Turbines in Gainesville

It has been brought to my attention that Gainesville is about to discuss (and may vote) on their own local law dealing with wind turbines. Unfortunately, it seems the law they are discussing is looser in language than even Perrys, allowing mega wind turbines and companies just about anything they want.

For example, the proposed law talks of 1,000 setbacks and 50 dba while failing to address shadow flicker and other such issues. Inquiries lead one to believe that the laws of Castile and Warsaw were not reviewed, much less adopted.

While Gainesville is not our town, many of us have friends and relatives there (I have relatives buried in the Gainesville cemetery). Gainesville is the next town over and is only 1.5 miles from the lake. Worse, it wraps around Letchworth Central School. Well see a turbine farm. Will we hear it? Will the kids be impacted at school? Something worth knowing.

Folks seem to forget that all our towns are neighbors and our decisions affect those neighbors. Thats why Perrys dealings are of interest to residents of Castile. Now the same is true for Gainesville.

The Gainesville Town Board will be meeting Monday, September 17th. Id suggest it be well attended.

At the very least, a resolution addressing whether or not the Castile/Warsaw laws were reviewed would be in order, as would a breather to determine whether or not the provisions of those laws would fit the vision Gainesville has for its future. If they need to take a time out, as Castile did, then so be it.

I believe the meeting is at 7:00. Might be 7:30. Id suggest you check or arrive at 7 to get a good seat and chat with your neighbors.

I regret that I cannot attend. I will be in Dallas for my required annual Flight Proficiency Check, a must pass event for us once a year. I cannot skip it or move it. I will, however, be there in spirit.

Paul Emens, Chairman APAAD (Airline Pilots Against Age Discrimination)

emens@earthlink.net 410-991-8381

Wind Energy Project on Hold

At least for now, the City of Harrisburg is not going to use wind energy to power part of the city.

For the past year, the city has been considering purchasing wind turbines that would be place on top of Peters Mountain in Dauphin County.

But with a $45 million price tag, at this time it's too expensive of a project for the city to take on alone.

RELEASE: Groups across PA speak out against industrial wind projects on forested ridgesA Press Conference has been scheduled for 12 noon on Monday September 17, 2007 in the rotunda of the Capitol in Harrisburg to protest the statewide push by the Rendell Administration to turn hundreds of miles of Pennsylvania's forested ridge tops into industrial wind facilities. Groups from across the state will be addressing the various concerns that wind power facilities pose to Pennsylvania's wild areas, wildlife, tourism, historical resources, and viewscapes.

September 5, 2007 by SOAR - Save our allegheny ridges

A Press Conference has been scheduled for 12 noon on Monday September 17, 2007 in the rotunda of the Capitol in Harrisburg to protest the statewide push by the Rendell Administration to turn hundreds of miles of Pennsylvania's forested ridge tops into industrial wind facilities.

Groups from across the state will be addressing the various concerns that wind power facilities pose to Pennsylvania's wild areas, wildlife, tourism, historical resources, and viewscapes.

Concerned citizens from a number of Pennsylvania counties (Bedford, Blair, Somerset, Fayette, Lycoming, Tioga, Dauphin, Northumberland, Potter) have formed a Wind Truth Coalition to push for more stringent siting requirements. While these groups recognize that wind power isrenewable energy, they maintain that it is not a clean or green energy when the turbines and associated infrastructure pose grave harm to wildlife, or historic and natural areas. Coalition members want fellow Pennsylvanians to understand that both state and federal regulations are necessary to protect our natural environment from industrial wind turbine projects.

The Press Conference will follow Gov. Rendell's address to the joint session of the Senate and House at 11:00 a.m. The special session will consider "funding for renewable energy." Past funding measures have supported several wind projects in the Pennsylvania. PPM Energy received a state grant of $150,000 to help develop a wind project in Somerset County which waspartly located on reclaimed strip mine areas - habitat that is much better suited for wind development than forested ridges. A more controversial use of taxpayer's money was the PEDA grant of $360,295 for Harrisburg's mayor to conduct a wind feasibility study on the ridges of St. Anthony's Wilderness, the largest roadless area in southeastern Pennsylvania.

The threat of global warming should make preservation of our natural areas even more critical. Our forested mountains are key to species' preservation and form an integral part of greenways that are being recognized by conservation groups as critical resources for humans and wildlife.

