CURRY COUNTY, Ore. – Two areas will be auctioned off by BOEM this fall on the Southern Oregon coast as part of the state’s first offshore wind sale. But there are still many within nearby communities that are against the wind turbine project.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said the two areas will be auctioned on October 15th. It said the plans could generate more than 3.1 gigawatts of clean renewable energy when completed which could power up to one million homes.
However, Curry County Commissioners were shocked at them moving forward with the project. They sent a letter requesting that they coordinate with the county about this project but never heard back. Commissioners say leasing the land will have negative effects on coastal communities. Commissioner Jay Trost said,
“Why is this so impactful for our communities? [It] is because whether or not a windmill actually goes in, these companies will have the ability to lock people out and so it’ll impact our fishing industries, our recreating industries, etcetera.”
The commissioner said the technology for the turbines being proposed is not developed, leaving a lot of questions in the air for environmental impacts, economic costs and more.
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