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Turbulence over turbines at Virginia's first planned wind farm
The ferocity of local opinions against the project has raised questions about Virginia's future as a wind-energy producer, with surrounding counties unsure about opening their mountaintops to investors, too.
The debate also comes as entrepreneurs in other states are rushing to erect turbines, take advantage of federal tax credits and create electricity without the emissions linked to global warming.
September 16, 2007
by Scott Harper
in The Virginia Pilot
There is no industry here in Highland County, a scenic outpost that local boosters call "Virginia's Switzerland." Just farming, timbering, some tourism and the mountains.
And, of course, the wind.
Lots of wind.
Out here in the Allegheny Mountains, snug to the West Virginia line, the first commercial wind farm in Virginia is planned. As many as 22 turbines, each as tall as the Statue of Liberty, would churn out enough clean energy to power more than 12,000 homes a year, according to plans.
If approved by regulators, it would be the highest wind development on the East Coast, atop two mountain ridges more... [continue via Web link]
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