Altamont wind energy company to pay $2.5 million and replace turbines to reduce raptor deaths

“We think that is a landmark agreement that balances the need for clean energy with protections for wildlife,” said Michael Lynes, conservation director for the Golden Gate Audubon Society. “This is an aggressive schedule for replacing turbines with new ones. It will go a long way toward reducing the kills in the Altamont area.”

The settlement resolves a debate about whether the company was making sufficient progress toward a previous legal pledge to reduce bird kills by 50 percent from 2007 to 2010.

“Rather than focus on the 50 percent debate, we agreed to get something in place that uses modern technology to increase protections for the birds,” Lynes said. “This does not resolve all the problems with avian mortalities, but it is a big step forward toward reducing them.”

New wind turbines are much larger and produce much more energy than old ones, reducing the number of blades that birds can fly into.

Under the deal, NextEra agreed to replace 2,400 of its turbines within four years. If it falls behind schedule, the company also pledges to shut down all its existing turbines no later than 2015.

The company also pledged to put the new turbines in environmentally friendly locations. Many turbines installed in the Altamont Pass in the 1970s and 1980s were placed in swales between ridges where golden eagles like to soar while looking for prey, biologists say.

The wind company said it would contribute $1.25 million to the California Energy Commission for research on reducing bird kills at Altamont Pass.

The wind company will give another $1.25 million to the East Bay Regional Park District and the Livermore Area Recreation and Park to improve and protect raptor habitat.