JULY 16, 2009 ISSUE
Green Energy from Wind Power Lives Another Day
Legislators in Raleigh put off voting on a proposal to ban wind power development in Western North Carolina on Tuesday, July 14. Green energy advocates welcomed the news and delay. “Ill luck, you know, seldom comes alone,” said Don Quixote. Perhaps Quixote lives on, too.
The original legislation—introduced this spring by Sen. Steve Goss (D-45)—intended to provide the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources guidelines and a legal permitting process for wind power in Western North Carolina. However, the bill was changed in the General Assembly along the way. The amendments include a proposed ban on mountain wind development that would have barred the harnessing of nearly 800 megawatts of wind energy, a capacity equivalent to a mid-size nuclear power plant.
Goss said Monday that he hopes the offending portions of the bill would be removed. “This is too important. We can’t turn our backs on responsible wind power, a no- polluting and greenhouse-free source of energy, nor ignore the potential economic windfall that wind power promises to bring to our mountain region,” said Goss. “We can’t make the same mistakes we made in the 1970s. Actually, the long-term development of a new transmission, electric grid that would be buried in the ground would improve the aesthetics of our beautiful region. We must prepare for a future that’s not dependent upon oil and we need the new green power jobs. I am hoping that the offending portions of the bill will be removed in the end.”
“Wind energy and other renewable resources will be required for the state’s electric utilities to meet requirements in a 2007 law to obtain 12.5 percent of the electricity they sell by 2021 from renewable and conservation programs,” according to a story in The News and Observer. “Progress Energy and Duke Energy have made progress developing solar energy projects but wind power to date has been too controversial to attempt to develop in the mountains and in coastal areas, the only parts of the state with sufficient wind energy resources for commercial-scale development.”
Watauga and Ashe Counties already have guidelines for wind development that restrict the height of windmills. Goss said that his original intent was for the state to have broad guidelines for permitting, leaving the particulars of wind development in the hands of the counties.
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