The Public Service Commission approved plans today for a 23-turbine wind farm in West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle, citing the hundreds of jobs and more than $1 million in state and county tax revenue it could generate. The decision on the Pinnacle Wind Farm at NewPage in Mineral County came on the last day of the agency's 300-day review period.

General Maryland West Virginia

The West Virginia Public Service Commission is scheduled to issue a decision in the next few days on a wind energy developer's application to build wind turbines in Mineral County. The deadline for the decision is Monday, but it could come as soon as the end of this week, according to commission spokeswoman Sarah Robertson.

General Maryland West Virginia

After several years of study, many months of local debate and nearly a year of intense review by the West Virginia Public Service Commission, the proposed Pinnacle Wind Farm is approaching the decisive "no" or "go" vote from state regulators. If approved, however, actual construction of the wind farm may be delayed beyond 2010, as the project developer negotiates with the University of Maryland.

General West Virginia

The concept of going green took on a whole new meaning in 2009 for the region. With the Obama administration pushing new clean energy sources, the scenic beauty of East River Mountain was suddenly threatened, and the greater Bluefield region was divided by a towering controversy.

General Virginia West Virginia

A Maryland federal court ruling last week put a severe crimp in an industrial-scale wind project in West Virginia. Could it do the same for smaller projects planned in western Maryland? ...Invenergy issued a statement after the Dec. 8 ruling saying it would seek such a permit, according to The New York Times. In the meantime the judge said the turbines already up could only be operated in winter, when the bats are likely to be hibernating.

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West Virginia is the third-largest producer of wind power in the eastern United States, but as a judicial decision in Maryland this week shows, developing the resource isn't easy. ...Titus ordered the project halted until Beech Ridge and Invenergy, its corporate parent, obtain a permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Titus also said the company cannot operate any of the project's 40 existing turbines between April 1 and Nov. 15.

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The commission was appointed by West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin, at the request of the Pocahontas County Commission. The PCC questioned the border after surveyor Jeff Hiner of Monterey marked the border more closely than the established U.S. Geological Survey line. Hiner had been hired by Highland New Wind Development LLC to survey property owned by the McBride family, which is erecting a 38-megawatt wind energy utility in Highland County, Va. When Pocahontas learned of the new survey, officials were concerned about the accuracy of the border, since at least one of the turbines was within a few feet of the state line.

General Maryland West Virginia

Opponents of a Mineral County wind farm project maintain it will have little impact on the power grid and the reduction of greenhouse gases. Testimony began Monday in a West Virginia Public Service Commission evidentiary hearing on the Pinnacle Wind Force project. Plans are to build 23 wind turbines on top of Green Mountain near Mount Storm. Attorney Bradley Stephens, representing the opponents, questioned US Wind Force Vice President David Friend during Monday's proceedings.

General West Virginia

A controversial wind farm project in Mineral County goes before the state Public Service Commission starting Monday. The PSC will hear evidence from Pinnacle Wind Force, the group hoping to build 23 wind turbines on top of Green Mountain near Mt. Storm.

General Maryland West Virginia

A representative from AES provided the Barbour County Commission with an updated timeline for the wind turbine project and requested commissioners pass a resolution to appoint a company to conduct a decommission study to determine the cost to take the windmills down when the time comes.

General West Virginia

Nearly 100 people attended West Virginia Public Service Commission's hearing on the Pinnacle Wind Farm, Thursday afternoon at the Mineral County Courthouse, with all but one of more than two dozen speakers backing the project for its economic impact, clean energy and even visual appeal. ...The deadline for a decision on the project is Jan. 11. If approved, WindForce officials hope to have the wind farm operational by the end of 2010.

General Maryland West Virginia

Raleigh County commissioners interrupted their regular meeting Tuesday to host a public information hearing regarding a proposed Pluto wind farm. ...Although a property in Pluto owned by Earl Long has been identified as one possible spot for a wind farm known as Angel Winds, Jobs Project Director Eric Mathis was quick to point out the project was not currently "moving forward."

General West Virginia

A proposed wind farm gets some countywide attention. Tuesday the Raleigh County Commission hosted a public hearing as a way to educate community members. Earl Long and his family want to install several wind turbines on their land in Pluto, but there are regulatory hoops to get through. It could take three years before anything happens.

General West Virginia

The developers of a proposed large-scale wind turbine farm for Tazewell County have been quietly making progress high atop East River Mountain. A meteorological tower to study wind speed and direction has been erected on the mountain. A number of geo-technical studies, along with wildlife and avian studies, also are continuing at the Tazewell County site, Ryan Frazier, a senior communications specialist with Dominion Energy, said.

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As Highland New Wind Development pushes to get roads installed and fields leveled for foundations, efforts to build its 38-megawatt wind-generating utility here aren't proceeding smoothly. Obstacles abound, in the form of legal challenges, allegations of not meeting state requirements, and an Erosion and Sediment control plan state officials have found lacking. All of that is coupled with an ongoing assertion from West Virginia officials who say Virginia, and Highland County, had no right to approve a facility that crosses state lines.

General Virginia West Virginia

It's full steam ahead for a wind farm project in Greenbrier County. The state supreme court voted today to reject an appeal by Mountain Communities for Responsible Energy.

General West Virginia

US WindForce will conduct the regular month meeting of its Community Advisory Panel Thursday night at the WindLea Banquet Center, with a state energy official to address the group on the eve of the West Virginia Public Service Commission's hearing on the proposed 23-turbine wind farm. Bill Willis, a program coordinator with the West Virginia Division of Energy, will be the guest speaker for the meeting.

General Maryland West Virginia

As a 19-tower wind turbine project nears the construction stage in Highland County, Va., just across the state line from Pocahontas County, it faces a whirlwind of objections from both sides of the border -- including a dispute about just where the border lies. The project also has drawn fire from Civil War battlefield preservation groups for the negative effects the wind farm would have on West Virginia's Camp Allegheny.

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Where is the state line? Pocahontas officials would like to know. The Pocahontas County Commission met Thursday and in an occasionally heated discussion, agreed Highland New Wind Development's planned wind energy utility in Highland County, Va., might be infringing on West Virginia property. The commissioners decided to talk about it again Tuesday, when they will vote on whether to take legal action to settle the matter.

General West Virginia

Concerned citizens of Pocahontas County and a resident of Virginia brought the issue of the Highland County wind turbine project intruding on the viewshed of Camp Allegheny in Bartow to the county commission's attention at Thursday's meeting. Virginia resident Dan Foster said his main concern is for Camp Allegheny and preserving the history of the battlefield, where the turbines will be visible from almost every angle.

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