construct 22 wind turbines on top of the Buck Mountain ridge.

Wind turbines in Juniata Township sometimes make annoying and atypical noise, but not enough to violate the township's ordinance, a Vermont company has concluded. RSG Inc., which specializes in environment, energy and acoustics studies, has issued a 36-page report determining that noise made by Allegheny Ridge Wind Farm turbines in Juniata Township is less than 45 decibels, the maximum level allowed by ordinance.

A farm of 20 to 30 commercial wind turbines set upon three ridges has been proposed for Bethlehem Water Authority watershed lands in Penn Forest Township. ...Although the project specifications have not been developed, Renz said the company is looking at two wind turbine models. ...These turbines are approximately 260 feet in diameter and 400 feet at the upper reach of the blade.

Fayette County commissioners took public comment Thursday on a proposal to eliminate the need for a special exception for wind turbines, but they did not immediately vote on it. Under the county's zoning ordinance, a special exception and approval by the Zoning Hearing Board is required to erect wind turbines on land zoned for agricultural and industrial use.

The May 14 fire at the skyscraper-size Turbine 12 at the Locust Ridge I commercial wind farm in Mahanoy Township occurred during routine maintenance, according to a company official. Jan Johnson, corporate communications director for Iberdrola Renewables in Portland, Ore., which owns the wind farm, said Thursday that Turbine 12 is still shut down. When asked how the fire started, she said, "We're still investigating."

For about two hours, the supervisors heard arguments from a standing-room-only group of residents who made it clear that the windmills are not wanted, mainly citing health concerns as their reasons. ...[Supervisors Chairman Kevin] Kowalick said if the supervisors need a good foundation to stand on if the project is rejected. "We need a legal reason to reject the plans and we have a good start here tonight," Kowalick said.

The Lookout wind project in Somerset County is five turbines smaller than the US WindForce project proposed at Pinnacle in Mineral County, but members of the Community Advisory Panel got the opportunity to get a feel for wind farms and meet the company likely to operate the Pinnacle project. "Edison is our joint venture partner," Jim Cookman, vice president of project development for US WindForce, said during Monday's tour. "We have a joint development agreement.

Freeland area residents and local and state officials recently heard an overview of Freeland Municipal Authority's proposed wind farm in Foster Township. St. Francis University's Renewable Energy Center will conduct the wind test at a 500-acre undeveloped site in Foster Township. The land is owned by the Freeland Municipal Authority.

The Fayette County commissioners will hold a public hearing next week on a proposed amendment to the zoning ordinance that, if adopted, would allow the placement of wind turbines in certain zoning districts without approval from the zoning hearing board. The amendment proposes to change a section of the county zoning ordinance dealing with windmill/wind turbines that would change the use from a special exception to a permitted use in agricultural and manufacturing zoning districts.

More windmills are appearing at the tops of mountains and highlands signaling that Pennsylvania is becoming a leader in clean, renewable wind energy. But some people aren't so happy about the towering figures and down in Fayette County, they are the subject of an ongoing battle.

Firefighters responded to a report of a wind turbine fire at the first commercial-size wind farm in Schuylkill County, Locust Ridge I in Mahanoy Township, Thursday afternoon, according to reports from the Schuylkill County Communications Center.

A proposal to build the area's tallest wind turbines, visible from downtown Altoona to the Buckhorn, has been forwarded to the Logan Township Planning Commission for comment. Supervisors, who asked Thursday night if the taller-than-typical height would affect noise and visibility from the Horseshoe Curve, agreed that they want the planning commission to look at the latest proposal.

A storm is swirling around an 18-turbine wind farm outside Berlin, which is at the center of a multimillion-dollar federal lawsuit. Project developers Lookout Windpower Holding Co. of Missouri and Freestream Capital LLC are suing farm owner Edison Mission Group of Irvine, Calif., and four other companies. The plaintiffs say they still are owed $10.5 million on the $11.5 million deal.

Firefighters responded to a report of a turbine fire at the first commercial-size wind farm in Schuylkill County, Locust Ridge I in Mahanoy Township, Thursday afternoon, according to reports from Schuylkill County Communications. ...In service since March 2007, this G87 turbine is one of the original 13 turbines which was part of the Locust Ridge I.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Army Corps of Engineers will formally review whether the endangered Indiana bat and migratory birds could be harmed by 30 big wind turbines proposed for ecologically sensitive Shaffer Mountain in northeastern Somerset County. ...The federal review, requested by three state environmental groups, is the first U.S. Endangered Species Act assessment of the impacts of wind projects in the Eastern U.S. on bats and migratory birds.

About 40 residents of Brady Township and the surrounding area met at the Brady Township Community Building Monday to hear about some of the possible effects of a wind turbine project that is being developed in the area. Luthersburg residents Sharon and Gary Gilmore hosted the event and invited a speaker from Save Our Allegheny Ridges to speak.

In 2007, Gamesa Energy USA agreed to allow the Windber Area Authority to oversee the impact the proposed 30-turbine Shaffer Mountain Wind Farm would have on the watershed. As part of the deal, the authority imposed certain conditions on the development. Now, as the state Department of Environmental Protection is considering Gamesa's permit for the wind project, the authority wants to make sure the state is taking those conditions into account.

The first year of a ground-breaking effort to study the interaction between bats and wind turbines at the Casselman Wind Power Project shows that turning off the turbines during low wind periods reduced bat mortality by more than 70 percent. Iberdrola Renewables, the owner of the Casselman wind farm, partnered with independent conservation group, Bat Conservation International (BCI), for wildlife data collection at the southwestern Pennsylvania wind power project.