Proposals for wind farms in the Valley are whipping up opposing viewpoints about the structures' effects on wildlife, local vistas and energy production. Opponents say the turbines, each hundreds of feet tall, would mar the local landscape and endanger bats and birds, some of which are federally protected. But proponents say the farms can be built with minimum impact on the environment to offer clean, alternative energy and a break from the nation's dependency on foreign oil. ...After studying maps and coordinates provided by the Federal Aviation Administration, consultant D. Daniel Boone, a conservation biologist and policy analyst, said the FreedomWorks' project could negatively affect untouched areas of the George Washington National Forest. "Other than a power line and one small road which crosses between Hardy and Shenandoah counties, the project area is completely undisturbed forest with no sign of logging roads or clear-cuts," Boone stated.

An unnamed company has started the application process to build 131 of the massive wind turbines in the national forest in Rockingham County and along the border between Virginia's Shenandoah County and Hardy County in West Virginia. "We're in the pre-application stage" with the company proposing to build the turbines, Chris Rose, a spokesman for the George Washington & Jefferson National Forests, said Monday. Rose declined to name the company, citing its early application status, which allows the federal agency to keep the name confidential.

Although the West Virginia Public Service Commission has not yet ruled whether to grant AES' siting permit to construct up to 65 wind turbines on the Laurel Mountain ridge between Barbour and Randolph counties, the company has already secured agreements with landowners to move forward if approved. According to property records at the Barbour and Randolph County courthouses, AES has entered into lease option agreements with 11 land owners ...The agreements give AES lease options for 43 parcels of land, totaling 8,528 acres. No compensation amounts are included in the documents, but Sweitzer said landowners would be paid an option payment and then receive annual payments after the project is constructed.

Thursday evening, Elkins City Council formally voted against a proposed 125-Megawatt wind farm that would stretch across Laurel Mountain though Barbour and Randolph Counties. The vote will not play a direct role in determining the fate of the project. The West Virginia state Public Service Commission will have the final say on the issue, which will not be voted on for several months. None of the proposed wind turbines would be constructed in Elkins city limits. Residents attending Thursdays meeting say they support the council's opposition to the project.

A proposed windmill farm project, that has been stirring up plenty of controversy, gets a "no" from Elkins city leaders. Elkins city council met this afternoon just after 4 o'clock and passed a resolution opposing the construction of the laurel mountain wind farm.

Elkins City Council has set a special call meeting for 4 p.m. Thursday with plans of passing a resolution opposing the Laurel Mountain Wind Farm project proposed by AES. City officials said Tuesday that after checking with the West Virginia Ethics Commission, no public comment period will be required for the meeting. A resolution was on council’s March 4 agenda. However, that document was not prepared in time for a vote. During that meeting, West Virginia Green Energy Alliance representative Joel Martin gave an informational presentation which sparked more than two hours of discussion between his group and those opposed to the wind project.

Local governments in western Virginia are beginning to craft land-use regulations to give them tighter control over where wind turbines could be built, even as energy companies study the area's potential for large wind farms. Mountainous Bland and Bath counties are looking to develop ordinances governing wind turbines. Giles County, meanwhile, recently created a permit process that allows farmers and landowners to build and operate single turbines; but the permit process does not open the door wider for commercial wind farms. The permit process is similar to ones adopted by Pulaski and Rockingham counties. ...The prospect of more money did not persuade Patrick County officials to embrace wind farms. Last year, amid hue and cry from landowners after a Pennsylvania company's proposal to build 20 giant turbines several hundred feet high in Patrick, county supervisors adopted an ordinance banning structures of more than 100 feet high. The company dropped its proposal.

The wind farm at Mount Storm that dominates much of the skyline along the Allegheny Mountain is behind schedule but moving forward. The Keyser Lions Club got a report on the construction of 132 electric-generating wind turbines Thursday evening with a presentation on the NedPower Wind Project at Mount Storm adjacent to the Dominion coal-fired power plant. Eli Mastin, project manager for Mortenson Construction of Minneapolis, Minn., the company that is building the wind farm for project developer NedPower, said that phase one, which includes 82 wind turbines, is about 75 percent complete.

The debate over proposed windmills being placed in Randolph and Barbour counties came to the Elkins City Council meeting Thursday night. Although a proposed ordinance to express council's opposition to the AES' Laurel Mountain windmill farm project was on the agenda, council took no action. The resolution was not prepared for council to take a vote and a debate started within the crowd following a informational presentation by West Virginia Green Energy Alliance representative Joel Martin. "There has been a fairly focused campaign to distribute information that is not accurate," Martin said. "The project will not lead to a disaster on the mountains." ...Beckwith also asked Martin what affects the windmills would have on the ecology and environment. "I cannot guarantee that there will be no destruction," Martin responded.

The proposed windmill project for Laurel Mountain is being greeted with mixed opinions by several residents and organizations within the community. Two local groups, the West Virginia Green Energy Alliance and the Laurel Mountain Preservation Association, have taken decisively different stances ...The Laurel Mountain Preservation Association, has filed a petition with the PSC to intervene in the project. Art and Pam Dodds, who serve as spokespeople for the organization, said the group was formed in 2005 to monitor and protect water resources and to promote an appreciation for the importance of the historical significance of the Battle of Laurel Hill. Art Dodds said the group's main goals are to preserve the watershed, along with the headwater habitats of the Tygart Valley River watershed and the historical significance of the Battle of Laurel Hill. They oppose construction of the windmills on the ridge because of the destruction of the environment and the destruction of their historical heritage.

