Wind power moratorium clears Senate
Lawmakers say they plan to remove three-year moratorium, but it's in the bill the Senate approved.
Posted — UpdatedThis issue has been Senate Majority Leader Harry Brown's baby, but with Brown, R-Onslow, focused on state budget negotiations, Sen. Jim Perry, R-Lenoir, has been the Senate point man on the wind farm ban.
Perry said Wednesday that House and Senate negotiators and the wind industry are zeroing in on a compromise that will get rid of the moratorium, but he asked his colleagues in the Senate to approve the bill for now as is.
They did, 25-19, and the measure heads to the House for more debate.
Perry said after session that he expects the bill to come back to the Senate with a "more robust permitting process" for wind farms rather than the moratorium.
That process would let military commanders designate civilian representatives who participate in siting decisions, he said.
Moving the bill forward in the mean time is "not a beautiful thing," Perry said, "but we all feel comfortable ... with how it will end up."
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