July 13, 2011
Arizona

Wind farm seeks OK for expansion

Suzanne Adams, Miner Staff Reporter, Daily Miner, kdminer.com 12 July 2011

KINGMAN – Western Wind Energy is making good on its promise to expand its wind farm behind Nucor Steel. The company plans to ask the Mohave County Planning and Zoning Commission for a minor amendment to the county’s general plan and to rezone a parcel of land directly adjacent to the current wind farm from agricultural/residential to energy overlay-wind.

The company has already installed five 250 foot tall wind turbines in the area, which produce a total of 10 megawatts of energy. Each turbine costs around $2.3 million and have a life of around 20 years and will have to be replaced in around 30 to 40 years.

According to information provided to the commission, the company plans to install another five turbines for an additional 10 megawatts of energy from the new site.

UniSource Energy has a contract with the company to purchase the power. The company is in the process of adding 15 acres of solar panels.

The commission will also consider a request from staff to amend several portions of the Mohave County Land Division Regulations and Zoning Ordinances. The changes include updating the regulations and ordinances to bring them into compliance with changes in state law and changes to subdivision plat regulations.

According to information provided to the commission by staff, the county has around 50 subdivisions with thousands of lots proposed across the county. The economic downturn has put a hold on the development of many of these projects and project managers are asking for more time than is currently permitted in the regulations to hold onto the zoning and keep all other approvals active.

If staff’s revisions to the land division regulations are approved, it would give developers six years from the approval of the preliminary plat for their project to submit their final plat. It would also grant the County Engineer the authority to grant additional extensions of time so a developer could make necessary changes to the plat and give the Board of Supervisor’s the authority to revoke a plat if a subdivision goes into default on its assurance and no lots have been sold.

The commission meets at 10 a.m. on Wednesday at the County Administration Building, 700 W. Beale St.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/07/13/wind-farm-seeks-ok-for-expansion/