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.
"Wind power is the largest source of renewable energy in the United States. But a broad swath of the country has had no large, commercial wind farms — until now. A new one with 104 towers is up and running near Elizabeth City, N.C., where it spans 22,000 acres."
Even General Motors is pushing the use of wind power and plans by the end of this year to run its Arlington Texas plant on 100 percent wind power. It currently operates on 50 percent wind power.
We will have video of the discussion to add to this post a bit later, but the county commission soundly defeated a resolution that some called zoning that would have given the county the right "to regulate the use of property where such is found to be detrimental to the health, morals, comfort, safety, convenience or welfare of the residents.
This resolution was put forth by 9th district commissioner Sandra Dutcher. After some heated public comment at the start of the meeting and discussion about the resolution it was soundly defeated with only three commissioners voting in favor. Those included Dutcher and 9th district commissioner Woody Geisler and 3rd district commissioner Rebecca Stone.
Video of resolution on proposed land use regulation.
A second resolution also failed that was a non-binding resolution that had been previously passed by the Farifield Glade Community Club and the Crossville city council. It failed in a vote of 6 commissioners in favor and 10 opposed. Commissioners voting for the resolution included Rebecca Stone, Allen Foster, Terry Carter, Tim Claflin, Sandra Dutcher and Woody Geisler. Sonya Rimmer and Elbery Farley were absent. Other members voted against the resolution.
As the group opposed to the windfarm left the meeting following the second vote a shouting match broke out and required Cumberland County Sheriff Casey Cox to go into the audience to try and calm things down.
Video of resolution opposing windfarm and aftermath.
Opponents of the Crab Orchard Windfarm filled the courtroom as the county commission met to consider two resolutions on the windfarm. Both resolutions failed
Wearing "Stop the Turbines" shirts, some of those who attended the meeting discussed what they could do next after the meeting.
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
While admitting that the Crossville
city council had no “dog in the hunt” over the proposed wind farm
project near Crab Orchard, city councilman Danny Wyatt proposed that
the city not support the project and encourage the county to do the
same.
Reasons given by Mr. Wyatt for his
motion include, “the effect on our natural beauty and tourism.”
Wyatt also claimed that the project had “a large amount of tax
subsidy tied to it.” Wyatt's motion was supported by councilman
Jesse Kerley and after lengthy discussion was approved.
Mayor James Mayberry stated that there
were people in favor of the project and people opposed. Mayberry
added that he personally had business in that area and he would
abstain when it was time for a vote.
Councilman Pete Souza sought the floor
and spoke in support of the project saying he was disappointed by
Sen. Alexander's letter. He added, “I have some reservations
about information that was provided by government mail outs.” He
said there were tousits destinations like Pebble Beach and Palm
Springs that had wind mills and they did not seem to bother them any.
Council members discuss the proposed wind farm near Crab Orchard. L-R are Pete Souza, Danny Wyatt, Mayor James Mayberry, Jesse Kerley and city clerk Sally Oglesby
Souza said you can drive all over the
US and see them, especially out west, “I was out underneath one
three weeks ago and I didn't hear any noises. Souza continued saying
comments were made that the power was not needed and he reminded the
audience that when there was a drought that electric customers had
been asked to turn their air conditioner's off during the day. He
explained that the power gird in the US and Canada are all tied
together and power generated at Hoover Dam or Oxbow were all tied to
lines here.
“People are worried about nuclear
waste, continued Souza, “Some people worry about the safety.
People don't want to dam up anymore rivers and stop the fish, no more
hydroelectricity. They don't want solar panels because it obstructs
the travel of tortoises. They don't want wind farms because it may
kill birds or make noise or whatever.”
“Somebody's got to start thinking,
because since I lived in this county, I've seen the county grow. So,
are we going to use renewable power?” Souza said he had close
friends that were opposed to the project.
Souza summed up, “I believe this is
not going to hurt the county. I think that that's misinformation.”
He added that the use of grant money depends on which side of the
argument you want to stand on. He added, “We use it all the time.
I'm not going to support this.”
Councilman Wyatt responded saying he
didn't want to take a chance of us losing our appeal of our
community. “That's how we got to where were at.” Wyatt ticked
off elected officials that opposed the project including state
representative Cameron Sexton, US Representative Diane Black, state
senator Paul Bailey and US senator Lamar Alexander.
Said Wyatt, “I'd like someone to tell
me one positive point to this. It's not going to have any local jobs
to speak of.”
Mayor Mayberry responded saying
“property tax.” He added that the tax on the windmills was
estimated to provide $364,000 in property tax per year, the
equivalent to a 2 cent tax increase according to Mayberry.
Souza spoke again and said more
positive was that the works who would build the project would be
staying here and spending money here and it would take a long time to
build the project. He said that spending would also generate tax
revenue though he couldn't say how much that would be. The third
thing Souza mentioned was power and the nationwide need for it.
Councilman Jesse Kerley thanked Mr.
Wyatt for putting the item on the agenda as it is a subject he's been
discussing with other people. Kerley added, “There's a lot of
unhappy folks out there and I don't think I've run into a one besides
Mr. Souza here who actually supports this.”
The vote recorded with two votes in
favor was approved. Mr. Souza was opposed and Mr. Mayberry
abstained. Council member Pamala Harris was absent from the meeting.
At the public comment time at the end
of the council meeting, citizen Randall Kidwell also spoke in
opposition to the wind farm project.
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.
