Rocky Forge Wind Farm updated at Supervisors meeting

Rocky Forge on North Mountain up near Gala in northern Botetourt County stands to be the first wind farm in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It was approved over a year ago by the Botetourt Board of Supervisors. However, the proposal has met strong opposition.

On Tuesday February 23rd, Nicole Pendleton, Director of Community Development of the Planning and Zoning Dept for Botetourt County and Charles Johnson of APEX Energy out of Charlottesville and the project developer, spoke to the Board of Supervisors. The update has been an ongoing Agenda item for the last few months, but this is the first time Johnson has spoken to the board for a few meetings.

At issue from the county perspective is the slowness of response to county deadlines. It has been problematic. And, according to Pendleton, the county just received the final SEP application on the afternoon of Feb. 22 and had no time to persue the entire application for completeness prior to the meeting..

Two Supervisors, Steve Clinton of Amsterdam and Amy White of Buchanan Districts questioned the process on the part of APEX and Clinton went as far to say he was going to be surprised if the project would be completed. A local citizen Ed Claunch spoke in public comment period as to a checklist of items that were needing to be watched for completion and process.

For his part Johnson from Apex gave April 2022 as the dateline for blades and parts for the over 600 foot tall wind turbines to arrive on site. Rocky Forge is to have 14 wind turbines on North Mountain. He noted that selected tree removal for the sites will begin in the near future. Here is further information about the project from APEX.

“On Monday, February 22, we submitted a full site plan with supporting studies to the county. A limited notice to proceed with tree clearing on the project site is expected to be issued as soon as next week, and a full notice to proceed is expected in June.” said, Natasha Montegue, Public Engagement Manager for APEX

“The turbine model for the project has been selected: the GE-158 turbine. Each turbine has a 5.5 MW capacity and a total tip height of 612 feet and the project plans to utilize 14 of them, We are pleased project impact is minimized by building a project with less turbines at a lower height than was approved.” She also noted.

Johnson has been positive in the project publically, and that it will come to fruition. It is projected that electricity generated could be used for over twenty thousand homes. APEX has also offered grants to local non- profits and business opportunities for local contractors. Botetourt County stands to gain jobs and tax revenue from the project upon completion.

The company has been sued by a local group of ten in from Rockbridge and Botetourt for environmental concerns. A pending court date for dismissal requested by APEX comes in April.

–Cathy Benson with Anita Firebaugh contributing to the story. Rocky Forge icon