Local Chamber Praises Wind Energy as Key to Economic Development

At a recent roundtable hosted by Chambers for Innovation and Conservatives for Clean Energy, Lt. Gen. John Castellaw, Rep. John Szoka (R-45) and Holly Grange (R-20) addressed the question: Are the growing economic developments of wind energy compatible with military operations in North Carolina?

Rep. Bob Steinberg and Lt. Gen. Castellaw

The answer: A resounding yes.

"The bottom line is the military already has an effective, non-political, non-emotional, just-the-facts, well-established process for making sure that wind and other energy projects are compatible with operations and promote our national security. Imposing blanket restrictions on wind development in the name of national security can make us more insecure."

-- Lt. Gen. Castellaw, served 36 years in the Marine Corps including nearly 10 years flying over eastern North Carolina.

Rep. John Szoka

 “We need safe military operations, new energy resources for ratepayers and the benefits of increasing the property tax base for rural counties. I am personally satisfied that wind operations effects are negligible on military training. Recent congressional action that further clarifies the Department of Defense Clearing House procedures, including mandatory involvement of local bases, should remove any remaining doubt to those who may be skeptical of wind.”

-- Rep. John Szoka (R-Cumberland), is a retired Army Colonel who represents Ft. Bragg in the General Assembly.

“The Edenton-Chowan Chamber is grateful to Lt. Gen. Castellaw and Reps. Szoka and Grange for taking the time to ensure that other members of the legislature have factual knowledge about wind energy’s present and future impact on military operations in our state. We applaud these efforts to educate their peers on how critical the Northeastern North Carolina wind projects and resulting economic benefits are to the growth, prosperity and sustainability for a region like ours.”

-- Win Dale, Executive Director of the Edenton-Chowan Chamber of Commerce, said after the event.

VA Local Chamber, Senator, and Military Eye the Clean Energy Opportunity

At a recent event held at the Chamber of Commerce in Hampton Roads—the east coast epicenter of military activity—Sen. Frank Wagner spoke directly about the urgent need for Virginia to seize the economic development opportunities in clean energy:

“If Virginia acts quickly, and puts the right policies into place, we can take a leadership role in the development of clean energy technologies,” Sen. Wagner said. “If we don’t, we will either be left behind, or will end up with enormous utility rates.”

The Hampton Roads Chamber, which has 2,500 member businesses, hosted Sen. Wagner and Dr. Leo Goff, a retired Navy Captain and national security expert, to brief businesses on:

• How economic and national security interests are driving the U.S. Military to make significant investments in clean energy, and

• How member businesses and the local workforce are positioned to take advantage of the job growth and investment opportunities in clean energy.

“With the right market-driven policies in place, Hampton Roads can capture a significant share of new clean energy jobs and investments,” said Bryan Stephens is the President and CEO of the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce, “and we want to help our member businesses do just that.”

In the Hampton Roads region, which includes the popular Virginia Beach area, construction firms are conducting energy efficiency retrofits and installing solar panels; and manufacturing plants are being repurposed to produce supply chain components for wind turbines and battery storage.

Dr. Goff, a Program Manager for CNA’s Military Advisory Board, an elite group of retired three- and four-star flag and general officers, pointed out that neighboring North Carolina is leading Virginia as a producer of solar energy because they have the policies that encourage it.

“The second-largest producer of solar in the nation is North Carolina,” said Goff. “They’re just one state to the south, so it’s not a matter of geography; it’s a matter of the policies.”

What Local Chambers Need to Know about Wind Energy in North Carolina

Ret. Navy Captain Leo Goff, PhD

Wind energy could soon be a $1 billion business for North Carolina, and the U.S. Military is fully behind it—recognizing renewable energy as good economics and critical to national security.

But a $300 million project planned in the northeast, and other future wind development, could be stalled if the Legislature again attempts to block it in 2017. And the potential military considerations driving opposition have been greatly overstated.

That was the upshot of yesterday’s briefing on wind energy for local chambers featuring State Rep. Chris Malone, Retired Navy Captain Leo Goff of the Military Advisory Board, and Katharine Kollins, President of the Southeastern Wind Coalition.