Laura JacksonChairperson
Save Our Allegheny Ridges
814-652-9268
mljackson@hughes.net

Clipper Windpower, Helium Combine Wind Power Business by Mathew Carr and Stephen Voss

Sept. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Clipper Windpower Plc, a turbine maker and operator, said it will combine its wind development business with Helium to create Clipper Capital and Generation.

Clipper Windpower will own 72 percent of the new business, known as Capgen, Clipper said today. Helium is a subsidiary of Hemeretik, a construction, energy and real estate group, it said.

Capgen will have 10,500 megawatts of windfarms, with 9,500 megawatts coming from London-based Clipper, said James Dehlsen, chief executive of Clipper. Governments are introducing laws to boost generation from non-fossil sources to curb climate change.

The new business will be run by Pedro Barriuso, who as head of renewables at Iberdrola SA oversaw an increase in wind-power capacity to 4,300 megawatts by July 2006 from 800 megawatts in February 2002. Capgen will probably be a ``long-term affiliate'' of Clipper, Dehlsen said today by telephone.

Clipper fell 0.5 pence to 530 pence as of 8:05 a.m. in London, valuing the company at 569 million pounds ($1.2 billion). They've fallen 11 percent year to date.

To contact the reporter on this story: Mathew Carr in London at m.carr@bloomberg.net ; Stephen Voss in London at sev@bloomberg.net

Cohocton group tries to block windmill projects

COHOCTON – Cohocton Wind Watch, a group that opposes three windmill projects in Cohocton and Prattsburgh, has filed three separate legal actions in an effort to block the developments.

David P. Miller, a Naples lawyer, said in a press release the lawsuits were filed Aug. 31 in State Supreme Court in Steuben County against the Cohocton Planning Board.

One of the suits requests an immediate order blocking all construction on the Cohocton Wind and Dutch Hill projects, which would include 51 wind turbines on about 7,000 acres of leased lands.

Miller said the lawsuits also challenge the issuance of special use permits for the windmill projects by the planning board.

He said additional legal action is being prepared to challenge the UPC Wind Prattsburgh project.

“Improper siting of 51 industrial wind turbines in violation of town and New York state law and regulations is the basis of the litigation,” Miller said.

Construction was scheduled to begin last week, but was delayed when Steuben County demanded a survey of the condition of the roads heavy trucks and equipment will use to get to the wind project sites.

Canandaigua Power Partners II and its subsidiary, UPC Wind, the sponsor of the windmill projects, has signed a cost-sharing agreement to bring the roads back to their original condition after the work is complete, county officials said.

Jack Zigenfus, Cohocton town supervisor, and representatives of UPC Wind could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

“These lawsuits were brought by 33 residents and property owners in Cohocton,” said James Hall, a spokesman for Cohocton Wind Watch. “Also named are UPC Wind and their various (associated companies) and 50 leaseholders who have agreements with the industrial turbine developer.”

Cohocton Wind Watch said on its Web site (www.cohoctonwindwatch.org) that Acting Supreme Court Justice Marianne Furfure will hear arguments on the lawsuits at 10 a.m. Oct. 2 in Bath.

Case 07-M-0906 Iberdrola - Energy East Merger

PSC PDF documents on the acquition of Energy East by Iberdrola.

Cohocton Planning Board, Leaseholders and UPC Court Actions

On Friday, August 31, 2007 three separate Article 78's legal actions were filed with the Supreme Court in Bath, NY. These law suits were brought by thirty-three residents and property owners in Cohocton, NY against the Cohocton Planning Board and its members. Also named are UPC Wind and their various LLC alias companies and fifty leaseholders who have agreements with the industrial turbine developer.

For the better part of eighteen months scores of Cohocton property owners have spoken at public meetings, submitted factual evidence and appealed to both the Planning Board and Town Board to take prudent and diligent caution in approving an ill-conceived wind project. As a member of Cohocton Wind Watch, the case against the UPC project has been made in the press and at countless Cohocton meetings.

The Planning Board has blatantly refused to incorporate any of the protective safeguards into their findings. With the approval of the factually flawed UPC findings in the FEIS and the issuance of blanket "Special Use" permits, the Planning Board has committed malfeasance. All residents and property owners bear the financial burden and risk of town insolvency coming out of a wind project that is doomed to implode.

The current administration and all their hand picked appointees have followed orders from the "so called" Albany town attorneys, paid with UPC funds, to fast track approval. The process has been based upon fraud and systematic violations of the law and regulatory requirements.

