Opponents of a Mineral County wind farm project maintain it will have little impact on the power grid and the reduction of greenhouse gases. Testimony began Monday in a West Virginia Public Service Commission evidentiary hearing on the Pinnacle Wind Force project. Plans are to build 23 wind turbines on top of Green Mountain near Mount Storm. Attorney Bradley Stephens, representing the opponents, questioned US Wind Force Vice President David Friend during Monday's proceedings.

A controversial wind farm project in Mineral County goes before the state Public Service Commission starting Monday. The PSC will hear evidence from Pinnacle Wind Force, the group hoping to build 23 wind turbines on top of Green Mountain near Mt. Storm.

A representative from AES provided the Barbour County Commission with an updated timeline for the wind turbine project and requested commissioners pass a resolution to appoint a company to conduct a decommission study to determine the cost to take the windmills down when the time comes.

Nearly 100 people attended West Virginia Public Service Commission's hearing on the Pinnacle Wind Farm, Thursday afternoon at the Mineral County Courthouse, with all but one of more than two dozen speakers backing the project for its economic impact, clean energy and even visual appeal. ...The deadline for a decision on the project is Jan. 11. If approved, WindForce officials hope to have the wind farm operational by the end of 2010.

Raleigh County commissioners interrupted their regular meeting Tuesday to host a public information hearing regarding a proposed Pluto wind farm. ...Although a property in Pluto owned by Earl Long has been identified as one possible spot for a wind farm known as Angel Winds, Jobs Project Director Eric Mathis was quick to point out the project was not currently "moving forward."

A proposed wind farm gets some countywide attention. Tuesday the Raleigh County Commission hosted a public hearing as a way to educate community members. Earl Long and his family want to install several wind turbines on their land in Pluto, but there are regulatory hoops to get through. It could take three years before anything happens.

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.

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.

It's full steam ahead for a wind farm project in Greenbrier County. The state supreme court voted today to reject an appeal by Mountain Communities for Responsible Energy.

US WindForce will conduct the regular month meeting of its Community Advisory Panel Thursday night at the WindLea Banquet Center, with a state energy official to address the group on the eve of the West Virginia Public Service Commission's hearing on the proposed 23-turbine wind farm. Bill Willis, a program coordinator with the West Virginia Division of Energy, will be the guest speaker for the meeting.