A proposed wind farm in Ashe County should not be allowed because it violates the state’s Ridge Law, the public staff of the N.C. Utilities Commission said yesterday. The staff’s statement of position becomes part of the record as the six members of the Utilities Commission consider whether or not to approve an application to build 25 to 28 wind turbines in the Creston community. The Ridge Law contains a limited exception for windmills. Robert Gruber, executive director of the Utilities Commission, said that the staff’s position against the wind farm is based on a previous statement by Attorney General Roy Cooper. In a 2002 letter, Cooper wrote that the term windmills meant only “the traditional, solitary farm windmill which has long been in use in rural communities” and not wind turbines.

It has been standing room only at the meetings regarding the proposed wind turbine facility that could be built on Big Springs Mountain in Creston. The Ashe County Board of Commissioners approved the first reading of the Ashe County Ordinance to Regulate Wind Energy Systems Monday at their regularly scheduled meeting. The Ordinance will be presented again at the Feb. 19th meeting of the commissioners and can be officially adopted at that time, but because Commissioner Marty Gambill was not at Monday’s meeting it could not be adopted then.

Too often the energy companies have allowed claims about renewable energy to go unchallenged. Experience shows that once the public learns about the effects, those expectations fall back to Earth. Just look at wind power in North Carolina, if you can. Wind farms haven't gotten off the ground here because, thus far, North Carolinians have objected to looking at a wind turbine larger than a hamster wheel. On Monday, Carteret County decreed a nine-month moratorium on wind turbines, after residents complained about potential noise, vibration, harm to wildlife, visual blight and a host of other concerns. Who knew wind turbines were as dangerous as a Navy outlying landing field?

An important variable is how much power can be generated using alternative forms of energy such as solar and wind, and other sources that are either renewable or cheaply available. North Carolinians need an independent evaluation of the potential of these energy alternatives. The good news is that state utility regulators have commissioned one.

The N.C. utilities commission dismissed yesterday an application for a commercial wind farm in the Ashe County community of Creston. Last July's application by Northwest Wind Developers to put up 25 to 28 wind turbines created uproar in the mountains, with some people complaining that 300-foot tall turbines would ruin tourism, views and real-estate values. But there were many supporters, too, people who said that the nation needs renewable energy and that wind power is a good source. It would have been the state's first commercial wind farm. For all the hoopla, though, Northwest Wind Developers never really did say just how tall the turbines would be or exactly where they would be, or provide other details the utilities commission had requested at a February hearing in Raleigh. The failure to provide a complete application is the reason for dismissing the case, according to an order issued yesterday by the utilities commission. Northwest could file a new application later, the order said.

The Ashe County Board of Commissioners voted 5-0 yesterday to adopt an ordinance regulating wind-energy systems, but it will take a more detailed look at its provisions. "We can immediately and will immediately get our legal advice about tweaking the ordinance," said Richard Blackburn, the chairman of the commissioners. The county has "a long list of things we need to research and take a look at" in the ordinance, he said. The commissioners' vote was the second reading on the ordinance, which means that it is in effect.

The Ashe County Board of Commissioners will meet in emergency session at 3 p.m. today at the Ashe County Courthouse to talk with an attorney about the county's new ordinance regulating windmills. There is no actual emergency, but the meeting was set up on short notice because of scheduling conflicts, said County Manager Dan McMillan. Commissioners will meet with Tony Triplett, Wilkes County's attorney.

The Ashe County Board of Commissioners adopted a wind-energy ordinance yesterday that limits wind-turbine heights to 199 feet as measured to the tip of the turbine's blade. The new rules replace those that commissioners adopted in February as they hurried to get county-wide regulations in place before the first N.C. Utilities Commission hearing on a proposed commercial wind farm of 25 to 28 turbines in Creston. The utilities commission's hearings are scheduled in August, and the commissioners have been reviewing the ordinance. The regulations are effective immediately because the commissioners voted unanimously on the matter. Their 5-0 vote followed a short public hearing.

Ashe County commissioners voted unanimously today to adopt a new county wind-energy ordinance. The new version takes the place of one adopted in February. It limits the total height of wind turbines to 199 feet. That means that the turbines would not require aircraft warning lights. The new stipulation pleases residents, including those who objected because the turbines would be illuminated at night. The revised ordinance takes effect immediately.

