In January 2016, the Botetourt County Board of Supervisors granted a special exception permit for Rocky Forge. Headwinds confronting Apex are not limited to permitting issues. The county recently received resubmitted plans from the company and is currently reviewing the material, according Nicole Pendleton, director of community development. O'Shea said discussions with Botetourt County officials about the Rocky Forge site plan have included "adjustments and refinements along the way, so the timing isn't unusual from our experience." "A permitting system that was designed to protect against harm has paradoxically become the greatest obstacle to modernizing our energy infrastructure and achieving our environmental goals," the association's CEO, Jason Grumet, wrote in a recent opinion piece for Utility Dive, a news source for the energy and utility industry. It's not uncommon for such projects to be delayed for years, often by a slow-moving approval process, according to the American Clean Power Association. When Apex first announced its plans in 2015, the Charlottesville-based company said the turbine blades would be spinning by late 2017 - making Rocky Forge the first onshore wind farm in Virginia. "We are still working through the site plan process with the county and expect to conclude that review later this year," Brian O'Shea, a spokesman for Apex, wrote in a recent email.Ĭalled Rocky Forge Wind, the renewable energy project has been slowed by permitting delays, legal action from opponents, design changes, the COVID-19 pandemic, and a lengthy search for a buyer of the power it will produce.
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