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Last Updated 10:11 PM Sunday, September 05, 2010
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News
| 1/10/2009 6:00:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article | Lowell Mountain May Get Turbines
Robin Smith
Staff Writer
Green Mountain Power and Vermont Electric Cooperative are jointly exploring the construction of a wind power facility called Kingdom Community Wind on Lowell Mountain.
The project could include 12 to 17 modern wind turbines on a 2.5-mile stretch of ridge line owned by Trip Wileman of Lowell. Wileman owns the private corporation called Kingdom Community Wind.
The project, with a preliminary estimated cost of between $80 million and $125 million, could generate 30 to 42 megawatts of electricity. That is enough to power 15,000 Vermont households, the project promoters said Friday.
Lowell Mountain's ridge lines, which rise above farm land west and south of Jay Peak, is within the co-operative's service area. VEC has been talking with Wileman about investing in a wind project on Lowell Mountain for at least several months.
Wileman owns 1,801 acres on the mountain. His father owns another 62 acres which would be used to access the ridge line.
Wileman was one of several landowners involved in the initial exploration of wind power for Lowell Mountain by out-of-state companies. Last year, he did not renew contracts with a foreign investor and announced that he was seeking to work with Vermont power companies to develop wind on his property.
The decision to make a formal announcement Friday - in a press release issued jointly by GMP, VEC and Wileman - came as the partners realized they are at a stage to need more wind measurement tests from towers on the mountain.
The wind test towers, involving lasers to measure wind up to 200 meters above ground, will require approval by the Vermont Public Service Board.
"We are interested in exploring the potential of building this project because we know our customers want energy that is low cost, low in carbon emissions and reliable," said Mary Powell, GMP president and CEO.
"Developing the project with Vermont owners would help to assure price stability for generations of Vermonters," Powell said.
The VEC board of directors has authorized VEC's management to investigate wind power, co-op CEO David Hallquist said. The board would have to vote to approve the project once all engineering studies and community outreach is complete, he said.
"We know that our members want low emissions, low carbon footprint and local generation," Hallquist said. "VEC is investigating Kingdom Community Wind because we feel it fits the criteria and meets our goals, although we acknowledge members' concerns for aesthetics."
In the next several months, the project developers will apply for the wind test towers.
At the same time, they expect to begin meeting with boards of selectmen and planning commissions in the towns in the "view shed" like Lowell, Albany, Irasburg and Craftsbury.
Cooperative Effort
The Kingdom Community Wind project is viable with the current incentives available to wind projects, said Dorothy Schnure, GMP public relations officer.
It is not dependent on a potential push for wind power out of the federal government, she said. And it does not depend on the current lower prices of fuel oil, natural gas or coal.
"We have to look at it over the long-term," Schnure said.
Wileman shared that assessment.
"I wouldn't be doing it if I didn't believe in it," he said.
The power will be used locally and the economic benefits will be local, Wileman said.
GMP has a history with wind in Vermont, having built the Searsburg wind towers in 1997. Although built with now out-of-date technology, the 190-foot towers were successful for their time, Schnure said.
Wind Good Match
GMP considers wind power a resource that is supported by most Vermonters, she said.
Wind power works very well with the other power sources in New England, Schnure said.
Wind is unpredictably intermittent as a power source, but that matches well with the natural gas power plants in southern New England, she said. Natural gas plants can be turned on and off quickly to pick up power demand when the wind dies, she said.
GMP is also involved in other renewable resource projects in Vermont, but Schnure could not talk about those because they are under confidentiality agreements.
It is very early in the development of the Kingdom Community Wind project, but the need is great to get out and talk about it in the communities, she said.
"I hope opponents attend the meetings," Wileman said.
VEC has approached some opponents, including Don and Shirley Nelson of Lowell. Hallquist told the Nelsons in December that VEC will not move forward on such a project if a majority of members oppose it.
Wileman said that he knows the three selectmen in Lowell will call a vote of the town on the Kingdom Community Wind project.
VEC could have a discussion about the project at its annual meeting in May, Hallquist said.
But it is probably too early to hold a survey of the membership on the project, since engineering and other studies still must be done, Hallquist said.
"We really have to do serious due diligence on what it will cost per megawatt hour when it's done," Hallquist said.
A Web site about the Kingdom Community Wind project is expected to go up within several weeks, the partners said. The Web site site is www.kingdomcommunitywind.com.
