Windmills stopped at night after bat death

Thirty-five windmills at a western Pennsylvania wind farm have been silenced at night since a bat that belongs to an endangered species was found dead under one of the turbines. The Tribune-Democrat of Johnstown is reporting the farm shut down the windmills overnight after the Indiana bat was found Sept. 26. The farm in question was built by Gamesa Energy USA and covers parts of Portage, Washington, and Cresson Townships in Cambria County, and part of Blair County, about 60 miles east of Pittsburgh. A spokesman for Duke Energy, which now owns the wind farm, says it has a cooperative monitoring agreement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to determine whether bats are being harmed by the windmills. The windmills will likely resume nighttime operation about Nov. 15, when the bats will hibernate until spring. AP