LOCATION/TYPE

NEWS HOME

[ exact phrase in "" • results by date ]

[ Google-powered • results by relevance ]


Archive
RSS

Add NWW headlines to your site (click here)

Get weekly updates

WHAT TO DO
when your community is targeted

RSS

RSS feeds and more

Keep Wind Watch online and independent!

Donate via Paypal

Donate via Stripe

Selected Documents

All Documents

Research Links

Alerts

Press Releases

FAQs

Campaign Material

Photos & Graphics

Videos

Allied Groups

Wind Watch is a registered educational charity, founded in 2005.

News Watch Home

County supervisors give green light to wind farm 

Credit:  Scott Orr, The Daily Courier, www.dcourier.com 6 September 2011 ~~

PRESCOTT – The Yavapai County Board of Supervisors has approved, on a 2-0 vote, a zoning change to allow a proposed 5,000-acre wind farm to be built in the northwest corner of the county.

Supervisor Chip Davis, district 3, was absent from Tuesday’s meeting.

The plant would be built by Florida-based NextEra Energy south of Seligman, and would provide 130 megawatts of electricity from about 81 wind turbines 450 feet tall, plus 30 megawatts from a solar facility on site.

NextEra plans to sell the power to Salt River Project (SRP), the Phoenix-based power company.

NextEra has had solid public support for the plant, which, according to company estimates, would employ 200-300 local workers during the construction of the plant, a phase that would last two years. Once complete, it will take seven to 10 people to operate the plant.

The company claims it will pay $3.8 million in property taxes and $19 million in salaries and other labor payments over the first 25 years of the project.

One major hurdle for the project has been the fact that the U.S. Forest Service must approve easements for roads and utility lines, something it had denied, citing a 2005 law that disallows new encumbrances on the land.

But NextEra Energy Project Manager Matthew Gomes said that issue, for which the company had initially been told only the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture could grant a waiver, could be headed for a resolution.

“We went to (Washington) D.C. to talk with (the U.S. Forest Service leadership) last Tuesday. It’s definitely a discussion in progress,” he said.

“I’m confident, because this project has a lot of stuff that’s turning out for us,” Gomes said. “I just think that God’s smiling on this project a little bit. I hope that continues.”

There were just three people at the supervisors’ meeting opposed to the project.

After Gomes made a presentation on the company and the plant, Tom Thurman, district 2 supervisor, explained how he would vote.

“Viewshed is my concern,” said Thurman. “One of your competitors came in and was going to do the same type of project in the Paulden area. I had heartburn over that, because that could have been very detrimental to the viewshed.”

But, he added, “I went out there (to the NextEra site). I looked to see where these (turbines) were – I went up on hills all the way around the place to see what the viewshed is.”

Satisfied that the visual impact would be minimal, he moved to approve the plant.

Board Chairman Supervisor Carol Springer, District 1, had previously submitted a letter expressing support for the plant.

They voted 2-0 in favor of the needed zoning changes to allow it.

Source:  Scott Orr, The Daily Courier, www.dcourier.com 6 September 2011

This article is the work of the source indicated. Any opinions expressed in it are not necessarily those of National Wind Watch.

The copyright of this article resides with the author or publisher indicated. As part of its noncommercial educational effort to present the environmental, social, scientific, and economic issues of large-scale wind power development to a global audience seeking such information, National Wind Watch endeavors to observe “fair use” as provided for in section 107 of U.S. Copyright Law and similar “fair dealing” provisions of the copyright laws of other nations. Send requests to excerpt, general inquiries, and comments via e-mail.

Wind Watch relies entirely
on User Funding
   Donate via Paypal
(via Paypal)
Donate via Stripe
(via Stripe)

Share:

e-mail X FB LI TG TG Share


News Watch Home

Get the Facts
CONTACT DONATE PRIVACY ABOUT SEARCH
© National Wind Watch, Inc.
Use of copyrighted material adheres to Fair Use.
"Wind Watch" is a registered trademark.

 Follow:

Wind Watch on X Wind Watch on Facebook

Wind Watch on Linked In Wind Watch on Mastodon