Representatives of Dominion and BP Wind Energy North America are asking the Tazewell County Board of Supervisors to give "thoughtful and careful consideration" to a proposed large-scale windmill project. Company officials will be attendance at Tuesday's public hearing on a proposed ridgeline projection ordinance, which - if adopted - could impact the development of a wind turbine project planned for East River Mountain.

The $200,000-plus Highland County hoped to receive from the proposed wind utility here could be cut to $120,000 if a legislative proposal survives the General Assembly this session, according to county officials. Sen. Frank Wagner (R-Virginia Beach) submitted a bill that would allow wind energy facilities an exemption on state and local taxes up to 80 percent of the value of their projects if their capacity is less than 100 megawatts.

Despite Highland New Wind Development's request for streamlined treatment from state agencies, the Department of Historic Resources has determined the company must still submit a detailed site plan and visual impact study, particularly because its proposed 39-megawatt wind energy utility would be near a protected Civil War battlefield.

A mountain ridge overlay ordinance has been adopted by the Bluefield, Va., Town Council pending a final approval today by the Bluefield, Va., Planning Commission, Mayor Don Harris said. The ordinance will regulate the development of structures with a maximum height of 35 feet or more. When asked if the ordinance was in response to a large-scale windmill project proposed for East River Mountain, Harris said the windmill project is not currently planned in the corporate limits of Bluefield, Va.

Anderson, Bluefield, Va. Town Manager Todd Day, and other officials traveled to the Mount Storm windmill site in hopes of learning more about a large-scale windmill proposal for East River Mountain. Several companies are looking to develop as many as 60, 400-foot tall windmills along the crest of East River Mountain.

Do windmills make a lot of noise? And are they really an ugly blight upon a scenic mountainside? And will folks actually travel from miles and miles away to see a giant windmill farm. Yes, windmills can be a tourist attraction, at least according to members of a local consulting firm.

“During the months of August and September, active negotiations with a variety of interested parties resulted in two executed Letters of Intent,” he wrote. “However, before the due diligence periods expired, the financial markets collapsed and the interested parties started to disappear one by one. Turbines are more available now but financing is more difficult to obtain.”

David Anderson, the Eastern District member of the Tazewell County Board of Supervisors, has been busy in recent days answering phone calls and e-mails from supporters and opponents of a proposed large-scale windmill project. ..."Don't get me wrong, I've heard a lot of positive, and I've heard a lot of negative," Anderson said Tuesday. "There are still people who are very pro-windmill. But the majority of the feedback I've received have been real concerned about the natural beauty of East River Mountain."

Ryder began working on the ordinance in response to a request from the planning commission last month. The county is working with James Madison University on a field test of the Virginia Renewables Siting Scoring System, or VRS3. The test will use a scoring book to evaluate factors related to siting wind energy facilities in various parts of the county. However, work on the book is still not complete.

Rockbridge County is a step closer to having a wind energy ordinance on the books. The Planning Commission last week recommended adoption of the ordinance as well as approval of the first application for a wind energy system - two micro turbines that are to go on top of Howard Johnson's Hotel. The wind energy ordinance was supported by several citizens who spoke during a public hearing.

Without investors or a final plan, Highland New Wind Development nevertheless remains optimistic about getting Virginia's first wind energy utility built here in Highland County. HNWD attorney John Flora told county supervisors Tuesday the market for wind energy is down, but the company is proceeding with its plans. ...Because HNWD does not know which kind of turbines it will use, it has not submitted a final site plan, something both the county and state require. Supervisor David Blanchard wondered why the company had not at least put together several site plans based on the options for turbines.

Clarke County Planning Commissioner Kathy Smart, who wants a "greener" home, has an appointment to discuss her heating system. She is considering the installation of a solar- or wind-power generation system to replace the oil furnace that warms her baseboard heating units. But first, Smart must determine if enough wind blows across her property to make a wind-power generation system viable. She is also waiting for the approval of a new county ordinance that would permit small wind turbines for home use.

