You may have heard about the proposed wind energy project for Newport, NC (Carteret County). [Note: these are 450± foot structures in Mill Creek, where the trees are about 75± feet tall.]
A mailing list has been put together for citizens who’d like to keep up on this important local (and statewide) matter. To be included, please email Morehead City physicist John Droz. You can get off at any time.
There have been several mailings already, as quite a bit is happening quickly. Below is John’s synopsis of where things are now…
You may want to find out where your elected officials stand on this issue. Start with Representative Pat McElraft, email – Pat.McElraft@ncleg.net; Senator Norman Sanderson, email – Norman.Sanderson@ncleg.net; Carteret County Commissioner, Chairman Greg Lewis, email – greg.lewis@carteretcountygov.org. Contact information for other County Commissioners here.
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This is a complex technical matter. If you’d like it digested down to a soundbite, here it is:
Industrial wind energy is a net economics and net environmental loser, that has no scientifically proven net benefits.
To get a more in-depth understanding of how we got here, please peruse (as a minimum) the following:
1 – Senate Bill 3: a 2007 NC law that mandates a certain % of renewables. The real-world consequences of this are:
a) Most of this requirement will be met by wind energy (for a variety of reasons), and
b) ALL of that wind energy will be on the coast (onshore or offshore), due to the Ridge Act which protects NC mountains. (There is no comparable law that protects the NC coast.)
c) For the realities about wind energy see WiseEnergy.org and (in particular) EnergyPresentation.info
2 – Senate Bill 3 is a poor idea for many reasons. Here I explain some of the economic and environmentalproblems.
3 – “Affordable & Reliable Energy Act” (H298): was a good 2013 proposal to fix Senate Bill 3. It got pulled for political reasons.
4 – “Wind Permitting Bill” (H484): a 2013 NC law which was intended to protect NC military, but it really doesn’t.
5 – The current version of the document I sent to legislators about the deficiencies with H484 — which are legion.
6 – Per H484, DENR is the lead agency overseeing the state level wind permitting process. In our view their focus should be to protect: nearby citizens, the nearby environment, and affected NC military bases. To date these do not seem to be their priority. [If you’re interested I can send you a copy of an email I sent to the DENR Secretary, detailing some concerns so far.]
7 – The proposed project is roughly half in the town of Newport (Mill Creek), and half in unincorporated parts of Carteret County.
8 – Carteret County has Tall Structure ordinance, that addresses some aspects of wind development. Since this was written in 2008, we have learned a lot more about industrial wind energy, so this needs major updating. I’ve marked up suggestions to improve that law.
9 – Newport has no wind ordinance. They are currently working on writing and approving such a law. At their invitation I met with them to give them suggestions on how to do this well. They were appreciative and the meeting was constructive.
10-My recommendations were that they focus their efforts on four technical areas, and require an Escrow Account. The details of these suggestions are spelled out here. [There will be a town meeting about this on Thursday, November 14th.]
Until H484 is fixed, the burden will be on towns and counties to write detailed and effective wind laws.
Let me know any questions.
regards,
john droz, jr.
physicist & environmental advocate
Morehead City, NC