As the Gazette reported, Rep. Alan Mollohan wrote a letter to the state Public Service Commission predicting that approval of the Beech Ridge Wind Farm will open the door to the construction of "thousands" of turbines across the state. He then went on West Virginia Public Radio and upped his estimate to "tens of thousands." The congressman's predictions are another inaccurate attempt by anti- wind, NIMBY forces to persuade the PSC to stop all wind development in the state.

The PSC would have to approve 80 Beech Ridge Wind Farms for West Virginia to come close to the congressman's prediction. I don't know where he got his estimates, but the facts tell us that in the five years the PSC has been reviewing wind projects; it has received six applications and approved three so far. The result: There are currently 44 wind turbines operating in the state.

Based on this history, Congressman Mollohan incredibly concludes the PSC is "allowing out-of-state interests to build them [wind projects] without any regulatory scheme to monitor or approve them." How can he make this claim in a letter to the very commissioners who enforce some of the most comprehensive wind turbine siting rules in the United States?

To comply with the PSC, Beech Ridge commissioned thorough studies on the project's potential impacts on everything from bats and flying squirrels to traffic and property values, and we're not done yet. The process takes 10 months and requires the commissioners to weigh thousands of pages of expert testimony and public comments, including six days of evidentiary hearings.

The resulting decision, to grant or refuse our application, is just that, a single decision on a single project. It will not create sweeping policies that open the door for future wind developers. Contrary to the congressman's dire predictions, the PSC will still have to judge each wind project the same way it judges all power plant requests, on their own merits.

The congressman's letter disregards these facts, and it runs contrary to his constituents' beliefs. In a West Virginia Manufacturer's Association poll, 74 percent of those polled in Mollohan's own district support the construction of wind turbines in their county. These folks understand there is plenty of room in West Virginia for projects like Beech Ridge that create good jobs, increase tax revenues and generate electricity without polluting. But wouldn't you know it; Beech Ridge isn't even in the congressman's district.

Groberg is director of business development at Invenergy LLC in Olney, Md.