The Great Lakes Zephyr - Wind Energy & Hydrogen Journal

Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2003 15:10:19 -0700 (PDT)
From: Green Bean
Subject: Congress Considers More Wind-Power Rules

Congress Considers More Wind-Power Rules
Fri Jul 25, 6:26 PM ET

By LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - The sudden burst of interest in wind
power, from Cape Cod to the Smoky Mountains, has led
Congress to consider a stricter approval process for
wind farm projects.



The legislation, being drafted by Sen. Edward Kennedy
(news, bio, voting record), D-Mass., in discussions
with Lamar Alexander (news - web sites), R-Tenn.,
would require local or state governments to approve
the projects — tossing a potential roadblock in front
of the $700 million Cape Wind plant planned for
Nantucket Sound.

The Cape Wind Associates project is the first proposed
offshore wind farm in the country, but many others are
on the horizon and members of Congress say there is no
federal regulatory process for approving the gangly
producers of renewable energy.

Spiking up to 420 feet above the water, the wind
turbines are towers topped with three-pronged
helicopter rotors that spin with the wind to generate
power.

Environmentalists praise wind power as clean energy.
But opponents say local communities should have a say
in the projects, which can have a broad impact on the
environment and aesthetics. Lawmakers also want the
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (news - web
sites) to have a say in how projects fit into a
region's energy needs.

Lawmakers insist the amendment — which may come up
next week during Senate debate on the energy bill — is
not an attempt to derail the Cape project or any other
specific proposal.

Spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter said Kennedy supports
renewable energy. But, she said, "he has significant
concerns about the lack of a regulatory framework,
specifically a process through which local communities
would have a say into the siting of these proposed
projects."

Alexander, who has seen opposition to wind farms in
northeastern Tennessee, heads the Senate energy
subcommittee, and has been working on the wind power
issue. But there is no agreement yet on an amendment.

Limited almost exclusively to California a decade ago,
wind farms started to spread across the country in
1998. By the end of this year, they will be in about
100 locations.

"This is very new, that's why it's controversial,"
said Tom Gray, deputy executive director of the
American Wind Energy Association.

The industry's main concern, he said, is that the
legislation must not send projects — like Cape Wind —
"back to square one." But he agreed that siting
approvals for the wind farms vary widely
state-by-state, and said, "We're open to looking at
ways to handle projects built off shore."


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