The three-member committee, appointed in May by the Planning Commission, has drafted a text amendment regulating the installation of wind turbines for residential use that could come before the commission in the fall. The amendment will have another committee review and could be on the commission's September agenda to set a public hearing, county Natural Resources Planner Alison Teetor said this week.

What has taken Virginia Beach officials by surprise is the number of other business owners and residents who are inquiring about propping up their own windmills. "I am averaging one or two calls a week," said Will Miller, a Beach zoning inspector. It has forced Virginia Beach officials to explore ways to regulate the windmills and determine where they can be installed and what federal and state certifications are necessary. "It is large, like a cell tower, and we think there needs to be some guidance," said Kay Wilson, an associate city attorney.

Are the winds of change about to blow through Bath County? While Bath has not been involved in prospective wind energy to the same extent as neighboring Highland County, the board of supervisors has agreed to have the county become the test location for a system that scores parcels of land for their suitability for wind development. ...Bath supervisor Percy Nowlin said he hopes the VRS3 will give the county enough information as it can get as early as it can get it. "Hopefully we can avoid wind energy," he said. "We certainly are not promoting wind. We are trying to get as much information as we can. The more we know about it and the earlier we find out, the better." Nowlin also expressed concern that if national forest land were considered for wind, the county would not be able to do anything about it.

When the Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC) issued a permit for the proposed Highland New Wind project in December 2007 it imposed stringent wildlife protection conditions and requirements for further review. The developer asserted that potential investors would lose interest because of the precedent-setting requirements to monitor and mitigate impacts to birds and bats. ... Now it appears that the project faces additional uncertainty as some of the agencies responsible for further review seem unclear about their respective roles in the continuing process.

Highland New Wind Development is stepping up its search for investors, with plans to attend some regional conferences and meetings with potential backers in the next couple of months. HNWD will need financial support for its proposed 39-megawatt wind energy utility, expected to cost upwards of $60 million to construct. The company also needs to secure several permits and other state and federal approvals before it can build.

The Highland New Wind Development wind utility project is moving ahead, H.T. 'Mac' McBride told supervisors Tuesday. "We have approval (from VDOT) for both entrances (state line and cattle crossing on Laurel Fork). The power purchase agreement is being worked on by our people in Minnesota." ...Highland resident Rick Webb told the board, "It has been suggested on multiple occasions that it would be in the county's best interest to require that HNWD develop a habitat conservation plan and obtain an incidental take permit in compliance with the federal Endangered Species Act. The conditional use permit issued by the previous board of supervisors stipulated that HNWD would be required to obtain all required state and federal approvals before the project is allowed to go forward. Both the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries have recommended that HNWD obtain an incidental take permit in order to avoid penalties and possible project shut down. The State Corporation Commission acknowledged that HNWD was assuming a business risk by not obtaining an ITP.

Shenandoah Mountain is fit with high-quality breezes and a location near population centers, a necessary combination for wind farms such as the one being sought by a West Virginia firm, a wind expert said. ...Politicians will have their say, too, if the local project moves forward. Del. Todd Gil-bert, R-Woodstock, said his office would be making inquiries soon, but that more knowledge of wind energy is needed before he can form an opinion on it. "I'm one of the biggest proponents for trying to get off the dependence on oil," he said, "but the fact of the matter is, the most cost-efficient energy sources we have are traditional ones, not alternative ones."

Local governments in western Virginia are beginning to craft land-use regulations to give them tighter control over where wind turbines could be built, even as energy companies study the area's potential for large wind farms. Mountainous Bland and Bath counties are looking to develop ordinances governing wind turbines. Giles County, meanwhile, recently created a permit process that allows farmers and landowners to build and operate single turbines; but the permit process does not open the door wider for commercial wind farms. The permit process is similar to ones adopted by Pulaski and Rockingham counties. ...The prospect of more money did not persuade Patrick County officials to embrace wind farms. Last year, amid hue and cry from landowners after a Pennsylvania company's proposal to build 20 giant turbines several hundred feet high in Patrick, county supervisors adopted an ordinance banning structures of more than 100 feet high. The company dropped its proposal.