Electrical facilities that generate electricity from wind; requirements for permitting; impact on U.S. military and national security. Requires, for the issuance of a permit by rule by the Department of Environmental Quality for a small renewable energy project that generates electricity solely from wind, that either (i) the U.S. Secretary of Defense has determined that the project does not have an adverse impact on military operations and readiness or pose an unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States or (ii) the applicant has agreed to take measures acceptable to the U.S. Department of Defense to sufficiently mitigate any adverse impact on military operations and readiness or unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States. The bill also provides that, for the purposes of the State Corporation Commission permitting the construction and operation of electrical generating facilities, an electrical facility that generates electricity from wind is considered contrary to the public interest unless (a) the U.S. Secretary of Defense has determined that the facility does not have an adverse impact on military operations and readiness or pose an unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States or (b) the utility has agreed to take measures acceptable to the U.S. Department of Defense to sufficiently mitigate any adverse impact on military operations and readiness or unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 10.1-1197.6, 56-580