Navy: Wind farm opposed by GOP lawmakers won't harm radar

State legislative leaders have asked the incoming Trump administration to either kill or require major changes to the nearly completed wind farm, which they said will interfere with the operation of a military radar installation that scans for aircraft and ships hundreds of miles out over the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean.

"The Navy is committed to working with developers to ensure that renewable energy projects are compatible with our mission and operations," said Lt. Chika Onyekanne, a Navy spokesman.

At a campaign rally in August, he criticized both solar panels and wind turbines, which he said pose a lethal threat to wildlife.

The project is being constructed by Avangrid Renewables, a U.S. subsidiary of Spanish clean-energy giant Iberdrola S.A. Amazon has contracted to buy the full electrical output from the turbines, comparable to the power about 60,000 homes use in a year, to run its Virginia data centers.

In their letter to Trump's staff, North Carolina lawmakers claim the Pentagon dropped opposition to the wind farm because of the "political correctness" of outgoing President Barack Obama's administration.