Regarding your article “Ashe board approves ordinance … ” (Feb. 20), the Ashe County commissioners should be commended for leading our state in developing a local ordinance that protects their mountain resources and all their citizens. While recognizing the need for the development of alternative energy sources, Ashe County has made its position clear that development of 400-foot-high wind turbines on mountain ridges is not acceptable.

A wind farm of 25 to 28 windmills generating electricity to be sold to power companies is being proposed in western Ashe County, according to an order from the N.C. Utilities Commission on Tuesday that requires the public to be alerted about the proposal.

Wind power would seem to be a necessary component of any strategy by North Carolina to increase the amount of energy produced here from alternative sources. Put simply, there’s plenty of wind in these parts. The downside is that sections of the state where wind currents are strongest and most consistent also happen to be ones that are heavily dependent on tourism and where there is an understandable priority on protecting natural views. That holds for the coast, and it holds for the mountains. The issue of whether and how to take advantage of mountain winds now is before the state Utilities Commission. The commission yesterday held a hearing focused on a proposed Ashe County “wind farm” — 25 or so giant turbines that would be built near Creston in the state’s far northwest. It is easy to see why the project has stirred local opposition in an area where vacation-home development is an economic mainstay.

A proposed wind farm of 25 to 28 wind turbines in Creston has prompted the Ashe County government to draw up an ordinance to govern wind-energy systems. Commissioners will consider it Monday after a public hearing. Yesterday, they got news that heartened people opposed to the project. The wind farm should not be allowed because it violates the state’s Ridge Law - which limits building heights in the mountains — the public staff of the N.C. Utilities Commission said in a statement filed Tuesday but made public yesterday.

The Mountain Ridge Protection Act, along with these proposed ordinances- should make sure that the whole county is covered, McMillan said. One change would lessen the setback for utility scale turbines to 1,000 feet. Under the proposal, no portion of a large wind energy system could be located or maintained on a protected mountain ridge if the top of the turbine exceeds the vegetative canopy by more than 35 feet.

Ashe County commissioners announced yesterday a special meeting to consider a proposed ordinance regulating wind-energy generation. The meeting was called after last week’s public hearing before the N.C. Utilities Commission drew an overflow crowd to talk about a proposed wind farm in Ashe County. Two brothers who own the land have applied to build the state’s first large-scale wind farm. It would include 25 to 28 windmills, each about 300 feet tall on or near Big Springs Mountain. The proposal has drawn strong debate. Supporters said during the hearing that alternative energy sources are vital and the project could help farmers preserve their land against housing development. Opponents said that the wind farm is too large and would ruin views and harm the tourist industry and property values.

A layoff in Lexington appears to contradict President Obama's initiative to generate employment through increased green energy production. Officials blame bad timing for the decision to cut jobs at PPG Industries, a Pittsburgh-based specialty products manufacturer that supplies to the wind energy industry. The company announced Friday that 110 of the 420 employees at its Lexington fiberglass plant will be let go by June 30.

Many forms of green power face opposition, not just wind towers. A N.C. Green Power commission faced a major split over methane energy captured from hog farm waste. Hog farm lagoons are a major source of water quality pollution in eastern North Carolina. Some on the committee did not think methane by-products from these hog farm lagoons should qualify as “green energy,” leading some to resign from the Green Power committee. Other oppose hydropower, which dams up free flowing rivers.

Development should certainly be regulated on mountain slopes and ridges, as governments in Northwest North Carolina have finally started to do in the last few years....Few people want huge, sprawling farms of towering windmills. Regulations, including countywide zoning, are needed to make sure that doesn't happen. Neighboring Ashe County faces serious challenges in dealing with a proposed industrial-scale windmill farm in large part because it lacks a comprehensive land-use plan. Ashe did approve an ordinance a few months ago that would govern wind-energy systems such as windmill farms, but that may have been too late.

The winds are blowing up a storm over the future of wind turbines in the mountains. A rapidly changing bill to permit wind turbines in the mountains was altered by several co-sponsors to now feature a ban on all wind turbines in western North Carolina. The bill is in committee today before going to a Senate vote.