The Allegany County commissioners returned from a trip to Somerset County in Pennsylvania with a little more insight in terms of wind turbines. Commissioners Dale Lewis and Robert Hutcheson said Thursday the visit was very informative.

A wind energy official has fired back at a Mineral County commissioner on the viability and public perception of the wind industry. David Friend, vice president of US Wind Force, said in a letter Friday to the Allegany County commissioners and also sent to the Times-News that Commissioner Wayne Spiggle's skepticism and concerns "are unfounded."

David Friend, vice president of US Wind Force, said in a letter Friday to the Allegany County commissioners and also sent to the Times-News that Commissioner Wayne Spiggle's skepticism and concerns "are unfounded." ...Friend's letter was in direct response to a Times-News March 29 story in which Mineral County Commission President Wayne Spiggle said he doesn't believe wind energy decreases greenhouse gases and questioned whether the majority of Mineral County residents do.

St. Mary's County Commission President Francis Jack Russell (D) met with the Chesapeake Bay Critical Areas Commission last week where he hoped the local ordinance allowing personal wind turbines on the county's shoreline would find little resistance. But the state put another 90-day hold on the ordinance. The local process began a year ago in April and wind turbines were approved in the county zoning ordinance in December.

Wind Farm near Keyser is a favorable site for turbines based on wildlife considerations, according to extensive studies conducted by environmental consultants retained by the developer, US WindForce. That was the message from Monday night's meeting of the Community Advisory Panel, delivered by Jennie Henthorn of Henthron Environmental Consultants.

US WindForce will host a public meeting Monday evening at the Wind Lea Banquet and Conference Center as part of the company's ongoing efforts to keep the public abreast of its Pinnacle Wind Farm project near Keyser, with environmental issues again the focus of discussion.

Legislation aiming to put Maryland back toward regulating electricity supply in Maryland is facing turbulence and hurdles in the House of Delegates. The bill, which has the backing of Gov. Martin O'Malley, seeks to return authority over supply that was lost by the state's Public Service Commission after Maryland lawmakers deregulated electricity markets in 1999.

Wayne Spiggle is like many people who feel that harnessing the wind's energy to generate electricity is "a good thing." "But when you realize that to do that changes the character of our traditional, natural landscape, most people want to know that it's worthwhile to sacrifice that," said Spiggle, president of the Mineral County (W.Va.) Commission. Spiggle said an apparent lack of investors and a low efficiency rating combine to compel him to question the viability of industrial wind energy facilities.

In a recent letter to the editor, local U.S. Wind Force attorney Jamie Walsh insisted that proposed amendments to the Allegany County zoning code would restrict industrial wind energy facilities too much. "The ordinance would prevent any wind projects in Allegany County," Walsh wrote.

The 426th session of the Maryland General Assembly is winding down in Annapolis. But with just a little more than two weeks left, numerous bills introduced by local lawmakers have either not yet been acted upon or died in committees. All of the wind turbine related bills introduced by Del. Wendell Beitzel received unfavorable reports from the House Economic Matters Committee last week. The bills would have provided local and statewide standards for commercial turbines.

They were outnumbered more than 2-to-1. The people who spoke Thursday evening in favor of amendments to Allegany County's zoning code regarding wind energy - 15 people - were far fewer than those who opposed them - 37 people. But 70 percent of the people who wanted the county commissioners to reject wind energy restrictions were not from Allegany County or a contiguous county.

The developers of an industrial wind farm near Frostburg must start construction within three years and must have at least one working turbine within five years. Those details, and other relatively minor conditions, were released today as the Maryland Public Service Commission issued its formal report on the Dan's Mountain Wind Force project. The commission considered whether to grant the company an exemption from the full regulatory review process during its meeting Wednesday in Baltimore.

In a typically airless conference room in downtown Baltimore yesterday, the Public Service Commission fast-tracked a proposal for a wind farm in Western Maryland. "Fast," though, is a relative term given that developers have as long as three years to start construction and five for the first turbine to actually start harnessing those mountain breezes and turning them into electricity.

The Maryland Public Service Commission approved on Wednesday to grant Dan's Mountain Wind Force an exemption from the full regulatory review process. The commission added two key conditions. Frank Maisano, a spokesman for the wind energy industry, said in an e-mail that Dan's Mountain Wind Force must work with a local telecommunications provider to ensure there is no microwave interference with telecommunications towers on Dan's Rock. The wind company also must work with the state Department of Natural Resources.

The Maryland Public Service Commission approved earlier today to grant Dan's Mountain WindForce a fast track through the regulatory review process. The commission added a handful of conditions but wind energy spokesman Frank Maisano said in an e-mail that Dan's Mountain WindForce must work with a local telecommunications provider to ensure there is no microwave interference on Dan's Rock. In addition, the wind company must work with the state Department of Natural Resources.

Rick Meehan vetoed his first city ordinance as mayor of Ocean City this week, sending a message to the council that its stance on wind turbine usage in Ocean City was a bit too conservative. In a rare occurrence in local government, Meehan flexed his veto power on the recent passage of the ordinance allowing wind turbines in Ocean City after one of the area's most vocal proponents of the alternative energy conduits was finding it difficult to move forward with his planned project.

U.S. Cellular Corp. has filed an objection to fast-track approval for a proposed western Maryland wind-power project, citing potential interference with cell phone calls and emergency communications. ...In a filing Thursday with the PSC, Chicago-based U.S. Cellular said three of the 29 wind turbines US Wind Force plans to build atop Dan's Mountain in Allegany County would block transmission of microwave signals from nearby U.S. Cellular antenna towers.

Allegany County government is refusing to accept any permit related to industrial wind energy facilities until the state Public Service Commission determines the fate of a project atop Dan's Mountain. The PSC conducted a public hearing Jan. 21 at Frostburg State University to gather public input on a U.S. Wind Force project ...Judge Joel M. Bright, chief hearing examiner for the commission, said the issue at hand was whether "the safety and reliability of the grid system is not jeopardized" by the project.

The 4-1 vote Wednesday, with members Bill David and Ted Robinette absent, came despite commission member Lois Crossland's objections to the zoning code text amendments as proposed. The document, still in its original form as presented to the public in January, will go before the Allegany County Commission. Thursday, the commissioners scheduled a public hearing on the issue for March 19 at 7 p.m. Crossland said the amendments don't go far enough "to protect citizens" and that blasting isn't mentioned in the document.

Two years after Maryland legislators passed a law designed to breeze wind power projects through regulatory reviews, the state still has no active wind farms and the opponents of the 2007 bill are still fighting the change. ...Former state senator and former Frostburg mayor John Bambacus told a panel of legislators that the new law "totally gutted the regulatory process." Bambacus says public input is exceptionally important because wind turbines "are not benign structures," noting some are as "tall as the Washington monument."