This week, a proposal for a $143 million wind farm in northeastern Colorado near the Nebraska border advanced with Logan County's approval to erect 87 wind turbines.

Chicago-based Invenergy LLC's wind farm would supply 130 megawatts running at full capacity, enough power to serve about 100,000 households.

"It's a great area, and we've got a lot of good community support," said Kevin Smith, senior vice president of energy development for Invenergy.

The firm is exploring sites for an additional five wind farms in Colorado, said Doug Carter, director of business development.

Xcel is also considering a project near Lamar that would be owned by a group of local farmers and ranchers.

The $82 million facility would generate 69 megawatts from 46 wind turbines just north of PPM Energy's existing Colorado Green wind farm, the state's largest with a capacity of 162 megawatts.

Minneapolis-based Wind Energy Developers would obtain financing and develop the project near Lamar. If the project is approved and its capital costs paid off in 10 years, most of the project's ownership would revert to the local consortium of 20 to 30 landowners.

"They deserve to keep the money and the economics in the local community," said Wind Energy Developers spokeswoman Pam Fields.

Voters approved Amendment 37 on Nov. 2. It requires the state's largest utilities to generate 10 percent of electrical power from renewable sources by 2015.

Prior to the vote, 12 power developers submitted proposals to Xcel for 2,000 megawatts of wind energy under the utility's broad energy-acquisition plan to serve Colorado customers through 2013.

The plan calls for 500 megawatts of wind power, a 750- megawatt expansion of the Comanche coal-fired power plant near Pueblo and another 2,800 megawatts from undetermined sources that could include a mixture of generators fueled by coal, natural gas and wind.

One megawatt serves about 650 homes.