Planners opposing wind siting bill; Request hearings "west of the Connecticut River"

HAWLEY — Planning Board member Lloyd Crawford doesn’t like what he’s learned about the terms of the Wind Energy Siting Reform Act currently on Beacon Hill under consideration by the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy.

“What concerns me, and what I think will be of most concern to others in the hilltowns, is that the legislation proposes to allow the Energy Facility Siting Board to trump local zoning bylaws that have been developed, often after extensive local debate,” Crawford says. “It will also establish a board that will develop guidelines for siting wind turbines in state forests. Although wind power has been discussed for quite a while now, new funding associated with the stimulus package and increased emphasis on renewable energy projects from both the Obama and Patrick administrations make the prospect of numerous facilities in the hilltowns a lot more likely.”

What Crawford call the “fast track” bill overrides local zoning control and veto power when standards are met regarding onshore wind power plants of 2 megawatts or more, meaning that a single turbine or many more could be permitted. The bill also shifts the permitting power from local zoning boards to the state Energy Facilities Siting Board, which is alleged to have never turned down a power plant application, according to its online database.

“This will particularly impact this area because this is where the wind is,” Crawford says. “It’s sort of been happening behind the scenes. I’m going to try to organize a campaign and insist that a hearing be held on the topic out here.”

And so he has. Tuesday, he spoke with State Senator Benjamin Downing.

Crawford said the Pittsfield Democrat said there was “a ’strong likelihood’ that hearings would be held in western Mass. He will be discussing the matter this week with Michael W. Morrissey, Senate chairman of the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy and to Barrry R. Feingold, Morrissey’s counterpart in the House.”

Crawford has also been contacting local planing boards to contact Morrissey and Barry Feingold, House chairman of the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy, to urge the legislators to band together, send letters opposing the bill and call for hearings in western Massachusetts.

Crawford says no one that he has contacted in West County has said “no.” So far, Hawley, Heath and Rowe planners have sent signed statements opposing the bill and calling for additional hearings “west of the Connecticut River.”

In the letter, planners “acknowledge that the efficacy and impacts of industrial-scale wind power facilities are subjects of ongoing and contentious debate. Moreover, any legislation which seeks to diminish a community’s right to self-determination ought to be of significant concern to all Massachusetts municipalities and their residents.”

You can read the bill in its entirety at mass.gov/legis/bills/senate/186/st01/st01504.htm.

By Virginia Ray

Shelburne Falls & West County Independent

29 May 2009

Tags: Wind power, Wind energy

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