Anyone who wants to see the battleground at Camp Allegheny like it was during the Civil War better do it soon. Virginia's three-person State Corporation Commission (SCC) issued an order on February 26 that clears the way for construction of a 19-turbine wind energy facility less than two miles from the Camp Allegheny battlefield in Pocahontas County.

Gov. Bob McDonnell signed into law Wednesday offshore drilling legislation intended to realize his goal of making Virginia the East Coast's energy superpower. The bills supporting offshore oil and gas exploration and directing royalties from drilling back to Virginia each hinge on actions by the federal government and Congress.

The winds of change met voices of opposition Wednesday night, when Don Giecek, Invenergy's business development manager, pitched a plan for a wind farm to a crowd of 60 Bent Mountain-area residents at the local fire and rescue station. Invenergy wants to build 15 turbines on Poor Mountain and sell their power to Appalachian Power Co.

Invenergy's power-generating windmills would be 443 feet from base to the highest tip of a blade and occupy ridge lines along what has been described as one of Virginia's windiest land-based wind power generation sites. Don Giecek, a business development manager for Invenergy, noted that Poor Mountain already hosts telecommunications equipment, other infrastructure and an access road with which the project could intersect. And Appalachian Power Co. has an existing transmission line nearby, offering a potential carrier for the power generated, he said.

A mountain ridge in Highland County has been cleared for the state's first commercial wind farm. While site preparation began last summer, official clearance came recently from the State Corporation Commission, which dismissed a complaint that the project will ruin the view from a nearby Civil War battlefield.

Two green-energy companies have asked the federal government to approve permits for wind farms off the coast of Virginia Beach, the first applications to develop offshore wind power in Virginia. While the news was exciting to state and local officials, environmentalists and entrepreneurs, the early effort offers little indication of what, if anything, may actually be built in the depths of the Atlantic Ocean.

Federal regulators have received leasing proposals from two Virginia companies seeking to develop offshore wind farms capable of supplying clean energy to hundreds of thousands of homes. Apex Wind Energy Inc. is proposing to lease 116,000 acres for an undetermined number of wind turbines with the potential to generate up to 1,500 megawatts of power.

The Allegheny Front Alliance has appealed the West Virginia Public Service Commission's approval of the Pinnacle Wind Farm, delaying construction of the 23-turbine project atop Green Mountain. The Alliance, which represents opponents to the Pinnacle project, filed its "petition for reconsideration" late last month, submitting a 13-page appeal that raises a number of issues with the approval.

Planning commission members are putting the finishing touches on a proposed ordinance that would regulate the construction of wind turbines across Tazewell County. The draft ordinance would regulate everything from setbacks with regards to wattage generated by wind turbines to the distance wind turbines could be erected from a road and the decibel volume of the tall structures.

Brian Cochran, Bluefield city solicitor, in the process of drafting a tall structure ordinance so the city has something in place if a developer specifically wants to acquire property and erect a wind turbine project like the proposed Dominion and BP project in Tazewell County, but Cochran said there's no hurry to get one in place. "The city of Bluefield already has some restrictive zoning in place," Cochran said. "I don't see where our code would allow a development like the one that has been proposed in Tazewell County."

Tazewell County Board of Supervisors approved an ordinance that prevents wind farm construction on specified locations. Wind industry supporters say it's an example of how the "anti-wind agenda" is gaining steam. It's one of the latest ordinances in the country adopted by local government that prevents wind farm construction as the federal government is pushing for cleaner greener technologies.

The approval of the so-called ridgeline protection ordinance for Tazewell County may not be the end of the wind turbine debate. Although officials with Dominion and BP Wind Energy North America say they are now mulling over their options for the East River Mountain project, company spokesman Ryan Frazier pointed out following Tuesday's vote that the newly adopted ordinance does allow for an appeal of variances.

A large crowd that jammed the administration offices in downtown Tazewell erupted into applause after the so-called ridgeline protection ordinance was passed. The motion to approve the tall structure ordinance was made by vice chairman David Anderson ..."The people in my district have spoken very, very clearly," Anderson said. "And it has been overwhelming. Ninety percent of the people in my district want to see a ridgeline ordinance. I can't go against the will of my people."

A proposed wind farm project might be dead in Tazewell County. The future looks bleak for the project after the Tazewell County Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 Tuesday to prohibit development of tall structures on the county's scenic ridgelines. "I think this proposed tall structure construction carries with it too much public controversy and too little public revenue," said Supervisor Mike Hymes, who cast the deciding vote on a divided board.

The passage of a tall structure ordinance Tuesday by the Tazewell County Board of Supervisors has left the fate of a wind turbine farm for East River Mountain in Limbo. The supervisors voted 3-2 to approve the so-called ridgeline protection ordinance.

After 15 months of debate, studies and public input, the Tazewell County Board of Supervisors made their decision on the Ridge Line Ordinance. The ordinance passed in a 3-2 vote. David Anderson, Jim Campbell, and Mike Hymes voted for it while Seth White and John Absher voted against it.

According to an advance copy the Tuesday's printed agenda for the Tazewell County Board of Supervisors, the board will discuss at 7:55 p.m. and consider the approval of an ordinance to regulate the construction of tall structures on certain ridgelines. If approved by the board, the ordinance would effectively prohibit Dominion and BP Wind Energy North America from constructing large-scale wind turbines along the ridgeline of East River Mountain.