P.O.

Box 194
Circleville, West Virginia 26804

July 31, 2010

Chancellor William E. Kirwan

University System of Maryland
3300 Metzerott Road
Aldephi, Maryland 20783-1690

Dear: Chancellor Kirwan

Allegheny Highlands Alliance sent a letter to you as Chancellor of the University System of
Maryland on March 6, 2010 and is very disappointed that we did not receive an
acknowledgement or response. In that letter we were pointing out two very important facts for
consideration as the University System of Maryland contemplates the details of its purchase of
energy credits from industrial wind facilities located on the Allegheny Front.

First, there is still no credible peer reviewed evidence that energy from industrial wind facilities
in Appalachia will reduce carbon emissions because their output is intermittent, volatile, and
largely unpredictable, resulting in their full time dependence on backup, which in Appalachia is
accomplished by fossil fuel powered plants. The Code of Federal Regulations, Title 18, Part 292
requires that reliable dispatchable generating units must be immediately available at all times
(and operating at less than peak efficiency and capacity) to back up the unreliable wind
generation. The existence of backup fossil fuel power plants for this purpose results in offsetting
any reduction or elimination of pollution or “green house gases”.

Second, installations along the Allegheny Front impose significant environmental harm. The
purpose of our previous letter was to focus on the second problem because we had hoped that the
University System of Maryland did not want to be complicit in harming the environment in the
false hope of saving carbon emissions.

We pointed out the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the West Virginia Division of
Natural Resources disagreements with the bat and avian risk assessment that were submitted to
the Public Service Commission of West Virginia by Pinnacle Wind Force, LLC for the recently

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permitted Mineral County, WV facility as an example of the potential environmental issues
noting that the same facts prevail on the permitted Garrett County facility both of which
University System of Maryland is considering per the USM press release. Both letters offer sharp
disagreement with the Pinnacle Wind Force, LLC claim that the risk to bats is low and there will
be little adverse impact on resident and migrating raptors. Both letters point out that this
industrial wind facility will occupy the rather narrow migratory pathway for raptors and
songbirds and that the risk to indigenous bats is significant and cumulative. Again, we would
gladly supply copies of the letters on request.

The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources Wildlife Resources Section Natural Heritage
Program initiated a project to classify and assess the natural communities on high elevation
ridges in West Virginia. The scope of the project focused on ridge tops that have high wind
energy potential. An article (copy enclosed) in the West Virginia Wildlife, summer 2010 edition
“On High Windy Ridges” expounds nature of these high elevation ridges and the findings and
data collected from 442 plots visited by the ecology team. West Virginia’s high elevation ridges,
among the most remote and least disturbed habitats in the state, are like islands of habitat for
many species of wildlife, some of which do not occur anywhere else in the world. These are the
same high elevation ridges targeted by the industrial wind energy developers, with little or no
regard, for the cumulative effect of siting thousands of industrial wind turbines on these
ecologically sensitive ridges.

The environmental abuse that has plagued Appalachia has originated with the “exploit and get
out” capitalist mentality of industrialists taking advantage of the interrelations of human societies
and cultures with the physical and biotic elements of the Appalachian environment. Many
Appalachians of all social classes express a place attachment that encompasses historical and
spiritual connections to family land, to ancestors who have occupied that land for up to nine
generations and to the heirs that will follow. The mountains have a special meaning to the
residents which combines the diverse concepts of utility and stewardship. It is the place where
the residents find security and a sense of self-worth. This special attachment to place is totally
ignored by governmental agencies making decisions for siting these industrial wind energy
projects.

Again, it should be obvious to you that significant negative environmental impacts will flow
from the siting of industrial wind energy facilities and other facilities along the Allegheny Front.
As the entity that enables them to prosper, the University System of Maryland is culpable in
these outcomes.

Please reconsider your role in this matter.

Respectfully,

Larry V. Thomas
President