Mortenson faces nearly $2 million more in damages due to project delays on the 37-turbine Hardscrabble Wind Project in Herkimer County, N.Y., due to the defective work and property damage caused by Saunders, the suit alleges.

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On the plains of North Dakota, two rare birds have sparked an unusual fight between giant energy companies that have long worked as partners. The battle erupted over the endangered whooping crane, which migrates through the state, and the piping plover, a threatened species on the northern plains.

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The decision to scrap the project apparently came as a surprise to enXco. Its parent company, EDF Energies Nouvelles of France, issued a statement Tuesday that disputed Xcel's reasons. It said that enXco would continue to work with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to mitigate threats to endangered species.

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The project's developer, enXco, said Tuesday that it disputes Xcel's canceling of the project because of threats to two endangered birds. In a statement released by its French parent company, enXco said it intended to fight the termination of the 150-megawatt Merricourt Wind Project announced last week by Xcel.

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The first proposal would prohibit wind turbines from being built within a half mile of a homeowner's property line in a township ...The second bill would no longer allow larger wind farms to qualify for Community-Based Energy Development (C-BED) status. That status allows wind companies to charge utilities premium rates for the energy they produce.

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Construction of a wind turbine that would provide up to 15 percent of the electricity at the St. Cloud VA Health System has been delayed because of a broken part.

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A judge has allowed two Goodhue County officials to forgo depositions in a case regarding the county's wind turbine ordinance. ...Goodhue Wind attorneys wrote in a response Monday, prior to the judge's protective order, that they asked for the depositions because the county had decided not to call any of the commissioners as witnesses in the case.

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The judge's order doesn't stop the project from moving forward, said David Hvistendahl, co-counsel for the defendants. ...[However] "It is not in the defendants' best interest to erect the turbines during the pendency of this matter. If the court were to find in the plaintiffs' favor, defendants may be forced to remove the turbines, and incur not only the cost of erection, but the cost of removal," wrote the judge.

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Carol Overland, attorney for Goodhue Wind Truth, said the request was an attempt to intimidate members and did not fall into the narrow scope of the case. Chuck Burdick of Goodhue Wind, however, said the information would help the company determine a better layout for the project site since the opponents would likely not allow the project on their land.

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Goodhue Wind Truth, a group opposed to the project, filed a motion for protective order this week after the project developer asked for the names, addresses and details of the land parcels owned by members of the group. ...Carol Overland, a Red Wing attorney representing Goodhue Wind Truth, characterized the request as "harassment and intimidation."

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The report describes problems including financing, assessing the long-term competitiveness of wind energy, finding locations and dealing with complaints from neighbors as inhibiting development of wind farms. "I'm less worried about the long-term competitiveness of wind," Mastic said.

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Stenlund's grassy, graded runway a few miles west of Goodhue sits in the midst of the proposed 32,000-acre AWA Goodhue wind development. Clusters of 403-foot-tall turbines are planned for either end of the airstrip along County Road 9.

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As a wind-turbine factory in Pipestone, Minn., lays off most of its workers, competitors in South Dakota and Iowa are booming. ...The stark differences among the three Midwestern manufacturers show how business can blow hot and cold in what is still a young and growing wind-power industry.

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Last month, executives for Minneapolis-based National Wind LLC expressed grave concerns about the project's status because a federal grant program that would bring in $37 million was scheduled to expire this year. But extending the $18 billion renewable energy grant program through 2011 could give the AWA Goodhue Wind LLC project new life.

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County officials said they received a letter Monday from Medin Renewable Energy, withdrawing the request for the CUP that would allow construction to begin on the turbines. Officials at Medin Renewable Energy, of Gro Wind LLC, said the landowner of the current site wants to sell the property.

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Dan McElroy, head of the Department of Employment and Economic Development, sent a letter Dec. 8 expressing his "strongest support" for a 78-megawatt wind project that he says could have a significant economic impact. ...A DEED spokesman said that the commissioner routinely offers letters of support for projects that have an economic impact, but he wasn't sure whether McElroy was aware of National Wind's employment estimates.

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Stearns County residents should attend an important public hearing Tuesday to express their questions and concerns about large-scale wind turbine projects, the tax dollars that subsidize them, and their possible detrimental impacts on people, animals and the environment.

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A plan to build a wind farm near Kenyon suffered a major setback Thursday after a state commission denied a request for two more years to secure a buyer for energy generated by the project.

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After hearing from more than a dozen citizens at a special meeting held Monday night, the Northfield Planning Commission unanimously gave its recommendation for one wind turbine to be built, but decided against a second.

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A county judge ordered a writ of mandamus earlier this month, which could force Rice County officials to re-notify dozens of individuals affected by the proposed construction of wind turbines in Northfield Township - and delay any county action on turbine construction approval.

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