November 29, 2006
Maine

Wind farm to go before planners tonight

FREEDOM – The planning board could decide as soon as this evening whether to give the green light to a proposal to install wind turbines on Beaver Ridge. The board, which closed public input earlier this month, will meet at 6:30 p.m. at the Congregational Church.

Portland-based Competitive Energy Services LLC hopes to construct three wind turbines on Beaver Ridge.

The turbines would each have the capacity of roughly 1.5 megawatts. The $10 million project could generate enough electricity to power 2,000 Maine homes.

The three 250-foot towers would hold blades 140 feet across, meaning the structures would reach nearly 400 feet in the air. Lighted at night and on a ridge roughly 1,000 feet above sea level, the towers would be visible from many points in Freedom.

The company has a long-term lease with the owners of the Beaver Ridge site, Ronald and Susan Price, who own Craneland Farm, a longtime dairy farm. The couple have said the wind turbines offer a way to preserve their farmland.

The project has spawned heated exchanges at previous public hearings.

morningsentinel.mainetoday.com


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2006/11/29/wind-farm-to-go-before-planners-tonight/