US Wind Force says its subsidiary, Pinnacle Wind Force LLC, is moving forward with plans to construct a 23-trubine wind farm in Mineral County. The Wexford, Pa.-based company said Friday it has filed a 30-day notice of intent with the West Virginia Public Service Commission. The notice is nesessary to obtain a siting certificate from the PSC. ...

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.

The beauty of East River Mountain is in jeopardy according to a group of citizens who are against the proposed wind turbine project. This group has grown from a group of 6 to a group of 150. They have a laundry list of reasons why they don't want industrial size wind turbines on our mountains.

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.

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.

Area residents concerned about the growing visual footprint of the wind industry in the region, including a planned 23-turbine wind farm that will transform the skyline west of Keyser, gathered Sunday to form a citizens group that will seek to educate the public about wind energy. The new group, named Allegheny Front Alliance, met Sunday afternoon at Keyser Primary Middle School, with about 25 people in attendance.

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 developers of a proposed wind farm on Green Mountain will conduct their first public meeting of 2009 tonight at the Wind Lea Banquet and Conference Center. The public meeting of the US WindForce Pinnacle Wind Farm Advisory Panel is set to start at 6 p.m. The meeting, which continues the monthly updates held since last spring, will focus on setting the agenda for future advisory meetings through the coming year.

Lawyers for the $300 million Beech Ridge Energy project in Greenbrier County say they were blind-sided when anti-windfarm advocates recently filed documents with the state Public Service Commission suggesting a "proposed settlement agreement" was in the works to decrease the number of giant, electric-producing turbines by nearly 50 percent. ...Feinberg accused MCRE of "attempting to mislead the commission" that a settlement was near at hand.

The developers of the proposed Pinnacle Wind Farm near Keyser will not submit the project to the West Virginia Public Service Commission until sometime in February. Stepping back from the recent timeline that called for an early-December submission, officials with US WindForce said the project has been delayed by the numerous details that must be addressed in any such application.

Two companies are proposing to convert wind into energy in Tazewell County through the development of 60 large-scale windmills along the crest of East River Mountain. The two unidentified companies are proposing to build as many as 60 windmills that would be 400 feet tall along the ridges of East River Mountain in Bluefield, Va., David Anderson, the Eastern District member of the Tazewell County Board of Supervisors, said.

A group of Mineral and Grant county residents who own property in the vicinity of the Nancy Hanks Memorial have asked the Mineral County Commission to petition Gov. Joe Manchin for a moratorium on the construction of any additional wind turbines in the state. Harriett Hartman, Bill and Leigh Burt, Joe McKenney, Frank Roleff and Greg Trainor all appealed to the commissioners Tuesday to do what they can to stop the construction of a wind farm along New Creek Mountain and the tip of the Saddle.

A group concerned about proposed wind energy development on Saddle Mountain says placing turbines there could alter the landscape of an area now recognized as the birthplace of Nancy Hanks Lincoln.

The Public Service Commission recently approved the 65-turbine wind farm on the Laurel Mountain Ridge between Randolph and Barbour counties. ..."They have to be maintained and they have to be taken down and money has to be provided for that," said Commissioner Elbon. "You know how we ended up with all the strip mines all over West Virginia. The state had to pay to have those things taken care of. This won't happen with the windmills."

As U.S. WindForce prepares to present its application to the West Virginia Public Service Commission, Dave Friend, vice president for sales and marketing, said the company is looking to do more with the community. "We've been working at the community level for a while," Friend said. "We formed a community advisory panel, which has a cross section from the Keyser, New Creek and Elk Garden area. The goal was to involve the community in our planning process."

Arthur and Pamela Dodds are upset with the West Virginia Public Service Commission's approval of the wind turbine facility along the Laurel Mountain ridgeline in Barbour and Randolph Counties. "I was very disappointed that the wind turbine complex had been approved. I feel there was an improper balancing of the information that the opposition gave," says Pamela Dodds, a Barbour County resident.

The West Virginia Public Service Commission approved AES Laurel Mountain's certificate on Wednesday to construct a $250 million wind turbine electric generating facility of up to 65 wind turbines on an eight-mile stretch of the Laurel Mountain ridgeline between Barbour and Randolph counties. ...Scores of area residents have spoken out against the project saying it would mar the mountainous scenery and interfere with wildlife. Art and Pam Dodds said members of the Laurel Mountain Preservation Association are very disappointed in the decision of the WVPSC to grant the siting certificate.

West Virginia has OK'd a proposed $250 million wind farm along the Laurel Mountain ridgeline. The state Public Service Commission says AES Laurel Mountain has to establish a decommissioning fund, obtain additional permits and satisfy other conditions contained in the order approving construction that was issued Friday.

e West Virginia Public Service Commission is expected to reach a decision today on whether to grant AES' siting permit to construct up to 65 wind turbines on the Laurel Mountain ridge between Barbour and Randolph counties. ...The PSC has been considering all of the written evidence and testimony in order to arrive at a decision in the case. Today is the final day in the statutorily imposed 300-day process for the PSC to make a decision.