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Londondery, Vt.- Last week, a Public Service Board hearing officer, Kurt Janson, recommended that the state should not permit a Northeast Kingdom wind farm project in East Haven because of its proximity to the nearly 133,000 acres of preserved land on the former Champion paper company property. He said the four 329 ft proposed turbines were “inappropriate because they would not be in character with the surrounding wilderness.” Wind power proponents argue that the East Haven site is an ideal place for a wind farm because it’s on the site of a former Cold War-era U.S. Air Force radar base.
The state Natural Resources Committee, which encourages development of renewable energy sources, reacted to Janson’s statement by calling in wind farm developers to determine whether any changes need to be considered. Chairman Robert Dostis, D-Waterbury spoke in favor of more public education. “We really need to get away from the ‘not in my backyard’ attitude,” he said. “When you look at what the state faces in terms of the high cost of electrical energy power and our need to reduce greenhouse gases, you need to weigh that against the needs of a few who (would) go to the Champion lands whose outdoor experience is ‘significantly’ compromised. I look at the bigger picture and I see the weight should be much greater on the side of moving Vermont toward a future with greater in-state generation and conservation.”
On March 17th, in reaction to the statement about the East Haven project, the developers of a 19-turbine wind farm that would produce 47.5 megawatts of electricity on Glebe Mountain (Londonderry and Windham) suspended their project until the PSB clarifies whether wind projects will be permitted elsewhere in the state. The partners, Catamount Energy and Marubeni Power International, had planned to seek state approval in April for the Glebe Mountain project.
Robert Charlebois, a managing director with Catamount Energy, said “It seems to us that it would be a waste of valuable resources to continue efforts to submit the application prior to us getting very clear directions.” He estimated a Public Service Board decision would be made in May.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, March 7th, at the annual Londonderry Town Meeting, con- commercial wind development people (or NIMBYS) made in-roads into town government. Claire Trask, a pro-wind, and extremely active Select Board member was ousted from her seat. William Wiley, the con-wind choice, slipped into her place by winning only 26 more votes. Then, a vote for $100,000. for legal and technical spending to battle the state if they decide in favor of the wind project, was handily won. Pro-wind voters pointed out that these funds would be spent as part of a bottomless pit, but many voters didn’t seem to be listening. The turn-out for this particular town meeting was higher than usual – most likely because of the wind farm issue – but the majority of Londonderry voters did not attend the meeting and did not vote.
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