Board takes on new wind proposal
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By PATRICK McARDLE Herald Staff - Published: October 30, 2008
MANCHESTER — Members of the Select Board wrestled at a Tuesday meeting with whether a town meeting vote in 2006 on a proposed wind energy project on Little Equinox compelled them to oppose a very different project being proposed this year on the same mountain.
Endless Energy of Yarmouth, Maine, was seeking approval in 2005 and 2006 to build five 390-foot high wind turbines that would generate 30 million kilowatt-hours a year to be sold to the Burlington Electric Department.
The new proposal also involves Endless Energy, but that's where the similarities end.
Endless Energy is asking the Vermont Public Service Board for permission to extend to 2010 a permit that allows the company to maintain a temporary wind measurement tower. The permit allows for three testing towers, but only one is still in place.
Two Vermont companies want to use the site to perform their own studies.
Earth Turbines, Inc., of Williston wants to build an 80-foot high prototype residential-grade wind turbine. NRG Systems Inc. of Hinesburg wants to test wind-measurement sensors designed to remain operational in extreme icing conditions.
"The site is ideal for testing wind equipment as it has strong consistent winds and an existing foundation used for much larger turbines that can now be reused for Earth Turbines' residential turbine. The site also has good road access, a connection to the electrical power grid and a good cellular connection to collect data," wrote Gerald Tarrant, of the Montpelier-based law firm Tarrant, Marks and Gillies, in the permit request to the Public Service Board.
The permit request states that the tower and wind-measurement sensors would be removed by the end of December 2010.
The tower would be built on an existing concrete pad and would not require lights. The 390-foot high turbines would have needed lights for the safety of aerial traffic.
The permit is being sought from the Public Service Board, which has sole jurisdiction in matters of energy generation projects that serve the public good. The town does not need to issue a permit for the project and has no authority to block a permit issued by the board.
However, at town meeting in 2006, voters directed the Select Board to oppose the construction of the five 390-foot high turbines and appropriated $150,000 for that purpose.
Manchester Planning Director and Zoning Administrator Lee Krohn sent a memo to the Select Board on Oct. 21 saying the town's Planning Commission recommended the Select Board provide notice to the Public Service Board that the Select Board planned to appear at the hearing for the permit and that the Select Board supported the request.
Krohn pointed out that the proposed wind turbine was shorter than turbines that had once been in place on Little Equinox during the 1980s.
On Tuesday, Select Board Chairman Ivan Beattie said he was concerned about whether the town meeting vote from 2006 would apply to a project so different from what was being proposed then.
Many of the concerns raised at the 2006 town meeting pertained to the number of towers and their height. Residents complained that five large towers would disrupt the native beauty of the town's mountain.
Because of the nature of the permitting process for wind towers, the town is not required to take any position. Select Board member Michael Kilburn, however, said while the conversation at town meeting in 2006 was long and sometimes complicated by vastly different views, he believed it was clear that voters wanted the Select Board to take an active role.
Select Board member Wayne Bell suggested the board request party status in the hearing and take a position in support of the proposal. Bell said the Select Board could always change its position based on what information comes to light during the hearing.
"I don't believe (the directive from the voters) was really to be in opposition to wind power as an alternate energy source," he said.
Kilburn suggested the board request a "seat at the table" without taking any position although he agreed "this is certainly not the Endless Energy wind project."
The Select Board voted to table the discussion and directed Manchester Town Manager John O'Keefe to invite the proponents to the next Select Board meeting, scheduled for Nov. 18. O'Keefe said he would also try to find out whether the town could secure party status at the permit hearing without taking a position.
Contact Patrick McArdle at patrick.mcardle@rutlandherald.com.
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