By Richard Kerns
rkerns@newstribune.info
tribune staff writer
KEYSER — A West Virginia official briefed members of the Pinnacle Wind Project's Community Advisory Panel on renewable energy Thursday night, detailing the state's ambitious efforts to wean itself from oil consumption.
Bill Willis of the West Virginia Division of Energy said the state has set a goal of “displacing” 1.3 billion gallons of oil a year by 2030, or about 60 percent of current consumption. Filling that gap will be both renewable energy like hydro electric, wood-product residue and wind, as well as coal.
With the third-largest deposits of coal among U.S. states, coal will continue to be an important fuel component not just in West Virginia and the U.S., Willis said, but worldwide.
“Coal and renewables are going to be two fuel types that will gain market share,” he said.
Detailing wind projects in the state, Willis said West Virginia currently generates the
equivalent of 330 megawatts of electricity with operational plants, with another 461 MW permitted but not yet in operation. Other projects in the planning stage push that total to more than 1,000 MW.
By comparison, hyrdro-electric projects currently generate 254 MW of power.
Willis, who has worked in the energy office for 30 years, said West Virginia is among the state leaders in its goals for developing renewable energy, setting a target of 25 percent renewable energy use by 2025.
Willis briefed members of the Pinnacle panel as the proposed 23-turbine wind farm atop Green Mountain nears the final stages of its review by the Public Service Commission.
The three-member PSC will be in Keyser Thursday, Sept. 24 to conduct two hearings on the project, one at 2 p.m. and the second at 7 p.m.
“That will be the opportunity for the public to be heard,” said Jim Cookman of US WindForce, which is developing the Pinnacle project.
The PSC will follow up the public hearing with a formal evidentiary hearing in Charleston on Oct. 26. That hearing will last much of the week, and provide the basis for the PSC's decision on whether to approve the project. The deadline for that decision is Jan. 11.
As part of Thursday's meeting, WindForce officials agreed to provide view-shed maps to the three local repositories of information that has been submitted to the PSC. The maps, which document visibility of the 400 foot turbines within a 25-mile radius from the Pinnacle site, will be available in the next week or two at the Keyser and Piedmont libraries, and the Elk Garden School.
The next meeting of the Pinnacle advisory panel will be Monday, Oct. 5, with the meeting to take place in Elk Garden.
Keyser, W.Va. —
