Tilting at windmills

Tilting at windmills

Senator worries state's mountaintops are too tempting for builders of power farms

FAST FACTS

• Energy is generated at a wind farm when the wind reaches 10 mph.
• Turbines reach their "rated" capacity at 25 mph and shut down at 55 mph.
• Energy generation from the Anderson County wind farm is about 29 megawatts, or enough to power 3,780 homes.
• The tallest windmill towers reach 260 feet.

Source: Tennessee Valley Authority

BY IAN BERRY
STAFF WRITER

OLIVER SPRINGS, Tenn. — On a clear day here there is a good view of the wind turbines atop Buffalo Mountain, which peaks at 3,300 feet.

Even on the foggiest day, the windmills are visible — though only on signs welcoming motorists into town.

The Tennessee Valley Authority faced vocal opposition to proposed wind energy farms near Chattanooga and in northeast Tennessee. But residents of Oliver Springs, near Oak Ridge, say they are happy to have the 18-windmill farm outside the town limits.

"I don't think there's a soul here who would bad-mouth that," Mayor Ed Kelley said.

Wind energy advocates and U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., have debated in recent months the benefits and drawbacks of wind energy. Alexander spokeswoman Alexia Poe said the senator wants to ensure rural areas without zoning regulations they don't have the windmills forced upon them.

"As Oliver Springs may like windmills, there may be others who do not want them in their communities," Ms. Poe said.

Sen. Alexander, who has

and energy a noisy, inefficient blight on the landscape, sponsored legislation that would restrict tax credits for wind development and provide more local control in the location of windmills.

Last month, an amendment he included on the Senate's energy bill that would have accomplished that failed, Ms. Poe said. Another bill filed by Sen. Alexander in June that would accomplish the same thing was sent to the Senate's Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

Ms. Poe said the senator's current focus was on passage of the energy bill, and that "it's hard to say" if or when Sen. Alexander again would propose action limiting windmills.

Sen. Alexander also says he is concerned windmills will spread rapidly in Tennessee if the energy bill mandates that 10 percent of utility companies' power must come from renewable sources. Ms. Poe said an amendment with such a mandate now is on the Senate's version of the energy bill but not on the House version. She said that will have to be reconciled.

At Oliver Springs, the Buffalo Mountain windmill farm began in 2000 with three 215-foot-tall turbines operated by TVA. In December, Chicago-based Invenergy added 15 more turbines standing 260 feet tall. Invenergy sells the power to TVA, which uses wind generation as part of its Green Power Switch program.

Mr. Kelley said the only concern he had with the expanded windmill farm was that it meant 200 tons of equipment had to be transported through the town. He said that problem was resolved when the town was paid $35,000 to repair any damage. The only other issue, he said, was people using the windmills for long-distance target practice.

Mayor Kelley said he has been approached recently about the addition of 30 to 35 windmills on Buffalo Mountain, although he declined to offer specifics.

GENERATING

CONTROVERSY

Twenty-five years ago, wind turbines used gears that made a clanking sound, said Rick Carson, TVA's renewable operations manager. But last week, on a blustery day atop the mountain, the modern turbines generated only a soft, rhythmic "whooshing" that could be heard from within a few hundred feet. Mr. Carson estimated the wind at the time was blowing at 25 mph.

The windmills can be seen in Oak Ridge, about 10 miles away. On clear winter days, they can be seen 30 miles away in Knoxville. They also have red lights at their tops, which at night produce what Larry Bainum, owner of Adventure ATV Rental at the bottom of the mountain, called a "strobe effect" when the windmills turn.

Ms. Poe said Sen. Alexander wants to protect the state's scenic beauty, and he has noted that the only place windmills work in this part of the country is on the highest ridgetops.

In June, The Associated Press revealed Sen. Alexander owned land on Nantucket Island in Massachusetts close to a proposed wind farm off the coast, drawing criticism from wind power advocates.

Ms. Poe said there was no conflict of interest because Sen. Alexander simply opposes windmills in any scenic locations, from the Smoky Mountains to the Grand Canyon.

"He doesn't want to see them out there, either," she said.

She also said Sen. Alexander purchased the land when he was out of politics.

Mr. Bainum called the windmills "mesmerizing" and said that a limited number of them do not destroy the scenery. He said the windmills sometimes attract tourists who never have seen a wind farm.

"It's not like in California, where you're driving through the desert and you see thousands of windmills," said Mr. Bainum, a Las Vegas native. "That would take away from the serenity of the place."

TVA officials said the agency presently has no plans for more windmills, and experts said the Southeast is not as suitable for wind energy as the Plains and the West.

In 1999, vocal opposition to a TVA proposal to put three windmills on Covenant College property in Lookout Mountain, Ga., led the college to kill the project. Mr. Carson said last week that the best spot for windmills on Lookout Mountain actually would be on the eastern rim, not near the college.

Chuck Nicholson, an environmental scientist with TVA, said there is plenty of potential for wind farms throughout East Tennessee, but environmental and space concerns will limit their increased use.

"Over time, in the Appalachians we may end up with a couple thousand over the whole area, but nothing like you see out West," he said.

WILDLIFE CONCERNS

Elsewhere, wind farms have generated controversy over bird kills and bat kills.

In California, the Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental group that supports alternate forms of energy, filed a lawsuit seeking restitution for the killing of an estimated 880 to 1,330 golden eagles, hawks, owls and other protected raptors each year for the past 20 years. The lawsuit contends several power companies are violating wildlife protection laws in operating 3,600 wind turbines at Altamont Pass wind farm in the California bay area.

Mr. Nicholson said there are on average seven birds killed per windmill per year on Buffalo Mountain. He said bats have been more of a problem with about 378 killed per year. Most of the deaths of birds and bats have occurred at night in the late summer or fall, he said.

Stephen Smith, executive director of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, a nonprofit group promoting wind power, said bird kills are an issue, but more birds are killed by house cats, communications towers and windows.

He said the Buffalo Mountain area is a reclaimed strip mine. Coal Creek Mining and Manufacturing, a Knoxville company that owns the land on Buffalo Mountain, continues to operate one mine in the area.

Oliver Springs isn't reliant on coal anymore, and the town of 3,500 has a downtown area with a few antique shops and a tattoo parlor but no restaurants.

Mr. Kelley, who used to haul heavy equipment up the mountain when mining was prevalent, said the windmills aren't going to turn around the town's fortunes. He said, though, they are nice to have, and they bring in a few tourists.

"Oak Ridge is in the catbird's seat, and there are all these other towns nearby, but we don't have anything to recognize ourselves by," Mr. Kelley said. "We're just an old coal town."

SITE HISTORY

The Tennessee Valley Authority built three windmills in 2000 in Anderson County. Last December, a Chicago company built 15 more on the site. The company sells the power to TVA, which uses wind generation as part of its Green Power Switch program.