"Literal beacons of the ‘green' energy movement, giant wind turbines have been one of the renewable energy sources of choice for the U.S. government, which has spent billions of taxpayer dollars subsidizing their construction ...But high maintenance costs, high rates of failure, and fluctuating weather conditions that affect energy production render wind turbines expensive and inefficient."

When the Legislature requires power companies to buy a certain percentage of their power from alternative producers - regardless of cost - they're already out of bounds. In addition to inviting graft and corruption this artificially drives up rates, crippling economic recovery, while sending false signals that alternatives to fossil fuels are a good investment.

At a time when every penny counts, a number of citizens of the West could soon see higher electric and water bills to subsidize the delivery of wind power from thousands of miles away to California. And given the history of power generation in our area, it hardly seems fair.

No doubt renewable energy technologies will continue to evolve and become more viable. But it would be helpful if conferences such as this one included a serious discussion of economic realities rather than simply devolving into a pep rally for increased public handouts to favored green producers all too eager to stick out their hands.

The head of Reno's renewable energy program says turbine makers misled the city about how much power its turbines would generate. ...He wants the Nevada PUC to make proof of electricity generation a rebate requirement.

The original plan by Searchlight Wind Project, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Duke Energy, was to produce 300 megawatts of power, but the project has been trimmed to 200 megawatts. ...the plan was altered in response to objections from the town’s residents. ...one of those residents who just happens to live west of beautiful downtown Searchlight would have had a clear view of many of those windmills from the picture window in his living room — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

The issue for residents of Spring Creek, as well as outlying areas around the city of Elko, is largely about obstructing views and creating noise. SCA board member Bob Collyer wrote last fall that, "A 135-foot turbine could easily interfere with views, aesthetic values and cause some noise disturbance.

Chinese wind power provider A-Power Energy Generation Systems(SPWR) and its U.S.-based partners announced on Thursday plans to build a wind turbine production and assembly plant in Nevada that will create up to 1,000 permanent jobs for the state and more jobs during the construction phase. The announcement about the Nevada plant was notable for two reasons: the selection of Nevada as home state for the wind energy plant, and the political power broker who is associated with the state.

Col. Howard "Dave" Belote, commander of the 99th Air Base Wing at the Nellis Air Force Training Range, pledged to work together early in the process on projects like renewable energy in an attempt to dispel the military's image as an obstacle. "We're not trying to stop development, but we want to say we're here, we're going to be here for a long time," Belote told Nye County Commissioners Tuesday.

Two large utility companies have proposed building more than 150 wind turbines near Searchlight and more than 400 turbines in Lincoln County. These turbines ...would be placed near existing communities, where they would be visible to and affect the lives of all who live near them. Just a few questions for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who is a strong proponent of these two unpopular projects:

The current fiscal catastrophe in Nevada is being further damaged by the governor's office, which has given carte blanche to alternative wind energy limited liability companies to move into Nevada and game the tax credit system and then to follow tax subsidies that are solely funded by taxpayer money.

Little has been said about the transmission lines, which will carry the intermittent power produced by the looming mountaintop monsters down to the Tracy power plant. These are high-voltage transmission lines hanging off of 70-foot-tall, rusted-steel towers. In the years to come, such transmission lines will crisscross our valley, wind down narrow canyon roads and march somberly along property lines to their final destination.

Renewable energy alone cannot reliably meet Nevada's growing energy demand. To keep the lights on day and night, during windy and calm days, Nevada needs base-load electricity generation, and that is best supplied through a mix of available energy resources. This type of generation provides a constant flow of electricity. Renewables, for the most part, provide an intermittent source of electricity, which can be helpful during peak use, but not 24/7. ...Instead of attempting to stop using our most abundant resource, we need to be supporting progress in making coal cleaner and a viable source of secure and affordable energy.

It all sounds nice and crunchy on the surface, but Whole Foods might soon find itself picketed the same way Wal-Mart is, but instead of unions it'll be environmentalists.