By Valerie Bauerlein and Cassandra Sweet
HERTFORD, N.C. -- More than 100 giant wind turbines started
producing power this month amid 22,000 acres of cotton, soy and
wheat fields.
But North Carolina's first wind farm may remain its only one as
the state, like some others, rethinks its commitment to green
energy.
The recent wind-energy push has caused an unusual fight among
North Carolina Republicans, with some GOP politicians opposing the
project because of its reliance on federal tax credits and
potential risks to the military, and rural Republicans embracing
the property taxes and extra income paid by the operators.
In red states around the country where wind power is growing and
displacing some conventional sources of energy, some Republicans
are pushing back, in an attempt to support the coal industry. But
others are backing the clean-energy expansion and the jobs and
economic development that often come with it.
North Carolina's contentious $400 million wind farm, run by a
unit of Spanish energy giant Iberdrola SA, was built to provide
power to an Amazon.com Inc. data center. State lawmakers have
renewed a push against the project, citing risks to nearby military
operations. The company says it wants to build more wind farms in
North Carolina, but has put its plans on hold because of the
political uncertainty. Another planned project is currently
stalled: Apex Clean Energy of Charlottesville, Va., is scaling back
its 105-turbine project after county commissioners denied a
necessary zoning permit.
Other developers say they are staying away as the state
legislature weighs tighter permitting guidelines.
"Until we get to a stable policy climate, we're going to
continue to see a lot of unknowns, and that is never good for
multimillion-dollar investments," said Katharine Kollins, president
of the Southeastern Wind Coalition, a trade group.
President Donald Trump is planning to sign an executive order
that would call for the repeal of an Obama-era rule aimed at
cutting carbon emissions from power plants. He also has pledged to
renew focus on coal and fossil fuels, both of which could limit
renewable energy growth.
Wind power "gets a lot of subsidies. People end up paying more
for it," said state Sen. Bill Cook, a Republican who represents the
northeastern North Carolina region where the wind farm is located.
Mr. Cook opposed the project.
But the project has brought relief for some residents in the
region, one of the state's poorest. The wind farm is now the
largest taxpayer in two counties, employing 17 full-time staffers.
Roughly 60 landowners signed deals to host turbines at $6,000 per
turbine a year, funds that help offset increased competition and
declining crop income from their fields.
Third-generation farmer Horace Pritchard, 68, said he agreed to
have nine turbines on his 1,300 acres because the $54,000 annual
payment can help offset uncertainty in commodity prices and bouts
of bad weather, like last fall's flooding from Hurricane
Matthew.
Mr. Pritchard, who typically votes Republican and cast his
ballot for Donald Trump in November, said he hopes elected
officials will see that wind energy helps farmers like him.
"We're not going to get an automobile factory or big buildings
in here, but this is something that we can produce and sell," he
said. "Raleigh needs to understand that."
U.S. wind and solar power markets have been booming, thanks to
federal tax credits, state clean-energy requirements and falling
prices. Wind, solar, hydropower and other renewables supplied about
15% of the nation's power supply last year through November, up
from less than 10% in 2008, according to a Wall Street Journal
analysis of Energy Department data. Nationwide, renewable energy
consumption is forecast to increase by 6% from 2016 to 2018,
according to the Energy Department.
Congress extended federal tax credits for wind and solar power
in December 2015, but energy companies say they don't expect much
in the way of new renewable-energy incentives from the Trump
administration.
Some states are taking a fresh look at their alternative-energy
policies. Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin, a Republican, is proposing a
new tax on wind power.
In other states, proposals seeking to limit renewable energy
growth have failed. In Wyoming, a coal-producing state that also
has some of the nation's best wind resources, lawmakers proposed
barring utilities from using wind or solar power to serve
customers. The measure failed earlier this month. Ohio Republican
Gov. John Kasich vetoed a bill in December that would have extended
a freeze on the state's renewable energy requirement, arguing that
the bill would hurt the state's competitiveness in attracting
companies. And in Maryland, lawmakers earlier this month approved a
bill to boost the state's renewable energy requirement after
Republican Gov. Larry Hogan vetoed the measure last May.
North Carolina's foray into wind dates back to 2009, when
Democrats controlled the state government and created policies
meant to spur investment in renewables. As a result of that push,
the Tar Heel State now has the second-largest fleet of solar panels
after California, according to GTM Research and the Solar Energy
Industries Association.
Republicans took over the state legislature in 2011 and have
been cooler to renewable energy subsidies and policies than their
Democratic predecessors.
Last month, North Carolina's Senate president and House speaker
sent a joint letter to Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly
saying the Amazon wind farm should never have been approved because
it interferes with military radar roughly 20 miles north in
Chesapeake, Va.
Mr. Kelly hasn't yet responded to the legislators' letter,
though the Navy said in a recent statement that it had already
conducted tests showing the wind turbines wouldn't affect its radar
equipment.
The lawmakers' objections concern farmers like Mr.
Pritchard.
"There are some people that have a negative idea towards
anything other than fossil fuel," he said while sitting on his
tractor. "But if they'd look at the overall picture, wind energy
has its place.
Write to Valerie Bauerlein at valerie.bauerlein@wsj.com and
Cassandra Sweet at cassandra.sweet@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 26, 2017 07:14 ET (12:14 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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