Proposed wind farm in Millsfield is drawing opposition
Drive through Lempster these days and you’ll see the progress being made on the state’s first commercial wind farm.
When up and running, the 12 windmills on Lempster Mountain are expected to produce enough clean renewable energy for about 10 thousands homes.
With America increasingly looking for clean energy and independence from oil, wind farms are one possibility.
A big one is proposed for Coos County.
The project has its fans, but it also has it opponents.
NHPR correspondent Chris Jensen has the story.
Sound of child playing in the water.
You have to travel about six miles up a dirt road in the White Mountains to get to Millsfield Pond.
It sits in the center of this unincorporated town of the same name.
Some summer cabins line one shore.
It is tranquil here.
“It is our little piece of heaven. We have kind of kept it to ourselves for a lot of years. But I think it is getting opened to the public now.”
That’s Gary Gilbert.
His family has had a summer cabin up here for about 40 years.
On this warm fall day, it’s hard to imagine this quiet town in the center of anything, let alone a complex environmental and economic debate.
But a Connecticut company, Granite Reliable Power, wants to put wind turbines up here to generate electricity.
They’d be about 400 feet high and would stretch over about nine miles of privately owned timber land.
Gilbert walks closer to the pond.
“These mountains right here that are so beautiful that you can see right from the pier. Owlhead, Mt. Kelsey and Mt. Dixville out there. They are supposed to have, I think, 33 wind towers from one end to the other.”
Wind power is fairly common in Europe.
Germany has built more than 19 thousand wind turbines.
Denmark gets nearly 20 percent of its electricity from wind.
But here in the states, we get less than three percent of our electricity from wind.
And while other states have been turning to wind as part of a renewable energy solution, New Hampshire is just getting started.
Last week, the state’s Site Evaluation Committee held a public hearing in Groveton about the Millsfield project.
Company officials touted the economic benefits.
“We estimate based on our modeling that we will be providing $63.4 million dollars of direct, economic benefits to the county over the course of 20 years.”
That’s Pip Decker.
He’s with Noble Environmental Power of
Connecticut.
Noble controls Granite Reliable Power which would build and operate the Millsfield wind farm.
At the hearing, a fairly crisp line divided those in favor of the project and those opposed.
Most of those in favor were elected or appointed officials, including Executive Councilor Ray Burton, the County Commissioners and the Coos Planning Board.
The town of Dummer came out in favor it – if a few concerns could be eased.
And so did a group called the New Hampshire Sustainable Energy Association.
Those who opposed it were mostly Coos residents.
They worried about the towers being lit at night.
The widening and building of roads.
The effect on wildlife.
And a possible reduction in property values.
Kathlyn Keene of Jefferson said the area would never be the same.
“They will blast. They will bulldoze. They will tell you that the trees will grow back. Yes, they do. But when you blast to make flat surfaces to put wind turbines on you cannot grow mountains back.”
Granite Reliable has assured state and local officials the project will have a minimal impact on the environment.
The company does admit however, it will have to cut down some old growth forest.
Lisa Linowes is from Lyman.
She is the executive director of The Industrial Wind Action Group, which is critical of some aspects of wind energy.
She says the Millfield project will have a huge impact.
And she argues that with a decision due in April, regulators haven’t provided enough time for independent impact studies.
“All of the studies that have been done already have been done by Noble, paid for by Noble and using their consultants.”
Some environmental groups, like the Appalachian Mountain Club, are still evaluating the project.
But the State’s Department of Fish and Game says it is concerned about how the project will affect animals and wetlands.
Another issue is the economy.
Coos has been wracked by paper-plant closings.
As a result, the timber industry has taken a hit.
The company says it would need about 200 construction workers to put the wind farm up.
When running, it would employ up to 15 full-time and maybe as few as 7.
Some argue that biomass plants which burn wood to produce electricity would create more long-term jobs.
Coos County planning board member Fred King.
“I think if it were put to a vote in this part of the world we would probably elect for biomass because it not only creates the jobs for the biomass plants it also helps the wood industry but we don’t have that choice so we have to support what is ready to go and they are ready to go now.”
And if this project goes through now, it’s likely to take up all the space the electrical lines up here can currently handle.
That would shut out any proposed biomass plants until the transmission lines are upgraded.
That’s a hugely expensive project involving agreement among several states’ utilities.
It’s not likely to happen overnight.
There’s another issue….one that’s hard to measure.
It’s quality of life.
Some studies contend the blades make a bothersome low-frequency noise.
Some people living near wind turbines complain about flickering of the light through the blades.
Others are not bothered by that at all.
But there are few people living near the proposed wind turbines in Millsfield, Odell, Dixville and Dummer.
Noble Environmental says the closest home is a few miles away
Gary Gilbert has that summer cottage on Millsfield Pond.
Sound really travels up there and he knows he might hear the turbines.
But he says that’s a price he may have to pay.
“I’m all for alternate energy. I’m all for that. So, you know as far as them putting them in our backyard, if we’re for it, you can’t have both sides. You have to bend a little.”
But Gilbert says some of the other people nearby feel differently.
They don’t want to be hunting and come upon huge towers.
They don’t want their tranquility shattered.
“Some of the people are from like Massachusetts and all that and they come here to get away from everything and they sure don’t want to see that up here.”
Wayne Urso is a selectman for Millsfield.
He’s heard both sides of this debate and figures the truth is probably somewhere in the middle.
“The jury is still out on those issues. But we are quickly trying to get educated on all aspects of those areas as well.”
The company behind the project, Noble Environmental, has several challenges.
It lost $72 million over the last three years.
And New York’s Attorney General is investigating the company’s dealings in that state.
The AG alleges the company engaged in “improper dealings with public officials and anti-competitive practices.”
The company denies any wrongdoing.
New Hampshire’s Site Evaluation Committee will be gathering more information on the Millsfield project.
That will be used in hearings scheduled for March.
The wind farm can’t be built without the committee’s approval as well as an okay from the Army Corps of Engineers.
The deadline for a decision is April 6th.
For NHPR News this is Chris Jensen
7 October 2008
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