August 8, 2007
Vermont
Vermont
State regulators today approved the 16-turbine UPC Wind project to be built in Sheffield, although they also required a serious of accommodations by the company before it can put up the project.
If built the Sheffield project would be the first commercial wind power station in Vermont since the Searsburg facility was completed a decade ago.
The UPC project has been significantly scaled back from its original design, but company officials have said that it is still viable at its current size. Initially the project was going to include turbines both in Sheffield and Sutton, but now all of the project – with a 40 megawatt capacity, will be in Sheffield, which was more welcoming to the idea than Sutton.
In its approval the Public Service Board put several restrictions on the project designed to mitigate the impact of noise, traffic and other concerns.
The “visual impact” of the large turbines was the greatest concern of those surrounding the project, the board noted in its decision. However the board decided that the benefit of the project – including power supply to Vermont users – outweighed those worries.
A complete story will appear in tomorrow’s Times Argus.
By Louis Porter
Vermont Press Bureau
8 August 2007
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2007/08/08/sheffield-wind-project-approved/