Step forward for Lowell wind project
Credit: Candace Page, The Burlington Free Press, www.burlingtonfreepress.com 25 January 2010
Vermont utility regulators continue trying to balance the state’s interest in generating more renewable energy with the undeniable impact of tall mountaintop towers on the state’s iconic mountain views.
A Public Service Board hearing officer recommended this month that Green Mountain Power be granted permission to put three wind-measuring towers atop Lowell Mountain.
The utility is trying to determine whether there is sufficient wind for a 16-to-24 turbine project in the Orleans County community.
I spotted one potential straw in the wind in the hearing officer’s decison: She rejected GMP’s assertion that the temporary towers would have no “adverse” aesthetic impact.
“Given the facts of this case, it would be difficult to find that the three proposed towers do not have an adverse effect on the aesthetics of the area,” she wrote. The mountains and ridgelines in the Lowell area are classic Vermont forested mountaintops with little or no sign of man’s hand.
However, given the relatively small mass of the towers and other factors, she continued, the towers will not have the “undue” adverse impact that might require rejecting the permit application.
“While the proposed project will be visible, I conclude that it will not dominate the landscape and will not offend the sensibilities of the average person,” she found.
That leads, of course, to the question of whether a future proceeding might find that 16 to 24 wind turbines are a very different case and might have that “undue” impact.
In a nutshell, that is Vermont’s dilemma. While specific wind turbine sites might have other problems — for example, construction might destroy critical wildlife habitat — every proposed project puts turbines on mountaintops.
Case by case by case, towns and individuals and regulators are faced with that choice: To what extent do we trade more of a valuable aesthetic resource — our mountain views — for small additions to our energy supply?
At least one wind project in southern Vermont was dropped because of fierce local opposition prompted in large part by fear of aesthetic impacts. On the other hand, in the few cases to reach regulators so far, the PSB has never found aesthetic values to outweigh the need for energy.
In the Lowell case, the question could be moot. The PSB hearing officer recommended GMP not be allowed to put up the measuring towers until after March 2, when Lowell residents will vote by secret ballot on whether to support the wind project.
Green Mountain Power has said it will not proceed without that support.
Tags: Wind power, Wind energy
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