The possibility of windmills being erected along the Randolph and Barbour County line could begin as early as 2009, if the application is approved by the West Virginia Public Service Commission, a spokesperson for AES said. Many groups, however, have been voicing opposition to the project, and most recently, Elkins City Council has decided to look at how the windmills may effect the local economy and future plans for development.

A Virginia company is seeking state approval for a proposed $250 million wind farm on the Barbour-Randolph county line. Arlington, Va.-based AES Corp. wants to build up to 65 turbines on a ridge top near Elkins that would connect to an existing Allegheny Energy. Inc. 138-kilovolt transmission line, according to a Jan. 31 filing with the state Public Service Commission. If local, state and federal regulators approve the project, AES said the turbines could begin transmitting electricity by the end of 2009.

When he received a reply from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service about its correspondence with Liberty Gap, the information included a Nov. 16, 2007 letter from the agency to Wendy Tidhar of WEST, Inc. based in Cheyene, Wyo. WEST apparently represents an unnamed wind energy developer exploring a site on federal national forest property that would affect Pendleton and Hardy counties in West Virginia, and a portion of Rockingham County in Virginia. What the USFWS told Tidhar, says Thomas, is promising for those who have for years stressed the need to protect the environment, birds and bats in particular, from a potential proliferation of wind turbine towers along the Appalachian Front. The USFWS West Virginia Field Office told Tidhar, "We recommend that you consider alternative locations for this wind power facility because the proposed site is a high risk site, and wind power operations at this location pose a reasonable likelihood of take of species protected by the Endangered Species Act, the Migratory Bird Treaty, and Eagle Act."

The Liberty Gap wind energy project planned for the border of Pendleton and Highland counties did not get approval from West Virginia's Public Service Commission last year, but that doesn't mean the company is giving up. According to Pendleton County residents opposed to the project, the developer is moving ahead, attempting to get its application rewritten for a better chance of approval. The West Virginia Public Service Commission had noted several deficiencies in the company's application, including insufficient information on historic resources, site maps, and environmental protect. The grassroots effort to stop the Liberty Gap project was spearheaded by Friends of Beautiful Pendleton County, and according to one of its members, Larry Thomas, it cost $87,000 to challenge the company's application. But Liberty Gap has regrouped and learned from its mistakes, and the next round might cost opponents as much as $250,000.

According to NedPower Mount Storm spokesperson Tim O'Leary, a wind turbine in Mount Storm caught fire at approximately 5:15 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon. According to O'Leary, the fire occurred during routine maintenance and started in the nacelle of the wind turbine. ...NedPower is currently working on Phase 1 of the Wind Turbine Project - which consist of 82 turbines. Phase 2 will consist of 50 turbines, for a total of 132 turbines.

Justices of the state Supreme Court of Appeals gasped and groaned when Public Service Commission attorney John Auville told them the commission and its employees are learning about wind turbines as they go along. His comment, in oral argument Jan. 9, alarmed the Justices because the commission conditionally has approved construction of 124 turbines, each 400 feet tall, in Greenbrier County. Auville sensed that he had embarrassed his client.

The site of a proposed wind farm on the border of Virginia and West Virginia is inappropriate, federal officials say, due to the potential harm such a project could pose to several endangered species. That's the opinion of the U.S. Department of the Interior's Fish and Wildlife Service in a letter to environmental consultant Western EcoSystems Technology Inc., of Cheyenne, Wyo. ...Fish and Wildlife officials said the agency supports alternative energy production, including wind power, but only when they are "sited and operated to be bird-and-bat friendly."

Opponents of a proposed wind farm in Greenbrier County asked the state Supreme Court on Wednesday to reject the Public Service Commission's conditional approval of the project, claiming the PSC didn't follow its own rules in balancing the project against the public's interest. ...A group of local residents called Mountain Communities for Responsible Energy, and Jeffrey and Alicia Eisenbeiss of Renick challenged the permits. Part of their argument was the PSC's application permit didn't include opponents' input on issues such as the cultural and historical importance of the area. 'To the people who are going to live under these 400-foot turbines, they need to be included in those balancing acts,' attorney Justin R. St. Clair, who represents MCRE, told the justices.

Greenbrier County resident Jeffrey Eisenbeiss also spoke to the court. He claims the state Public Service Commission doesn't have wind energy experts on staff and leaned heavily on experts hired by Beech Ridge to make its final decision. "There's no justice in that," he said. "There has to be an unbiased search by the Public Service Commission to see both sides of the battle and there're not. It's the power of the purse against the power of the citizens." ...Chief Justice Maynard and Justice Robin Davis both said during Wednesday's arguments the Supreme Court's involvement in the case may be premature. The PSC says there would be a chance for opponents to challenge Beech Ridge's meeting of the 25 contingencies. The Supreme Court will likely hand down its written before the current term ends in late June.

The David and Goliath battle between industry and environmentalists for control of 23 miles of ridge tops continues today in Charleston when the state Supreme Court hears oral arguments for and against a proposed $300 million Greenbrier County windfarm. In one corner is Chicago-based Invenergy, an international company that’s invested $2 million into the Beech Ridge Energy project which is slated to build 124 wind turbines around the Cold Knob mountain area. ...In the opposing corner are the grassroots efforts of Mountain Communities for Responsible Energy and Jeffrey and Alcia Eisenbeiss, two groups that have been buzzsaws in Beech Ridge’s plans since day one.