Among the reasons the PSC, which regulates utilities in the state, cited in rejecting the deal were Appalachian’s lack of need for the farms, concerns regarding the farms’ long-term cost and West Virginia customers likely bearing more of that cost after Virginia regulators rejected the proposed deal.

General West Virginia

Sen. Randy Smith, R-Tucker, spoke in favor of the bill. He said when the Legislature created the tax break in 2001, it should have added a sunset clause. He added that other industries don’t receive as generous a break.

Taxes & Subsidies West Virginia

The Navy has backed out on plans to buy power from the new Mount Storm project in Grant and Tucker counties, raising new questions about the project’s viability.

General West Virginia

AES Laurel Mountain LLC was sentenced earlier this month by U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael J. Aloi after reaching a plea agreement ...The company was sentenced to pay the maximum fine of $15,000 for each of two misdemeanor counts of “unlawful taking” of migratory birds, a crime under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

Impact on Birds Legal West Virginia

The filing contended the company failed in its legal obligation to comply with the Migratory Bird Treaty Act by not using “reasonable, prudent and effective measures to avoid or minimize the impact of lighting on migratory birds.”

Impact on Birds Legal West Virginia

A Fortune 500 Canadian energy company recently bought a long-delayed Grant County wind farm, paying $200 million for the project, which they hope will be up and running in a year. Enbridge, a Calgary, Alberta-based pipeline and energy company, announced Wednesday that it bought the New Creek Wind Project and plans to have the 49-turbine farm in operation in December 2016.

General West Virginia

The American Legislative Exchange Council won a significant victory this week when West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin (D) signed a law requiring legislative approval of the eventual plan the state submits to comply with U.S. EPA’s ambitious Clean Power Plan.

Energy Policy USA West Virginia

The first bill signed into law in this year’s regular legislative session repeals a current state law. Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin signed House Bill 2001 Tuesday repealing the state’s Alternative Renewable Energy Portfolio Act.

Energy Policy West Virginia

A bill that would repeal a 2009 law that mandates utility companies get 25 percent of their production materials from sources other than coal by 2025 was passed by the West Virginia State Senate unanimously Wednesday, with debate only on an amendment to the bill.

Energy Policy West Virginia

The requirements were signed into law in 2009 when Democratic U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin was governor. The standard requires utilities serving at least 30,000 residential customers to generate 25 percent of their electricity with renewable or alternative power sources by 2025. City-owned utilities and rural electric cooperatives are exempt.

Energy Policy West Virginia

A wind turbine that is a part of the NedPower Mount Storm wind project caught fire on Sunday afternoon (January 4, 2015).

Safety Structural Failure West Virginia

But, as states such as Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas are discovering, there is no such thing as free electricity – in addition to the financial costs, there are political and environmental costs associated with even the most renewable sources. And politicians are beginning to see the truth that executives of renewable energy companies are just as invested in the success of their corporations as those who run coal companies. The struggle for that kind of power will go on no matter what source of energy the politicians back next.

General Oklahoma West Virginia

“Even if technology allows you to build enough renewable or have enough energy efficiency, it is at a cost,” Patton said. “What’s really important is that people realize that somebody has to pay for this, and in the case of our state, there’s a lot of people who really struggle paying for it.”

General West Virginia

An interesting debate on whether wind energy should continue to be deployed in the Appalachia area of the United States.

General North Carolina West Virginia

In a letter to Congress, one House committee calls for the end of wind subsidies. The Committee on Ways and Means wrote in a letter the urgency to "allow the wind production tax credit (PTC) to expire at the end of 2013 under current law and not to include an extension of the PTC in tax reform or tax extenders legislation."

Taxes & Subsidies USA West Virginia

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Martinsburg, alleges low-frequency pulsations from the turbines, while always present, "are at times more severely debilitating, causing core pulsations. At times these symptoms are so intense that (potential buyers) cannot escape the adverse effects ... without leaving their property."

Legal West Virginia

Thus far, at least 32 lawsuits have been filed over the Pinnacle Wind Farm at NewPage on Green Mountain. Gary and Amy Kalbaugh are the latest to file a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia at Martinsburg. The Kalbaugh lawsuit is only the second lawsuit classified as a “torts to land” claim.

Impact on People West Virginia

MARTINSBURG – A residential property developer is claiming damages after wind turbines were placed near his desired property development.

Legal West Virginia

In November or December 2011, the turbines produced noises and pulsations, according to the complaint. The complaint further states the noises and pulsations from the turbines cause annoyance, mental and emotional injuries, physical pain and decreased property use and enjoyment. 

Impact on People Noise West Virginia

Anna Bell Saville lives about 1.5 miles from the site and contends she’s lost the ability to enjoy her home and property. She sued Pinnacle Wind LLC and its parent company, Edison Mission Group. The 23 turbines on Green Mountain create low-frequency pulsation noise and vibration that is irritating, annoying and “at times, severely debilitating, causing core pulsations,” her complaint said.

Impact on People Noise West Virginia