By Richard Kerns
rkerns@newstribune.info
tribune staff writer

KEYSER — After more than a year of sometimes contentious debate, advocates and opponents of the proposed Pinnacle Wind Farm near Keyser will have the opportunity Thursday to make their case before state officials who will decide whether to approve the 23-turbine project on Green Mountain.
The West Virginia Public Service Commission will conduct two public hearings at the Mineral County Courthouse on Thursday, the first at 2 p.m. and the second at 7 p.m.
Comments can be submitted in writing or presented orally to the three-member commission.
“That will be the opportunity for the public to be heard,” said Jim Cookman of US WindForce, which is developing the Pinnacle project.
Proposed for the ridgeline atop Green Mountain, just west of Keyser, the $130 million Pinnacle Wind Farm is a being developed by US WindForce in cooperation with the NewPage paper-manufacturing company.
According to company officials, Pinnacle will generate an estimated 55 megawatts of energy, or 169 million kilowatt hours annually. That translates to enough power for more than 14,000 households per year. WindForce says the project will earn Mineral County $373,000 a year in property taxes, with about 75 percent of the total to be dedicated to the county school system. In addition, the company has pledged to establish a community benefit fund of $50,000, with annual contributions of $20,000 for the life of the project.
Opponents, led by the Allegheny Front Alliance — which is coordinating opposition to other wind farms in West Virginia — dispute power-generation figures produced by WindForce, and question whether tax revenues will be as robust as projected. Opponents also express concern about the project's impact on wildlife, as well as the effect on view-sheds throughout the region.
Following several years of background study and easement acquisition, WindForce formally applied for PSC approval of the Pinnacle Project in March. Since that time, the PSC has maintained a running list on its Web site of all documents filed in the case, including letters of support and opposition.
Building on a trend that has held since late spring, letters have run heavily in favor of the project over the past month, with the PSC tallying 70 letters of support to just one letter of opposition between Aug. 21 and Sept. 21.
Just last week, the town of Elk Garden officially threw its support behind the project. The city of Keyser is also on the record as supporting the wind farm.
Following Thursday's hearings, the PSC and members of the commission's support staff will tour the Pinnacle site — or as close as they can get, given the rugged mountaintop terrain — with officials from US WindForce, as well as representatives of groups that have registered as official parties to the proceedings, including the Allegheny Front Alliance.
Thursday's hearing will mark the start of an intensive series of reviews and procedural matters as the PSC gears up to act on the Pinnacle application.
The PSC will conduct an evidentiary hearing — the culminating hearing on the project — beginning Monday, Oct. 26, at the commission's office in Charleston. The commission has blocked off the entire week to conduct the hearing, if necessary.
The deadline for the PSC's decision on Pinnacle is Jan. 11.
Those unable to attend this week's hearing can still submit comments in writing to the PSC in Charleston. Letters should be sent to: W.Va. Public Service Commission, Sandra Squire, Executive Secretary, P. O. Box 812, Charleston, WV 25323. All written comments should  be marked with Case No. 09-0360-E-CS.
David Friend, vice president of sales and marketing for U.S. WindForce,  said that work on the wind farm could begin next spring if the wind farm is approved by the PSC. Construction would take about nine months. “We would hope to break ground in the spring and have it online by the end of the year in 2010,” he said.