MONTEREY— Yet another decision awaits county officials about Highland New Wind Development’s plan to erect a 39-megawatt wind plant atop Allegheny Mountain.

The Virginia Supreme Court will enter the national debate over wind energy for the first time this summer when it hears a challenge to the state’s first proposed wind farm. A lower court ruled in favor of the controversial Highland County project last year, but in an unusual step, the high court decided this week to hear the case directly rather than having it first reviewed by a three-judge panel. The Supreme Court will hear arguments in June. A ruling is expected in September.

"I think the battleground is right here in the county right now with the landowners who've said no," said Sites.

MONTEREY — Despite another strong majority opinion from citizens to the contrary, Highland New Wind Development’s application with regard to the comprehensive plan has now been deemed in accordance with land use goals by Highland planners

American Electric Power has received more than a dozen bids from companies offering to construct wind farms under long-term power purchase agreements, spokeswoman Jeri Matheney said. "We're very pleased with the response that we got, and the variety," Matheney said. "We got quite a few bids - more than a dozen - from several states. "It will take at least a few weeks to pore through and analyze all of them," she said. "Then we'll go from there in making our decision."

Appalachian Power Co. customers may soon be able to write a larger check for the monthly bill to support the generation of electricity with wind, water and other renewable sources. The utility said the minimum investment will be $1.50 a month. A typical residential customer could elect to fully offset his electrical consumption with green energy by paying about $15 monthly.

American Electric Power announced it wants to enter long-term purchase agreements for 1,000 megawatts of wind energy, including up to 360 megawatts for its eastern United States service territory - where coal has traditionally been king. The utility giant said it wants to add the wind energy by 2011 as part of its strategy to address greenhouse gas emissions. On Tuesday the company issued a request for proposals seeking up to 260 megawatts of wind energy for its Appalachian Power unit. Appalachian serves more than 900,000 customers in southern West Virginia, Virginia and Tennessee. The company also issued a request for proposals seeking up to 100 megawatts of wind energy for its Indiana Michigan Power unit. The deadline for bids is April 30, with delivery to begin by the end of 2008.

It's possible, says one state agency, that rare and endangered species and habitats exist on or near the 220 acres where Highland New Wind Development is building an industrial wind utility. Monday, project review coordinator Rene Hypes, of the Division of Natural Heritage, Department of Conservation and Recreation, sent a letter to the State Corporation Commission attorney Wayne Smith saying her agencies special ecologists should survey the project area to help the developer avoid damaging rare species.

Visitors to the nation's public forests and grasslands could find wind turbines cranking out power for an energy-hungry nation under a proposal to be released any day in Washington, D.C. ... But Rick Webb, a senior scientist at the University of Virginia, said those wind assets are relatively small. "I'm skeptical that the benefits of development on Appalachian ridges is worth the environmental costs. These ridgelines represent what remains for the most part of our wild landscape," Webb said.

Plans for Virginia's first wind farm are breezing along, just as demand for wind-generated electricity appears to be going up. Last month, the State Corporation Commission granted Highland New Wind Development permission to construct and operate up to 20 wind turbines at a mountaintop site. In recent days, the deadline passed for those who disagree with the decision to appeal. As a result, the company is moving forward on at least two fronts.

WASHINGTON — Southern California and the urban centers from Northern Virginia to New York face the most critical power grid problems, but such remote areas as Montana and the Dakotas may need new transmission lines in the near future, an Energy Department report warns.

Like its Highland neighbor, one of Bath County’s greatests assets is its scenic mountain ranges and the natural resources they provide. It also has some of the highest winds in Virginia and is therefore attractive to industrial wind energy companies. Its vistas atop the surrounding ridge lines make it attractive to other kinds of development as well. Bath planner Miranda Redinger is urging the planning commission to seriously consider some sort of ridge top protection ordinance.

MONTEREY — The one business on Allegheny Mountain located directly under the ridge where the project would be built is Bear Mountain Retreat.

Opposition to Highland New Wind Development’s proposal for a wind energy utility here has been quite vocal, but at least two Virginia localities publicly support the project, and hope to purchase the electricity it generates. HNWD’s permit application remains under review at the State Corporation Commission, but officials from the City of Charlottesville and Arlington County are urging the SCC to approve the company’s certificate to build and operate a 39-megawatt facility in Highland. During evidentiary hearings in November, Charlottesville city councilman Kevin Lynch addressed the SCC, saying Charlottesville hopes to purchase the power HNWD’s plant would produce.

While Highland County still remains the only Virginia locality actively targeted for the state’s first industrial wind power project, Bath County should get ahead of the curve on the issue, Bath officials warn. Bath County planner Miranda Redinger attended the regional meeting on a possible scoring system for renewable energy sources recently, and was surprised to learn there is a strong potential for wind energy development in Bath County. “Apparently Bath is priority one for wind development. I always thought winds measuring four and five were good for turbines, but it’s three to five — Bath has a lot of three,” she told county planners Monday.

Endangered bats and birds are at risk from Virginia's first proposed wind farm, but construction should proceed with the warning that its massive blades will be stopped at times if too many carcasses pile up. That was the decision Thursday from a State Corporation Commission hearing examiner who gave conditional approval to the controversial project in Highland County. Supporters and opponents have 21 days to comment on the hearing examiner's report. The case will then be forwarded to the commission for a final decision, which is expected early this summer.

Virginia homeowners may not be ready for a windmill on every roof, but what about a string of electricity-generating turbines on a distant hilltop and the option to buy green power at affordable prices?

The U.S. Forest Service has rejected a proposal to build a wind farm on Great North Mountain in the George Washington National Forest - for now, at least. Freedomworks LLC, a renewable-energy firm based in Harpers Ferry, W.Va., wanted to put 131 400-foot-tall wind turbines along 18 miles of ridgeline between Virginia and West Virginia.

The issue that roared into Patrick County like a windstorm almost a year ago blew away Monday like a gentle breeze. The Patrick County Board of Supervisors voted to pass a tall structures ordinance that will prohibit the construction of 400-foot wind turbines on the county’s mountain ridges. Telecommunications towers and church steeples are exempt from the tall structures ban. The vote was in response to the results of a survey mailed to real estate owners along with their tax statements last fall. When county officials tallied the surveys in January, they announced that the tall structures ordinance was supported by 73.7% of the voters with 26.3% opposed.

The Patrick County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 Monday to enact an ordinance prohibiting the construction of structures exceeding 100 feet in height. The tall structures ordinance would ban the 400-foot wind turbines that a wind energy company has expressed interest in building on the county’s highest ridges. The ordinance has a sunset clause of six months, meaning that it will expire automatically six months after the enactment date of Nov. 6.