April 9, 2007

Wind Harvest's "Wind News"
A compilation of story leads from around the world.
By:  Kevin Wolf <kwolf@windharvest.com>

Note:  These story titles and lead paragraphs predominantly come from Energy Central's daily posting of the world's energy stories. Others are sent to me by subscribers of Wind News.  Energy Central requires paid membership to read full stories.  You can often paste the headline into Google and find the original source of the story. You are welcome to share this with others. This is a free service from Wind Harvest.   Thank you. Kevin
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FPL TOUTS FEES TO CUT CARBON EMISSIONS

  FPL Group Inc. is pushing for a more stringent way to make the
  United States reduce greenhouse gas emissions, calling for a price
  to be  placed directly on carbon.
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RIDGELINE ENERGY SUPPORTS NEW IDAHO WIND POLICY

  Idaho Governor C. L. "Butch" Otter today signed two bills into law
   to encourage wind energy development in Idaho. The first, House
  Bill  130, clears the way for wind farms on state endowment lands.
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E.ON UK WIND FARM PLANS REPORTEDLY UNDER THREAT

  E.ON UK's plans to build a GBP40 million wind farm in Midlothian,
  Scotland, are reportedly under threat after councilors in the
  region approved plans to crack down on the proposed number and
  size of the turbines, according to the Edinburgh Evening News.
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FARMERS MAY CASH IN ON WIND

  Concerned about a gold rush mentality, state officials are
  cautioning Nebraska landowners to be careful about prematurely
  selling away their rights to wind developers.
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COUNTY BOARD OKS WIND FARM PROPOSAL

  The McLean County Board has approved a wind farm proposal that has
  been strongly opposed by neighbors and others. An attorney for the
  opponents says she believes they will appeal the decision.
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DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION WANTS MORE WIND FARM STUDIES

  The state Department of Environmental Conservation is calling for
  more complete studies from the St. Lawrence Wind Farm in its
  environmental review.
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EDISON TO START WIND PROJECT

  Southern California Edison is expected to begin construction late
  this year on a transmission line project that will stretch from
  Tehachapi through the Antelope Valley and into Ontario, carrying
  electricty from wind farms.
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WIND FARM GENERATING POWER

  After years of planning, the Twin Groves Wind Farm in eastern
  McLean County began churning out electricity this month. While the
  nation's second largest wind farm is only about 13 percent
  operational, it's the start of a burgeoning wind-energy industry
  in McLean and surrounding counties.
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UPC WIND SECURES EQUITY FINANCING

  UPC Wind, a leader in U.S. wind power production, today announced
  that it had secured equity financing for its Mars Hill Wind Farm.
**********

NEW RESEARCH BLOWS AWAY MYTHS ON WIND FARMS

  A new report from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors
  (RICS) and Oxford Brookes University has blown away another myth
  about wind farms - their impact on house prices.
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WIND FARM TURBINES COMING JUST OVER BORDER

  A proposed wind farm is slated to change the landscape of Wolfe
  Island in 2008, but the company behind the project still needs to
  clear some red tape.
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APPETITE FOR 'GREEN' POWER WILL NOT BE SATISFIED

  UK businesses will attempt to purchase some 34 TWh of 'green'
  electricity in 2007. With the volume of accredited renewable power
  reaching only 12 TWh in 2006, it is clear that internal company
  targets will be very difficult to meet.
**********

LIPA TO STUDY WIND FARM: CHAIRMAN SAYS HE INTENDS TO LOOK AT THE
ECONOMIC FEASIBILITY OF PLAN AS UTILITY EYES RENEWABLE ENERGY

  The Long Island Power Authority's wind-farm proposal is about to
  get some serious new scrutiny -- from LIPA itself.
**********

COMPANY READY TO ROLL WITH WIND FARM PROJECT

  One energy company showed Wednesday it is ready to spend more
  than $1.75 billion to capture the power of Panhandle wind.
**********

COST OF CARBON TARGETS - 57,500 FEWER CARS AND 12,300 NEW WIND TURBINES

  Scotland's cities face an uphill battle to cut their carbon
  emissions and meet government targets, a report claimed yesterday.
**********

NZ NEEDS WIND FARM RULES, SAY OPPONENTS

  Opponents  of a proposed wind farm that would be seen across much
  of Hawke's Bay say their Environment Court bid to stop the
  development is filling a national policy void on where wind farms
  can be located.
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CONTRACTS AWARDED FOR DALSWINTON WIND FARM

  Work will start today on the third wind farm in Scotland to be
  built by Airtricity, the company chaired by former energy minister
  Brian Wilson.
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LARGEST WIND FARM IN NORTH DAKOTA ANNOUNCED

  Minnkota Power  Cooperative, Inc., and Otter Tail Power Company
  today announce a contractual  agreement with FPL Energy to develop
  the Langdon Wind Project. The wind farm  will be constructed south
  of Langdon, North Dakota, in Cavalier County.
**********

WIND FARM PLANNED FOR MARTINSBURG SITE, NEXT TO MAPLE RIDGE

  The developer of the Maple Ridge Wind Farm is looking to put up
  another 40-turbine farm in the town of Martinsburg, just southwest
  of the current one.
**********

