A football term was used by West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Brent Benjamin last week as the state's high court considered two appeals in relation to the proposed wind farms in Greenbrier County.

Justice Benjamin said the Public Service Commission was "punting" its responsibilities in the permitting process when it gave conditional approval to Beech Ridge Energy to construct more than 100 turbines, or windmills.

Dozens of conditions were actually handed down by the PSC. So rather than do the work it should be doing, the PSC decided to dump it off on other state agencies, including the state Historic and Preservation Office.

"It appears to me that the PSC is overstepping its authority to delegate," Justice Elliott "Spike" Maynard said right before Benjamin's remark.

We'd like to take the punting analogy one step further - not only did the PSC punt, it was a quick kick on third and long.

Siting for wind turbines is confronting us now and the issue will be on the table for many more years to come.

The public relies on state regulators to do their jobs and lead us through the proper steps for either approving or denying siting permits. And while we understand it is a relatively new and often unfamiliar technology, the PSC has a serious job to do. If the members don't have the expertise to handle it, then they better hire some people - pronto.

All of this leads us to another critical topic that has been bandied about for quite some time, starting with former Raleigh County Delegate Sally Susman and now being championed by local Delegates Linda Sumner and Mel Kessler - electing the three members to the PSC rather than appointing them.

Accountability is a must and when you are dealing with appointees, sometimes accountability suffers.

We feel the PSC needs to be an elected body. What happened last week before the high court clearly trumpets this cause.