Ocotillo Wind Turbine Destruction

Our Story

It was 2012 when the small community of Ocotillo, Ca. was destroyed with the placement of 112 Industrial Wind Turbine Generators that surround our community with some placed within 1/2 mile of residents, even though the original documents claimed that the facility would be placed 5 miles away from the community of Ocotillo. The viewscape, quality of life, property devaluation, the town, and raptors have been sacrificed. Pattern Energy received close to 116 million taxpayer dollars for a wind facility with a very low capacity factor. In fact the average capacity factor through 2019 was a dismal 18.85%.

Imperial County Board of Supervisors approved this facility even though 99% of the community members opposed it. 112 wind turbines were selected even though that quantity was not one of the choices described in the Environmental Impact Report. In fact if the least amount of turbines of 105 was selected, about 25 turbines or so would not have been placed so close to homes and would have saved the entire view to the East. All turbines sit on BLM managed land.

Other issues are wind turbine oil leaks directly over our Federally Protected Sole Source Aquifer, a blade falling off, a turbine fire, a tower collapse due to another blade failure, dust from the added 47 miles of access roads, Red Tailed hawks have disappeared, excessive loud irritating and annoying noises, bright red blinking lights, added traffic from delivery trucks and workers.

Possible health issues from annoyance and noise, LFN and dirty electricity haunt us. Pattern Energy said they would be good neighbors, but noise complaints go nowhere! Pattern Energy also said they would install a radar activated aircraft warning system that would keep those bright red blinking lights off until an aircraft approached. We’ll never forget John Calaway, with Pattern Energy, stating that “when we say we’ll do something, we’ll do it”... it’s now been 7 long years unable to sit on our front porches outside at night.

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