Two law suits have previously been filed. The town attorney acknowledged in court that Windmill Local Law #1 did not follow the SEQRA requirement, which ostensively is the reason for the need to pass Windmill Local Law #2. Supreme Court judge Furfure has yet to rule on WLL#2, but the Supervisor stated that his administration is not concerned about any ruling by the judge. The UPC project is the legacy of the incumbent administration.

Zigenfus' dictatorial policy prohibits public comments before the Town Board, endless correspondence go unanswered and official documents are concealed, altered or destroyed. This arrogant abuse of authority has left no other alternative than to file actions with the court. This round of litigation most likely will be only the beginning of a flood of actions coming from parties unrelated to us or CWW.

Shakespeare said it best when Mark Antony spoke: "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears; I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him; The evil that men do lives after them . . ." The blame for this entire deceitful scheme to defraud Cohocton rests squarely within the collusion among the incumbents, their appointed boards, the leaseholders, UPC and their paid consultants and unethical lawyers.

The public support of families who's roots go back generations in being part of these lawsuits is testimony of widespread public outrage. Cohocton has been sold out with phony promises by corrupt town officials. Stand up for justice and accountability. Vote out the entire incumbent cabal. Turn out for the Public Informational Meeting on Tuesday, Sept 11th at the Cohocton Elementary School 7:00 - 9:00 PM.

James Hall

Court date set in Article 78' against Cohoton Planning Board

Article 78's Cases 97758, 97759 and 97760 will be heard by Marianne Furfure in Supreme Court, Bath, NY October 2, 2007 10:00 AM

Property Tax 100% Reassessment is a Cohocton Scandal by Rebecca Conard

“In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes” said Ben Franklin. But in Cohocton the inequitable increase of taxes for some properties owners is a certainty you can expect from the current administration and assessors. Any careful analysis of property comparisons will prove beyond a shadow of doubt that certain families get preferential treatment. At public meetings residents who are not on the ‘right’ list are called: “THOSE PEOPLE”.

When you get your Cohocton School bill this month, the increase in assessment will illustrate that the Zigenfus administration has systematically and arbitrarily raised the property value of owners that need to be punished. If your tax mailing address is out of Cohocton, or if you moved into this town, you qualify for that other infamous message. “If you don’t like the way Cohocton is run – “GET OUT OF TOWN’ ”. The penalty for being a non participating landowner is to have the assessors jack up your assessment. Your reward is to shell out more than your reasonable part, while favored families avoid paying their fair share. Is that evenhanded to Cohocton village or Atlanta hamlet residents?

The housing market has crashed. Prices are headed down and properties are losing value. But the incumbent assessors approved a hefty increase upon indifferent property owners or select troublemakers. Just wait till the actual dollar rates jump in order to pay for the mismanagement of Cohocton government.

The burden to the taxpayers from the real costs of the industrial wind project will soon be evident. Vague promises of “LOOKING AT A TAX REDUCTION” from the Town Board is as credible as all the other falsehoods that have been made by the current administration. They do not represent you. Their actions confirm that if you object to their closed door favoritism, you need to be punished.

That’s not a government that deserves to remain in office.

I am Rebecca Conard and my friend Christina Brautigam and I are running in the Republican primary on Tuesday 18, 2007 for Town Assessors. Remember you are able to vote for two candidates and we ask that you pull the lever for us and all Reform Cohocton Republican Candidates. It’s time for a positive change!

The false charges coming out of the incumbent camp demonstrate just how desperate they are to cover-up their record. Cohocton residents know very well that the incumbents are afraid to defend their own administration. When the lies of the Town Administration are pointed out it is factual reality, we have the proof. The good people of Cohocton know that Reform Cohocton is speaking the truth.

Old Ben Franklin was right! The demise of the incumbent’s is taking place before your eyes. They fear the loss of power and are running scared.

Be sure to attend the Tuesday, September 11, 2007 public informational meeting at the Cohocton Elementary 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM 30 Park Avenue, Cohocton, NY

Rebecca Conard 10517 Mattice Road Cohocton, NY 14826

(Click to read Reform Cohocton article)

PPM Energy is Iberdrola

PPM enjoys the financial backing of its parent company, Scottish Power, which has become part of the Iberdrola S.A. family of companies. The integration of IBERDROLA and ScottishPower, following completion of the recommended transaction valued at €17.1 billion that was announced in November 2006, is a milestone in the 100-year history of the Company. A world energy leader has been created, leader in renewable energy and with an enterprise value of more than €65 billion.