Co-hosted by the Edenton-Chowan Chamber and Chambers for Innovation and Clean Energy, the briefing made these three points clear:

1.  Wind energy is a big new economic opportunity. “What does wind energy mean to little Chowan County?” asked Win Dale, Executive Director of the Edenton-Chowan Chamber of Commerce, home to the state’s second planned wind farm, Timbermill Wind.

“It means increasing our revenue by $200,000 a year,” he said. In a place that struggles to maintain its tax base and provide jobs, that would make Apex Clean Energy the largest taxpayer in the county.

 North Carolina’s first wind farm, Amazon Wind Farm US East, is already under development in nearby Pasquotank and Perquimans counties, and will deliver more than $250,000 a year in tax revenue to each county. Farmers leasing land to the developer, AVANGRID, will earn $6,000 per turbine.

“Wind energy will easily be a billion dollar industry in next couple of years if North Carolina chooses to promote it.” – Katharine Kollins, Southeastern Wind Coalition

Rep. Chris Malone (R-35-Wake)

2. The NC Legislature has mixed views. “I feel very strongly that clean energy is the way of the future, and we need to do everything we can to make that happen,” Rep. Chris Malone (R) told chamber leaders. A growing number of Republicans, he added, recognize that wind development delivers jobs, economic opportunities, and energy.

But in June, a controversial piece of legislation (HB763, the Military Operations Protection Act) was introduced that could stop wind development and investment in the state on the grounds that it would necessary to protect military flight paths.

3.  The military supports wind development. “The U.S. Military is fully committed to renewable energy,” Retired Captain Leo Goff of the Military Advisory Board (MAB) told chamber leaders. “It’s pure national security and economics.”

Certain renewables, such as wind energy, do create challenges, he said. Towers, which can rise more than 200 feet, can create obstructions, for example; and blade rotation can cause interference with radar systems.

“But in my estimation and that of the MAB,” Goff said, “often times, those concerns are far overstated. Our military pilots are trained to fly higher than 200 feet. They do it all time.”

The U.S. Military also has a procedure for evaluating potential obstacles from wind farms before they are developed, and they have been able to resolve most of them.

“The challenges posed by renewables, wind most prevalently, can be overcome,” Goff said. “Wind and the military can cooperate easily.”

Senate Majority Leader Harry Brown is expected to reintroduce the so-called Military Operations Protection Act in January.

NC Chambers & Military Focus on Clean Energy Growth

Lieutenant General Kenneth E. Eickmann was once responsible for a budget of $11 billion, a staff of 22,000, and some 2,800 programs for the U.S. Air Force.

He also was responsible for leading the federal rescue and recovery efforts following the 1995 bombing of a federal building in Oklahoma City.

But when he came to North Carolina recently to brief chamber leaders from Durham, Raleigh, Wake Forest, Morrisville and elsewhere, it was because he was thinking about another critical component to national security: the one that depends on growing demand for clean energy.

“If the grid goes down, the [military] base goes down,” Eickmann said. Updating America’s electrical grid and allowing new energy technologies to emerge are essential to improved national security, he said.

More than 60 chamber and utility, business, and political leaders, including from Duke, Honeywell, North Carolina Electric Membership Corp., and Sens. Burr and Tillis’s office, attended the briefing on the new U.S. Military Advisory Board report, National Security and Assured Electrical Power.

The Military Board’s recommendation: “Seize the opportunity to build the new grid, smarter, better, and cleaner.”

Chambers for Innovation and Clean Energy and Conservatives for Clean Energy cosponsored the event in partnership with the Greater Raleigh Chamber, Wake County Economic Development, Research Triangle Regional Partnership, Cleantech Cluster, the North Carolina Defense Business Association, and the North Carolina Military Business Center.

Pictured above: Ewan Pritchard, North Carolina State University, Aaron Nelson, Chapel Hill– Carrboro Chamber of Commerce, Sarah Gaskell, Morrisville Chamber of Commerce, Gen. Ken Eickmann, (retired USAF), Ed White, RTRP Cleantech Cluster, Jenn Bosser, Research Triangle Regional Partnership, John Sidebotham, Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce / Wake County Economic Development, Jennifer Behr, Chambers for Innovation & Clean Energy.