"We look forward to bringing Sunshine Wind Park online in 2007, and remain fully committed to development of this project."
Warren Byrne, managing director of Sunshine Arizona Wind Energy
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Wind Farm Delayed
© Arizona Daily Sun
8/30/2005
By CYNDY COLE, Arizona Daily Sun Staff Reporter
Construction on what has been billed as Arizona's first industrial wind energy park east of Flagstaff will be delayed for at least two years.
Sunshine Arizona Wind Energy spokeswoman Amy LeGere sent a notice to the Coconino County Board of Supervisors Monday that construction has been pushed back to 2007.
The developers originally had said they needed to have the power online by the end of December to qualify for a federal wind energy tax credit.
LeGere said the tax credit has been extended two years, but her letter to the supervisors listed other reasons for delaying construction: failure to negotiate a contract to sell power to Arizona Public Service, a viewshed lawsuit by owners of nearby the Red Gap Ranch, and higher costs for steel and turbine supplies.
Forty turbines with a height of 405 feet apiece were originally to be built this fall north and south of Interstate 40 about 36 miles east of Flagstaff, near the Meteor Crater exit.
Building two years from now isn't likely to get any less costly, one county official predicted.
"It's going to be more expensive -- it always is -- to push these things out," Supervisor Deb Hill said.
The company has until 2027 to build and operate the towers unless it asks for extensions. According to testimony to supervisors, if the Flagstaff company's wind turbines were in operation for any less than 22 years, the company would not be able to recoup the cost of its initial investment,
Sunshine Arizona says the park will still be built, just not this year.
"We look forward to bringing Sunshine Wind Park online in 2007, and remain fully committed to development of this project," Warren Byrne, managing director of Sunshine Arizona Wind Energy said in a statement Monday.
Red Gap Ranch owners are suing the county for allowing the towers, saying the wind turbines will partially block their views of the San Francisco Peaks and decrease property values. The case has been moved to Yavapai County for action in October.
Though the supervisors were split on how many wind turbines to allow, or how long to allow them, each voiced support for wind energy in Arizona during a vote in April.
When operating at maximum capacity, the wind farm is expected to generate enough electricity to power the equivalent of two-thirds of the homes in Flagstaff.
Cyndy Cole can be reached at ccole@azdailysun.com or at 913-8607.
Learning from the land and sharing our knowledge...
So there will always be a West.