October 25, 2014
California

BLM: North Peak Wind application withdrawn

GARY BRODEUR, STAFF WRITER | Victorville Daily Press | Posted Oct. 24, 2014 | www.vvdailypress.com

APPLE VALLEY – A land management official said Friday she processed a request to withdraw an application for a wind-energy farm – a major victory for opponents of the controversial project.

If it had been approved, the proposed North Peak Wind Energy project would have featured dozens of industrial-sized windmills in the highlands south of Lucerne Valley and rural Apple Valley.

Bureau of Land Management Barstow Field Office Manager Katrina Symons told a reporter and project opponents she “received and accepted” a request Friday to withdraw the application.

“I think that’s pretty spectacular news,” said Lorrie Steely, founder of Mojave Communities Conservation Collaborative.

She credited county supervisors and other elected officials with supporting and sharing the concerns of High Desert residents about the project’s perceived shortcomings.

“Of course we’re gratified” the request was made, said John Zemanek, spokesman for the High Desert-based Alliance for Desert Preservation. “They really should have done it a long time ago.”

He called the project “ill-advised,” especially since it has endured widespread opposition in recent months.

The proposed facility was designed to generate 126 megawatts of electricity, enough to power about 35,000 homes during peak usage times, according to applicant E.ON Climate & Renewables North America. The company’s wind-energy headquarters is in Austin, Texas.

Mention of the project no longer appeared late Friday on the BLM’s Barstow Field Office website nor in the online list of E.ON’s wind-energy projects.

A spokesman for E.ON did not return requests for comment late Friday. The company said previously the project would have created 150 to 200 local jobs.

The project application had been put on hold by the company earlier in the year.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2014/10/25/blm-north-peak-wind-application-withdrawn/