Sun, wind power water pumps

Gov. Dave Freudenthal examines one of the solar-and wind-powered stock water pumps the state is helping ranchers obtain as part of a pilot project. Photo by Bill Luckett/Casper Star-Tribune.

Winds of change

A wind power Pathfinder? New owner of historic ranch develops expansive wind strategy

Jeff Meyer, managing partner of Pathfinder Renewable Energy LLC, and Mark Doelger, an adviser with Barlow & Haun Inc., stand next to a meteorological tower used to measure wind speeds and direction on Monday afternoon at the Pathfinder Ranch. Meyer, who owns the historic ranch, is developing a 'master plan' for wind development in central Wyoming. (Dan Cepeda/Star-Tribune)

No transmission, no projects: Developed wind power would double state's electric output

A group of 260-feet tall wind towers are silhoutted against a bright orange sky at the Elk River Wind farm near Beaumont, Kan. The spinning blades atop 200-foot towers might appear to the naked eye as … well … spinning blades. But to Doppler radar, wind farms appear as a splatter of green, yellow, orange and red _ much like a violent storm or even a tornado. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, file)

College, business, government officials launch wind project

A wind turbine is raised using a cable and gin pole during a ceremony on Wednesday near Midwest. (Courtesy, Casper College)

College, business, government officials launch wind project

Jim Nations, public relations manager for RMOTC, describes basic wind-power concepts to seventh-graders from Midwest School prior to the commissioning of a wind turbine on Wednesday. (Courtesy, Casper College)

Turbine in the yard? Some homeowners go to wind power, but it's more expensive than grid

Scott Kane, co-owner of Creative Energies in Lander, stands on a wind turbine tower at the business. He says his company has installed about 20 small wind turbines throughout Wyoming in recent years, and interest in home-based wind power is growing. But up-front costs are still prohibitive for most people. Chris Merrill, Star-Tribune.

How to tax the wind?

Turbines in the Chevron Global Power Co.'s wind farm, which is still under construction, dot the horizon near Evansville on Monday afternoon. Wind developers are already protesting draft legislation that could tax the generation of wind energy in the state. (Dan Cepeda/Star-Tribune)

Eye on Energy: Energy projections not good for backyards

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