The chairman of the state Public Utilities Commission on Thursday raised concerns about the potentially groundbreaking decision he and his two colleagues must make for or against a power purchase agreement between Deepwater Wind and National Grid. Elia Germani spoke out on the third day of evidentiary hearings on a 20-year contract that would see Grid pay 24.4 cents per kilowatt hour for power in the first year from an eight-turbine wind farm Deepwater is planning within three miles of Block Island.

The visual study of the proposed wind turbine at the Cuyahoga County Fairgrounds is finished, and the Planning Commission approved the plans Wednesday. The vote was 5 to 2, with members Anthony Crea and Carol Herman dissenting. The county received a $1 million grant to erect the 600-kilowatt turbine, which will generate electricity for the fairgrounds, but still has to receive approval from City Council.

U.S. banks had looked forward to a huge "cap-and-trade market" a system where companies would buy and sell the right to emit gases blamed for warming the planet. Many hired carbon traders, picked up assets, and trained members of energy desks to deal in emissions markets. But prospects for a broad U.S. carbon market have dimmed. U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican working on a compromise climate bill, declared economy-wide cap-and-trade "dead" this month.

On March 8, council discussed a petition from 20 area residents. Some are neighboring property owners, while others are residents of Arthur. The petition was about concerns about a project on Lots 2 and 3 on Line 2. "We submit that the location of this project, less than a kilometer from in excess of 2,000 people, is very poorly thought out.

Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock MPP Rick Johnson has written City of Kawartha Lakes council in the aftermath of local school concerns over wind turbines. The Trillium Lakelands District School Board has officially given its backing to the Manvers Gone With The Wind group, which is looking for the Ontario government to produce an independent study on the health effects of wind turbines.

The long-awaited revised wind power development zoning law will have its public hearing on April 21. Town Council, meeting Wednesday night, agreed to the date for a public hearing for zoning amendments on industrial and small wind, as well as zoning for Grindstone Island.

Anyone who wants to see the battleground at Camp Allegheny like it was during the Civil War better do it soon. Virginia's three-person State Corporation Commission (SCC) issued an order on February 26 that clears the way for construction of a 19-turbine wind energy facility less than two miles from the Camp Allegheny battlefield in Pocahontas County.

A new player in the south-west wind energy market is preparing to launch a major project near Penshurst. Res Australia has confirmed its interest in building turbines on farmland near the small community, with executives to meet local residents in the next eight weeks. The Department of Primary Industries website lists the farm as capable of generating up to 625 megawatts of electricity.

A petition signed by neighbours and adjacent landowners expressing "serious concerns" about the wind farm being built on Lots 2 and 3, Line 2, Wellington North was presented to council Monday evening. Those signing the petition said the project, "less than a kilometer from an excess of 2000 people, is very poorly thought out.

While at least two Goodhue County townships weighed in on wind farms Tuesday night, a state official said Wednesday that their resolutions are a moot point. Belle Creek Township passed a resolution supporting a one-year moratorium on wind farm construction, and Goodhue Township adopted a resolution seeking to limit wind farms by requiring a one-half mile setback from residences.

Pompton Lakes officials are considering a proposal to turn the contaminated 600-acre DuPont site into a renewable energy farm with wind turbines and rows of solar panels. It is the latest idea about what to do with the site after heavy metals, solvents and other toxic chemicals are removed from the property over the next few years.

Alliant Energy's Iowa customers will be seeing higher bills this month to pay for the utility's investments in green energy. The utility plans to ask state regulators for a 13.8 percent, $163 million annual rate increase today to pay for a new $468 million wind farm, and to improve its ability to transmit energy from renewable sources.

In the discussion of the proposed underground energy corridor between New Brunswick and Maine, there are two major misunderstandings. Some Mainers believe that Canadian power is so cheap that we should do almost anything to get it. Some Canadian suppliers believe there is an unquenchable thirst in New England for power from Canada, especially green power.

Maine's supreme court has upheld a state law that aims to speed up the permitting process for wind farms in Maine. In a unanimous decision today, the Supreme Judicial Court rejected arguments from the Friends of Lincoln Lakes nonprofit group.

Two small towns have proposed six-month moratoriums on any wind power projects, but voters will decide on Saturday if they need to take that step. A 180-day wind turbine moratorium could provide New Vineyard and Avon residents a chance to learn more about wind power and establish policies or ordinances for the development of commercial wind projects.

Without being able to get into specifics, the Lincoln/Logan County Economic Development Partnership director Joel Smiley said new wind farms may be coming to Logan County. In what Smiley labeled has Project Two and Project Three, companies are now pursuing sites within the county.

Facing enormous costs and fierce opposition from environmental groups, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power on Wednesday announced that it has dropped plans to build an 85-mile-long "green" power transmission line across desert wilderness preserves and scenic ridgelines. Controversy surrounding the proposed Green Path North Transmission Line had tarnished Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's bid to portray himself as the leader of the "cleanest, greenest big city in America."

The chief executive officer of Deepwater Wind answered criticism on Wednesday about the high price of power from a wind farm that his company has proposed off Block Island, saying that a premium should be expected for a type of project that has never been done before in the United States.

Environmentalists worldwide have praised China as a leading harnesser of the wind for electricity, but a vice-minister says most of the ventures in the country were "vanity projects" - all for show. Miao Wei , of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, also said on Sunday that one particular project that is backed by the country's top economic planner would have a "fatal result" in five years because of the sand that came with the dry wind.

A wind energy company has revived a lawsuit against a small Steuben County town in hopes of forcing acceptance of a long-discussed wind farm. Ecogen Wind LLC first asked a state Supreme Court justice in November to order the Prattsburgh Town Board to allow construction of 16 turbines. The board, which had a pro-wind majority last year, settled the case in late December on terms favorable to Ecogen.