The combined group has a total installed capacity of close to 40,000 megawatts (MW) compared with the 30,500 MW of IBERDROLA alone (a rise of 28%). Of this new capacity, 32,500 MW relates to conventional generation, an increase of 35% over IBERDROLA's current level.

The new integrated group will consolidate IBERDROLA's world leadership in renewable energy - including large-scale hydroelectric power - with an installed capacity of 16,500 MW, a figure that in the coming years the Company expects to exceed 20,000 MW.

The combination of IBERDROLA and ScottishPower will at the same time reinforce world leadership in wind power, adding the almost 2,000 MW of ScottishPower capacity, mostly from its PPM subsidiary in the United States, to the approximately 5,000 MW of IBERDROLA, an increase of 40%.

The new Group has a significantly larger consumer base, with the 5.3 million ScottishPower customers adding to the 18.4 million of IBERDROLA to total 21.7 million in Europe and the Americas.

At present, the Company has 2.7 billion cubic metres of gas storage capacity in the UK and the United States, with significant expansion potential.

The geographical footprint of IBERDROLA and ScottishPower has expanded significantly, creating an Atlantic energy platform. It has operations in Spain, the UK, the United States, Mexico, Brazil, Greece, Portugal, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Guatemala, Bolivia and Chile. The group also has a substantial project pipeline that will enable it to continue growing in the future.

Environmental & Social Impact Report

ScottishPower has adopted environmental principles for all its businesses that call for meeting or improving upon legislative and regulatory environment requirements and codes of practice. Click here to view the full report on the ScottishPower web site.

PPM Energy - A ScottishPower Company
PPM Energy provides marketing, balancing, scheduling and transportation management to wholesale and large commercial and industrial customers. ...
www.ppmenergy.com/ - 14k - Similar pages
http://www.ppmenergy.com/

Click here: Man killed when wind tower collapses KOMO-TV - Seattle, Washington Local & Regional

September 3, 2007
- Seattle, Washington

CASE 06-E-1424 - Petition of Jordanville Wind, LLC for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity Pursuant

372_06e1424final.pdf

Discover NREL Newsletter: August 2007

Ladies & Gentlemen:

Those of you who have been following "renewable" energy issues for some time probably are already familiar with the organization known as the National Renewable Energy "Laboratory" (NREL) which is located, primarily, in Golden, Colorado, USA.

As the forwarded email indicates, NREL apparently has decided to publish another electronic "newsletter." I doubt that it will be any more objective than its other publications but you may want to sign up for it and make your own judgments.

For those not familiar with NREL, it's one of the US Department of Energy's National "Laboratories." The organization's activities are fully paid for by taxpayers. Some who work for NREL and for organizations that receive tax dollars that flow through NREL probably engage in objective R&D activity, applying scientific methods and engineering principles. However, many of the "studies," "analyses," and "reports" issued by NREL and its contractors and grantees are decidedly NOT objective. Instead, many are highly biased and are properly regarded as "propaganda."

Many of NREL's activities are similar to those of an industrial trade association or other lobbyist organization that presents only one side of controversial matters while playing down or ignoring the "other side." Such activities are expected of privately funded associations but, ideally, they would not be performed or supported by organizations getting funds from tax dollars and operating under a name , i.e., "laboratory" that suggests objectivity. However, NREL activities are condoned and probably even encouraged by officials of the US Department of Energy (DOE) and its Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (DOE-EERE), which is the organization through which tax dollars flow from the US Treasury to NREL.

A classic example of NREL's highly biased propaganda is the "Job and Economic Development Impact (JEDI) Model," which can be found on the NREL web site at: (Click to read)

The JEDI "model" allegedly permits entering various data about a proposed "wind farm" and than spits out information about state or local economic benefits. Unfortunately, the data that is produced significantly overstates potential economic benefits. This is demonstrating in a paper entitled, "Errors and Excesses in the NREL's JEDI-WIM Model that Provides Estimates of the State or Local Economic Impact of "Wind Farms." That paper can be found at (Click to read) and (Click to read) The "model" apparently was developed for NREL by a "consultant" who often testifies before regulatory bodies in favor of wind energy projects.

A few years ago, the US Congress passed a law called the "Data Quality Act" that was intended to limit the amount of false and misleading data issued by US government agencies and their contractors. Apparently, the US DOE manages to avoid the spirit of this law with a few carefully crafted "disclaimers."

