As a major wind energy supplier pulls plans to build off the coast of New Jersey, turbines spin on at Pennsylvania's wind farms.
As a major wind energy supplier pulls plans to build off the coast of New Jersey, turbines spin on at Pennsylvania's wind farms. People are silhouetted as they stroll past wind turbines visible from a walking path at the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Pa.
, in 2021. Every time a wind turbine’s blade whooshes around on Dave Dombek’s Northeastern Pennsylvania property, he makes a little money that helps secure some peace of mind. Dombek, a meteorologist in the State College area, and his family own a combined 550 acres in rural Wyoming County. When the state’s largest wind farm was proposed there over a decade ago, planners with BP Energy sought to erect four of the 88 turbines on his property. The family signed a contract and now receive “tens of thousands” of dollars per year because of it, Dombek said, helping to pay property taxes and maintenance fees.Pennsylvania is home to more than two dozen wind farms, both large and small, on private property. While none were met with the level of controversy seen in New Jersey’s offshore wind plans in recent years, some Pennsylvania projects have seen significant pushback for the same environmental and aesthetic concerns. Some Pennsylvania projects never materialized at all. That wasn’t the case with the Mehoopany Wind Farm in Wyoming County, according to one elected official there. “We have no issues with it whatsoever. I’ve never heard a complaint about it,” said county commissioner Ernie King. “I have a friend who drinks his coffee outside every morning just to look at them.”wind farms were going to be built far off the coast, in the Atlantic Ocean, and would have generated power for 1 million homes. The project, backed byGov. Phil Murphy, faced blowback from elected officials, Shore residents, second-home owners, and fishermen for years. Some complained about the view, whether the turbines would be visible from the beach, and how it would affect tourism. Others believed early sonar mapping for the projects wasNew Pennsylvania wind projects have slowed significantly in recent years, but mostly for logistical reasons. The bulk of the state’s new turbines were built in the first decade of the new millennium, and many of those turbines across the state are being replaced with newer, more efficient models. “Many of the windiest locations have already been developed, which may be a factor in this decline,” Michael Sell of Saint Francis University’s Institute for Energy told The Inquirer., or SOAR, which aims to “protect forested ridges in Pennsylvania.” The group’s president, Laura Jackson, a retired science teacher, said she started the group in 2005 to help protect birds and bats and said she attended multiple meetings and conferences to educate herself on wind energy.Given that Pennsylvanians live much closer to the actual turbines, Jackson was also concerned with the potential health effects of their sound and even “infrasound,” something humans can feel but not hear. Opponents believe infrasound can cause sleep disturbances, Jackson said the group has helped protect forested ridges in 23 townships “under threat of wind development.” SOAR’s website details zoning issues surrounding wind projects, including property setback parameters, noise levels, and how historic preservation guidelines can be used to combat turbines from an aesthetic angle. “Wind developers do acknowledge that industrial wind turbines on Pennsylvania mountains are hard to hide. Some people think the turbines are beautiful, others think they are eyesores,” the group wrote on its site.faced pushbackWhen Bethlehem Authority, the financial arm of the City of Bethlehem’s water system, expressed interest in building turbines on land it owned in Penn Forest Township, Carbon County, in 2016, SOAR got involved and A drawn-out court battle ensued over zoning ordinances, and in 2022, Atlantic Winds LLC, the developer, pulled out.Repasch said energy produced by a wind farm would be sold to the highest bidder and that revenue would be used for maintenance and improvements to the water system.which is operational, could harm migratory birds. Most studies that looked at bird mortality and wind turbines are over a decade old, but in 2021 theToday, the Sandy Ridge wind farm is expanding and local officials tout the revenue it brings in.“In a situation like this, where you’re doing an environmental good, I just don’t understand the problem,” he said.
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