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.

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.

Highlanders for Responsible Development remains committed to its watchdog role involving the Highland New Wind Development industrial wind facility, says HRD president Randy Richardson. "We remain concerned, we are not disappearing, we are going to keep an eye on it." Formed in August 2005 largely in response to the proposed wind turbine project, the non-profit organization continues to meet monthly and monitor wind-energy activity.

Is it too expensive to survey historic resources before Virginia's first wind energy plant is constructed? Highland New Wind Development says it would have to fork over between $50,000-$75,000, or more, to do what state officials have been steadily requesting for two years. ...DHR archeologist Roger Kirchen, however, told The Recorder his agency needs the results of these surveys before a review of the project is completed. "The final SCC order directs the applicant to work toward providing us with information," Kirchen said Monday. "The SCC order has the authority. We've exchanged some documents (with HNWD) ... but none of these issues have been resolved. At this point, we're just trying to identify the potential effects."

A team of university scientists and industry experts has narrowed its sights on an initial project - about 100 wind turbines installed at least 12 miles off Virginia Beach, costing more than $250 million. The whirling turbines, each about 300 feet tall, would not be visible from shore, researchers said, and would take advantage of strong, consistent winds found in that part of the Atlantic, especially during winter. ..."If wind energy development in the eastern U.S. is going to make a real rather than symbolic contribution to solving our energy and air pollution problems, it will certainly be offshore development," Rick Webb, a University of Virginia scientist.

Virginia may have given a controversial power line an initial "yes," but Pennsylvania has given it an initial "no." In a ruling released late Thursday, regulatory judges in Pennsylvania recommended that the state's Public Utilities Commission deny applications from Allegheny Power and Dominion Virginia power to build the Trans-Allegheny Interstate Line. A hearing examiner for the Virginia State Corporation Commission has recommended approval for the controversial power line, but only on the condition that West Virginia and Pennsylvania also sign off on the plan.

After reviewing thousands of pages of testimony and comments from numerous public hearings, Judges Mark A. Hoyer and Michael A. Nemec in a 364-page document said Allegheny Energy, through its transmission line subsidiary TrAILCo had "failed to carry the burden of truth" for the entire 240-mile project. "Based on our review of the entire record, we have concluded that little or no need for reinforcement in the Prexy service area presently exists," the judges wrote.

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.

Miles of mountain ridges hugging the state's western border could hold the key to Virginia's search for alternative energy sources. That is where developers are looking to build more than 100 wind turbines taller than the Statue of Liberty, side by side, on 18 miles of the George Washington National Forest. ...But the new push for wind energy in Virginia has highlighted a conflict within the environmental community. Some groups, which have long clamored for more renewable energy sources and encouraged wind power instead of a new coal-burning power plant in southwest Virginia, oppose the FreedomWorks project, the largest wind proposal in the state, because of the potential harm to plants and animals. "We are strong advocates for renewable energy and wind energy," said Glen Besa, director of the Virginia chapter of the Sierra Club. "But we would like to see it developed responsibly."

They're up and they're spinning. Dozens of wind turbines in Grant County are generating electricity, though they haven't been without problems. Crossing into Virginia, there's a proposal for about 130 wind turbines to be built in the George Washington National Forest, as well as a much smaller operation in Highland County. However, these projects haven't developed without some strong opposition. The process takes years. Now, phase one is almost complete, 80 turbines are spinning in Mount Storm, West Virginia. Still, some local homeowners, like Bruce Halgren, are challenging the project in court.

Fossil fuels such as coal and oil are costly for consumers and the environment. Efforts are being made in Virginia to look into alternative sources of power, but it's not a breeze. Dr. Paxton Marshall, a professor of electrical engineering at UVA says wind may not be the most practical option in Virginia. "We don't have a continuous, strong, steady wind in most of Virginia. The exceptions are offshore or on the shore line in the chesepeake area." Marshall says the best option for offshore wind power in Virginia is in the Virginia Beach area.

Highland New Wind Development cannot yet offer Highland County a site plan for specific plans on the proposed industrial wind facility because the company is still negotiating with potential investors for the project. John Flora, lawyer for HNWD, provided an update to the Highland County Board of Supervisors this past Tuesday. ..."All I can say is that we are talking to folks from Europe, people on the West Coast and people in the East, and we are still working hard on narrowing the field and I am still pretty confident we will have something for you at your August meeting, but I said the last time I was here we hoped to have it tonight, and we don't."

Wind can be strong or weak, consistent or unreliable, sufficient to support wind generation or not. It all depends on location. Local support for wind can also be strong or weak, consistent or unreliable, sufficient or insufficient to support wind generation. It, too, depends on location. About 200 people from across Virginia converged at JMU for the second annual VWEC symposium on wind energy and their interest in the industry was about the only thing they had in common. Most, but not all, supported wind power development. And not all those in favor were willing to accept wind energy unconditionally.

People in Shenandoah County had the opportunity to hear both sides of the wind turbine debate Tuesday night at a public forum. They turned out to learn more about what potential impacts, good and bad, the turbines would have. Impacts to land, wildlife, and the local economy are just a few of the considerations. ... After about two hours, people left with much to consider. "Both of them brought up good points," says Kelley. "And, it's just something that I think is going to take some time to absorb everything."

A community forum on the pros and cons of wind turbines along the Virginia-West Virginia border will be held tonight at Peter Muhlenberg Middle School in Woodstock. ...The discussion was triggered in March by a proposal by FreedomWorks LLC, a renewable-energy firm from Harpers Ferry, W.Va., to study the impact of constructing 130 440-foot wind turbines in George Washington National Forest, said Rosemary Wallinger, chairman of the Forum. Freedom Works requested the Federal Aviation Administration look into the plan. The FAA is one of the regulatory bodies involved in wind farm proposals. The proposal also would need the approval of the U.S. Forest Service.

The Albemarle County Planning Commission has thrown out the idea of allowing commercial wind turbines in the county-but it's mulling the idea of smaller wind turbines for individual homeowners. ...the devices are behemoths that are up to 550' tall, dwarfing everything around them. "As I understand it, where they might be adequate, there would be unacceptable environmental consequences to the surrounding area," says Commissioner Jon Cannon. Fellow Commissioner Marcia Joseph echoed Cannon's feelings on commercial wind turbine creation. "My main concern is lining the ridgeline with commercial-sized wind turbines," says UVA Environmental Sciences Professor Rick Webb. "I'm concerned about industrial scale development intruding on what remains of wilderness areas we have left."

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.

Cecil Martin is none too pleased at the prospect of losing part of his home in the Texas Panhandle to make way for billionaire T. Boone Pickens' water and wind energy projects. ..."The state of Texas has for over 100 years authorized the use of eminent domain to permit the common necessities of life, water, electricity, telephone service, oil and gas for use in the big cities," said Humble, Pickens' attorney. Until last year, though, the wind project couldn't not have been included in the process of obtaining rights of way. Lawmakers in the last legislative session voted to allow renewable and clean-coal energy projects to piggyback obtaining rights of way with a district like the one Pickens formed last year to "construct, maintain, and operate transmission lines."