The Solano County Airport Land Use Commission on Wednesday followed the lead of Travis Air Force Base and gave its blessings to 50 wind turbines proposed by the Sacramento Municipal Utility District. Travis officials had said since late 2006 that the 850 existing electricity-generating turbines in the Montezuma Hills make it hard for base radar to detect small, civilian aircraft. On Tuesday, they dropped their objections to the SMUD project and two other proposed projects. Airport Land Use Commission Chairman Ray Schoch attended the Tuesday meeting in which the U.S. Air Force announced its conclusions. 'I came away feeling very comfortable with the way this was handled and the results,' he told the other commissioners. The commission decided the SMUD project is compatible with Travis Air Force Base. SMUD and two private wind companies worked with the Air Force on overcoming the radar issues. They found a way to simulate how additional turbines would affect the base radar.
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