November 16, 2010
Massachusetts

Bourne wind farm backers propose rebates on neighbors’ electric bills

By Paul Gately, BOURNE COURIER, www.wickedlocal.com 16 November 2010

BOURNE – New Generation Wind told the Cape Cod Commission Monday night that it will create a Green Energy Rebate Program to help pay the monthly electric bills of residents who will live next to the proposed industrial-grade wind farm off Scenic Highway in Bourne.

David Peterson, representing Cape Cod Aggregates owner Samuel Lorusso, a partner in the seven-turbine proposal before the Commission, said the rebate program would cover from 25 to 50 percent of a typical family’s electric bill for 125 neighbors of the Bourndale tract where the turbines are proposed.

Peterson said New Generation would place $100,000 aside each year to help with neighbors’ payments. Houses within 1,000 feet of a turbine would receive $1,000 toward their bill in a direct credit established with NStar or a cash payment.

Households 1,500 to 2,000 feet away from a turbine would receive $600 per year.

Peterson said the rebate program is innovative and, along with projected tax revenue each year, would help Bourne create “a model energy program and establish a sustainable environmental future.”

Affected homeowners, however, wondered if the rebate represented a “bribe” of sorts and openly asked if New Wind would also make up the difference in lost property values.

Peterson said the rebate program would be transferable when real estate is sold.

Read more in the Nov. 17 edition of The Bourne Courier.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2010/11/16/bourne-wind-farm-backers-propose-rebates-on-neighbors-electric-bills/