Protect Pendleton County (WV) from Industrial Wind Turbine Development

Sample Letter of General Opposition

Your address & today's date

Dear Ms. Squire:

I am writing with regard to Case # 05-1740, Liberty Gap Wind Force, LLC.

As a resident of Pendleton County I am opposed to the introduction of industrial wind turbines into the most scenic and most beautiful county in the entire state of West Virginia. The PSC is empowered to serve the public by protecting it from abuses of power by noncompetitive public utilities. I think that authority should be legislatively mandated or judicially extended to protect us from Exempt Wholesale Generators, who have the power to abuse us by depriving us of the full use and enjoyment of our scenic vistas and by diminishing the market value of our property.

I might entertain the idea that siting wind turbines on the ruined ridges and strip-mined landscape of southwestern WV would not impair an already dreary sight, but to do so to the scenic jewel of the Potomac Highlands is outrageous capitulation to investors more interested in tax breaks than reliable power production.

Sincerely,
[Your name]

Another Sample Letter of General Opposition

Your address & today's date

Dear Ms. Squire:

I am writing with regard to Case # 05-1740, Liberty Gap Wind Force, LLC.

I live in Pendleton County and I think that allowing wind turbines into our county is a bad idea. I think the members of the Commission need to get out of Charleston and come here to see for themselves. Pendleton County is all about beautiful views of forested ridges and bucolic valleys.

It has Spruce Knob, the highest point in WV, Seneca Rocks, a major rock climbing Mecca, and Smoke Hole, an impressive river canyon all protected within the Monongahela National Forest. Pendleton County's scenery brings in tourists, and many of these tourists are so impressed by what they experience here that they buy property and build vacation or retirement homes.

These new Pendletonians represent the economic future of the County and blighting it with vistas of wind turbines will be its doom.

Sincerely yours,
[Your name]

Sample Letter About Economic Issues

Your address & today's date

Dear Ms. Squire:

I am writing with regard to Case # 05-1740, Liberty Gap Wind Force, LLC.

I am a resident of Pendleton County, and I am concerned that the grossly overstated economic benefits to the county suggest that the applicant is not truthfully responding to the PSC's request for supporting data. One example of this may be found in Table 1 of Exhibit 32, prepared by Randall Childs, a paid consultant for Liberty Gap. Without any supporting documentation, Mr. Childs claims the 7-month construction project will result in $114 million of business volume in Pendleton County. Since the towers, turbines and rotors will be manufactured out of state and trucked into the county, I find it difficult to imagine what other site construction needs county businesses could supply that would come anywhere near that $114 million number.

I would like the PSC to delay acting on Liberty Gap's application until such time as a more realistic projection of its economic impact, along with supporting data and explanations of its methodology and assumptions, can be made available to the public.

Cordially,
[Your name]

Another Sample Letter About Economic Issues

Your address & today's date

Dear Ms. Squire:

I am writing with regard to Case # 05-1740, Liberty Gap Wind Force, LLC.

I object to the claims made by the applicant that Pendleton County will receive substantial economic benefits. The biggest landowner, who doesn't live in the county, will benefit but the rest of us won't. Table 1, Exhibit 32 shows 150 jobs with a $5 million payroll for 6 or 7 months, depending on whether one accepts the number provided on the second page of the application or the number provided in the project schedule. Using 7 months — that works out to about $5,000 per month per worker. One wonders how many of those workers will come from Pendleton County and how many of them will be from the specialized crews that travel the country putting up these turbines and sending their paychecks home, far away from Pendleton County.

This same Table 1 shows an additional 39 jobs created as an indirect or induced result of the construction worth $2.4 million or about $9,000 per month per worker. One wonders what jobs they are to pay so well. I'd like to read about them but I fear they are a fiction. Mr. Childs, the author of this table, has used the wrong multiplier to estimate the economic spin-off to the county from this project. Construction projects, particularly short-term ones such as this, generate very little job creation. Local motels and restaurants are the only kinds of businesses to feel an impact, and their response is to work harder and hire some part-time help but no more than that. The misrepresentations in the economic impact statement of this application are grounds for its dismissal.

Most sincerely,
[Your name]

Sample Letter about Transmission Line Issues

Your address & today's date

Dear Ms. Squire:

I am writing with regard to Case # 05-1740, Liberty Gap Wind Force, LLC.

I own property near the proposed transmission line and believe it will materially affect me, but I cannot tell for sure because the map included in the application does not show the exact route of the line. The map shows alternate routes, making it impossible for me to determine anything about it.

I request that the PSC reject the application and require Liberty Gap to submit a new application with an accurate map of the exact route of the transmission line. This will allow affected property owners to accurately evaluate the impacts the line will have on their property.

Respectfully,
[Your name]

Sample Letter about Viewshed Issues

Your address & today's date

Dear Ms. Squire:

I am writing with regard to Case # 05-1740, Liberty Gap Wind Force, LLC.

I own property that is located in the viewshed of Jack Mtn., and I have reason to believe that the Liberty Gap project will devalue my property and have anecdotal evidence that it already has, having heard that some sales of home sites in the area have fallen through when the potential buyers learned of the project. The economic impact response of the applicant claims no negative effect on property values but it is not documented in any way other than a passing reference to a biased report made by wind industry advocates.

I think that the PSC, rather than relying on suspect assertions made by the applicant, would be well served to fund an independent study of property values as experienced in Tucker Co. before and after the Mountaineer Wind facility was built, and to postpone consideration of the application until such a study is completed. Conducting such a study would give the PSC a useful set of standards with which to evaluate applicant responses.

Thank you for the opportunity to comment.
[Your name]

Sample Letter About Water Issues

Your address & today's date

Dear Ms. Squire:

I am writing with regard to Case # 05-1740, Liberty Gap Wind Force, LLC.

I own property that is dependent on a free-flowing spring for water, and I am concerned that the blasting proposed by the applicant to prepare foundations for 50 wind turbines could affect my water supply. Springs are a common source of water for the people of Pendleton County, and drilled wells are prohibitively expensive because of their depth and the frequency of dry holes. The applicant makes no provision for damage done to property owners whose water supply may be materially affected by its construction activities.

I respectfully request that the PSC deny the application until it is amended with guarantees by the applicant that it will make whole any property owner whose water supply is affected when construction begins, during construction, and for a 2-year period following the completion of the project.

Yours truly,
[Your name]

Sample Letter About Wildlife Issues

Your address & today's date

Dear Ms. Squire:

I am writing with regard to Case # 05-1740, Liberty Gap Wind Force, LLC.

I am a resident of Pendleton County and am concerned with the cavalier manner in which the applicant-sponsored study dismissed the issue of bat mortality. We in Pendleton County enjoy our mosquito-less summer evenings thanks to the bats. The many caves of Pendleton County are home to thousands and thousands of these creatures..

The first conclusion of the study was that bat migration occurred on a broad front along Jack Mt. so bat-turbine collisions would be evenly disbursed and insignificant, neglecting the fact that 50 turbines along that same Jack. Mt. can do just as much damage as one turbine in a highly favored migration corridor. The second conclusion was an admission that one cannot effectively predict what level of post-construction bat mortality will occur based on pre-construction observations of bat flights and that one should just go ahead with the project and figure out mitigation schemes later.

I request the PSC to reject that finding and defer granting the application until more is known. The unwillingness of FPL Energy to allow continued independent research on the bat kills at the Mountaineer facility (Tucker Co. WV) indicates to me that the wind industry is hiding something.

Sincerely,
[Your name]