Alternative energy testing the winds in the NEK

Vermont Business Magazine, Aug 01, 2005 by Kelly, Kevin

All sides in the controversy over development of wind power in Vermont are looking to a proect in the Northeast Kingdom as a key test of the political viability of this form of renewable energy.

The four-turbine demonstration project proposed for a 3400-foot mountain in Essex County is further along in the regulatory process than five other wind farms that developers hope to build in various parts of the state. The Public Service Board is expected to rule soon on a permit application filed by East Haven Windfarm, sponsor of the East Mountain project about 30 miles north of St Johnsbury.

The Douglas administration supports the East Haven demonstration as an opportunity for regulators and citizens alike to evaluate the impact of commercial wind development.

"It should be a good test of how an actual wind project is viewed, at least in one part of the state," says Public Service Commissioner David O'Brien. While acknowledging the strength of local opposition to the East Haven wind farm and proposed projects elsewhere in Vermont, O'Brien adds that "from an across-the-state perspective I don't get the sense there is a largely negative view of wind development."

Even opponents living close to contested sites may soften their stance once the projects come on line, suggests Mark Sinclair, vice president of the Clean Energy Group in Montpelier. "Seeing is believing," he says, noting that local opposition to some projects in Europe did ease considerably after the turbines were put in place.

In Vermont itself, local residents have generally come to accept an array of 11 turbines that began operating eight years ago in Searsburg. Green Mountain Power built this project, which ranks as the only functioning wind energy unit in the state. Having largely assuaged local concerns, GMP wants to install 22 additional turbines at the Searsburg site.

Despite his expectation of shifts in grassroots sentiments regarding the East Haven project, Sinclair does not foresee expeditious development of other wind farms in the state.

"Wind developers are not moving forward as aggressively in Vermont as in other states, especially Texas," Sinclair says. "Vermont just hasn't been a leader in renewable energy."

Some other environmentalists do see merit in objections voiced by citizen groups in regard to wind farms' effects on scenic views and, thus, on local property values.

"There are often excellent arguments on both sides," says Patrick Berry, policy director for the Vermont Natural Resources Council. "Many of the groups do have valid concerns about the aesthetic impact."

In the case of the East Haven project, opponents.. argue that - the 330-foot-tall turbines will mar vistas, kill birds and be accompanied by power fine construction that will disturb habitats. They also point to the developer's plans to install as many as 50 turbines in the same area in the coming years.

Supporters note that the four turbines included in the demonstration project would be built on the site of a disused US Air Force radar installation already reachable by road. The nearest permanent habitation is seven miles away, they observe.

The four turbines would produce up to six megawatts of clean energy, which would meet one-third of the electrical needs of the Village of Lyndonville. A full buildout of the East Haven wind farm would cover half the electricity demand of the entire Northeast Kingdom, according to the project's developer.

Calling the East Haven initiative "the start of a conversation on where to site wind projects," Berry of VNRC says strong state leadership will be essential during the next decade in balancing Vermont's needs for both renewable energy and preservation of its mountainous beauty.

Governor James Douglas would argue that he is providing exactly that sort of leadership.

In a setting chosen to signify his commitments, Douglas recently signed legislation creating incentives for Vermont utilities to invest in wind power and other types of renewable energy. The governor used a 31-foot-long wind turbine as his writing table at the signing ceremony in a manufacturing plant operated by Waitsfield-based Northern Power Systems.

While most environmentalists welcome the new law, they had urged that it include mandates as well as incentives. With some prodding of Vermont's utilities, wind could account for up to 20 percent of the state's electric power generation by the year 2020, advocates contend. And such a shift could prove crucial, they add, because Vermont may lose its two largest sources of electricity - the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant and state utilities' contracts with Hydro Quebec within the next 15 years.

Rejecting calls for mandatory investments in renewable energy, Douglas argued that such a requirement would drive up electric rates for both residential customers and for businesses already concerned about power costs.

As it stands, the renewable energy law "will be helpful but not a decisive factor," says Andy Perchlik, director of Renewable Energy Vermont. All six of the proposed wind projects in Vermont "would be built tomorrow, regulators willing, even without utilities being mandated to buy renewable power," Perchlik suggests.