Update [March 2, 2010]: Now, a Chicago clean energy company envisions a wind farm of 15 turbines atop a portion of Poor Mountain in Roanoke County.  What's your take on the proposal? And what's your take on wind farms in Southwest Virginia?

Previous question [Sept. 18, 2009]:  Opponents haven't stopped fighting a wind farm project in Highland County, even as developers have started to build roads and clear land in preparation for installing 19 steel turbines next spring that will tower 400 feet above the ridgeline. A hearing is scheduled for Wednesday in Richmond over a complaint arguing that the project will have a negative impact on a historic Civil War battlefield. Do you think the wind farm project is a good idea?

 The wind farms is a great idea.

To answer some of the comments in sundays paper. there is only  one small red light on the wind mills at night, do people object to airport beacons?, i think not.

2nd the wind mills dont run 24/7. and what is with the flickering shadows at 4 times as high as the rke star???? where is this tom brady sitting? 3rd, i havent heard anyone object to the hum coming from power lines. what noise level do wind mills give of?

Did you know that windmills in Iowa and Texas send energy to  New York.

Wind mills are graceful and run at a graceful speed, birds and bats will learn to avoid them, if they are even near them.

You know a few years back alot of Salem people were enraged about the YMCA water tower... now you dont even see it.

If the opponents don't want the wind farm, they should go on an electricity strike - quit buying electricity altogether.  If they continue to use electricity, then they must accept modern methods to generate it.  They vote FOR electricity with their light bulbs, computers, appliances and home heating.  Lip service without sacrifice is a non-starter. 

The yo-yos are grabbing at straws.  This "battle" was nothing more than a skirmish of which there were hundreds in Virginia during the war.   They  are probably "carpetbaggers" anyway..  On with the turbines!!

A similar wind project was tried in Boone, NC in the late 80's. A single, large turbine was atop Howard's Knob. The project lasted only a few years.

Complaints were:

(1) wind was too variable (direction and speed)

(2) cause interference with TV and radio transmissions

(3) was noisy

(4) killed birds

I don't think Poor Mountain is better located. Nor is the project better conceived.

Wind turbines have change alot since the 80's and as the following article states, the acoustic noise has been reduced with efficiency.

"At the present time, the noise produced by wind turbines has diminished as the technology has
improved. As blade airfoils have become more efficient, more of the wind energy is converted
into rotational energy, and less into acoustic noise. Vibration damping and improved mechanical
design have also significantly reduced noise from mechanical sources."

No personal experience, just have read articles similar to this one.

I think this is really cool. For a multitude of reasons. First, it shows real commitment to changing how 'we' view energy and is another step in shifting how we consume. Second, for all the talk of how our region can 'lead' at a time when many areas are seeking their point of difference, being located here demonstrates we have the courage, the conviction and above all else the vision to be among the first to accept 'new and different' ways. Third, with Va Tech nearby and their high tech initiatives there should be opportunities for the University and other universities to utilize this facility for teaching, research and evolving this technology for the future...more start ups, more jobs, one more piece of a diverse 22nd Century view. Fourth, the media coverage generated (and we should push for national and international if this is built) will only put more eyes on the Roanoke-NRV Region. Go for it!

Um, that would be nearly 30 years ago.

It's all different now.

Old thinking prevents new success.

so much has changed since that demonstration project in NC 20 years ago. You can google pictures of the turbine used in that instance and it hardly resembles the types of turbines that are deployed today. This is a worthwile proposal and it will be intersting to see where it goes. VA needs wind energy in responsible locations, and this appears to be one of them.

 I have frozen with the winter winds and enjoyed the summer breeze of Poor Mountain for about twenty years. It is wonderful to finally understand how this resource could be used to a good advantage.

I have driven by wind farms in Pennsylvania on road trips and then taken my wife back to see the majestic beauty of their slow motion rotation.

There is a beauty about machinery that works well. Most Bent Mountain farmers and residents know and apprteciate this fact. It is a rare opportunity to enjoy a windmill that produces little noise pollution, and offers no spent fuel rods or diversion of water or other use of valuable resources. I hope the neighbors have the insite to plan for the future and approve this good idea.

And by the way, how many of the "pros" on htis website, live on Bent Mountain??

Of all of you guys that are saying you want windmills so much, then put one in your backyard, not ours!

I cannot see the props on the YMCA water tower. Can You?  Enjoy The Prop Grace with one in Your Backyard.

If this wind turbine installation is allowed to proceed, it will be perhaps the worst thing to have ever happened to the Roanoke Valley. If you think the horrid sight of the bare hill at the intersection of 419 and 220 is bad, you've not seen a wind farm. I have seen these in person in CA and they are a huge blight on the landscape. Even in that desert and near desert region with low population nearby to see it, it was not a welcome sight. In a forested, mountain region, it will be disastrous. Not only visually but due to destruction of wild habitat and erosion.

At nearly 500' tall, the turbines will be about 33% the vertical relief of the mountain as seen from most vantage points in the valley. That's right, the Topological Prominence of Poor Mountain is 1448'. You do the math. Even if we were to just look at the full base relief from the valley floor in  Salem, neglecting the surrounding foot hills alongside Poor Mountain, the elevation of the summit from the floor would be only 2853'. That would make the turbines a full 16% taller than the peak. Now, that's if the peak was left in tact. Of course that will not occur if the project continues. The top of the mountain at the base of the turbines will instead be clear cut and leveled at the summit to provide area to lay the footers for the turbines and to construct another power line. Here" a photo of what a 10 mill farm looks like in the non-wooded surroundings of the Golan Heights. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a0/GolanHeights-mill.jpg That's right, that's who has to suffer the indignity of these things, the Palestinians. Wind farm projects have been halted in the free world states of Maine and New York due to environmental concerns. They simply do not have enough benefit to justify their many disadvantages. Don't be a back to walk on for the few that will profit from this awful project. Write the Roanoke County Board of Administrators and complain, today ...and tomorrow!

This is what a smaller turbine shaft looks like, lying on the ground in sections, after not being used in Maine: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/Mast_on_Mt_Redington_DSCN0123.JPG