Amazon wind project 'historic’

Declaring North Carolina is poised to become a role model for energy independence, Gov. Pat McCrory described as “historic” the groundbreaking of the Amazon Wind Farm US East in Pasquotank and Perquimans counties on Tuesday.

Joined by developer Iberdrola Renewables and numerous state and local officials for a ceremony held on Sandy Road, McCrory celebrated the impending start of construction on the long-planned project formerly known as Desert Wind.

Iberdrola officials said they plan to have 104 wind turbines up and running by December 2016, investing $400 million and creating 250 short-term construction jobs.

Renamed after Amazon, the online retailer, the wind project will help power the company’s commercial cloud computing service, Amazon Web Services. Amazon Web Services, itself a multi-billion-dollar enterprise, plans to hit a target of 40 percent-renewable energy usage before 2017, a milestone toward its goal of one day operating solely on renewable power.

The Amazon wind farm will be the first commercial-scale wind energy project in North Carolina.

“This is historic for our state, this is historic for our nation, this is historic for the entire southeast, and I hope this is a role model for more to come for North Carolina,” McCrory said of the project, praising Iberdrola and public officials for years of hard work together to make it happen. “This is the best of North Carolina right here; nothing compares.”

In his remarks, Pasquotank Board of Commissioners Chairman Joe Winslow called the Amazon project “a symbol of the ingenuity of our great region.”

“Northeastern North Carolina is declaring loud and clear it’s ready for the 21st century economy,” he said, also describing the project as a step toward “a cleaner, better world” for future generations.

Perquimans Board of Commissioners Chairwoman Janice McKenzie Cole said her county worked through many uncertainties and public concerns over the large and unprecedented project.

“Sometimes with progress you have to step out on faith,” she said, adding the county was honored to be part of the historic endeavor.

The project represents six challenging years of research and development for Iberdrola, CEO Frank Burkhartsmeyer explained Tuesday. But those efforts have paid off, he said, in what “will be the first utility scale wind farm in North Carolina and one of the first in the southeastern United States.”

State Rep. Bob Steinburg, R-Chowan, also lauded the project Tuesday. In addition to its economic impacts, it’s a great boon to have a household name like Amazon invested in northeastern North Carolina, he said.

Though its future looks bright, the wind farm’s fate seemed uncertain at times, Iberdrola developer Craig Poff noted Tuesday.

Before Amazon surfaced as a customer, one of Iberdrola’s long-running obstacles was finding someone to buy the energy that would be produced by the project.

The company also faced concerns over effects the wind farm might have on radar from nearby military facilities. To allay those concerns, Iberdrola will build 104 turbines at first and then evaluate if it can expand to the 150 total turbines it first proposed.

The wind farm also faced vocal public opposition in Pasquotank County, where Republican activists have said Pasquotank commissioners needed to better research the impacts of living near the almost 500-feet-tall turbines — a concern shared by Pasquotank’s lone GOP commissioner, Frankie Meads. Such impacts include spinning rotors’ “shadow flicker” over houses and turbines’ constant noise.

Other commissioners and county staff maintain they’ve properly zoned and laid out the wind farm in the sparsely populated “desert” area in western Pasquotank. Part of the 22,000-acre project is also located in eastern Perquimans County.

Pasquotank commissioners agreed to decades of property tax rebates for the project. Even so, both Pasquotank and Perquimans expect Iberdrola to become one of their largest property taxpayers. Even with its rebates, Iberdrola claims the project will pay the counties $520,000 in property taxes its first year of operation.

During his remarks at Tuesday’s groundbreaking, McCrory said the Amazon wind farm supports his “all of the above” approach to energy development and production. North Carolina needs to cultivate its own domestic energy sources, he said.

“This is continued proof that North Carolina is going to participate in our country’s energy independence,” McCrory said.

Developing domestic energy sources means North Carolina isn’t reliant on unstable or hostile nations for power and can create more American jobs, he said.

McCrory’s “all of the above” strategy also includes offshore oil drilling, which he continues pursuing with other coastal governors. Though environmentalists and some coastal communities, including those in Dare County, oppose offshore oil drilling — fearing the devastating impact a major oil spill could have on wildlife, fishing industries and tourism — McCrory maintained Tuesday he believes it can be done safely.

That position is disheartening to Molly Diggins, director of the N.C. chapter of Sierra Club, who also attended Tuesday’s event.

Wind and solar power are the fastest growing energy sources in the U.S., she said, and they’re competitive with fossil fuels and much safer. Diggins said she hopes Amazon’s wind farm can help refocus McCrory and other state officials on alternative energies.