A property owner was denied by the Schuylkill County Zoning Hearing Board to install two windmills on his property to generate electricity for his home and business on grounds he failed to prove the safety of the items. The decision was handed down at the monthly meeting of the board held Thursday evening at the courthouse in Pottsville.

One Fayette County commissioner said that a recently overturned zoning hearing board ruling is evidence that the board doesn't always rule in line with county's zoning ordinance. ..."The court's ruling solidifies my long-standing concern of factual instances where ZHB decisions deviates from the county's zoning ordinance," Commissioner Angela M. Zimmerlink said.

The company that pursued building wind turbines in Logan Township has a new plan with taller versions that are confined to the township's wind zone. Representatives for Gamesa Energy recently submitted revised plans for a wind farm of 19 turbines in the Chestnut Flats area zoned for that type of land use. The company previously proposed building 25 wind turbines, with 17 inside the zone and eight outside.

In the ruling handed down Thursday, Judge Ralph Warman reversed the hearing board's denial of a special exception for Iberdrola Renewables, formerly known as PPM Atlantic Renewable. Warman found that the zoning board "abused its discretion and committed errors of law" when it issued the denial. Warman ordered the zoning board to reconsider Iberdrola's request.

Judge Ralph C. Warman, who heard the appeal filed by PPM Atlantic Renewable, sent the case back to the zoning hearing board. "Since the ZHB has exclusive jurisdiction to hear and render final adjudications in applications for variances, and upon consideration that the ZHB has failed to do so in this case, we remand this action back to the ZHB for further proceedings consistent with this opinion," Warman wrote.

North Middleton Township supervisors Harry Kelso and James Hare will research a a wind turbine ordinance and report back to the board, supervisors decided at a workshop meeting tonight. Kelso and Hare volunteered to develop recommendations for the ordinance, which supervisors first considered at last month's workshop meeting.

Black Creek Township residents' concerns weren't eased by testimony Thursday from a wind power company that plans to construct 22 turbines on the Buck Mountain ridge. ...Resident Edward Vergari said the township should collect more information and mandate that all applicable state, county and local permits be secured by Penn Wind prior to zoning approval.

A Sunbury-based alternative energy company received approval to harness wind power in Black Creek Township, paving the way to set 22 turbines along the skyline of Buck Mountain on former coal mining land. During nearly three hours of testimony and public response Thursday night, the Black Creek Township Zoning Hearing Board heard Penn Wind LLC's request for a special exception to build four, 425-foot-tall turbines in the township.

Pending the study of zoning issues and other variables, the Butler Township supervisors voted Tuesday evening to place a moratorium on any construction of commercial and residential wind turbines in the township. The supervisors made the decision after about a 90-minute discussion involving township residents opposed to a proposed project to place 27 wind turbines, or windmills, in the township.

Wind energy developer Gamesa Energy USA will have to revise plans for a 30-turbine project a third time, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection. Despite being in the permitting process for nearly two years and encountering vocal opposition, company officials said they will continue to seek a permit for the proposed Shaffer Mountain Wind Farm.

Wind turbines could be part of the landscape in Bedford County soon. A proposed wind energy project, in development since 2005, could place two dozen 405-foot-tall turbines on top of Dunning Mountain in the next couple of years - if approved by the state Department of Environmental Protection and supervisors in the four municipalities.

Blair County Judge Daniel Milliron in a 20-page ruling dismissed claims of negligence and conspiracy made by Jill and Todd Stull against Gamesa, producers of the windmills and developers of phase one of the windmill farm at the Cambria-Blair County line. Six other objections filed by Gamesa or Allegheny Ridge in response to the Stull's lawsuit were overruled by Milliron.

A Blair County judge has upheld all but two civil charges brought against two wind companies by a Juniata Township couple, who have complained that 40 wind turbines on Blue Knob Mountain are noisy and cause light to flicker in their home. ...Milliron refused to strike a charge of fraudulent misrepresentation against Gamesa and a similar charge, plus others, against Allegheny Ridge.

Construction is to begin on 35 new wind turbines in the mountains of eastern Somerset County. E.ON Climate and Renewables North America Inc. has received approval to place construction trailers at the Stonycreek Wind Farm site along Route 30 near Reels Corners.

PPL says the project would improve reliability of the power grid, but residents along the line are fighting the proposal. Especially in Saw Creek, where PPL runs a smaller line already. More than 300 people packed the 1 p.m. PUC hearing. Many, including a newborn baby, wore "Stop the Power Lines" buttons. State Sen. Lisa Baker, R-20, was the first to testify. She said the health effects of high electromagnetic fields are still debated, and property values would suffer from the lines.

This morning the Lancaster County Solid Waste Management Authority board approved an application for a $175,000 state grant to help pay for continued study of the wind-to-energy project it intends to build with PPL and Turkey Hill Dairy. The application marks the beginning of a phase that will study the economics of situating two, 1.5-megawatt wind turbines.

Windmills are one step closer to a reality for Ice Mountain as Gamesa USA ponies up an extra quarter of a million dollars for Tyrone Borough. Borough Council voted 5 to 2 to sign on with wind developer Gamesa USA for what will be a 30-year lease of parts of its 3,800-acre watershed in Snyder Township.

Supervisors finalized the county's strictest wind turbine ordinance during a public meeting on Thursday attended by residents and a wind energy representative. Jeffrey Rinehart, project manager for Horizon Wind Energy, said the ordinance would affect the company's plan to build the largest wind farm in the county, some 42 turbines, in the northern part of the township. "As far as we're concerned, it's pretty tight," Rinehart said. "We have to go back and see how it impacts the useable property."

A new voice has entered Tyrone Borough's long debate over a proposed wind farm. Gov. Ed Rendell called Mayor Jim Kilmartin in early February to urge borough officials to approve a lease agreement with Sandy Ridge Wind Farm developer Gamesa. ...Rendell made it clear that Tyrone's lack of participation would counteract the state's multimillion dollar efforts that brought the Spain-based wind developer to Pennsylvania.

Construction of a wind farm of up to 87 turbines in the southwestern part of Wyoming County this spring may be on hold. With the nation in a recession, BP Alternative Energy business developer Kevin Davis said a good chance exists construction won't begin as originally scheduled. "We're hopeful we'll do the project this year, but if that doesn't happen, the plan would be to build the park the following year," Davis said. "We're evaluating the whole economic situation."