Winds of politics put proposed Crab Orchard wind farm on hold

Plans to build a large wind-farm of turbines to create electricity have been put on hold for now according to the project's owner Apex Clean Energy.

The project was first announced 18 months ago and while it was initially praised for the economic development, property tax revenue and construction jobs it would bring in, it quickly gained a strong opposition, especially from Fairfield Glade residents. With signs and t-shirts, those opposed to the wind farm protested on the courthouse lawn and brought their voice to the county commission and other legislative bodies.

These wind turbines above Oak Ridge are smaller

then the ones Apex had planned to construct 

above Crab Orchard.

Protesters, many from Fairfield Glade, came

out for several months when the County

Commission met. 

Earlier this year, the Tennessee General Assembly put all such projects on an 18 month moratorium so new rules could be formulated.

A map showing tentative locations for the wind farm.

Apex issued a statement on the project, “Based on current market conditions and the project’s fundamental qualities, we have decided not to make this significant investment at this time. Our work on the Crab Orchard Wind project will be therefore suspended until market conditions change to make the project more competitive.”

Apex public affairs manager Kevin Chandler confirmed the project was currently on hold.

A report prepared by the Howard Baker Jr. Center on Public Policy at UT estimated that the effect on the state's gross domestic product (GDP) of the project's construction would total $76.4 million with $27.3 million centered on Cumberland County. The operation of the project was estimated to increase the state's annual GDP by $2.9 million and Cumberland County by $1.4 million. The study was funded by Apex Clean Energy.

Please visit our sponsor PARK PLACE MOTORS.

Horizon Initiative launches new website.

The Crossville Cumberland County Horizon Initiative has launched a newly designed website that includes lots of local information about the the work of the group, the community and attractions here.

The Horizon Initiative is a collaborative effort between the City of Crossville, the City of Pleasant Hill, the City of Crab Orchard, Cumberland County, Crossville-Cumberland Chamber of Commerce, and educational and other entities in Cumberland County, Tennessee.

he Horizon Initiative came from a series of 19 visioning meetings held across the county with citizens giving their input on what the community needed and what the problems they face were. Horizon now is all of Cumberland County working cooperatively on the dreams of our residents

Link to new Horizon Initiative website.

November Ballot includes municipal elections in Crab Orchard and Pleasant Hill

November 8 ballots for Crab Orchard and Pleasant Hill residents will include races for Crab Orchard mayor and 2 seats on the Pleasant Hill council.  Three candidates qualified for Crab Orchard Mayor but only one qualified for the Pleasant Hill race.

Candidates qualified for Crab Orchard's mayoral race include:

1) Michael Findley
2) Emmett H. Sherrill
3) Willard Sherrill

The one candidate for Pleasant Hill town council is Lisa Patrick.  Linda Smith took out papers but they were not returned by the deadline.

The additional seat could either be filled by town council action or possibly a write in candidate.

Latest on the upcoming Crossville city election—Possible New Candidates

Three new qualifying petitions have been signed out by possible candidates to run for Crossville city council in the upcoming November 8 election. Also, one additional petition has been turned back in.

New potential candidates who have taken out petitions include Robert E. Rob Harrison, long-time local Crossville businessman who runs Plateau Properties, Scot Shanks, another long time Crossville businessman and former owner of L. P. Shanks. The third candidate is Jack E. Miller, former city manager and interim city manager who lives in Holiday Hills.

Another candidate, Jeanette Parsons has turned her petition back in, bringing to 3 the number of petitions returned to the election commission. The other candidates who have turned papers back in include former Mayor J. H. Graham and Teri Manning.

Petitions previously taken out but not yet returned include incumbent councilman Jesse Kerley, and Barry Field. While Field took out papers, he does not qualify as a city resident and is likely not elligible to run for a council seat.

In the race for Mayor of Crab Orchard, Michael Findley and Emmett Sherrill have taken out qualifying papers and Mr. Sherrill the incumbent has turned his back in.

The deadline to turn in qualifying papers for the November election is August 18 at noon.   

Photos showing windmills visible from Oak Ridge Tennessee

Both of the photos in this post were shot from near the Walmart store behind the old Oak Ridge Mall.

In this photo, the red area marks where the close up photo below is taken.  The windmills are visible from parts of Oak Ridge, but do not seem to create any issues for the residents there.  The windmills that belong to TVA have been present for many years.

There is a quick survey on the blog page for you to vote your feelings on the windmills proposed for Crab Orchard, TN.

The red box shows the same area shown in the close up photo below.

Several windmills that overlook the city of Oak Ridge, TN

The Latest on the Wind Farm Controversy from the UCBJ

What started out as an announcement that seemed to be great economic development news for Cumberland County has started to sound more like a political hot potato.

My latest article for the Upper Cumberland Business Journal is at the link just below.

Wind Farm Stirring Controversy in Cumberland County