December 7, 2011
California

Supervisors approve energy projects in east Kern

BY JAMES BURGER Californian staff writer, www.bakersfield.com 6 December 2011

Kern County supervisors approved the Catalina Renewable Energy project by developer EnXco Tuesday with little fanfare.

The hybrid solar and wind energy project in the remote desert southwest of Mojave between Rosamond and Tehachapi will produce 200 megawatts of wind energy from 134 turbines spread out across 4,187 acres and 150 megawatts from 2.24 million solar panels covering 1,223 acres.

Opposition to the project was minimal and the supervisors’ vote was unanimous.

More opposition was raised against the RE Rosamond One and Two projects – twin 160-acre, 20-megawatt solar projects northeast of Rosamond near a small rural neighborhood.

Residents decried the development and its impact on their community and one man complained that renewable energy was “raping the Antelope Valley.”

County planners said the project would be required to improve roads, create setbacks of project buildings and adapt the local Joshua trees of the area into a landscaped boundary for the project.

Supervisors voted to bless the project.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/12/07/supervisors-approve-energy-projects-in-east-kern/