Wind turbines multiply across ridgetops, but may slow down

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- West Virginia leaped forward as a wind energy producer last year. When the NedPower Mount Storm project went fully online in December, the state's capacity to produce wind-generated electricity jumped five times.

Wind turbines could continue to sprout along the state's Appalachian ridgetops, as state regulators approved a project on the Randolph/Barbour County border in November. The same company applied in December to build a project in Grant County, while another developer announced plans in January for a project near Keyser.

Industry growth may be slowing, however, as the national economic recession dries up the investment capital needed to build new projects.

Even the normally optimistic American Wind Energy Association, the industry's booster group, warned in late January that the whirlwind of growth in the last two years has slowed to a mild breeze.

"It is clear that the economic and financial downturn have begun to take a serious toll on new wind development," AWEA CEO Dennis Bode said on Jan. 27. "We are already seeing layoffs in the area where wind's promise is greatest for our economy: the wind power manufacturing sector."

West Virginia entered the wind power industry in 2002, when the 44 turbines - or windmills, as many people call them - at the Mountaineer Wind Energy Center began cranking out up to 66 megawatts (MW) of electricity.

But the state was a small player in the national scene until NedPower built another 132 turbines, with a capacity of 264 MW. As of year's end, West Virginia ranked 17th in total generating capacity, though it lags far behind windswept states like Texas and Iowa.

Six other projects in varying planning and regulatory stages could add nearly 500 turbines and more than 900 MW of power:

Mount Storm Wind Force, Grant and Tucker counties, which received a permit (certificate of need) from the state Public Service Commission in August 2002, and is still pending - 166 turbines, 250 MW.

Beech Ridge Energy (Invenergy), Greenbrier County, PSC permit in August 2006 - up to 124 turbines, 186 MW. The PSC held a compliance hearing to see if the developer is meeting terms of its permit, but has not yet ruled.

AES Laurel Mountain, Randolph and Barbour counties (near Belington), PSC granted permit in November 2008 - up to 65 turbines, 125-132.5 MW. A citizens' group, the Laurel Mountain Preservation Association, has asked the PSC to reconsider.

AES New Creek, Grant County, applied for PSC permit on Dec. 19, 2008 - 65-67 turbines, 160 MW. A citizens' group has asked to intervene in the case, but no hearing schedule has been set.

Pinnacle Wind Force, Mineral County (near Keyser), filed notice of intent to apply for PSC permit Jan. 30 - up to 23 turbines, 58 MW.

Liberty Gap Wind Force, Pendleton County, PSC denied permit in July 2006 and June 2007 - up to 50 turbines, 125 MW. Observers expect the company to reapply at any time.

Wind projects are expensive to build, and most of the money goes out of state. The Associated Press called AES Laurel Mountain a $250 million project, for example.

NedPower spokesman Ryan Frazier said owners have not announced the cost of that project. But he said it would generate $45 million in state and local taxes, lease payments to landowners, and other benefits during the next 25 years. Two local schools will receive between $30,000 and $40,000 each a year, he said, and several dozen jobs have been created.

At each step of the way, these projects are being watched closely by local citizen and environmental groups, who oppose wind energy for a variety of reasons.

Some say the turbines, which rise hundreds of feet in the air, spoil the state's most valuable wild lands. Some say they destroy property values. Some say the spinning blades kill migrating songbirds and raptors and, especially, bats - by the thousands.

In one case, a group of six residents sued NedPower in November 2005 to block construction in Grant County. Though they failed to stop the project, the suit is still kicking after bouncing to the state Supreme Court and back.

The group Friends of Blackwater is particularly worried about bat deaths, said its executive director Judy Rodd. It filed a notice of intent to sue NedPower and its co-owners, Shell Wind Power and Dominion Energy, last spring over its failure to protect bats.

The issue is even more critical now that scientists have found a relatively new disease, white-nose syndrome, that is decimating bat populations from New York through Pennsylvania and into West Virginia, Rodd said.

A New York biologist told the AP he estimates the number of endangered Indiana brown bats is down between 15 percent and 35 percent in just a year, and said the disease could spread faster than scientists can find a solution.

"It overlaps with the [wind] bat issue, because if turbines are killing bats and this disease is killing bats, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has to be concerned," Rodd said.

Scientists were stunned to find turbines at the Mountaineer Wind Energy Center killed an estimated 2,000 bats in 2003, their first full year of operation. A year later they upped the estimate to 3,000 dead bats. The owners then cut off further research at the site, Rodd said.

If Mountaineer is killing 3,000 bats a year with 44 turbines, the nearby NedPower site could be killing far more, she said. "This is 132 turbines; it could be multiplied more than three times.

"They should be trying to protect the bats," Rodd said. "They could feather the blades [turn the windmill vanes sideways] or turn them off during spring and fall migrations. ... They're not doing anything.

"The wind industry is trying to pretend it's not a problem. It is. It's a huge problem."

If AWEA is concerned about bat deaths in the Appalachian Mountains, it's hard to tell from its Web site. Several pages deep on a FAQ page, under "What are wind power's other environmental impacts?", a paragraph mentions the 2003 and 2004 bat kills at Mountaineer.

"The wind industry has joined [others] ... and is continuing to explore ways to avoid or reduce bat kills," it says.

But elsewhere, under siting policy, you'll find AWEA asked in November 2007 to weaken U.S. Forest Service draft directives aimed at protecting bats and bat habitats when building new wind projects.

AWEA, and West Virginia wind project developers, may get a boost from the Obama administration, which has touted alternative sources of energy.

"Quick action in the stimulus bill is vital to restoring the industry's momentum and create jobs as we help make our country more secure and leave a more stable climate for our children," AWEA's Bode said in January.

Wind power capacity grew by 45 percent nationally in 2007 and by 50 percent last year, AWEA spokeswoman Christine Real de Azua told the Sunday Gazette-Mail.

"The momentum is being hurt by the financial crisis," she said, "but can be restored and sustained as the new administration works on making clean energy a centerpiece of economic recovery for the country."