Iberdrola Renewables – “We don’t feel welcome”  

Credit:  Written by Jimmy Holbrook, www.chattooga1180.com 2 October 2010 ~~

Residents of Lookout Mountain have protested very loudly the idea of putting wind turbines in the Cloudland Community. Friday a representative from Iberdrola Renewables told Chattooga County Commissioner Jason Winters and Walker County Commissioner Bebe Heiskel in a conference call “we don’t feel we are welcomed”.

Commissioner Winters told AM 1180 on Friday afternoon that the conversation between the county governements and the energy company centered around the fact that Chattooga and Walker County residents on the mountain don’t want wind turbines to hurt property values and affect tourism in the scenic area. The two county commissioners assured Iberdrola Renewables that the county’s residents are not against renewable energy, but that they feel that their property values and quality of life would be affected by 120 wind turbines, as tall as 450 feet on Lookout Mountain.

Commissioner Winters said that Iberdrola Renewables indicated that they would not go where there was as much opposition as they have seen out of residents of Lookout Mountain. Winters said that the company may still want to do some wind testing in Chattooga County, but for now the idea of wind turbines on Lookout Mountain “appears to be dead.”