The subject of wind power brought pros and cons to the floor of discussion during the Mineral County Development Authority meeting held Tuesday evening at the Elk District Fire Hall. ...Spiggle stated that he would ask two questions to wind power companies, both dealing with signed contracts by the company, with one a promise of tax revenue, and the other verifying the company would remove the turbines if necessary. "If the company would answer ‘no' to the questions, then I would oppose the wind mill project," Spiggle said.

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.

Members of the Community Advisory Panel for the proposed Pinnacle Wind Farm near Keyser traveled to Berlin, Pa., Monday for a neck-craning, up-close tour of a wind turbine project similar to the one planned for Green Mountain. About a dozen members of the volunteer panel were guests of US WindForce as they toured the 18-turbine Lookout Project in Somerset County, which is operated by Edison Mission Group, one of the nation's leading operators of electric power generation.

The Lookout wind project in Somerset County is five turbines smaller than the US WindForce project proposed at Pinnacle in Mineral County, but members of the Community Advisory Panel got the opportunity to get a feel for wind farms and meet the company likely to operate the Pinnacle project. "Edison is our joint venture partner," Jim Cookman, vice president of project development for US WindForce, said during Monday's tour. "We have a joint development agreement.

Allegany County staff on Tuesday rejected half a dozen suggestions or critiques by US Wind Force regarding proposed amendments to the county zoning code. US Wind Force 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.

A key factor in any decision the commissioners might make regarding the proposed amendments to the county zoning code could involve the recently adopted LaVale Region Comprehensive Plan. The proposed changes would impact any future industrial wind energy venture, Stakem noted, but only the Dan’s Mountain project has open permits with county government. Lewis said last week, and Stakem reiterated Monday, that the LaVale planning area does not permit industrial wind turbines.

The possibility of 200 construction jobs didn't sway critics of a planned commercial wind turbine project atop Dan's Mountain. Neither did an estimated $5.4 million in new property tax revenue over the next decade. Nor did an appeal to clean, green energy. Instead, the 14 area residents who spoke in favor of legislation that would place steep limitations on industrial wind energy projects here said the project simply wasn't a good fit for Allegany County.

The Community Advisory Panel for the proposed Pinnacle Wind Farm near Keyser will not conduct its regular monthly meeting, with panel members instead slated to tour a Pennsylvania wind farm later this month. The wind farm tour, which is limited to members of the panel, is scheduled for May 18.

The Allegany County Board of Commissioners on Thursday granted the president of US Wind Force a meeting to discuss why a proposed bill to regulate the wind industry is a bad idea. Tom Matthews appealed during the public comment period of Thursday’s weekly meeting that amendments to the zoning code — drafted to protect the county and its residents — are too restrictive.

A wind energy official has fired back at a Mineral County commissioner on the viability and public perception of the wind industry. David Friend, vice president of US Wind Force, said in a letter Friday to the Allegany County commissioners and also sent to the Times-News that Commissioner Wayne Spiggle's skepticism and concerns "are unfounded."

David Friend, vice president of US Wind Force, said in a letter Friday to the Allegany County commissioners and also sent to the Times-News that Commissioner Wayne Spiggle's skepticism and concerns "are unfounded." ...Friend's letter was in direct response to a Times-News March 29 story in which Mineral County Commission President Wayne Spiggle said he doesn't believe wind energy decreases greenhouse gases and questioned whether the majority of Mineral County residents do.

Wind Farm near Keyser is a favorable site for turbines based on wildlife considerations, according to extensive studies conducted by environmental consultants retained by the developer, US WindForce. That was the message from Monday night's meeting of the Community Advisory Panel, delivered by Jennie Henthorn of Henthron Environmental Consultants.

US WindForce will host a public meeting Monday evening at the Wind Lea Banquet and Conference Center as part of the company's ongoing efforts to keep the public abreast of its Pinnacle Wind Farm project near Keyser, with environmental issues again the focus of discussion.

Residents filled the auditorium of Washington High School on Monday evening in hopes that their voices would be heard and a change would be made to the proposed route for a high-voltage power line slated for construction in the area. Nearly 150 people turned out for a public hearing about P.A.T.H., which stands for Potomac-Appalachian Transmission Highline, and is a joint venture of Allegheny Energy and American Electric Power that was announced last year.

Disputing what's been called a "dialogue," several guests at Monday's US WindForce community meeting felt questions have gone unanswered just as the company recently announced its intention to file an application with the Public Service Commission for 23 wind turbines comprising the Pinnacle Wind Farm.

One week after moving in, Loudenslager found out that a swath of the farm where cows graze and alfalfa grows soon could be cleared to make way for a high-voltage power line. "It's like a punch to the gut," Loudenslager said. "This is where I've wanted to be my whole life." Loudenslager's farm north of Boonsboro sits on one of several routes that have been suggested for the Potomac Appalachian Transmission Highline (PATH), which would run from St. Albans, W.Va., through Bedington, W.Va., to Kemptown, Md., in Frederick County.

he United States Department of Energy issued a proposal yesterday that could reopen the way for a 190-mile high-voltage transmission line through central New York that state and local officials tried to block last year. The department declared a multistate area from West Virginia to upstate New York a "National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor," where congestion of existing power lines makes the electricity grid unreliable and subject to blackouts.

States with renewable portfolio standards have generated growth in the renewable energy sector, but many of the Appalachian states don't have one. Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and New York all have some fairly progressive goals, but West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia and Tennessee don't have a state RPS and wind projects often ignite battles.

Edison Mission Group and a private Pennsylvania-based wind farm developer said they have agreed to develop up to 1,000 megawatts of mostly onshore wind energy throughout the U.S. mid-Atlantic. Edison Mission, which manages the power business of Edison International, made the agreement with US Wind Force LLC to develop wind farms over the next several years that would feed PJM power grid that includes Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, West Virginia and parts of North Carolina.

Details and a registration form are available at the link below for the Wildlife and Wind Energy Conference to be held on Saturday, December 2, 2006 at Kutztown University in Kutztown, PA USA.