50 TURBINES PROJECT IN OREGON

An appeal against Zond Systems Inc's proposed 50 turbine project in Oregon has failed. On November 9, officials in Wasco County upheld the local planning commission's decision, made this spring, to approve the project subject to the outcome of a wildlife study. The appeal was against this decision. The wildlife study will probably take one year to complete, says Zond's George Stricker. Next for the company is securing a power purchase agreement, followed by a state site certification and a federal environmental impact review, he says. Stricker, however, is not that sanguine about utility interest in the Pacific Northwest. They seem to be waiting to see how the Northwest's first wind projects measure up, he says. "We're working with different ways of pricing and presenting [the project] to fit in with utilities' thinking and to be more compatible with gas," he says.