The Planning Commission will consider during a work session next week whether York County should create a zoning ordinance allowing wind turbines in neighborhoods. ...Planning staff suggest proceeding slowly. "The lack of any first-hand, real-world experience with wind turbines anywhere in the region probably calls for a cautious approach," one document cautions.

State regulators will consider the impact that a planned Highland County wind farm will have on a nearby Civil War battlefield, despite objections from the project's developer. A State Corporation Commission hearing examiner ruled Wednesday that a state agency could present evidence of the visual impacts the 400-foot-tall towers would have on Camp Allegheny, a historic battlefield just across the state line in West Virginia. A hearing has been set for Oct. 13.

While Virginia's State Corporation Commission starts hearing legal arguments this week about the actions of Highland New Wind Development, officials and citizens are telling Richmond officials that Camp Allegheny, the nearby battlefield, needs to be protected from the 19-tower project. ...Allegheny is part of an historic and scenic landscape that belongs to the American people Highland New Wind Development may be located in Virginia and Camp Allegheny in West Virginia, but it is the citizens of the entire country who stand to lose if the 400-foot tall, 285 foot wide turbines are allowed to be built where they are currently sited.

Highland New Wind Development filed a motion Friday, Sept. 18 to exclude any discussion of Camp Allegheny Battlefield from a state hearing originally set for Wednesday. Attorneys for HNWD, the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, and the State Corporation Commission argued for an hour before SCC hearing examiner Alexander Skirpan in Richmond. Skirpan denied HNWD's motion, and rescheduled the original hearing on DHR's allegations against the developer for Tuesday, Oct. 13.

The governor made his first formal step in developing offshore wind resources, saying in a news release today that he has requested the formation of a federal-state-local task force. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine sent a letter this month to the U.S. Department of the Interior requesting the formation of the task force to guide and facilitate the leasing process of federal waters off the Virginia coast to develop wind power.

A state agency has joined the fight against a wind farm in Highland County that could affect a Civil War battlefield. Developers say it's a nonissue, but longtime opponents of the wind farm say they want to preserve the area's beauty.

If speed tests this year show that the wind is powerful enough, the school could buy a wind turbine to make electricity, said Bonnie Holliday, development director. "We sit in a very windy spot, so we might be able to have some great energy produced by the turbine and reduce our costs," she said. A number of homeowners in the region are feeling the same winds and thinking much the same thing.

Wind energy got the welcome mat and elk the boot Thursday before the Wise County Board of Supervisors. The board approved without discussion a zoning change to allow development of a wind energy project now under consideration by Virginia Dominion Power and BP Wind Energy. The two companies have been assessing the viability of erecting 50 to 60 wind turbines in the county along the Kentucky border along an area stretching north of Big Stone Gap to northwest of Pound.

The developers of a proposed large-scale wind turbine farm for Tazewell County have been quietly making progress high atop East River Mountain. A meteorological tower to study wind speed and direction has been erected on the mountain. A number of geo-technical studies, along with wildlife and avian studies, also are continuing at the Tazewell County site, Ryan Frazier, a senior communications specialist with Dominion Energy, said.

Highland New Wind Development (HNWD), the self-touted "Greenest Wind Farm in the World," has initiated clearing, road work, and excavation for its 19-turbine project in the remote Allegheny Mountain, Laurel Fork area along the Highland County-Pocahontas County, Virginia-West Virginia border. ...The SCC has scheduled a hearing to be convened on September 23, 2009 to receive evidence and testimony from the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR) and HNWD concerning the wind energy developer's compliance with the SCC's December 2007 order

As Highland New Wind Development pushes to get roads installed and fields leveled for foundations, efforts to build its 38-megawatt wind-generating utility here aren't proceeding smoothly. Obstacles abound, in the form of legal challenges, allegations of not meeting state requirements, and an Erosion and Sediment control plan state officials have found lacking. All of that is coupled with an ongoing assertion from West Virginia officials who say Virginia, and Highland County, had no right to approve a facility that crosses state lines.

A U.S. congressman has added his voice to those who seek to protect Camp Allegheny, the Civil War battlefield now considered endangered by the industrial wind energy utility under construction nearby. Congressman Nick J. Rahall II (D-3rd District) of Beckley represents 17 counties in West Virginia, including Pocahontas County, where the battleground lies.

Protecting Laurel Fork and its watershed has been a top priority for landowners near where 19 towers are under construction on Allegheny Mountain. This week, that appears to be also true for the state's Department of Conservation and Recreation, which is assisting Highland officials in getting Highland New Wind Development to comply with Erosion and Sediment control regulations.

The chairman of the Tazewell County Board of Supervisors is expressing frustration over repeated delays in a decision regarding a large-scale wind turbine farm for East River Mountain. Anderson made another motion late Tuesday night to proceed with a public hearing on a revised ridgeline protection ordinance. His motion died for a lack of a second. His fellow board members said they wanted to wait until an ongoing wind energy economic impact study was completed.

Members of the Citizens for Environmental Independence urged the county Board of Supervisors to approve a large-scale wind turbine project for East River Mountain, and School Superintendent Dr. Brenda Lawson asked the board Tuesday for permission to use $1.4 million in remaining “soft cost funds” for meeting the remaining financial obligations for heating and air upgrades at five elementary schools.

As a 19-tower wind turbine project nears the construction stage in Highland County, Va., just across the state line from Pocahontas County, it faces a whirlwind of objections from both sides of the border -- including a dispute about just where the border lies. The project also has drawn fire from Civil War battlefield preservation groups for the negative effects the wind farm would have on West Virginia's Camp Allegheny.

It's possible, says one state agency, that rare and endangered species and habitats exist on or near the 220 acres where Highland New Wind Development is building an industrial wind utility. Monday, project review coordinator Rene Hypes, of the Division of Natural Heritage, Department of Conservation and Recreation, sent a letter to the State Corporation Commission attorney Wayne Smith saying her agencies special ecologists should survey the project area to help the developer avoid damaging rare species.

The Pocahontas County Commission voted Tuesday to engage an attorney to help determine where the West Virginia-Virginia State line is on Tamarack Ridge of Allegheny Mountain. The dispute arose after Highland New Wind Development. LLC, released its site plan for more than 15 wind turbines to be built on the ridge, two of which could be on or very close to the West Virginia side of the line. Those wind turbines and possibly others will be visible from Camp Allegheny, a pristine Civil War site.

Giant wind turbines are coming close to Pocahontas County and many residents are curious if the windmills will be visible from their homes. A helpful website with a strange name lets you find out with just a few clicks of the mouse. Heywhatsthat.com works in conjunction with Google Maps and provides custom viewsheds from any point on the globe.

Concerned citizens of Pocahontas County and a resident of Virginia brought the issue of the Highland County wind turbine project intruding on the viewshed of Camp Allegheny in Bartow to the county commission's attention at Thursday's meeting. Virginia resident Dan Foster said his main concern is for Camp Allegheny and preserving the history of the battlefield, where the turbines will be visible from almost every angle.