The Colorado Public Utilities Commission recently approved the construction of 150 miles of power lines linking the San Luis Valley to the Front Range. Besides being an eyesore for photographers, the lines will help carry renewable energy from solar plants to the state's population centers, notes the Denver Business Journal. The plan continues to befuddle and provoke billionaire hedge fund manager Louis Bacon, who has been fighting to keep the project from running through his Trinchera Ranch.

At the same time, some folks aren't waiting on big utility companies to provide cleaner energy. Among them is Floyd Ancell, who successfully pleaded with Pueblo County Commissioners for a special-use permit to erect three wind turbines on his eight-acre property, writes the Chieftain. The county has approved wind turbines for other landowners, but one neighbor strongly opposed Ancell's request, saying, "We'll be looking at clusters of wind towers" that may pose a hazard to birds.