March 3, 2017
Virginia

Wind farms coming to Botetourt County

By Bianca Holman | Mar 03, 2017 | www.wdbj7.com

BOTETOURT, Va. Botetourt County just may be the first to have a wind farm in the state.

It’s been pretty windy but in Botetourt County, some may think that is a good thing, because a warm farm was just approved by state regulators.

“So this is very exciting for our part, this project moving forward, its something we’ve been looking forward to for over a year now, ” said Cody Sexton of Botetourt County Board of Supervisors.

Apex Clean Energy was just approved by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality for a commercial wind farm atop North Mountain.
“The project basically includes utility scaled wind energy that produce electricity by using the wind you don’t have fuel cost associated with them as we would see with tradition fuel sources, ” said Charlie Johnson of Apex.

But not everyone is happy about the power from 25 turbines that could help 20,000 homes. Some are worried about things such as the surrounding wildlife and the noise.”The wind is very off and on and what we need is a reliable source. Let’s put it where it makes sense, but what makes sense to Apex and the investors is tax credits,” said Steve Neas of Virginians for Responsible Energy.

Apex says regardless of any tax benefit there was a great deal of research on the project. “All forms of energy are subsidized at the federal level but at the end of the day for us to build a wind farm in Botetourt the project had to make sense from the ground up,” said Johnson.

The County and Apex are excited about the new partnership.
“We see it as a win, win, its a way to get some jobs, new innovative industry, while also doing it in a sustainable way while being future looking,” said Sexton.

Apex is able to move forward because it was ruled the turbines would not pose any risk to wildlife and it’s surrounding habitat.
The company will turn off the turbines during warm nights when bats are most active.

Apex hopes to begin construction by the end of the year once their development permits are approved.


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2017/03/03/wind-farms-coming-to-botetourt-county/