Lussi pushes for turbines on Whiteface
The idea of wind turbines on state-owned ski resorts in the Adirondack Park has not gained much public support, or even consideration, but state Adirondack Park Agency commissioner Art Lussi wants to change that.
Lussi, a Lake Placid resident whose family owns the Crowne Plaza Resort & Golf Club, has made it his personal mission recently to bring the idea up after APA meetings and to petition his fellow commissioners on the subject. He believes that places such as Whiteface Mountain Ski Center in Wilmington, which already has substantial development in the form of chairlifts and lodges, plus wide ski trails cut into the mountain, should also be considered as a location for wind turbines. Lussi says that the turbines would reduce the cost of electricity while providing green energy.
Of course, it would have to be proposed by the Olympic regional Development Authority, which runs Whiteface and Gore ski centers, but the APA would have to review the proposal.
“If we delicately locate some windmills, it would be an unbelievable way to help pay for the power that we need to make snow and run the lifts,” Lussi said.
Ski resorts such as Whiteface Mountain have tremendous electricity bills. Whiteface General Manager Bruce McCulley said that in months such as January, the facility’s electricity bill can be more than $300,000, mainly because of snowmaking and lifts.
McCulley said he would support the idea of a wind turbine on the mountain, but that there would be many issues to consider prior to it being a serious proposal.
“There’s quite a few factors that have to be involved – economic, environmental and all of that,” McCulley said. “Absolutely, if it works for us, I would be (in support of it).”
McCulley said it’s not a new idea. About eight to 10 years ago, wind turbines were considered in the preliminary stages of the Whiteface Mountain Intensive Use Unit Management Plan, but were taken out before they were seriously considered.
“I think that was before the energy concerns, so it probably wasn’t something that was going to go at that point in time,” McCulley said. “Now, it’s possible that we’d look into it again, but we’d have to look into it through the unit management planning process.”
Whiteface’s unit management plan was adopted in 2004, and it is due for an update, a process which could start this spring.
Because of current energy concerns and changes in wind turbine technology, the idea could gain more support this time around. And it’s already a practice at other ski centers. One of those is in Vermont, where construction of the first wind turbine was completed this month at Bolton Valley, about 20 miles east of Burlington.
Bolton Valley is owned by Doug Nedde and Larry Williams, co-owners of Redstone, a full-service Vermont commercial real estate firm which is located in Burlington.
“Their long-term vision is building things sustainable and being as green as they can with anything at Bolton Valley,” said Josh Arneson, director of marketing at Bolton Valley. “The wind tower goes into their overall vision of trying to be more sustainable.”
The wind turbine at Bolton Valley is small in comparison to commercial ones in places such as Chateaugay, where turbines tower above the trees at nearly 400 feet. The Bolton Valley wind turbine is 121 feet tall from the ground to the top of the tower, and 156 feet at the tip of a vertical blade.
The wind turbine is expected to produce about 300,000 kilowatts of electricity, or the equivalent of the power needed for 40 to 50 homes for a year, according to the ski center. Arneson said it is expected to pay one-eighth of the resort’s electricity bill this year.
The combination of relatively small wind turbines and the potential for generating low-cost electricity is why Lussi thinks wind energy could be a good fit for state-owned ski resorts. That’s why he says he’s going to continue supporting the idea.
“I know that management has been interested,” Lussi said about Whiteface. “They’ve been subtly told, ‘Don’t waste your time.’ That’s why I am going to keep bringing it up, because I feel like I philosophically have to change the (APA) board’s opinion.”
By MIKE LYNCH, Enterprise Outdoors Writer
Adirondack Daily Enterprise
28 November 2009
Tags: Wind power, Wind energy
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