OREGON TO VOTE ON WIND

Vote In Northeast Oregon Gauges Love-Hate For Wind Energy Expansion
Tom Banse, October 26, 2010 (KUOW Radio)

"…[V]oters in northeast Oregon will test just how much support there is for wind energy in the region. A Texas company wants to build a large wind farm near Union, Oregon. Unhappy neighbors have forced the first public vote on a wind development in the West. The spirited campaigns on both sides reflect the increasing difficulty of siting alternative energy facilities – even in our supposedly “green” Northwest…

"Earlier this year, Union County commissioners were barraged by complaints about how 164 proposed wind turbines would “industrialize” the postcard pretty Western landscape. So the county placed an unusual question on the general election ballot. It asks voters in this corner of eastern Oregon whether they support or oppose a big new wind farm called Antelope Ridge…"

Oregon had wind AND transmission. (click to enlarge)

"…[I]t’s turning into one of the hottest items on the November ballot here. Farmer Doug Lewis grows wheat, peppermint and organic potatoes about 5 miles away from the proposed wind farm. He’s voting in favor of it…In the distance, Lewis can see the spinning blades of the valley’s first wind farm. He disagrees with those locals who consider it a blight or a threat to property values…

"The countywide vote on wind power is advisory only. Authority over large energy projects actually rests with state government in Oregon and Washington. In Salem, a spokeswoman for Oregon’s permitting agency says the election outcome will be treated like a public comment. The wind farm developer is not casting the fate of its project to the political winds. Texas-based Horizon Wind Energy has bankrolled a vigorous 'yes' campaign…"

Oregon could generate more than all its electricity from wind (click to enlarge)

"On the other hand if the winds change and people vote no, the message would also reverberate regionally and nationally. So says opposition organizer Dennis Wilkinson…

"A senior analyst at the Northwest Power and Conservation Council doesn’t see the region bailing on wind. But Jeff King says there clearly are problems when developers move into more scenic areas or now into forestland…King says no matter what happens in Union County, he foresees wind power continuing to expand in our region, but mainly in those places where the aesthetic or ecological impacts are the smallest."