October 9, 2010
Connecticut

Wind farm proposed in Prospect

WFSB Hartford, www.wfsb.com 8 October 2010

PROSPECT, Conn. – An energy company is looking to harness the power of wind in Prospect.

The proposal is to build two wind turbines on 67 largely unoccupied acres in Prospect where BNE Energy has been monitoring wind and climate conditions from a small, temporary tower for the last 22 months.

“It’s high up,” said Joel Rinebold, of BNE Energy. “It has good elevation. It’s also near Long Island Sound, so we get both high-elevation winds and some of the winds off Long Island Sound. It’s one of the best locations in the state.

If the project moves forward, it would generate almost $150,000 in tax revenue to Prospect, making it one of the largest taxpayers in town.

The towers would be massive, with blade diameters of 269 to 328 feet. To put that in perspective, the tower at the Republican-American building in Waterbury is 240 feet high.

The project would also generate plenty of power.

“Based on our calculations, this would provide about 25 percent of the town’s needs on average. Now, when the wind is blowing and the machines are engaged, that will meet almost 100 percent, about 85 percent,” Rinebold said.

However the energy wouldn’t be pumped only to Prospect.

“It would be sold to the wholesale market,” Rinebold said. “This will go into the system so while it’s located here in Prospect and it will be paying taxes to Prospect, this will be everybody’s clean, renewable energy.”

There will be an informational meeting on the issue on Oct. 18.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2010/10/09/wind-farm-proposed-in-prospect/