WIND TURBINES WHIP UP DEBATE: OHIO LANDOWNERS SAY IT'S THEIR RIGHT
TO ERECT THE STRUCTURES, DESPITE CRITICISM

  When he retires in a couple of years, Roger Brown plans to build
  his dream house somewhere on the 92 acres he owns in the Logan
  County countryside.  If that includes erecting a towering wind
  turbine that consumes only a 15-foot circle of land yet nets him
  thousands of dollars each year, he says it is nobody's business.
**********

WE ENERGIES PURCHASES WIND TURBINE EQUIPMENT FROM VESTAS

  We Energies has purchased 88 wind  turbines from Vestas Wind
  Systems for construction of the Blue Sky Green Field  wind project
  in Fond du Lac County. Each Vestas V82 turbine is capable of
  producing 1.65 megawatts of electricity for a project total of 145
  megawatts,  enough energy to power approximately 36,000 homes.
**********

 UK: CONNECTING OFFSHORE WIND TO THE NATIONAL GRID

  The development of the UK's pioneering offshore wind energy sector
   continues apace as details were announced today of the licensing
  regime  for would-be electricity transmission owners.
**********

MAKARA WIND FARM IN DOUBT; RISING COSTS SLASH VIABILITY OF
MERIDIAN'S WEST WIND

  Rising  costs are threatening to scuttle Meridian Energy's West
  Wind power project near Wellington.
**********

NEW 125-MEGAWATT TEXAS WIND FARM PROVIDING ENERGY TO TXU

  TXU Wholesale, a subsidiary of TXU Corp.  (NYSE: TXU), and
  Airtricity, a world-leading renewable energy company based in
  Dublin, Ireland, today announced that Airtricity has completed
  construction of  the Forest Creek Wind Farm, increasing TXU
  Wholesale's renewable energy  capacity by 125 MW.
**********

AEP SEEKS PROPOSALS FOR FIRST WIND PURCHASES IN ITS EASTERN STATES;
TO SERVE CUSTOMERS OF APPALACHIAN, INDIANA MICHIGAN UTILITY UNITS

  American Electric Power  (NYSE: AEP) today issued two requests for
  proposals seeking long-term wind  energy purchase agreements, the
  first steps toward a goal of adding 1,000  megawatts of new wind
  energy by 2011 as part of AEP's comprehensive strategy  to address
  greenhouse gas emissions.
**********

FINAVERA RENEWABLES COMPLETES PURCHASE OF THREE HILLS WIND POWER
PROJECT IN ALBERTA, CANADA

  Finavera Renewables Inc. (the "Company") (TSX-V: FVR) is pleased
  to announce it has completed the purchase of Three Hills Wind
  Power project and development assets in Alberta, Canada (the
  "Project") from Penn West Petroleum Ltd., a wholly owned
  subsidiary of Penn West Energy Trust (the "Vendor") for a purchase
  price of CAD $3,350,000.
**********

MIEH SIGNS LEASE AGREEMENT WITH THE CITY OF SODA SPRINGS, IDAHO,
EXPANDING THEIR PROPOSED RABBIT HILL WIND ENERGY PROJECT

  Mountain Island Energy Holdings, LLC ("MIEH") of  Soda Springs,
  Idaho, a joint venture between Mountain Island Energy, LLC (a
  wholly owned subsidiary of Terra Systems, Inc. ("TSYI")); and
  United Fund  Advisors, LLC ("UFA") of Portland, Oregon have
  executed a lease option  agreement with the City of Soda Springs,
  Idaho ("City") in which the City  grants MIEH an exclusive option
  to all or portions of their property adjacent  to MIEH on Rabbit
  Hill for potential wind development.
**********

MURRAY GETS LOOK AT WIND ENERGY: UTILITY ON PALOUSE SEEKS MORE
TRANSMISSION LINES

  The three-bladed windmills that slice the air above the greening
  Palouse hills present a new crop for Columbia County farmers. They
  can mean as much as $1,000 a month, per wind turbine, when the
  wind is blowing and the electricity is flowing down the line to
  the Northwest's power grid.
**********

DESERT CLAIM WIND POWER WILL ASK EFSEC TO PRE-EMPT KITTITAS COUNTY &
RECOMMEND APPROVAL OF WIND FARM TO POWER NEARLY 60,000 HOMES

  Desert Claim Wind Power will ask the state to recommend approval
  of its 180-megawatt wind farm in Kittitas County, the company
  announced today.
**********

THREE AFFILIATED TRIBES AND SKYPOWER CORP. FORM JOINT VENTURE FOR
WIND ENERGY DEVELOPMENT

  SkyPower Corp. is pleased  to announce that its wholly owned
  subsidiary United Wind and Power Corp.  ("SkyPower US") has
  entered into a letter of intent with the Three Affiliated  Tribes:
  the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara of the Fort Berthold Reservation
  in  order to pursue the formation of a joint venture for the
  development of wind  energy projects on TAT Tribal land located in
  North Dakota.
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PROBLEMS AT WIND FARM COULD DERAIL ACQUISITION

  An Australian company that wants to buy a Cambria County wind
  farm might walk away if it's not determined what caused seven
  turbine blades  to crack and large pieces of two blades to fly off.
**********

WIND FARM COST RAISES CONCERN: LIPA'S KESSEL SAYS NEW ESTIMATE IS
BEING MADE AND HE'LL SHARE IT WITH PUBLIC, POSSIBLY BY END OF MAY

  Critics of the wind farm proposed for the waters off Jones Beach
  yesterday demanded that the Long Island Power Authority fully
  disclose the real costs for the project and the impact on electric bills.
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