Lamar Alexander really likes one bill passed in 2017 legislative session

U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, though generally declaring a reluctance to involve himself in matters of state policy despite his status as a former governor, has made an exception in the case of a bill imposing a temporary block on construction of wind-powered electricity generation that was signed into law last week. The measure meshes with his status at the national level as a big opponent generally of wind power and a big proponent of nuclear energy for electricity generation.

The wind energy moratorium bill (HB1021 by Rep. Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, and Sen. Paul Bailey, R-Sparta) is basically a compromise between Apex Energy, which plans a big wind turbine development near Crossville, and intense opposition to the development from Cumberland County constituents of Sexton and Bailey who would be impacted.

The deal allows the company to continue its preliminary work, though not beginning actual construction while the moratorium runs until next July 1 – basically in accord with company plans. In the meantime, a legislator committee will look at whether the state government should regulate wind turbines and give its recommendations to the General Assembly in January.

News release from Sen. Lamar Alexander (belatedly posted)

WASHINGTON, D.C., May 12, 2017 – U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today said Governor Haslam’s signature on legislation approved by the Tennessee General Assembly will give Tennesseans “an opportunity to decide whether we want our landscape littered with unreliable wind turbines over two times as tall as the skyboxes at the University of Tennessee football stadium.”

“I am glad Governor Haslam and the General Assembly approved legislation to prohibit the construction of some Tennessee wind farms for one year and instead give the state a chance to study the issue. If there is one thing Tennesseans agree on, it is pride in the natural beauty of our state. We should not allow anyone to destroy the environment in the name of saving it.”

The legislation Gov. Haslam signed –which passed the Tennessee House of Representatives on April 20 by a vote of 85 to 3 and Senate on May 4 by a vote of 30 to 0 — would prohibit the construction of any wind farm until July 1, 2018, in counties that don’t have any regulations related to wind farms in place by July 1, 2017. The new state law also creates a special joint legislative study committee to evaluate and make recommendations on the siting of wind farms in the future.

In May of last year, Alexander spoke on the United States Senate floor urging all Tennesseans to oppose Apex Clean Energy’s wind farm proposal in Cumberland County, saying it “would spoil Tennessee’s mountain beauty.” Video of the senator’s speech is available here.