The environmental group, along with lead plaintiff Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition and West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, alleges in a lawsuit that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers overstepped its authority by permitting four southern West Virginia valley fills in direct violation of the Clean Water Act and the national Environmental Protection Act. That case, won by the plaintiffs in West Virginia southern district court, was heard Sept. 23 at the federal 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. "This is just the latest in a continuing legal saga. We've been on this trip since about 1996," said Jason Bostic, vice president of the West Virginia Coal Association.

Is it too expensive to survey historic resources before Virginia's first wind energy plant is constructed? Highland New Wind Development says it would have to fork over between $50,000-$75,000, or more, to do what state officials have been steadily requesting for two years. ...DHR archeologist Roger Kirchen, however, told The Recorder his agency needs the results of these surveys before a review of the project is completed. "The final SCC order directs the applicant to work toward providing us with information," Kirchen said Monday. "The SCC order has the authority. We've exchanged some documents (with HNWD) ... but none of these issues have been resolved. At this point, we're just trying to identify the potential effects."

One week after moving in, Loudenslager found out that a swath of the farm where cows graze and alfalfa grows soon could be cleared to make way for a high-voltage power line. "It's like a punch to the gut," Loudenslager said. "This is where I've wanted to be my whole life." Loudenslager's farm north of Boonsboro sits on one of several routes that have been suggested for the Potomac Appalachian Transmission Highline (PATH), which would run from St. Albans, W.Va., through Bedington, W.Va., to Kemptown, Md., in Frederick County.

Virginia may have given a controversial power line an initial "yes," but Pennsylvania has given it an initial "no." In a ruling released late Thursday, regulatory judges in Pennsylvania recommended that the state's Public Utilities Commission deny applications from Allegheny Power and Dominion Virginia power to build the Trans-Allegheny Interstate Line. A hearing examiner for the Virginia State Corporation Commission has recommended approval for the controversial power line, but only on the condition that West Virginia and Pennsylvania also sign off on the plan.

After reviewing thousands of pages of testimony and comments from numerous public hearings, Judges Mark A. Hoyer and Michael A. Nemec in a 364-page document said Allegheny Energy, through its transmission line subsidiary TrAILCo had "failed to carry the burden of truth" for the entire 240-mile project. "Based on our review of the entire record, we have concluded that little or no need for reinforcement in the Prexy service area presently exists," the judges wrote.

Before the day is out, upwards of 1 million folks across the nation are getting a glimpse of an idea generated by Coal River Mountain Watch to usher in a series of turbines in southern West Virginia as a means of cranking out wind-generated power. ..."We've been talking with several companies who are interested," Noerpel said Monday. "We've pitched it to several companies that are trying to move forward with this. A lot of wind companies are looking to come into Appalachia and setting up on our ridges."

Coal River Mountain in Raleigh County may soon become the center of an energy battle that pits fossil fuels against non-fossil renewable sources. At issue is this: Should we develop coal resources now if that will destroy wind resources that can be harnessed forever? North Carolina-based community organizers Appalachian Voices decided to raise this question. The group contracted national wind development consultants WindLogics to analyze some likely wind resources in southern West Virginia.

The process to determine if AES will be given permission to place a wind farm on a Laurel Mountain ridge between Randolph and Barbour counties is one step closer to being completed as the West Virginia Public Service Commission conducted evidentiary hearings Monday through Wednesday. "The attorneys representing both sides presented their cases and called witnesses," PSC spokesperson Sarah Robertson said. ...According to Robertson, the PSC expects to make a decision on Nov. 26.

They're up and they're spinning. Dozens of wind turbines in Grant County are generating electricity, though they haven't been without problems. Crossing into Virginia, there's a proposal for about 130 wind turbines to be built in the George Washington National Forest, as well as a much smaller operation in Highland County. However, these projects haven't developed without some strong opposition. The process takes years. Now, phase one is almost complete, 80 turbines are spinning in Mount Storm, West Virginia. Still, some local homeowners, like Bruce Halgren, are challenging the project in court.

Wind power developer Beech Ridge Energy caught a break it didn't deserve when the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals approved its plan to build tall turbines on ridges in Greenbrier County, said Justice Larry Starcher. In a July 17 dissent he claimed the court improperly allowed Beech Ridge Energy to provide vital information after the Public Service Commission approved its plan.

Justice Larry Starcher, who cast the lone dissenting vote in last month's landmark windfarm 4-1 decision, believes Greenbrier County property owners are getting the shaft in regard to the $300 million Beech Ridge Energy Windfarm. Starcher issued his two-page dissenting opinion last Tuesday and chided his colleagues for voting in favor of upholding two Public Service Commission decisions which gave Chicago-based Invenergy, the parent company of Beech Ridge, the green light to build over 100 wind turbines on forested ridges in northern Greenbrier County. ...Starcher said the case should have been "remanded to the Commission for further study," and he would have required Beech Ridge to "produce all of the legally required information about the impact of wind turbines on the neighboring property and aesthetic values."

