Legislation (HB2818/SB441) from Manchin introduced today would increase the amount of taxable electricity generated by wind turbines from five percent to 12 percent of capacity. The proposal would also credit wind farms for any money or land they agree to donate to local governments or schools. But only agreements reached before this year would be eligible for credits under the bill. Administration officials say the bill responds to concerns about this new energy industry paying its fair share in West Virginia. West Virginia has one wind farm, a 44-tower complex in Tucker County. But several more have been proposed, including one in nearby Grant County where developers want to plant 200 turbines.

The Tazewell County Board of Supervisors had a heated meeting on Tuesday night with a lot of hot topic items on the agenda. A lot of people at the meeting were there because of the controversial wind turbine talk. The board met with a consultant group behind closed doors in executive session.

The magnitude of these structures shocked our county officials but will they generate revenue of the same magnitude? "Land owners get their annual fees from what is produced. Then also the county would only be able to do the personal property tax. And a personal property tax would be on each individual wind turbine. And under personal property, it would depreciate each year too." says Supervisor David Anderson. The construction phase would create some revenue as well.

Tazewell County officials say they will attempt to make a decision Feb. 2 on a controversial wind turbine farm for East River Mountain. However, they aren't guaranteeing at this point that the board will be able to reach a consensus decision on the proposed ridgeline construction ordinance at the Feb. 2 meeting.

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.

The public hearing on the proposed ridgeline protection ordinance being considered by the Tazewell County Board of Supervisors will be held beginning at 8 p.m. Tuesday at Tazewell Middle School. This is the appropriate time for those who have an opinion on the windmill project - whether pro or con - to let their voices be heard and recorded in the official record. Dominion and BP Wind Energy North America have purchased 2,560 acres of land in Tazewell County.

LEWISBURG — West Virginia is well regarded as the “mountain state,” but could it become known as the “wind farm state” in the near future?

After the Virginia Department of Historic Resources complained to the Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC) that HNWD failed to cooperate in an assessment of impacts to the battlefield, in 2010 the SCC took the position that it has no jurisdiction to address impacts across the border.

Marty has been studying the life cycle of the timber rattlesnake for 25 years. He regularly visits several dens that have been in existence on the Allegheny Front for thousands of years -- to check on the emergence of snakes in the spring. Marty had been concerned about the possible disruption of the snake dens by the construction of the Ned-Power Industrial Wind Turbines, but he was assured that the dens, located in rock piles, with crevasses going into the earth, would not be disturbed. When Marty returned to his study site this Spring, this is what he found: "It is finished. There is nothing left to save.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - A 330-mile electric transmission line proposed by Allegheny Energy this week would begin in northern West Virginia and pass through Weirton, Morgantown, Dominion Power's Mount Storm power plant and Berkeley County before ending in Frederick County, Md.

With support for the proposed Pinnacle Wind Farm growing - at least as measured by the volume of letters sent to the West Virginia Public Service Commission - the PSC has established the time and place for the fall hearing on the proposed 23-turbine wind farm just west of Keyser.

It will be another seven months before residents in Pendleton County will know if wind turbines will be built on Jack Mountain. Tension between both sides is growing.

Allegany County staff on Tuesday rejected a half dozen suggestions and critiques by US WindForce regarding proposed amendments to the county zoning code. US WindForce President Tom Matthews has said the loss of any more turbines to the planned Dan's Mountain project would eliminate the project from being a viable one. The county, however, has consistently presented a goal of balancing those business needs with adequate safeguards for its residents.

More wind farms could cause major problems for West Virginia’s mountains, Rep. Alan B. Mollohan, D-W.Va., warns.

Five members of Mountain Communities for Responsible Energy (MCRE) spoke in opposition to the installation of the 40-story giants on the ridges near Trout and Williamsbug. "To give you some perspective," Dave Buhrman offered, "a county commissioner would be smaller than a quarter photographed next to one of these towers." Buhrman stressed the potentially negative effects on the county's important tourist industry. "Mountain views millions of years in the making will be altered during one building season," he stressed. "When people can no longer get a sense that this area is wild, wonderful, and undisturbed, they will look elsewhere- we are putting Greenbrier County's future economic potential at risk by allowing the wind industry access to our loftiest vistas."

Heavy hitters file letters asking PCS to deny application

Two planning issues are going to wait for a decision in Mineral County as the county commissioners ask the planning commissioners to review potential wind turbine regulations and prepare to look over a draft of the exotic entertainment ordinance. "We're asking (the planning commission) to look at the public good," Commission President Wayne Spiggle said. "We're trying to figure out what we're going to look at in 10 years."