North Carolina rejects easing of rules for building offshore windmill farms

North Carolina rejects easing of rules for building offshore windmill farms

Jun. 17--GREENVILLE -- By Patricia Smith, The Daily News, Jacksonville, N.C. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

State environmental officials Thursday blew away the idea of making it easier for companies to build windmill farms in coastal waters.

Coastal Resources Commission members on a Planning and Special Issues Committee were united in their stand that they shouldn't change development rules to permit such facilities offshore or in the sounds.

"In my opinion, no, no," said CRC member Jerry Old.

Wind generated power is becoming a trend in the United States with two farms being built offshore of northeastern states and one proposed off Georgia, said Doug Huggett, major permits coordinator for the Division of Coastal Management.

"The issue has split the environmental groups down the middle," Huggett said.

Some see wind as a great potential source of clean energy while others fear what impacts the 300- to 400-foot-tall towers with rotating blades might have on migrating birds or marine life, he said.

The tourism industry might also raise concerns because the windmills can be seen from miles away, Huggett said.

Over the past couple of years DCM staff has received inquiries about North Carolina's rules governing this type of development from a Washington-based public policy interest group that advocates wind power, Huggett said. The group is developing a resource document to identify good locations for companies to consider locating wind power generation farms, he said.

"Some of the best wind profile data along the coast of the entire Eastern Seaboard is off Cape Hatteras," Huggett said. "There is also some real good wind profiles in some of our sounds."

While no company has expressed interest in building a wind generation farm in this area, it is an issue the state will likely face in the near future, Huggett said.

Under current CRC rules, only water-dependent structures such as docks, boat ramps and walkways may be built in navigable waters of the state. And even if the towers were built three miles offshore, outside of the state's jurisdiction, the company would still need to run power distribution lines across the ocean floor and into state waters, Huggett said. Typically, the lines would run through a tunnel drilled under the beach and come out behind the dunes, against oceanfront development rules, as well, he said.

As it stands now, the CRC would have to vote to give special permission for a company to build such a facility.

However, Huggett said, the uncertainty of approval might discourage a company from spending the amount of money it would need to invest to get to the stage of seeking permits.

Huggett sought the committee's direction in two ways. First, he asked if members would consider wind generators as water-dependent structures. While windmill farms can be built on land, it is true that on the coast of North Carolina wind speeds are generally higher over the water, he said.

Also Huggett asked if members were interested in changing CRC rules to permit such facilities.

Members Bill Peele and Renee Cahoon joined Old in saying no on both counts.

Member Chuck "Boots" Elam likened the situation to that of a subdivision developer spending money before he is certain to get a zoning change.

"If they want to take the risk, the can," Elam said.

Cahoon said she was concerned that such a facility could gain permission from one town or county to build while impacting nearby communities opposed to the project.

Huggett said a company could still build a wind generation facility offshore in federal waters and run distribution lines to another state. In that scenario, North Carolina's recourse would be to oppose federal permits, he said.

The P&SI Committee will present its conclusion to the full CRC today. The meeting begins at 8:30 a.m. at the Hilton Hotel in Greenville.

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