Wind Power on the Outer Banks

During last week's storm system, the question came up (through a Comment on this blog entry) of why the Outer Banks doesn't have wind turbines powering the cities on the remote strip of land [Google Map]. Certainly anyone who lives there says that (due to lack of friction with no land behind them) winds are brisk all year 'round. This government map from the DOE site confirms that the Outer Banks house "excellent" wind power generating ability (and even a "fair" rating hasn't stopped us in southwest Pennsylvania from erecting turbines - see my photos from the trip to the wind farm).

IMPORTANT NOTE: The Department of Energy web site that I posted yesterday, WindPoweringAmerica.Gov, has been taken down. I can't find a replacement for the maps of nationwide wind power potential, like the one that I showed from North Carolina. You can still get some older wind power info on their site here and here, and use a GIS system called the NREL U.S. Atlas of Renewable Resources to obtain the same data (choose "Composite Wind Resources". Here is a copy of that map.

But I'm not privy to the political struggles for and against wind turbines (and I'm sure there are some, given the love for the islands and their pristine shores). According to a news article from last November, one small business has petitioned the city of Kill Devil Hills to put up a wind turbine, and I think they might have gotten it; I took this picture of one lone wind turbine in the area in July:

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