Permits Are Sought For ‘Energy Developments’

By Tammy Gray-Searles
   NZ Legacy, a land and energy development company owned by Skymall founder Bob Worsley, has requested five special use permits to build wind and solar farms on land located between Holbrook and Snowflake.
   The Navajo County Planning and Zoning Commission is scheduled to make a decision regarding the permits at a meeting set for 6 p.m. on Thursday, July 16, at the Board of Supervisors Chambers at the county complex in Holbrook.
   According to Bill Fraley of the Navajo County Planning and Zoning Department, the permit requests include two different elements. The first is for the erection of up to 50 meteorological test towers to determine where to place wind turbines and solar receivers. The second is for placement of up to 475 wind turbines and 1,430 solar power generators.
   Fraley noted that before NZ Legacy receives final approval for placement of generators, whether wind or solar, they will need to file an additional in-depth site plan.
   Some opposition to placement of the wind and solar farms has already surfaced, with one group identifying itself only as “concerned citizens who live near Silver Creek Canyon and the proposed Hay Hollow Energy project” noting that it is concerned about potential health problems for local residents and the loss of groundwater if the projects were to be completed.
   According to the letter, proposed generating stations are within a half-mile of homes.
   Documents provided by NZ Legacy to the Planning and Zoning Commission note that the company plans five separate energy projects in Navajo County. They include the F Bar Energy Project, located just northwest of Snowflake between Highway 77 and the railroad tracks that run parallel to the highway; the Mexican Hollow Energy Project, located southeast of Woodruff; the Hay Hollow Energy Project, located slightly farther south and east of Woodruff than the Mexican Hollow project; the Silver Creek Energy Project, located southwest of Woodruff, but east of Highway 77; and the Bar J Bar Energy Project, located slightly northwest of the Silver Creek Energy Project, also near Woodruff.
   A letter of intent submitted to the county notes that the F Bar Energy Project could include up to 60 wind turbines and 150 solar towers, with the plan currently including 43 wind turbines. Up to 120 megawatts could be generated by the wind turbines and 400 megawatts by the solar towers.
   Up to 80 wind turbines and 180 solar towers could be erected as part of the Mexican Hollow Energy Project, with 69 wind turbines currently in the plans. The Mexican Hollow project could generate up to 160 megawatts from wind and 500 megawatts from solar generators.
   A total of 75 wind turbines and 200 solar towers could be included in the Silver Creek Energy Project, with current plans calling for 50 wind turbines. The Silver Creek project could produce up to 150 megawatts of electricity from wind and 620 megawatts from solar.
   The Bar J Bar Energy Project would include up to as many as 50 wind turbines and 150 solar towers, but the existing site plan includes 37 wind turbines.
   “If built as planned the proposed project would be capable of producing up to 100 megawatts of electricity from wind and 400 megawatts of electricity from solar,” the letter of intent notes.
   The special use permit requests for the energy projects must be approved by both the planning and zoning commission and the board of supervisors before they are issued.