Glenn R. Schleede
Round Hill, VA, USA

Clipper Windpower Drops to 11-Month Low on Fault

Sept. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Clipper Windpower Plc, the partner of BP Plc in U.S. wind-energy projects, fell to an 11-month low in London trading because a faulty component will lead to a delay in shipments.

Shipments will be reduced to between 125 and 145 turbines from a previously estimated 181, according to a statement distributed today by the Regulatory News Service. A testing facility at Clipper's Cedar Rapids, Iowa, plant detected the fault in the 2.5-megawatt drivetrain, which is used to speed up the blades of the turbine.

Production of Clipper's 2.5-megawatt Liberty wind turbine has been hampered by problems relating to the supply of externally-sourced components. The company forecast a first-half loss after turbine production was ``constrained'' by difficulties in obtaining parts.

``They have slipped up on quality issues twice,'' said John-Marc Bunce, an analyst at London-based Ambrian Partners Ltd. ``This could potentially be damaging to their sales ability going forward.'' Bunce lowered his recommendation on Clipper to ``sell'' from ``hold.''

Clipper slid as much as 63 pence, or 11 percent, to 492.5 pence, the lowest since Oct. 11. The stock traded at 510 pence as of 12:50 p.m. local time.

Production Shortfalls

Some turbines already installed may be affected by the fault and the company said it could face costs of as much as $15 million to remedy the problem. Clipper expects production shortfalls this year will be made up in 2008.

Completion of Clipper's Endeavor project, a 40-turbine, 100-megawatt development in Iowa planned for the third quarter of this year, has been delayed to the fourth quarter, the company said. Clipper assembled 83 drivetrains this year as of Aug. 30.

``Suppliers' deliveries have been temporarily slowed,'' the company statement said. ``These component delays could result in a limited amount of turbine delivery delay damages.''

Clipper and London-based BP last year agreed to jointly develop five wind projects in the U.S. with a total generating capacity of 2,015 megawatts. The five projects are located in New York, Texas and South Dakota. Clipper today said it's negotiating a merger of its wind resource portfolios with another developer and expects to announce further details within two weeks.

To contact the reporter on this story: Alexander Kwiatkowski in London at akwiatkowsk2@bloomberg.net

Farmer sued for abnormal agricultural sound - Ky. neighbors say propane cannon used to scare away birds is too loud

NICHOLASVILLE, Ky. - A group of residents is suing a farmer, claiming the propane cannon he uses to scare away birds from his sweet corn is too loud.

Some of produce farmer Dennis Polley’s neighbors say the propane blasts — sometimes as loud as 120 decibels — have prevented them from enjoying their property.

Phil Palmgreen, whose property is roughly 500 yards away from Polley’s, said he could feel the impact of the blasts in his chest.

“It’s been so bad all summer we’ve never even had a cookout on our deck because it was going to go off every couple of minutes,” said Palmgreen.

Polley acknowledged the device is loud, but “it’s got to be loud to work,” he said. “To get the birds’ attention, it’s got to shock them a little bit.”

Polley and his wife Debby are fighting the lawsuit.

To lose “would start a chain reaction for every farmer in Jessamine County,” Debby Polley said. “Because what’s going to be next? Will they not want you to start your tractors until 10 o’clock in the morning?”

Jessamine County’s noise-control ordinance exempts from penalties a “noise disturbance created by farm livestock, the operation of farm machinery or noise created by other activities relating to an agricultural operation.”

Steve Ayres, another plaintiff in the lawsuit, said that the group doesn’t believe a cannon is a normal agricultural sound.

RG&E, NYSEG plan line through Naples, South Bristol

South Bristol, N.Y. -Two utilities plan to run a new transmission line through Naples and South Bristol to meet the increased demand for energy in Ontario County.

The line would run from the Eelpot Road substation south of Naples to a substation north of Bristol Mountain on Route 64 in South Bristol.

According to Robert Bergin, director of public affairs for New York State Electric and Gas and RG&E, electrical demand in Ontario County has grown 2 1/2 percent per year and it will continue to grow at that rate or more. NYSEG and RG&E are both subsidiaries of Energy East Corp.

"There will be approximately 100 separate land parcels in the towns of South Bristol and Naples involved in this project," Bergin said.

The single 34.5-kilovolt line will be above ground on 55-foot poles, which will require a 50-foot right-of-way. It won't be a big line, he said, but it should be able to meet the future electrical needs of the county.

