Originally published November 29 2005
New wind farm proposed for West Virginia
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
A new wind generation project in northern Greenbrier County, W. Va., will be proposed to the Public Service Commission by Invenergy LLC of Chicago.
Invenergy LLC of Chicago soon will apply for state Public Service Commission approval for a new wind generation project in northern Greenbrier County.
The planned Beech Ridge Wind Farm would be a $300 million, 200-megawatt project on about 500 acres of property belonging to Stamford, Conn.-based MeadWestvaco.
The company plans to place the project's 133 turbines on Shellcamp Ridge, Smokehouse Ridge, Beech Ridge, Rockcamp Ridge, Big Ridge, Old Field Mountain, Blue Knob, Nunly Mountain and Cold Knob Mountain, excluding Cold Knob itself.
"We did a review of potential locations with strong wind resource, good proximity to the transmission system and in an area where we thought we could build a project with minimal impact on the community," Groberg said.
The company plans to install General Electric 1.5 megawatt turbines, Grober said.
Construction is expected to generate about 200 jobs for six to eight months, and ongoing operation would create 20 jobs averaging annual pay of $35,000, he said.
Invenergy subsidiary Beech Ridge Energy LLC would be the fifth largest taxpayer in the county, paying $400,000 a year on average for the next 20 years.
Invenergy has one of the largest wind development efforts in the country, according to Groberg, including 260 MW in three projects in Colorado, Wyoming and Idaho and an operating wind farm, the Buffalo Mountain Wind Energy Project, in Tennessee.
Asked about wind's place in West Virginia, Groberg said wind generation helps to diversify the state's energy portfolio and provides a nice hedge for other energy prices because wind prices are fixed and do not fluctuate with foreign energy markets.
Constructed wind generation in West Virginia so far consists of the 44-tower, 66-MW installation on Backbone Mountain in Tucker County called the Mountaineer Wind Energy Center.
All content posted on this site is commentary or opinion and is protected under Free Speech. Truth Publishing LLC takes sole responsibility for all content. Truth Publishing sells no hard products and earns no money from the recommendation of products. NaturalNews.com is presented for educational and commentary purposes only and should not be construed as professional advice from any licensed practitioner. Truth Publishing assumes no responsibility for the use or misuse of this material. For the full terms of usage of this material, visit www.NaturalNews.com/terms.shtml