The current radar issue stems from The National Defense Authorization Act
for Fiscal Year 2006, signed into law January 6, 2006 (PL 109-163), which
contained a last-minute amendment inserted by Senator John Warner (R-VA)
requiring the Department of Defense (DOD) to study and report on the
effects of wind projects on military readiness.
By all accounts, the original Congressional language was aimed at one
project, Cape Wind, a 420 MW offshore wind project proposed off the coast
of Massachusetts. However, DOD and the Department of Homeland Security
(DHS) have decided to expand upon the original study directive and apply
it to all proposed wind power installations in the United States.
Warner has been associated previously with legislation that would be
harmful to wind power -- particularly the Cape Wind project.
"Senator Warner says he's for wind power, but his actions betray that,"
said Michael Vickerman, Executive Director of RENEW Wisconsin, a nonprofit
group that promotes renewable energy in the state. Wisconsin is among the
Midwest states where the radar issue has put some projects on hold.
"It's not just a military matter, that's what's really bothering us," said
Vickerman, who reflects an opinion bubbling up in wind power circles that
radar issues have been used to put the brakes on wind power development.
Since the proposed Cape Wind project falls within local radar view, it too
may be put on hold at least until the DOD study is complete. But if
political motivations were behind Warner's amendment, this entire issue
may prove to be a case of unintended consequences because the Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA) actions stalling wind projects have mostly
occurred in the Midwest.
In light of the required study, regional FAA officials issued notices of
"Perceived Hazard" to approximately 15 wind projects, putting the brakes
on, at least temporarily, to well over 1000 MW of wind power. Vickerman
says the stalled projects include 950 MW in Illinois, 570 MW in Wisconsin,
and 200 MW each in Minnesota and the Dakotas.
Why FAA officials in regional offices in the Midwest, not the Northeast,
have been putting the most projects on hold is being chalked up to a
simple lack of consistent interpretation of the law by these FAA offices.
Some wind power developers like Dave Luck, head of business development
for EnXco, can see how people in the wind power industry came to the
conclusion that politics have played a role in the radar issue.
"It's hard to dismiss that, given one of the sponsors of the bill," said
Luck, referring to Warner. But Luck admits it would be impossible to prove
the move was politically motivated. Furthermore, he doubts the FAA actions
in the Midwest had anything to do with local, or NIMBY (not in my
backyard) opposition because wind power faces relatively less local
opposition in the Midwest than in the Northeast and coastal communities.
"I just don't see the rationale for this being a cloaked NIMBY issue,"
said Luck, in an interview at a recent wind power conference. "If that was
the case, you'd have farmers up in arms. There would literally be a
backlash."
Luck says farmers have been some of wind power's greatest supporters. Wind
power, he said, is a curious new form of rural development that's being
welcomed with open arms in much of America's heartland.
When asked if Luck would expand his operations into offshore wind power,
where attitudes in the U.S. have been downright caustic, his face visibly
changed as he said, "I'm not going to fight that battle, it's not worth
it."
Someone who has been fighting that battle is Mark Rodgers, Communications
Director for Cape Wind. He recently circulated some gumshoe reporting from
a local Cape Cod publication, the Cape Cod Voice, that he says offers
documentary substantiation on the political point many in the wind power
business have been making with respect to the origins and motivations
behind Warner's radar study amendment.
The article (link provided below) reports that a registered lobbyist for
the organization that formed to oppose Cape Wind, The Alliance to Protect
Nantucket Sound, basically claimed credit for the Warner Amendment of last
year on air navigation.
"It is truly unfortunate that Cape Wind opponents are having such a
harmful effect on the entire wind industry," Rodgers said in an e-mail.
But while many in the wind power industry are busy trying to uncover, and
prove, if any political motivations are behind radar concerns stalling
wind power, politicians themselves are starting to feel the pressure from
their local constituents.
Most recently, Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND), representing one of the states
where the FAA notices has put projects on hold, succeeded in getting the
Bush Administration to remove the hold on a North Dakota Project. Dorgan
said many projects, including those that are unlikely to interfere with
air navigation, have received the FAA notices.
At a recent Senate Commerce Committee hearing, Dorgan called on the
Administration to work with wind turbine developers to address concerns in
the future, saying he would offer legislation to fix the problem if
officials continue to "needlessly delay" important renewable energy
projects.
