When the Mountaineer Wind Energy Center's 44 turbines started spinning in Tucker and Preston counties in December 2002, it was the largest wind generation facility east of the Mississippi River.

It's still West Virginia's only wind facility, but four projects nearing construction could increase the state's wind infrastructure 10 times during the next few years to more than 450 turbines -- a jump from 66 megawatts nameplate capacity to 650.

And more ventures have lined up behind those. The project queue for electric grid coordinator PJM Interconnection lists six developer inquiries into connecting another 570 MW wind generation capacity in West Virginia.

The best winds could produce about 3,800 MW of power on private lands in West Virginia, according to a study commissioned by the state Development Office. That's a significant addition to the 15,000 MW of all types of electric generation capacity now in place statewide.

But what some call "wind farms" to emphasize their clean and renewable nature, others see as a blight, and a deadly one at that. They call them "wind mines."

An evidentiary hearing held this month by the state Public Service Commission on siting the proposed Greenbrier County Beech Ridge Wind Farm ran for six days.

"I've been here 15 years, and this is probably the longest one I've seen," said Jim Ellars, chief utilities manager in the commission's engineering division, during a break on the fifth day. "There are a lot of issues."

Arguments Against

One of the more vigorous arguments at the Greenbrier hearing was that the turbines will take away from the state's natural beauty, Ellars said.

There's no arguing with a subjective judgment. But studies of property values near wind generating facilities show no negative impact on the whole, with small negative impact in some places on properties within a half mile of turbines, according to Christine Risch, director of research at Marshall University's Center for Business and Economic Research.

Wind opponents say it never will make a significant contribution to the nation's energy needs -- that after 25 years of development bolstered by a range of federal and state tax incentives, wind power is growing quickly, but it still generates less than one percent of U.S. consumption.

They cite two reasons.

One is that each turbine generates little. If these next four wind facilities planned in West Virginia are built, their 650 MW capacity will barely exceed that of the moderate-sized, 600 MW Longview coal-fired power plant proposed for Monongalia County. And they'll exceed it in name only: Because the wind doesn't always blow, they'll produce at a capacity more like 200 MW.

The other is that they take up a lot of space. At an average of eight turbines per mile of ridgeline, that 200 MW of generation capacity will stretch well over 50 miles.

Statistics like those lead some to believe that wind is a "blip" in our energy profile.

A third argument against wind power is that bird and bat kills in the Appalachian region may be greater than many believed. The National Research Council is investigating the issue now and will make recommendations in December.

Arguments For

Clean and infinitely renewable top the list of arguments for wind power.

Even if the wind doesn't blow all the time, it will blow forever. Once erected, those 50 miles of turbines will generate their 200 MW of power emissions-free year in and year out.

Wind also is widely seen as a hedge against volatile and rising fossil fuel prices -- the more wind in our mix, to a point, the more stable electricity prices will be.

And then there's economic development.

Wind maps show that the state's resource is concentrated in seven counties: Preston, Tucker, Grant, Randolph, Pendleton, Pocahontas and Greenbrier, said Patrick Mann, coordinator of the West Virginia Wind Energy Working Group.

For the most part, those rural mountain counties have few avenues of development.

Their county commissions and school boards could benefit from property taxes and other payments from wind developers.

As West Virginia heads into the era of wind, each of the seven counties likely will be asked to weigh those pros and cons. Residents who dislike the appearance of wind turbines will be pitted against county commissions seeking a windfall.