W. Va.'s second wind-energy station is generating

West Virginia's second wind-energy generating station has gone into service "quietly," reports The Charleston Gazette, which had difficulty finding out much about it.

"NedPower Mount Storm LLC's turbines are generating electricity along the Allegheny Front in Grant County," Ken Ward Jr. writes. "Developers of the 264-megawatt project confirmed the project's status in response to reports from local residents that turbines appeared to be operating." A spokesman for Dominion Resources Inc., which gets the electricity and is a partner with Shell WindEnergy in the project, grudgingly said that some turbines have been generating since the first of the year. Howeverm Ward found that "PJM Interconnection, which manages the regional electrical grid, lists the NedPower project as 'in service' as of the third quarter of 2007. In late February, Dominion told its shareholders that the 164-megawatt first phase of NedPower was to be fully operational by June 2008. The second phase was expected to be fully operational by December 2008."

The project still faces some legal challenges as an alleged nuisance, ruining scenic views, and as a danger to endangered bats and squirrels. The West Virginia Highlands Conservancy announced last momth that it would oppose all utility-scale wind projects in the state unless "it is demonstrated that the power to be produced by the project would replace power which otherwise would be generated through the burning of coal." Promoters of wind energy "see strong winds along the state's eastern mountain ridges as a source of clean power to replace coal and help deal with the climate change crisis." (Read more)