Gov. Roy Cooper signed into law on Thursday legislation
promoting solar energy in the state and issued an executive order encouraging
wind-power development despite an 18-month moratorium on wind projects included
in the bill.
Cooper said his executive order clarifies that wind projects
can proceed through the initial permit stages – and that the state should do
all it can to help them along – regardless of the temporary ban.
The bulk of House Bill 589 is an alternative-energy plan
painstakingly constructed over months of work by legislators and stakeholders.
It became controversial in the final days of the General Assembly’s session
this year when a provision banning wind projects for four years was added, and
ultimately revised to 18 months.
It was not clear until Thursday whether the wind ban was a
deal-breaker for the governor, who said he would confer with experts and
interested parties to help make up his mind.
“A strong renewable energy industry is good for our
environment and our economy,” Cooper said in a statement his office released
Thursday. “This bill is critical for the future of significant increases in our
already booming solar industry.
“I strongly oppose the ugly, last-minute, politically
motivated wind moratorium. However, this fragile and hard fought solar deal
will be lost if I veto this legislation and that veto is sustained.”
The wind provision was pushed by Sen. Harry Brown of
Jacksonville, who is the Republican majority leader in the Senate. Brown has
said he is concerned that wind towers could interfere with the state’s military
bases on training flights. He has consistently noted that it would be
economically devastating if the state lost any of its bases because of periodic
realignment of military facilities.
The state benefits in jobs and investments far more from
military bases than it does from the solar or wind industries, Brown said
Thursday.
“Regardless of Gov. Cooper’s incorrect assumptions about why
I support this bill, I am grateful he signed it, which will ensure North
Carolina’s military installations are fully protected while still allowing
proposed new wind facilities to move forward on a prudent time line,” Brown
said in a statement. “It is encouraging the governor did not ignore feedback
from military advisers and risk North Carolina’s second-largest industry and
the hundreds of thousands of good jobs it supports.”
Cooper acknowledged the military’s significance in North
Carolina in his order, but he said the permit process already requires wind
facilities’ impact on bases be considered, and so the moratorium was
unnecessary.
The governor’s order directs the state’s environmental
regulators and military affairs officials to expedite permit review and
processing so they can begin operations soon after the moratorium expires.
Clean-energy advocates and prospective wind-tower operators
have expressed concerns that the moratorium will discourage further development
of the industry in the state.
Legislators who supported the moratorium said it wouldn’t
hamper future projects, since there was nothing in the bill that prohibited
them from developing and submitting plans and other paperwork, and nothing that
stopped state regulators from reviewing them.
But two proposed wind farm companies said earlier this month
that they would likely pull out of North Carolina if the moratorium were
imposed. Both projects were expected to apply for permits as early as this year
and begin generating power by 2019. The Amazon wind farm in northeastern North
Carolina is the only operating facility in the state.
Brown said Thursday that those two wind project proposals
can still advance if they choose because they are not close to applying for
permits yet.
The rest of the bill was heralded as an important step
forward in the advancement of solar energy. It will allow people to lease solar
panels on their roofs rather than having to buy them outright.
It includes an agreement to resolve conflicts over the location
of utility-scale solar farms, and reduce the amount that Duke Energy would pay
industrial solar farms for electricity.
It will require electric utilities to allow state residents
to buy stakes in solar farms not on their property, in order to obtain credit
for the power their shares generate.
“Modernizing North Carolina’s energy grid with a pro-growth
approach will protect ratepayers and power North Carolina’s economy forward,”
House Speaker Tim Moore said in a statement. “We’re helping North Carolina
remain a national leader in renewable power and job growth by making clean
energy more accessible and affordable to average citizens.”
Duke Energy released a response through a spokesman, Randy
Wheeless:
“We are pleased to see this important legislation signed
into law – paving the way for a smarter energy future and benefiting all North
Carolina customers. The solar aspects of this legislation will benefit
residential, commercial and industrial customers alike — saving them money and
allowing for more ways to secure renewable energy, while also protecting the
reliability of the energy grid. We look forward to offering new solar-energy
programs for our customers.”
Conservatives for Clean Energy, which was also involved in
the bill, issued this comment:
“HB 589 becoming law represents a significant victory for
solar energy growth in our state and demonstrates how much we can accomplish
when legislators work across the aisle. Although we support the tremendous
advancement in solar policy, we remain concerned about the ill-conceived and
unnecessary wind energy moratorium that was added in the 11th hour.
“The wind energy moratorium provision slams on the brakes of
much needed economic development in our most rural communities in eastern North
Carolina. Conservatives for Clean Energy remains committed to educating about
the economic benefits of all clean energy.”
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