The process to determine if AES will be given permission to place a wind farm on a Laurel Mountain ridge between Randolph and Barbour counties is one step closer to being completed as the West Virginia Public Service Commission conducted evidentiary hearings Monday through Wednesday. "The attorneys representing both sides presented their cases and called witnesses," PSC spokesperson Sarah Robertson said. ...According to Robertson, the PSC expects to make a decision on Nov. 26.

The state Public Service Commission acted properly when it approved a proposal to build 124 giant wind-power turbines along 23 miles of Greenbrier County ridges, the state Supreme Court ruled Monday. Justices issued a unanimous, unsigned opinion that turned down challenges of the PSC decision filed by opponents of the $300 million Beech Ridge Energy LLC project. "We believe that the commission did not ignore or revise its rules, nor did the commission improperly interpret an unambiguous regulation," the court said in its 39-page ruling.

Wind farming or strip mining? Which energy extraction method should be used on Coal River Mountain? Residents of Clear Fork, Marsh Fork and other Raleigh County areas, with the support of environmental and community organizations such as Coal River Mountain Watch, the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, Appalachian Voices and the Sierra Club, asked the Raleigh County Commission Tuesday to support a proposed wind farm, which they say offers more long-term economic, social and environmental benefits to the county.

Elkins City Council chambers was packed Wednesday afternoon for a West Virginia Public Service Commission public hearing as people spoke for and against the AES proposed windfarm project on Laurel Mountain. The meeting started with Chris Callas, the attorney representing AES, and WVPSC Staff Lawyer Carrie DeHaven presenting opening statements. ...WVPSC Chairman Michael Albert then opened the public hearing portion of the meeting. Those for the project were matched about evenly against those against the project. Twenty-two people took the time to speak to the WVPSC - 10 spoke in favor of the project, 11 against the project and a representative from the Randolph County Airport Authority stated the authority was not for or against the project but wanted further investigation conducted to see how the project could affect the airport.

The Public Service Commission held a public hearing session Wednesday afternoon on plans to build wind turbines on Laurel Mountain in Randolph and Barbour counties. A lawyer representing AES Laurel Mountain gave a brief introduction before people on both sides of the issue addressed the crowd. AES plans to build about 65 wind turbines on Laurel Mountain.

Public hearings are scheduled for Wednesday in Randolph County and Barbour County for a proposed wind farm project. The proposal calls for up to 65 wind turbines to be built on an eight mile stretch of Laurel Mountain in the two counties. AES Laurel Mountain out of Arlington, Virginia is asking the State Public Service Commission for approval for the $250 million wholesale electric generating facility. If the company gets the needed approvals, the turbines could be in operation by the end of next year.

While concerns that wind turbines on Green Mountain will ruin the viewshed were the most voiced topic, area residents had an opportunity to consider a lot of information about the proposed project during an open house at the Wind Lea Conference Center Monday. ...Greg Trainor also voiced his concern about the view. "I love the mountain and I don't want to look up there and see 30 whirlygigs," he said, adding that the wind projects are just another way for the state to be taken. "We don't want to squander our view for a few dollars," he said, to which Clay added, "or 30 pieces of silver." Trainor said that West Virginia has a history of giving away its wealth.

The West Virginia Public Service Commission has scheduled two public hearings on the proposed wind farm by AES for the Laurel Mountain ridgeline between Randolph and Barbour counties. ...‘‘The environmental community can't decide whether the green energy that is produced from windmills is more beneficial than the environmental damage that they cause with construction and the killing of bats and birds, etc.,'' [Sens. Clark] Barnes said. ‘‘The energy community is divided as to whether or not it's a viable source of energy. There is a lot of information - a tremendous amount of information on both sides - the pro and con for the environmental community and the pro and con for the energy community. One of the problems with wind energy is it does not create a constant source of energy being fed into the grid, so therefore at peak times, the hottest months of the year, there might not be any wind. It might not be stirring and there would be no benefit.''

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."

Thursday evening, Elkins City Council formally voted against a proposed 125-Megawatt wind farm that would stretch across Laurel Mountain though Barbour and Randolph Counties. The vote will not play a direct role in determining the fate of the project. The West Virginia state Public Service Commission will have the final say on the issue, which will not be voted on for several months. None of the proposed wind turbines would be constructed in Elkins city limits. Residents attending Thursdays meeting say they support the council's opposition to the project.

