According to PSC, noise generated by Highland Wind Farm, a project of Emerging Energies Inc., could conceivably exceed the limit and disturb homes northwest of Eau Claire, where the turbines would be sited. Emerging Energies maintains the turbines could be programmed to power down should wind speeds push the limit. As yet, PSC hasn't agreed to revisit the project, as its developer requested on Friday. Should it decline to do so, it's back to the drawing board for Emerging Energies, which says it already has invested $2 million in the project.

Turns out plenty of jurisdictions are making noise about wind farms. Late last month, in Falmouth, Mass., on scenic Cape Cod, Selectmen agreed to remove a pair of town-owned wind turbines after receiving nearly 50 complaints about health-related noise problems.

“It’s been online since April, and we’ve been trying to get it stopped since April,” one resident, who lives 1,320 feet from a turbine, told reporters.

This week, the national media reported on a similar problem Fairhaven, Mass.

One resident told reporters, “It's awful, I can just hear the noise, all the time.”

Another said, “It sounds like a jet engine hovering over your house.”

A third resident complained, “I get a lot more headaches now and I think that is from lack of sleep.”

Some residents accused turbine operators of cutting power when state inspectors visit.

In Fairhaven, as in Falmouth, several residents want the turbines taken down.

Such are the ups and downs for an industry that once believed the sky was the limit.