BY MILES LAYTON
More than 40 people attended a meeting with Timbermill Wind’s project leaders to learn more about what the company is going to do about those damn blinking lights Thursday at the Occano Pool House in Bertie County.
A wind turbine’s lights blink every 2 seconds, or 30 times per minute – that’s 1,800 times per hour. And that’s the view up and down the river in places like Colerain, Black Rock, Occano and Point Comfort to say the least.
GOOD NEWS — Timbermill’s executives talked about their plans to invest $2 million to install within the next 12-15 months — 6 months for the permit process and 9 months to build — an Aircraft Detection Lighting System (ADLS) — red lights placed on top of the 45 turbines to prevent pilots from crashing into structures that are around 600-feet tall. The lights would only be activated when an aircraft approaches, not blinking from sunset to sunrise. And remember, these wind turbines will be in operation for the next 30 years.
Residents affected by wind turbines’ blinking lights listened intently as Timbermill executives discussed their plans to install an Aircraft Detection Lighting System during a meeting Thursday in Bertie County.
Long story-short, Timbermill has to navigate its way through state and federal bureaucracy to install a radar and its associated lighting system – a process likely to take at least 6-9 months after the approvals are received from various affected regulatory agencies including the Federal Aviation Administration, Federal Communication Commission, state and federal environmental protection agencies – in addition to the Pentagon granting its blessing because of the property’s proximity to military installations.
Once all these permits are signed in triplicate, Timbermill plans to build a 65-foot radar tower that’s connected to the wind turbines’ grid system within about 9 months.
If everything goes as planned, Timbermill executives said an ADLS could be in place maybe as soon as summer of 2026.
“A huge thank you to Apex Clean Energy and Timbermill Wind for coming to Bertie County to talk with us about the Chowan County wind farm and the installation of ADLS in the next 12-15 months,” said a key leader on this issue, Kate Wemple Jordan. “It was great to hear firsthand about the process and what to expect. As long as they keep things transparent, we’re happy to let them handle the details. We really appreciate the open and honest conversation, the chance to ask questions, and most of all we can’t wait to celebrate when those blinking red lights finally disappear!”
Finer Points
Timbermill Wind is a project of Apex Clean Energy, a national company specializing in utility-scale wind, solar and storage.
First, the bureaucracy – the permits needed to install an ADLS system take months to gain the proper approvals.
Why? Because this is not like building a garden shed but a system that alerts pilots on their nav systems where these wind turbines are located. Moreover, there is an active military presence in the area, which requires conversations with Pentagon officials. And then there may be the environmental permits because of wetlands.
All of these permits must be approved in sequence to advance up the bureaucracy’s food chain. With any luck, that process will be completed by the end of the year.
“It can be quicker if they sort of just see it right in the beginning and they’re just like, this is good,” said Jimmy Merrick, director of development for Apex. “Typically with a wind farm, when you file with the faa, if there is military activity in the area, then it goes to the DOD clearinghouse. So the Department of Defense has a clearinghouse where basically the FAA says, yeah, we’ll look at it. The Department of Defense has to review it and approve it first. And that’s what our farm had to do.”
Money talks
Money is in the bank — Merrick said $2 million has been allocated to installing a radar system along with the associated lights with Timbermill paying for that retrofit out of its own pocket.
“It’s not free,” Merrick said. “It’s an aftermarket sort of retrofit, but it is a very expensive system to come in after the fact and install it. We’ll be installing, literally, a radar system in the farm so it can detect aircraft and then be able to shut off. And we have to connect it to the mainframe of all the other turbines that sort of communicate through fiber optic cables.”
Merrick continued, “And so the good news, I guess the first thing is we’ve allocated funding for the project and so that is actually in. That has been transferred to the bank account of Timbermill Wind llc, which is the operating company of the project. And so the money has been allocated, and so we have funding for it.”
A contractor has been selected, a 50×50 concrete pad planned, and the technology is available to make this happen.
“We’ve chosen the location for it and then we have to connect it to the distribution grid so that it has power,” Merrick said. “We have to connect it to the fiber grid so we can communicate with it. And then we have to connect it to the farm’s fiber grid so it can communicate with the farm so that when it detects an aircraft it can immediately send a communication signal to each turbine to turn the lights on. We’ve selected the technology that we’re going to use, we’ve selected the contractor that we’re going to use, we’ve got the funding allocated for it.”
Why wasn’t an ADLS installed initially?
Why didn’t Timbermill include these specialized lighting systems when the wind farm was in the planning/permit phases nearly 10 years ago?
Merrick said these ADLS systems evolved in more recent years. Also, when the project, based in Chowan County, was studied, the forestation and land topography hid the lights so that didn’t seem to suggest the lighting would be a problem for people on the Bertie side of the Chowan River.
That’s the view some Bertie County folks have after sunset — those aren’t fireflies but wind turbines’ blinking lights.
That said, when the wind turbines came online last summer, that all changed because the lights lit off the nighttime sky – their power amplified by reflecting off the river, an orange nightmare made more difficult because Bertie County has a higher elevation than Chowan County — it’s true, I’ve studied the bluffs.
“Once we started receiving the complaints, really a lot of them were sort of coming on this side outside of Chowan County,” Merrick said. “We initially, of course, responded to complaints and began working with each other to figure out what we can do.”
Other updates
Senator Bobby Hanig, R-Currituck, has been working closely with affected residents and Timbermill to work out a solution through Senate Bill 513, according to Kate Jordan, a key activist and affected property owner in Bertie County.
That bill includes enhanced public notification.
“Wind energy developers must notify property owners within 20 miles of the project boundary via registered or certified mail,” she said. “Public hearings must be held in each affected county, with additional notices published in newspapers for at least two consecutive weeks. Notices must also be sent to the NC Utilities Commission, Attorney General’s office, and military representatives.”
Additional Permit Requirements:
• Developers must provide detailed information about the facility, including turbine locations, potential airspace impacts, noise and shadow flicker studies, and environmental assessments.
• Applicants must document engagements with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Department of Defense (DoD) regarding air navigation safety and military readiness.
Light-Mitigation Technology Mandate:
• New wind energy projects must install FAA-approved light-mitigating technology to reduce nighttime flashing lights while ensuring aircraft safety.
• Existing facilities must seek FAA approval and install the technology within 24 months of approval.
Permit Decision Timeline:
• The NC Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) must approve or deny applications within 90 days, but only after receiving all required FAA and DoD clearances.
Additional changes Jordan suggests include more modern digital and social media notification processes since most people in Bertie and surrounding counties do not subscribe to their local newspapers. Indeed, the Albemarle Observers, an online FREE newspaper, is the most accessible publication in our area.
“Expanded press engagement – beyond traditional newspaper postings, thus ensuring local online news sources and media outlets share updates to reach a broader audience,” Jordan said.
Other suggestions from Jordan — Posting public notices on county and state websites, as well as official government social media pages (Facebook, Twitter/X, Nextdoor).
Email and Text Alerts — Offering residents an opt-in system to receive updates on wind energy projects in their area.
Community Posting Locations — Requiring notices to be displayed in libraries, town halls, and public gathering spaces where residents frequently visit.
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One response to “Timbermill Wind’s $2M Plan for Aircraft Detection Lights”
I would like to attend the groups next meeting. I live just east of the wind turbines in Perquimans Country and can see all of them from my yard.