RICHMOND — The State Corporation Commission (SCC) has directed an SCC hearing examiner to hold an additional proceeding to address a post-construction bat and bird mitigation plan for a proposed wind-powered electric generation facility in Highland County.

Highland New Wind Development, LLC seeks to build and operate 19 wind turbines along a mountain ridge near the Virginia-West Virginia border. Under current Virginia law, the SCC may approve electric generation projects that do not threaten the reliability of the electric system, advance electric competition, and have positive impacts on economic development. The SCC must also consider environmental impact.

SCC Hearing Examiner Alexander F. Skirpan, Jr., issued a report on March 1, 2007, recommending conditional approval of the project. During its preliminary consideration of the application and the evidentiary record, the SCC found that the risk to bats and birds falls within the required statutory analysis of the project’s environmental impact and the public interest.

Skirpan is recommending a post-construction monitoring program developed jointly by Highland New Wind and the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries to mitigate such risk. The Commission wants all parties to the case and SCC staff to have an opportunity to participate in the process contemplated by the hearing examiner. The remand order sets forth 16 specific issues that are to be addressed in any comprehensive post-construction monitoring and mitigation plan submitted for the Commission’s consideration.

An evidentiary hearing on remand has been scheduled for July 17 in the SCC’s courtroom in Richmond. The SCC will webcast the audio portion of the hearing. Instructions for connecting to the webcast can be found on the SCC website at: www.scc.virginia.gov/case/.

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Case number: PUE-2005-00101