"We're now a digital economy," Bergin said. "Computers, cell phones, iPods and PDAs (personal digital assistant, or hand-held computers) all depend on electricity."

Years ago, large amounts of electricity went to a limited number of destinations, he said, referring to the fact that businesses were major consumers of energy. Now, demand is spread out among residential and businesses of all sizes.

"I'm told people have been approached" by RG&E and NYSEG about rights-of-way for the lines, said South Bristol Supervisor Dan Marshall.

He speculated that the new line could be related to wind farms planned for the Prattsburgh and Cohocton areas, but Bergin said that's not the case.

"It has absolutely nothing to do with wind farms. This is strictly a program that we're installing to meet the electrical needs of our customers. The Eelpot Road substation has enough capacity to transmit power to the South Bristol substation then, to a substation in Farmington. This will supply additional energy to various areas of Ontario County. This is the least intensive way of doing it," Bergin said.

Contact Barbara Rathbun at (585) 394-0770, Ext. 256, oratmessenger@mpnewspapers.com.

A new spin on tourism by Jim Pfiffer

Can windmills attract travelers? Some say yes, others no.

Tourists come to the Southern Tier to visit the wineries, Finger Lakes, Mark Twain's study and the windmills.

Windmills?

Could be. Proponents say high-tech windmills used to generate electricity are also tourist attractions for curious travelers who have never seen a wind farm.

Plans are under way to build 35 wind turbines on and near Dutch Hill in the northern Steuben County town of Cohocton.

Hundreds of Web sites, as well as newspaper articles, claim wind farms are great tourist attractions.

An example is California's Palm Springs wind farm that provides daily tours of the "ultimate power trip" to nearly 12,000 tourists annually, says a January 2006 story in the Atlantic City Weekly.

Denmark, which leads the world in using and exporting wind energy, saw a 25-percent increase in tourism in or around their wind farms, the Atlantic City Weekly article says. Research shows that popular vacation spots, near wind farms, attract more tourists who want to see the wind farms, buy T-shirts and other souvenirs and get photographed with the towering giants in the background.

Baloney, says James Hall, a member of the Cohocton Wind Watch, a
citizens group opposed to the Cohocton wind farm.

"The idea that industrial wind turbines are tourist attracts
is absurd and ludicrous," Hall says. "Anyone who thinks people would be
fascinated by industrial machines on pristine wilderness hilltops is an
idiot."

Hall claims that wind
farms decrease tourism and hurt the local economy.

"Property values sink like a rock because people near the
wind farms put their properties up for sale because of the noise and other
problems generated by these hideous monsters," Hall says. "They will
destroy the beauty of the Finger Lakes."

Gordon Yancey of Martinsburg, N.Y., (about 55 miles northeast of Syracuse) agrees. Yancey owns Flat Rock Inn on Tug Hill, where 195 nearby windmills spin in the breeze, make noise, throw ice from the blades in winter and drive away the snowmobile and ATV riders who are his main customers.

The 400-foot-high towers don't attract tourists, but instead lure rubberneckers, Yancey says.

"They drive up the road, look at that these things, get out of their cars and take some pictures and then drive away." Yancey says. "They don't stay and spend their money here."

Curious people may find the windmills interesting the first time they see them, Yancey says.

"But by the second and third time, they realize how truly ugly and distasteful they are," Yancey adds. "They have marred and destroyed the serenity and beauty of the rural landscape. It's no longer a wilderness area, but an industrial plant."

Steuben County tourism officials don't know whether the Cohocton wind farm, owned by Canandaigua Power Partners II of Newton, Mass., will increase tourism."

We have heard from both sides pro and con," says Peggy Coleman, president of the Steuben County Conference and Visitors Bureau. "The board voted that it's not a tourism issue, and for us to take a side one way or another is inappropriate."

But other tourism officials say wind farms do improve tourism.

That's the case in Madison County, N.Y., home to three wind farms. One of those farms includes an education facility where people learn about wind energy and get close to a working wind generator, says Jim Walter, executive director of Madison County Tourism."

I'd say we get 50-75 bus tours a year coming to tour the windmills," Walter says. "The tourists range from people who are about to have a wind farm built in their hometowns to people who are just curious and want to see what one looks like."

The wind farm that has the education center went on line in (2001), and every year since then, we've had an increase in tourism. I can't say, for sure, that the wind farm contributes to that increase, but I can say that it sure hasn't hurt tourism."

Will that be the case in Cohocton?

The answer is blowing in the wind.