Wind farm approved for rural Virginia mountain range

Although the state has approved Virginia’s first commercial wind-energy farm, it is uncertain when – or if – the $60 million project will be built.

As many as 20 wind turbines, each about 400 feet tall, can be erected atop two Alleghany mountains in Highland County near the West Virginia border, a remote and scenic area known as “Virginia’s Switzerland.”

The State Corporation Commission, acting late last week, also imposed strict environmental safeguards on the project – so much so that some opponents wonder if the farm can lure enough investment money to be constructed. And a court appeal is possible.

“I think it’s unlikely to go forward,” said Rick Webb, a University of Virginia scientist and Highland County resident who has urged that the wind project be rejected on environmental grounds.

“I doubt that any rational investor would want to buy into this project when there are better opportunities,” Webb wrote in an e-mail.

John W. Flora, an attorney for the developer, a start-up company named Highland New Wind Development LLC , conceded that the environmental rules are sizeable.

But, he said, the initiative will go forward, the farm could be built as soon as next year and would be marketed as “the greenest wind farm ever approved in this country.”

The head of the development group, Henry T. “Mac” McBride , was similarly upbeat after the commission’s ruling. “This project sets in motion a new era of renewable energy for the state of Virginia,” said McBride, who, at 81 , is a retired poultry farmer from Harrisonburg with lifelong ties to Highland County.

The turbines are slated to be built on about 200 acres of ridgelines owned by McBride since 1958 . He also owns a home at the base of one mountaintop, and said he intends to continue living and ranching there.

The project, which would be the highest wind farm in the nation, at elevations above 4,200 feet , could generate about $200,000 in tax revenues for the cash-poor county.

It also could pump enough energy to power an estimated 12,000 homes and has been applauded by Democratic Gov. Timothy M. Kaine and Republican state Sen. Frank W. Wagner of Virginia Beach, a leading advocate for an aggressive energy plan that includes renewable resources as well as oil and gas exploration off the Virginia coast.

McBride said he has lost friends and received a death threat since he first proposed the wind idea nearly four years ago. The project has caused one of the loudest public debates in Highland County in a generation, with critics worried the whirling towers will spoil the bucolic landscape there and harm wildlife, caves, wetlands and rare bats.

The issue already has been to the Virginia Supreme Court, where McBride won earlier this year. It may be headed there again, as opponents have 30 days to appeal the state commission’s decision to the high court.

Randy Richardson, a leading opponent, said he was not surprised by the commission’s decision but was impressed with the environmental demands.

Opponents have not had a chance to discuss a possible appeal because of the Christmas holiday, Richardson said. Among other safeguards, the state commission is requiring the developer to pay up to $150,000 a year to monitor impacts on birds and bats that might be killed by whirling steel blades.

The developer must provide site access at all times to state and federal regulators, and must compensate for every dead raptor – $1,500 for each bald eagle killed, $750 for each snowy owl and $500 for each red-tailed hawk.

The commission recommended that the developer file a habitat conservation plan as part of any interaction with federally recognized endangered species. McBride has opted not to, because of high costs and time.

But, he must immediately contact wildlife authorities if an endangered bird or bat is killed by the wind turbines.

The commission’s conditional approval is good for two years and represents the last government permit needed before construction, said Flora, McBride’s attorney.

So far, the permitting process has cost about $2 million , McBride has said.

If the approval is challenged in court, the project could be delayed as much as a year, Flora said.

“We expect the opposition to appeal,” he said, “and we expect to keep moving ahead.”

Scott Harper, (757) 446-2340, scott.harper@pilotonline.com