Coconino County’s Board of Supervisors was nearly evenly split a
year ago over whether to permit construction of the county’s first
industrial-scale wind farm north of Williams.
The Perrin Ranch wind farm, which passed on a 3-2 vote after 13
hours of discussion, is up now, but the debate over how to regulate
future renewable power installations in the county is just getting
started.
One supervisor is pushing for specific rules and land
designations that allow more renewable power, while others seek
broader guidelines.
On one side of the debate stand support for renewable energy,
control of greenhouse gases and jobs in new industries; on the
other are potential threats to wildlife, scenic views and
neighbors’ property values.
Resolving some of the conflicts ahead of time is a priority for
supervisors as developers test the wind across a bigger swath of
northern Arizona and state regulations in Arizona and California
push utilities to add much more renewable energy.
“We felt the urgency of it at the hearing,” Supervisor Liz
Archuleta said recently.
The Coconino County Planning and Zoning Commission is likely to
adopt and send recommendations to the supervisors at the end of
this month.
DRAFT GUIDELINES
The draft guidelines support renewable energy projects that do
some of
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