Elkins City Council has set a special call meeting for 4 p.m. Thursday with plans of passing a resolution opposing the Laurel Mountain Wind Farm project proposed by AES. City officials said Tuesday that after checking with the West Virginia Ethics Commission, no public comment period will be required for the meeting. A resolution was on council’s March 4 agenda. However, that document was not prepared in time for a vote. During that meeting, West Virginia Green Energy Alliance representative Joel Martin gave an informational presentation which sparked more than two hours of discussion between his group and those opposed to the wind project.

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.

The debate over proposed windmills being placed in Randolph and Barbour counties came to the Elkins City Council meeting Thursday night. Although a proposed ordinance to express council's opposition to the AES' Laurel Mountain windmill farm project was on the agenda, council took no action. The resolution was not prepared for council to take a vote and a debate started within the crowd following a informational presentation by West Virginia Green Energy Alliance representative Joel Martin. "There has been a fairly focused campaign to distribute information that is not accurate," Martin said. "The project will not lead to a disaster on the mountains." ...Beckwith also asked Martin what affects the windmills would have on the ecology and environment. "I cannot guarantee that there will be no destruction," Martin responded.

The possibility of windmills being erected along the Randolph and Barbour County line could begin as early as 2009, if the application is approved by the West Virginia Public Service Commission, a spokesperson for AES said. Many groups, however, have been voicing opposition to the project, and most recently, Elkins City Council has decided to look at how the windmills may effect the local economy and future plans for development.

A Virginia company is seeking state approval for a proposed $250 million wind farm on the Barbour-Randolph county line. Arlington, Va.-based AES Corp. wants to build up to 65 turbines on a ridge top near Elkins that would connect to an existing Allegheny Energy. Inc. 138-kilovolt transmission line, according to a Jan. 31 filing with the state Public Service Commission. If local, state and federal regulators approve the project, AES said the turbines could begin transmitting electricity by the end of 2009.

The reception was somewhat on the chilly side, Tuesday, when a pair of mountaintop residents brought their protests about windpower electricity to the Grant County Commission. Residents Bruce Halgren and Richard Spicer appeared before commissioners as part of a campaign to reduced the number of windpowered turbines being erected in the community by NedPower and Shell Renewables and Hydrogen. The pair asked commissioners to oppose six turbines to be constructed within 820 feet of public roadways. They say the turbines present an "ice throw" hazard to motorists on Grassy Ridge Road and state Route 93.

The Grant County commissioners focused much of their attention at their recent public meeting on taking action to address the concerns of residents in the mountaintop region of the county related to road damage and threatened water resources. Commissioner Jim Cole said that the residents have had their patience pushed to the limit during the last few months. "Their water supply has been threatened by Wolf Run's application for a mining permit and they have had to wait hours with the roads blocked while equipment is transported to Grassy Ridge by NedPower/Shell WindEnergy," he said. The county commission has gone on record opposing the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection granting a permit to Wolf Run. However, the commissioners noted that they need to continue to do whatever else is necessary to ensure the residents have safe, potable drinking water.

The two big energy companies behind construction of a Grant County wind-power project say they want to expand it by more than half its size, even though a lawsuit challenging it is headed for trial. Dominion Resources Inc. and Shell Wind Energy Inc. announced on Tuesday that they intend to build 50 more turbines next year, generating 100 megawatts of power, on a mountaintop near Grassy Ridge.

A challenged $300 million wind farm proposed for a site in Grant County is a public utility immune from any lawsuit seeking to stop its construction, state Supreme Court Justice Brent Benjamin said. Benjamin disagreed with a majority opinion filed by the court to allow a lawsuit filed by a group of homeowners to proceed. The wind farm is to include 200 turbines spread over 10 miles. The Supreme Court's 4-1 decision overruled a Grant Circuit Court judge's dismissal of the lawsuit.

Despite an ongoing court challenge, developers expect to connect the NedPower Mount Storm wind farm to the state's power grid by this fall. NedPower's Dave Myers says turbines will begin producing power as they're hooked up one at a time come October. Right now, he says, developers are putting up 300-foot towers, installing equipment and doing other work on 82 turbines. Shipments of the turbine's 150-foot blades are expected to begin soon.