January 6, 2011
West Virginia

Wind Force panel to discuss results of decommissioning study

By Liz Beavers, Tribune Managing Editor, Mineral Daily News-Tribune, /www.newstribune.info 6 January 2011

KEYSER – The Pinnacle Wind Farm Community Advisory Panel will be meeting tonight to go over the results of the decommissioning study completed by Garrad Hassan and also to discuss some “last-minute items in anticipation of the construction cycle,” according to Dave Friend, chairman and CEO with Wind Force.
Copies of a draft of the study, conducted by the nationally-ranked Garrad Hassan
to determine the details for decommissioning, or dismantling, of the wind farm once the turbines exceed their usefulness, were made available to all three Mineral County Commissioners and some other key elected officials on Monday.
Friend said a copy would be provided to the Mineral Daily News Tribune once some typos discovered by Wind Force are corrected.
“The decommissioning report provides a calculation of the cost of dismantling the wind farm 20 years after it achieves commercial operation and the residual salvage value of the components,” Friend explained Wednesday.
“In other words, it answers the question of what it will cost to dismantle the wind farm and how much of that cost can be recovered through selling it as scrap.”
The study was required by the West Virginia Service Commission as part of the permitting process for the wind farm.
Also required is an escrow agreement, to be signed between Wind Force and the Mineral County Commissioners. The agreement will direct that sufficient funds to cover the cost of decommissioning be placed into an escrow account.
“This amount could be in the form of cash or other financial instrument such as a letter of credit or parent guarantee,” Friend explained.
“In the unlikely event that the project company abandons this $131 million project, these funds would become available to the property owners and then, if necessary, to the county to dismantle the project. The county is not required – under any circumstance – to decommission the project. The funding is only made available if the project company fails to meet its obligations.”
Attorneys with Steptoe and Johnson are presently going over the proposed agreement at the request of the commissioners.
The Community Advisory Panel will meet at 6 p.m. tonight in the fellowship hall of Grace United Methodist Church, 30 S. Mineral St., Keyser.