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Reader Comments
Posted: Sunday, May 10, 2009
Article comment by:
John Dooglas
Hey, you wouldn't happen to be the same Eric Phaneuf who works for Northern Power Systems in Waitsville, would you? What a coincidence! People, here's another wind power proponent who coincidentally stands to profit, directly or indirectly, from the desecration of our landscape. They think "hey those NEKers must be real idiots- Cha-ching!" Trust me, no one is saving the environment here- just look into the environmental impact of creating the components for turbines alone.
As for me, I lived 2/10ths of a mile away from one for 3 years and after getting migraines and nausea from the flicker half the day(look for videos on youtube), I thought "this better be making a difference somehow". It's not. Not even close. This is about one thing and one thing only- profiteering.
I can promise you that there is little to no true positive benefit that comes from wind turbines. Just google Tug Hill Plateau, or Mars Hill. Corporate exploitation of good, honest rural people like ourselves is what this all amounts to.
Vermonters, we live in a place worth living in. Let's keep it that way and let the snake oil salesmen find other people to dupe.
Posted: Thursday, January 22, 2009
Article comment by:
Eric Phaneuf
In response to Joe, I would say that an individual’s position on wind power in Vermont should not have anything to do with whether said individual is a member of the so called "liberal elite", or whether one is a "Republican hawk", or a "redneck" or any other conveniently labeled group. I urge people to educate themselves on the whole picture. Learn about our whole energy system and infrastructure, and how that fits into our entire global ecosystem. We need renewable energy, and energy efficiency measures, for a lot of reasons. If one is interested in familiarizing themselves with the issues please read "Hot, Flat and Crowded" by Thomas L. Friedman. We need substantive discussion about the issues, not bald assurances of “OPPOSITION . . . TO THE BITTER END”. When Joe calls wind turbines "inefficient" what does he mean by that? Does he even know what he means by that? A wind turbine's efficiency depends upon the strength of the wind resource. A well-sited wind turbine has and efficiency factor of around 34%. A natural gas turbine has an efficiency factor of about 60%. Is 33% a lot less than 60%? Sure. But the numbers tell only a small part of the story. Focusing on these numbers to argue against the merits of wind power is myopic. The loudest objection to wind turbines comes from those who do not like the way they look. I wonder how many of those with aesthetics objections have ever visited a large wind turbine to inform their opinion? It would be informative for them to do so. Are wind towers on ridgelines perfect? No, but we do not live in a perfect world. Just ask Judy Bonds who lives in a coal harvesting part of the West Virginia Appalachians. She might say to Joe, as she has to others, that he has “no idea of what it's like to live underneath the rule of a coal company. I've watched my mother pull a gun on an insurance man so she could get my father's black lung benefits I've watched my daddy die of black lung, watched black water roll down my streams, watched my grandson stand in a stream full of dead fish, watched our children go to a school full of coal dust with a sludge dam and a mountaintop removal site behind it." The hardship of an interupted view seems to pale in comparison. Nonetheless, some want to put turbines only where nobody can see them. While it is nice to hide the cost of energy, doing so only perpetuates America’s lack of appreciation for the true costs of energy. We flip the switch and the lights go on. How many of us really understand what it takes for that to happen? For decades there has been a disconnect between our consumption of energy and our understanding of the true cost of that consumption. Putting windmills where people can see them could go a long way towards furthering a critical discussion about our natural resources and how we use them.
One last thought. We have many ski areas in Vermont. Most people are proud of our skiing heritage. Are wind turbines less attractive than the large scars made by trail cutting? Over time would Vermonters, as the Danes, Germans, Minnesotans and many New Yorkers have, take great pride in the very turbines that some now so vociferously oppose? I hope so. I also hope that the decision makers in Vermont, and those sponsoring the Lowell project, facilitate an informed discussion about wind energy. A good decision can only be made after carefully considering impartial facts in the context of our entire ecosystem, energy infrastructure, and geopolitical landscape.
Posted: Monday, January 12, 2009
Article comment by:
Joe
Most Vermonters support windpower? What? Most people I know cringe at the idea of having these inefficient hulking steel towers blighting their landscape. They probably think opponents are a bunch of ignorant rednecks right? Me, I'm a liberal democrat AND I WILL OPPOSE WIND POWER IN VERMONT TO THE BITTER END.
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