HORNELL - The idea of wind farm development locally isn't a popular one. At least at the corner of Main and Hakes. Steuben Greens hosted a panel discussion on wind issues Thursday night, with a number of the speakers saying wind power wasn't worth it.

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A day before his first State of the State Address, Gov. Eliot Spitzer Tuesday released plans for a series of steps he said are needed to turn around the upstate economy..... Expansion of the capacity to generate electricity throughout the state, improving low-cost-power programs and making a “concerted effort’’ to increase the number of wind turbines.

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New York fell short of an early target in its multiyear effort to boost the use of wind power and other clean energy sources. The Pataki administration adopted a policy in 2004 to increase New York’s reliance on renewable energy to 25 percent by 2013. At that time, regulators set up yearly targets to increase renewable energy use in steady increments. The target for 2006 was to purchase 1.1 million megawatt hours of renewable energy. The state has fallen short of that goal by about a third, according to figures from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.

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Wind development may be hovering around Hornellsville, but it will have to wait a bit longer before landing. The Hornellsville town board extended its moratorium for six more months at its meeting Tuesday night, citing a need for further study of the issue. Supervisor Ken Isaman said the town is still working on its wind law, and also is interested to find out about a new state law that could be in effect for green power. “It may actually give more income to municipalities,” he said. “The law that was passed talks about the rest of green power, but not about windmills.” Isaman said the law appears to be a modified type of economic development zone, and it is something he believes the state Legislature will be working on during the early part of 2007.

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Yet, despite the operation of New Jersey’s small wind project since January, there is uncertainty about whether wind farms, particularly gigantic turbines positioned off the region’s coastline, will be embraced here. On Long Island, a 40-turbine project being considered off the South Shore is facing stiff resistance from opponents who argue that the turbines will damage pristine ocean views, fail to deliver cost-effective electricity and create environmental problems. In New Jersey, powerful local politicians have lined up behind wind power, where up to 80 turbines — rising 380 feet or more above the water along the South Jersey coastline — have been proposed to take advantage of the near-constant breezes.

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When the wind blows, the turbines will rock – when it doesn’t, there’s trouble. At least, for those who would put a wind farm off Long Island’s South Shore. During the hottest days of this year, as energy consumption records fell across the Island, there was nary a breeze – and not nearly enough wind to power the turbines of the Long Island Power Authority’s proposed Offshore Wind Park to their 140-megawatt capacity, according to Suffolk County Leg. Wayne Horsley, D-Babylon.

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To some, my vote against wind power in Malone was a vote against progress; however, be assured that this decision was based on hundreds of hours of study and research, as well as numerous mathematical calculations backed by years of business experience and a graduate degree in physics. This vote was against the degradation of local property values, destruction of some wonderful viewsheds, lowering the quality of life of some local residents, and the accruing of millions of dollars of NY taxpayer dollars by a few wind developers.

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But research by the Times Union found that while switching to an ESCO might be relatively easy -- the process begins with a simple phone call -- getting clear and definitive pricing information from the ESCOs is extremely difficult.

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Wind farms have opened and more are proposed, but they can't generate power in nearly the volume needed.

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ARKPORT | Public authorities rather than private developers should spearhead efforts to build wind farms in New York state, said Rochester businessman and former gubernatorial candidate Thomas Golisano.

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Let me be clear from the start - we are not opposed to renewables. Our companies have been the beneficiaries of the state's most abundant form of renewable energy - hydropower. What we do object to is being forced to subsidize those renewables that are not cost competitive...............Adding significant amounts of wind power does not negate the need to add more baseload generation, to ensure system reliability during periods of peak demand. Until we add significant baseload capacity in this state we are not likely to reap the benefits of a truly competitive marketplace where supply will respond to demand.

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ALBANY — To some Upstate residents, massive windmills are “a blight on the landscape.” To environmentalists and energy companies, they are a low-cost energy source that can reduce society's dependence on oil and gas. The two sides squared off Tuesday at an Assembly hearing over the direction of the state's renewable energy programs. One thing both sides could agree on: this is a fight that is rippling across New York.

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I have been an unabashed critic of large scale industrial development for Cherry Valley from the very beginning. The experience of working on two very sophisticated planning documents made me believe that the large footprint turbines bring to the town will do irreversible damage to Cherry Valley’s future.

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NEW YORK – Seven northeastern U.S. states have signed the country's first plan to create a market for heat-trapping carbon dioxide by curbing emissions at power plants, New York Gov. George Pataki said Tuesday.

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The legislature needs to be involved in the RPS process. It is a crime to raise hundreds of millions of dollars and then fritter it away on projects that in the end will not reduce emissions.

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ALBANY — State lawmakers want more details about a new surcharge on 6 million utility bills across the state that will raise nearly $750 million in 10 years for renewable-energy projects such as wind farms.

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ALBANY -- Executives from two state agencies testified Wednesday before an Assembly committee in support of a $741 million renewable energy program being paid for by the state's electric customers.

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CLARKSTOWN — Wind power will now help to keep streetlights and municipal buildings lit. The alternative energy source would cost the town about $12,000 more a year, a minimal impact because of rising gas prices, said Amy Mele, deputy town attorney for purchasing. "It's not about savings, but more a policy statement," Mele said. "We're trying to make it a more competitive form of energy."

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