Town Administrator Jonathan Butler told the Selectmen Wednesday night that the two "district local technical assistance grants" are not monetary awards, but consist of advising services from the planning commission. A joint project with Savoy is designed to help the towns gain further understanding of purchase agreements regarding commercial renewable-energy projects.

Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, historically the biggest commercial lender for renewable energy projects, has scaled back loans to the industry since the U.K. government bailed out the company in 2008. ..."The government of course will get pilloried for it -- you say you're a green government, you're running the banks, and they're not lending enough," Keith Pilbeam, professor of financial economics at London's City University, said in a telephone interview.

A 76-signature-petition to impose a 180-day moratorium on wind power development was presented to selectmen Tuesday. The question will be voted upon at the March 29 Town Meeting. ...The town's Planning Board is currently considering an application from Patriot Renewables LLC to erect three to five commercial wind towers on Spruce Mountain, but the company has committed to a total of 10 towers eventually, Maxfield said.

Coos Bay officials are predicting that wind turbines soon could join TV satellite dishes on residential rooftops. They see the potential benefits, but also possible pitfalls. They also don't have protocols to regulate the technology. So the city imposed a three-month moratorium on installations this week to give staffers time to write an ordinance.

A group of environmental organizations and opponents of wind energy projects say they likely will file suit if the federal government approves the proposed Nantucket Sound wind farm. A 60-day notice of violations of the Endangered Species Act was sent this week to Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin and to the U.S. Interior Department and other federal agencies that have reviewed Cape Wind's plan to build 130 wind turbines in the sound.

A Savage Mountain wind power project that never got off the ground will officially die on Saturday, when the facility's construction deadline passes. Despite a two-year extension granted in 2007, construction work never began on the proposed US Wind Force facility. After three years of construction delays, Vice President David Friend said that ultimately, the company couldn't secure an adequate power purchase agreement in a timely fashion.

Cape Wind critics threw up an eleventh-hour roadblock this week, accusing two U.S. government agencies that approved portions of the proposed offshore wind energy project of violating federal laws. "We put them on notice," said Lisa Linowes, executive director of the Industrial Wind Action Group, which tracks the benefits of wind energy projects. Her group and eight others filed a 60-day notice of violations with U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar.

A resident furious about the spread of wind farms has warned of dire consequences if major developments proceed. Annie Gardner lives on a property east of Macarthur and formed a local Landscape Guardians group in 2005 after Southern Hydro announced plans to build Australia's largest wind farm on her boundary.

The U.S. military is growing increasingly concerned that proposed wind farms can disrupt or block radar designed to detect threats and protect America's skies, a problem that is stalling the alternative energy projects around the country. A top U.S. general told Congress on Thursday that federal agencies need to work better together on a formal vetting process for the wind projects to prevent them from being built where they will interfere with radar defenses.

Residents will decide at Saturday's annual town meeting whether this small Waldo County town will become the latest Maine community to clamp down on potential wind energy projects. A lengthy wind energy facility ordinance, which follows a yearlong moratorium on wind development voted into effect at the 2009 town meeting, would require mile-long setbacks between wind turbine towers and nearby homes.

Larkin Enterprises, Inc. of Lincoln, Maine, claims that the town awarded the contract to a Woburn company to settle litigation and ensure its funding schedule for up to $1.7 million in federal stimulus funds for the project would be met. It is suing for up to triple damages for lost profits and attorney's fees.

The towns of Blue Hill, Orland, Brooklin and Stonington also are in various stages of considering a moratorium. ...Many of these smaller towns have limited land use restrictions, Jenkins said Thursday, and developers of commercial wind turbines and communications towers are attracted to those areas where the permitting process is relatively easy.

After hearing a report from Town Planner, Danielle Truax regarding the limited and potentially costly remedies available to municipalities with regard to wind power, Kingsville Council has decided to make a concerted, cohesive, and collected effort to deal with matters concerning the potential impact of offshore wind turbines.

Neighbors irritated by We Energies' continued search for Glacier Hills Wind Park easements have won the right to review changes to a project the state approved two months ago. "If they don't need easements to build the project, then why are they still bothering nonparticipants?" said Friesland resident Gary Steinich. "We didn't ask for this fight."

On the surface, it all seems sort of like a schoolyard disagreement. In a letter to the Town Council - and copied to the Jamestown Press - Wind Energy Committee Chair Don Wineberg resigned his position on both the Wind Energy Committee and the Jamestown Zoning Board of Review, writing, "I cannot serve a council majority that shows such poor financial, environmental and political judgment."

Michael Feyen was giving evidence before a government-appointed board of inquiry yesterday, opposing the wind farm Mighty River Power wants to build about 10 kilometres southeast of the city centre. The council has a contractual agreement with the state-owned enterprise as landowner of the proposed site. But Mr Feyen said if the project was denied resource consent, the council would change its district plan to prevent any further wind farms being built.

Residents who want local lawmakers to take a more active role in Goodhue County wind energy development will have to continue waiting for answers. Goodhue County Planning Advisory Commission members will take a month to absorb comments and information from Monday's five-hour meeting before discussing an application from rural Goodhue landowners Steve Groth and Paul Reese.

Several months after TransCanada announced plans to expand its Kibby Mountain wind project to adjacent Sisk Mountain in western Maine, the Maine Land Use Regulation Commission has begun reviewing the request. Local residents turned out to wholeheartedly endorse the project. But several environmental groups are only offering partial support. They're worried about development of what they say is an ecologically sensitive area.

TransCanada's petition to add 156 acres to the state's accelerated, wind power development permitting process drew mixed reaction during a public hearing Wednesday. ...The company proposes to add 15 turbines to the 44 already permitted in 2008 for the Kibby Wind Power Project in northern Franklin County.

U.S. companies are getting squeezed out of the big Chinese wind-power market even as Dallas investors are bringing Chinese firms here via a big wind farm in Texas, according to a new industry report.