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BLM looks to expand wind power

Wind energy’s effects on wildlife and scenery and its potential to create jobs are among issues federal officials are exploring in a bid to boost wind power on public land.

Associated Press The Billings Gazette

The Bureau of Land Management has started preparing an environmental impact statement examining consequences of a national wind energy program that would encourage leasing of BLM land for wind power projects.

“We see this as part of a balanced approach to energy development on public lands,” BLM Wyoming State Director Bob Bennett said during a hearing Wednesday at the Holiday Inn.

The agency, which manages 261 million acres of primarily Western lands, is responding to President Bush’s national energy plan encouraging development of renewable energy resources.

Sixty commercial projects are pending on BLM property — including nine in Wyoming — and the agency is accepting public comment on the best ways to allow such endeavors to move forward.

Six applications have been made for projects in the Kemmerer area, two near Rock Springs and one near Lander, officials said.

A handful of environmental group representatives and wind energy officials attended the meeting, with only a few questions asked.

Michele Barlow of the Wyoming Outdoor Council asked why the BLM was taking a nationwide approach to an environmental study of wind energy when it usually conducts analyses for fossil fuel development on a case-by-case basis.

“While we certainly applaud this approach, it’s somewhat inconsistent with their policies for energy development,” she said after the meeting.

BLM officials said the decision to conduct a national study was made at the Washington, D.C., office. The main goal is to prevent repetition in addressing common concerns.

Lee Otteni, project manager for the study, said the agency wants to identify and remove barriers to renewable energy development and streamline the application process.

Among the issues the BLM expects to examine are lighting on wind turbines; coordination with military activities on BLM land; effects on wildlife habitat and views; bird mortality; noise; and assistance in local economic development related to wind energy.

Also, “Do we have an opportunity to do any competitive bidding?” Otteni said.

Ray Brady, Washington, D.C.-based BLM manager of lands and realty, said a tax credit that helps wind power companies compete with conventional electric generation is expected to be extended by Congress. The credit is due to expire at the end of 2003.

“The wind energy industry has made significant strides over the last several years in improving technology and reducing the cost of electric generation … and wind energy is becoming more and more competitive in the electricity market,” he said.

The only large-scale projects on BLM land are in southern California and south-central Wyoming, but “interest has significantly increased in the last several years,” Brady said, due to increased competitiveness and a growing demand by the public for renewable energy.

The Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois, owned by the U.S. Department of Energy and operated by the University of Chicago, is assisting the BLM in development of the environmental impact statement.

Public comment on the study will be accepted through Dec. 19 with a draft environmental impact statement due by August 2004. A final environmental impact statement is to be published in June 2005.

Copyright © 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Copyright © The Billings Gazette, a division of Lee Enterprises.

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