State regulators have scheduled a hearing on a proposed 368-megawatt wind farm in south-central North Dakota while approving a revised site blueprint for a separate project north of Rugby.

A company called Just Wind, which is planning a wind project in Logan County, had asked the Public Service Commission for an expedited public hearing next month to review the effects of the project. It calls for building 160 turbine towers.

The commissioners on Wednesday scheduled the hearing for 10:30 a.m. Oct. 21 at the Logan County courthouse in Napoleon, about 55 miles southeast of Bismarck. Just Wind plans to locate its towers in a rectangular area around Napoleon, said Susan Wefald, the PSC's president.

"This is a major wind farm," Wefald said.

Separately, the commission approved a revised site plan for a separate 149-megawatt wind project in northern Pierce County, in north-central North Dakota.

The project initially was proposed three years ago, and the Public Service Commission endorsed its site plan in October 2005. But the project was never built, and the parent company of its developer was recently sold to Iberdrola Renewables Inc., a unit of Iberdrola Renewables S.A. of Madrid, Spain.

Commissioner Tony Clark said the new project intends to put up 71 wind towers rather than the 100 envisioned in the original venture. Its wind turbines will be capable of generating more power, so the project's 149-megawatt capacity is not affected, Clark said.

Although the new project has fewer towers, the ones that will be build are mostly being placed on sites that were specified in the original project, he said.

Iberdrola Renewables does not yet have a contract with a utility to buy the wind farm's output, but it is willing to go ahead anyway because of the project's investment potential, Clark said.

"They seem to be fairly firm in their commitment that this fall, they would start doing the preparation work that they need to do to get those towers constructed in the next construction season," Clark said.