Energy Law

First Wind of Massachusetts has started final construction of its $130 million Rollins Mountain wind project with hopes of having it finished by April 1, officials said Friday.

?It is hard to predict, and God knows the weather in Maine doesn?t cooperate all the time, but that?s our hope,? First Wind spokesman John Lamontagne said.

First Wind leaders told town Economic Development Director Ruth Birtz that they would continue installation work that began with site clearing and road building on Sept. 21 at Rollins Ridge off Route 6 by pouring concrete bases for the 40 turbines, each generating 1½ megawatts, slated for ridgelines in Burlington, Lincoln, Lee and Winn, she said.

Construction is complete on two new wind farms in Wyoming: Duke Energy?s 200-megawatt Top of the World wind farm in Converse County, and Rocky Mountain Power?s 111-megawatt Dunlap I wind farm in Carbon County.

The wind farms are among the largest in Wyoming?s recent wind energy construction boom. Of Wyoming?s approximate 1,285 megawatts of installed wind energy capacity, about 78 percent was added in the past five years.

But the completion of Top of the World and Dunlap I could mark a turning point for Wyoming?s fledgling wind energy industry. Both Duke Energy and Rocky Mountain Power say they have no further plans to plant wind turbines in Wyoming.

A renewable energy plan that state officials and environmentalists believe could be a model for the rest of Rhode Island is quietly moving forward in the East Bay.

Nine communities in the region have banded together to form the East Bay Energy Consortium, a group that proposes building a land-based wind farm that would provide enough clean, renewable power for as many as 7,500 homes.