Decision delayed on N. Carolina wind farm plan

By Jim Brumm

WILMINGTON, N.C., Feb 14 (Reuters) - Regulators have postponed a decision on North Carolina's first wind farm at least six months to allow a developer time to gather data for an application for the 50-megawatt project, the developer said on Wednesday.

Concerned about the cost of gathering data needed to support a complete application to install 25 to 28 wind turbines in the Great Smoky Mountains, Dr. Richard Calhoun had sought a ruling from the North Carolina Utilities Commission that the 300-foot (91-metre) -foot tall turbines were windmills allowed by the state's Ridge Law.

The request for additional time was granted following a hearing on Tuesday. A hearing on the project was scheduled for Aug. 8.

With the exception of windmills, the law prohibits structures over 40 feet (12 metres) tall from ridges above 3,000 feet (914 metres), where the best wind for generating electricity blows.

Calhoun said the "couple of hundred thousand dollars" needed to complete a wind study supporting the project will be "a worthwhile investment."

The application, filed by Northwest Wind Developers LLC, a limited partnership formed by Calhoun and his brother, projected a cost of $60 million to $65 million for the facility, to be built on family farmland in Ashe County, in northwestern North Carolina.

A physician, farmer and former county commissioner, Richard Calhoun has been looking at the possibility of wind development on his farm for about two years, according to Dennis Grady, the director of Appalachian State University's Energy Center, which studies wind farm issues.

Although this would be North Carolina's first wind farm, turbines with a capacity to generate some 300 megawatts of electricity have been installed in the Appalachian Mountains from Maine to Tennessee, Grady said.

Encouraged by the Utilities Commission's denial of a request for a declaratory order that Northwest Wind violated the state's ridge law, Calhoun filed with regulators on Monday seeking additional time to complete the application.