Cookman and Friend explained that U.S. Windforce develops the wind farms, secures the land, obtains the rights of way and leases and applies for all the necessary permits, while Edison Emission Energy will actually acquire the turbines, have them assembled and operate the project. According to Cookman, U.S. Windforce is currently scheduled to make application for their permit from the West Virginia Public Service Commission in September. They should then have permit in hand, he said, by May 2009. With a possible groundbreaking in July 2009, he said operation could begin as early as May 2010.

West Virginia has a second wind-energy project up and running. NedPower Mount Storm LLC's turbines are generating electricity along the Allegheny Front in Grant County. Developers of the 264-megawatt project confirmed the project's status in response to reports from local residents that turbines appeared to be operating. ... Neddenien at first declined to confirm that information, and later refused to provide any details about how many turbines were operating. "The number of units operating on any given day changes, given wind conditions, and the amount of energy generated also changes," Neddenien said.

On May 8th 2007, eleven citizens' groups filed a Sixty Day Notice of Intent to Sue regarding the company NedPower Mt. Storm, and its corporate owners Dominion Resources, and Shell Wind Energy. The Notice alleges violations of the Endangered Species Act, involving the West Virginia northern flying squirrel, the Indiana bat, and the Virginia big-eared bat. The Notice also raises concerns about impacts to bald and golden eagles and migrating birds that are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. The citizens' groups are demanding that the industrial wind corporation apply for an incidental take permit, and modify or stop construction of this project, before irreparable harm is done to West Virginia's natural heritage.

Marty has been studying the life cycle of the timber rattlesnake for 25 years. He regularly visits several dens that have been in existence on the Allegheny Front for thousands of years -- to check on the emergence of snakes in the spring. Marty had been concerned about the possible disruption of the snake dens by the construction of the Ned-Power Industrial Wind Turbines, but he was assured that the dens, located in rock piles, with crevasses going into the earth, would not be disturbed. When Marty returned to his study site this Spring, this is what he found: "It is finished. There is nothing left to save.

On May 8th 2007, eleven citizens' groups filed a Sixty Day Notice of Intent to Sue regarding the company NedPower Mt. Storm, and its corporate owners Dominion Resources, and Shell Wind Energy. The Notice alleges violations of the Endangered Species Act, involving the West Virginia northern flying squirrel, the Indiana bat, and the Virginia big-eared bat. The Notice also raises concerns about impacts to bald and golden eagles and migrating birds that are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

Wind can be strong or weak, consistent or unreliable, sufficient to support wind generation or not. It all depends on location. Local support for wind can also be strong or weak, consistent or unreliable, sufficient or insufficient to support wind generation. It, too, depends on location. About 200 people from across Virginia converged at JMU for the second annual VWEC symposium on wind energy and their interest in the industry was about the only thing they had in common. Most, but not all, supported wind power development. And not all those in favor were willing to accept wind energy unconditionally.

The state Supreme Court Monday denied the efforts of state and local anti-windfarm activists and upheld two decisions by the Public Service Commission that granted a conditional building permit in 2006 for a $300 million Greenbrier County windfarm. The court's landmark decision, the first to test the PSC's new siting certificate regulations, largely focused on the PSC's jurisdiction to grant the permit and could significantly impact the future of wind energy in West Virginia. During oral argument before the high court in January, Mountain Communities for Responsible Energy and Alicia and Jeffrey Eisenbeiss argued the PSC improperly granted the permit to Chicago-based Invenergy and its Beech Ridge windfarm.

The state Public Service Commission acted properly when it approved a proposal to build 124 giant wind-power turbines along 23 miles of Greenbrier County ridges, the state Supreme Court ruled Monday. Justices issued a unanimous, unsigned opinion that turned down challenges of the PSC decision filed by opponents of the $300 million Beech Ridge Energy LLC project. "We believe that the commission did not ignore or revise its rules, nor did the commission improperly interpret an unambiguous regulation," the court said in its 39-page ruling.

Plans to build a 124-turbine wind farm on a West Virginia ridgeline won critical support Monday from the state Supreme Court, which upheld a conditional permit already approved by the state Public Service Commission. The justices ruled Monday in support of the permit, after hearing arguments in January on the $300 million proposal by Beech Ridge Energy LLC. ... A group of local residents calling itself the Mountain Communities for Responsible Energy, along with Jeffrey and Alicia Eisenbeiss of Renick, challenged the permit. They charged, in part, that the PSC's application permit didn't include input from opponents on such matters as the area's cultural and historical importance.