Wind Power News: Vermont
These news and opinion items are gathered by National Wind Watch to help keep readers informed about developments related to industrial wind energy. They are the products of the organizations or individuals noted.
Health effects must be studied
A recent piece I wrote in Heart Health News on the cardiac consequences of sleep deprivation has been accused of fear-mongering on wind turbines. I wish to address several of the author’s comments and correct them.
First, the work is entirely my own and does not represent an opinion nor position of Rutland Regional Medical Center. I understand that the medical center will host a balanced forum on Health Issues of Wind Turbines in the spring. Additionally, a group of Rutland . . .
Famous quotes from former wind advocates
The following are famous quotes from former wind advocates:
“Wind turbines don’t make good neighbors,” Enxco’s John Zimmerman admitted at a meeting in Lowell, Vt.
“The noise from the 11 550-kilowatt Searsburg turbines is significant a mile away,” said Rob Ide, the director of Energy Efficiency for the Department Department of Public Service in Vermont.
Enxco’s New England representative, John Zimmerman also said, “When there is heavy rime ice build up on the blades and the machines are running you instinctively want to . . .
Area group forms to stop ‘big wind’ on ridgelines
A new group calling itself “Energize Vermont” has pledged to get communities more involved in utility permitting and to fight to keep wind turbines off Vermont’s ridgelines.
“What brought this on was a concern by a large number of people that various types of alternative energy, in this case what we call ‘big wind,’ (were) coming in and trying to establish themselves without any criteria about how these towers should be sited,” president John Liccardi of Castleton said Tuesday.
Liccardi said that . . .
Vt. group forms to fight big wind projects
Montpelier, Vermont – January 26, 2010
“It looks to me like the classic case of big business pushing their way into our community,” said Mike Klopchin of Clarendon.
It was opposition from residents like Mike Klopchin that helped shut down a proposed wind project on Susie’s Peak in Rutland County. But Klopchin isn’t done fighting.
“I hope that it goes to the Legislature to come up with some reasonable siting criteria; then we will have won,” he said.
That’s why he came to the . . .
Step forward for Lowell wind project
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 . . .
Experts clash over Vermont’s renewable-energy incentive program
MONTPELIER — Vermont’s newest incentive program for renewable energy met criticism Monday from the state’s Department of Public Service.
The release of a department study predicting higher electricity rates and slower economic growth prompted quick rebuttals from renewable energy experts.
At issue is a piece of legislation enacted last year that guarantees “feed-in tariffs” — higher-than-normal rate guarantees for power generated from solar, wind, biofuel, hydro and methane.
The bill, Act 45, designed to spur the development of in-state energy sources, directs Vermont . . .
Wind turbines are noisy
I’ve been hearing lots of conflicting opinions on just how noisy wind turbines are. Since I live near where the Vermont Community Wind Farm is proposing a series of 400-foot turbines, I figured I should find out for myself. I took the drive with a friend to Lempster, N.H., where there are already industrial wind turbines in operation.
As we approached Lempster, we came to a spot about a mile from the turbines and stopped to take a picture. As I . . .
PSB analysis recommends test towers for Lowell wind farm project
A utilities analysis with the Vermont Public Service Board (PSB) recommends the board grant approval for temporary meteorological towers to be placed on Lowell Mountain. The recommendation from hearing officer and utilities analyst Mary Jo Krolewski came as a proposal for approval, and is not a final decision.
The PSB is accepting comments on the proposal for a Certificate of Public Good (CPG) for the three test towers until or on January 29. Comments can be written, or a request for . . .
Like Chinese water torture
There has been much discussion lately about industrial wind power on Vermont’s mountains. The Lempster, N.H., turbine site is often used as an example of a typical wind tower site, especially after Green Mountain Power’s Dec. 5 bus trip for Lowell residents.
I am a Vermont resident, but I have an insider’s perspective of the Lempster site. I own two pieces of land on Lempster Mountain, one of which has been in my family for over 70 years.
There are 12 turbines . . .
‘Big wind’ is about easy money
Friends and neighbors, I write as a Clarendon resident, and not in my role as Select Board chairman. The people of Clarendon and the towns surrounding it are trying to understand what the Vermont Community Wind Farm project is all about. What will it mean for us? What impacts will it have on us? Why here and now?
What has brought trouble to our town’s doorstep is “easy” money. We wouldn’t be having this debate about wind farms if it wasn’t . . .
