A California problem
The permit allowing windmills to go in didn't say they could sit there broken. Palm Springs is getting tough. If windmills are going to exist in the city they must be operational. A city that has welcomed windmills since it was first approached about them in the early 1980's is finding that many of those windmills are no longer working and it wants them fixed. The question is who's responsible for fixing them? Florida Power and Light (FPL), the owner of the inoperable windmills, was allowed to install and operate local windmill farms under a conditional use permit (CUP) stipulating if the windmill does not run for six months, it's declared a public nuisance and without a hearing, must be abated. ...So far FPL is all talk and no action as it has not been able to satisfy the city's or landowners' concerns.
October 28, 2008 by Jackie Devereaux and staff in Desert Valley Star
The permit allowing windmills to go in didn't say they could sit there broken. Palm Springs is getting tough. If windmills are going to exist in the city they must be operational.
A city that has welcomed windmills since it was first approached about them in the early 1980's is finding that many of those windmills are no longer working and it wants them fixed. The question is who's responsible for fixing them?
Florida Power and Light (FPL), the owner of the inoperable windmills, was allowed to install and operate local windmill farms under a conditional use permit (CUP) stipulating if the windmill does not run for six months, it's declared a public nuisance and without a hearing, must be abated.
Most of these non-working windmills are owned and operated
by FPL. The giant energy company leasing the land says it
fully intends to comply with all city requests. "We are
keeping them informed of how we'll respond to the city,"
said Steven Stengel, Director of Corporate Communications
for FPL located in Juno, Florida.
"In early 2008, we began a 12-month plan to repair turbines
that need it. That process will be on-going ‘til we have
all repairs done in early 2009," Stengel added. "We're in
communications with the city and we know the deadline to
respond. We will provide the city with a detailed plan. We
will sit down and discuss issues and interest," he said.
That
plan is apparently not acceptable to the city of Palm
Springs. Unable to get FPL to comply, the city has now
turned to the owners of the land where the windmills are
located. Palm Springs code enforcement says it was forced
to send land owners letters of intent to proceed with
abatement unless more than 100 broken or malfunctioning
windmills are fixed.
"We
started the code enforcement with the property owners. They
receive payment from FPL to install, operate and maintain
the units," Ewing said. "We told the property owners they
were ultimately responsible to put pressure on them (FPL)
first," Ewing added.
While FPL may be ultimately responsible, the city has only
the property owners on the hook regarding windmill
operations, he said.
Local property owners say they don't want punishment as
"good windmill operators" suffering bad press due to the
FPL neglect. They just want the windmills fixed. But, they
say, they can't do anything to fix the windmills they don't
own. The company in control of the repair wrenches is in
Florida (FPL).
Landowners include: David Buck of Reno, NV; Wintec of Palm
Springs; ChemQuest Corp of Sylmar; Wellesley Rolland Kime
of Valley Village; William Leighty of Juneau, Alaska as
well as Victoria Rosenthal of southern California.
The pressure applied by the city has apparently gotten FPL
to at least come to the table but city officials, after
months of effort, are still not convinced FPL will finally
take action.
"We will meet Wednesday with representatives from FPL to
discuss the matter," said Craig Ewing, Director of Planning
Services, overseeing code enforcement for the city and who
sent the letters. So far FPL is all talk and no action as
it has not been able to satisfy the city's or landowners'
concerns.
The problem also caught the attention of Riverside County.
Riverside County stepped up efforts to bring more attention
to a number of wind energy generation issues. "We've
created a Wind Advisory Committee looking at several
issues," said Steven Hernandez, Legislative Assistant for
5th district Supervisor Marion Ashley.
"We want to bring FPL into compliance with the conditional
use permit. We also are looking at ways to promote wind
energy by looking at new areas for development and possibly
fast-tracking" any requests, Hernandez said.
"We want to promote 'Re-power' which means replacing older
less efficient models with newer ones generating more
power," Hernandez added, without commenting on the lack of
county enforcement.
The
six landowners who received letters are concerned because
they are in a Catch-22 situation. They leased land to FPL
to erect, maintain and operate wind energy generators
visible on both sides of Interstate 10 between Palm Drive
and Whitewater. However, the landowners are in no position
to repair or replace any of the outmoded, broken or
malfunctioning turbines. That responsibility falls on
the
laps of FPL.
As
part of its investigation into this story, Desert Valley
Star contacted several wind turbine maintenance employees.
One of those workers, who insisted his name not be used out
of concern for his employment, said FPL is known for having
many non-working windmills and lax
maintenance.
"They do not maintain the type of maintenance support
needed to keep the machines flying," he said. The word
"flying" is a term used by maintenance crews in reference
to a running wind turbine. "It's pretty common knowledge,"
he said, "and that's sad because there's lots of good
windmill operators."
That
seems confirmed by the city's unsuccessful attempts to
obtain compliance with the CUP ordinance, in part due to
the distance of the energy company and FPL lacking a local
office here. Requiring maintenance and working windmills is
the norm across the country. FPL just doesn't seem able or
motivated to resolve the problem.
Meanwhile, abatement, the process of removing a windmill,
looms. If the city compels abatement, then the salvage
value could be equal to the cost to remove. Obviously, the
appeal of re-powering a wind farm remains more economically
attractive than reverting back to a non-production. Still,
FPL remains behind the curve, allowing neglect and
disrepair to define local operations.
Complaints about these non-working windmills provoked the
city to act. According to Ewing, he sent the six property
owners letters addressing the issue with deadlines
attached. "The property owners receive income from leasing
these lands and operating rights to FPL."
"We welcome the city initiating (the abatement process).
We've tried for years without success to get FPL to
maintain its equipment in a safe and proper fashion," said
Fred Noble, President of Wintec Incorporated and one of the
few local landowners available for comment. Noble added it
was important to distinguish several issues.
Landowners are frustrated that no action is being taken and
are made to appear "the bad guys." Additionally, FPL's
reluctance to correct the broken windmills puts a black-eye
on the entire windmill industry. "It's important to
distinguish who the good guys are," Noble said.
The style of FLP's problem windmills is distinctive. The
Kenetech 33 or (KVS 33) design looks like a mini Eiffel
Tower-style with steel supports on a concrete shoe. This
older model from the early 1990's is now discontinued.
According to a Desert Valley Star investigation, there are
more than 100 non-operational windmills in the desert. (See
photos).
According
to industry insider's, this Kenetech model is known to
throw blades. In some cases the "clamshell" or "mushroom
cap" unit atop the motor unit (the nacelle) blows off. In a
few instances the nacelles exploded. Some wind energy
spokespeople say it is only a matter of time until someone
is seriously hurt or killed by one.
The
threat is nearer than you think. Some windmills lie
perilously close to Interstate 10 and easily seen by
freeway drivers. If a blade or nacelle is thrown it could
theoretically land on the freeway and kill someone. Older
windmills, especially the KVS 33, create well-documented
public safety issues.
The letter from Palm Springs received by the land owners is
asking for an accounting of all windmill history for the
last five years, including electrical output. That
accounting is up to the landowners to supply. Landowners
can't do much more.
Ultimately, it is up to Florida Power and Light, meeting
with Palm Springs officials today, to solve this windmill
problem.
Web
link:
http://desertvalleystar.com/Floridas-Broken-Windmills-10-29-08.html