By: Lydia Crawley The Parsons Advocate
Following last week’s story on the Catamount, LLC application to the Public Service Commission of West Virginia to modify an existing permit to add additional turbines in Tucker and Grant Counties for its facility in Mt. Storm, the Parsons Advocate has been contacted by Andrew Gallagher, Director of Communications for the Public Service Commission of West Virginia with additional information on the application.
Gallagher said that the Public Service Commission has scheduled two hearings on the application to change the sitting certificate for the wind farm in Grant and Tucker Counties. The Commission will take public comments on the case at 4 p.m. June 4th at the PSC offices at 201 Brooks St. in Charleston. An evidentiary hearing will be held at the same location June 5th at 9:30 p.m.
Gallagher also stated that in 2002, Mt. Storm Wind Force LLC was granted a certificate from the Commission to construct a wind farm in Grant and Tucker Counties and in February of that same year, the Commission received notification of a name change from Mt. Storm to Catamount.
The Commission had denied the company’s request to make modifications to the citing certificate without having to go through the hearing process on April 8th, according to Gallagher. Gallagher further stated that the denial will not stop the application process.
“Catamount proposes to reduce the number of turbines proposed in the application from 72 to 37, with 44 possible locations, and to increase the span of the blade lengths,” Gallagher said.
