Counties deflate wind power.

• Position: Eastern

Local opposition is knocking the wind out of efforts to promote renewable energy, but whether coastal ordinances that halt or tightly regulate electricity-generating windmills have them down for the count remains to be seen. The latest setback came in March, when Carteret County imposed a nine-month moratorium. In January, Currituck County started restricting where they can be built.

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"We're faced with something we know little about," says Doug Harris, chairman of the Carteret County commissioners. "We're looking at something that, from sea level to the tip of the blade, could be 470 to 490 feet tall. That's taller than the Wachovia Building in Raleigh and certainly taller than our lighthouse at Cape Lookout."

Carteret ordered the moratorium after Raleigh developers proposed building three large wind turbines east of Morehead City that could generate more than 4 megawatts of power, which they would sell to Raleigh based Progress Energy. The Currituck ordinance requires utility-size windmills to be on at least 25 acres and 1 1/2 times their height from property lines.

Carteret commissioners want time to study windmills before a new state law triggers a building boom. It requires utilities to obtain 12.5% of their power from renewable sources and greater efficiency by 2020. "We're just...