Wind Energy Project Blows Into Humboldt

Wildlife advocates are concerned about a renewable energy project, now wending its way through the state and federal regulatory process, that could erect up to 25 windmills along Bear River Ridge, near Loleta in Humboldt County.  

The generators would produce electrical power with less carbon impact on the atmosphere than fossil fuels, but the blades could harm imperiled species, including bats, migrating birds, and commuting marbled murrelets.

The Bear River Wind Energy Project, proposed by Shell Wind Energy, would generate approximately 50 megawatts of power and would be sited on private property currently used for grazing cattle.

The project highlights a growing environmental conundrum: the promise of renewable energy sources to reduce environmentally destructive fossil fuel consumption – but at the cost of further detrimental effects to wildlife.

Shell Wind Energy has applied for an incidental take permit (ITP) that would allow the project to harm or kill birds that are protected under the Endangered Species Act – as long as these effects are somehow mitigated.

A public scoping session for the Bear River project was held in early February which considered the written comments submitted by various agencies, entities and private citizens, including the California Coastal Commission, Department of Fish and Game, Bear River Power Company, and the Native American Heritage Commission.

John Miller, senior planner in charge of the project, said the full scoping report is available on the Humboldt County web site, along with all comments and analysis.

Next Step: Environmental Review

Now the county is developing a draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR), as required by the state of California. It is working closely with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, which will prepare a companion Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) as required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

Once complete, the draft EIR/EIS will go up for pubic review.

Although Miller said they hope to release the documents in about six months, he acknowledged that a need for additional information could delay the process.

“This is certainly not a big project for a wind farm,” Miller said. “But because of its location, transportation issues and transmission of electricity needs, it adds a lot of complexity to the project.”

In addition to the construction of windmills, the project requires approximately five miles of new access roads, a project substation where voltage power from the collection system would be increased in order to connect to the regional transmission system and 12 miles of transmission lines to transfer power from the project substation to the PG&E regional transmission system in Rio Dell.

An operations and maintenance facility near the existing PG&E substation would also need to be constructed, along with three permanent weather towers.

In addition to the wildlife threats posed by the wind turbines, advocates point to the potential detrimental effects of the construction process. Approximately three million gallons of water will be required, and it is estimated that construction vehicles will make about 60 round trips per day in addition to more than 3,000 trips by large truck.

How Much Power – And Where?

Just how much renewable energy will be generated by this project, and where will it be delivered? Jim Zoellick of Schatz Energy Center said that the answer is complicated.

“The power generated locally would go into the local grid,” he said, adding that a complicated accounting processes can allow different entities to actually receive the credit for the renewable energy.

Zeollick gave the example of the new Blue Lake Biomass Plant, which sells its power to San Diego Gas & Electric. The power is not actually shipped to San Diego, he explained, but that company receives credit to help it meet state requirements for renewable energy generation.

Zoellick said that if energy generated by renewable sources – such as wind projects, biomass and even wave energy – should exceed Humboldt County’s needs then the first plant to have output turned down would be PG&E.

Schatz Energy Center is partnering with the Redwood Community Energy Authority and PG&E in a two-year study to determine best uses of renewable energy on the North Coast. The study is funded by a $200,000 California Energy Commission grant

What’s The Cost?

But, as is being increasingly observed, renewable energy generation comes at an environmental cost. The American Bird Conservancy estimates that wind turbines kill up to 40,000 birds per year – and in this case federally endangered species, such as the marbled murrelet and spotted owl, may be affected.

“We know that marbled murrelets fly at dawn and dusk and so may be less able to avoid the windmills visually,” said Scott Greacen, executive director of the Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC.) “What we don’t know yet is whether radar studies of the proposed windmill locations will reveal potential conflicts with murrelet flight paths between their feeding habitat offshore and their nesting habitat, for example in Humboldt Redwoods State Park.”

U.S. Fish & Wildlife is working with Shell Wind Energy to develop a Habitat Conservation Plan for the murrelets that will be part of the mitigations offered in the EIR.

Other birds may be impacted as well. Jim Clark, president-elect of the Redwood Region Audubon Society, said that many raptors hunt in that area because of the updraft from the wind.

“Audubon field trips go there [Bear River Ridge] to look for hawks and eagles,” said Clark.

Greacen said that windmills have been shown to cause air pressure changes near the blades’ tips that actually explode bats’ lungs. “So the impact for bats is not necessarily whether they are going to be hit by the blades, but whether they are likely to be flying close enough to the blades to be affected,” he noted.

Joe Szewczak, a biology professor at HSU who specializes in bats, agreed that the nocturnal animals could be harmed, but cautioned that too little is known about this particular project.

“Mortality of migrating bats is a major concern,” he said, adding that bat biologists don’t yet fully understand it, nor can they predict when bat’s might be harmed.

 “But we don’t want to learn about it by finding hundreds dead below wind turbines one fall morning,” he said.

Since all these issues and other environmental concerns will be addressed in the EIR, Clark said that Audubon is waiting for that document to be released before taking a stance.

The good news, Clark added, is that the newer wind turbines rotate more slowly and are not quite as dangerous to birds flying nearby. Although the newer turbines have less chance of actually killing the birds, he cautioned that they could scare birds away from their normal hunting area which would ultimately impact their populations.

Zoellick noted that climate change is the biggest environmental threat of all. “More than anything, we need energy efficiency and conservation,” he said.

“There are no easy answers and no choices that have no impacts,” he said. 

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