January 4, 2011
Connecticut

Wind turbines up for consideration; Siting Council to discuss Prospect, Colebrook sites

By Alec Johnson, Republican-American, www.rep-am.com 3 January 2011

The debate over whether wind turbines should be allowed in Connecticut towns is advancing from the local to the state level this week as the Connecticut Siting Council takes up petitions to build commercial wind turbines in Prospect and Colebrook.

The council, a board of nine members appointed by the governor, has the final say whether and where public utility projects will be allowed in the state. The siting council’s jurisdiction supersedes local zoning regulations and municipal governments. Its meeting Thursday will consider petitions for projects in Prospect and Colebrook.

Chairman Daniel F. Caruso said the council is expected to review a petition submitted by BNE Energy Inc. of West Hartford proposing to build two turbines in Prospect and schedule a hearing on the matter. Petitions submitted to the board must be posted 30 days before the commission can discuss them. The petition, number 980 on the council’s docket, was submitted Nov. 17, making it the first of three proposed by BNE to be discussed.

BNE, controlled by principals Gregory J. Zupkus of Prospect and Paul J. Corey of West Hartford, wants to build two 492-foot-tall General Electric 1.5 Megawatt wind turbines in Prospect and six in Colebrook. The petitions for Colebrook, which is split into two projects, No. 983 and No. 984, because of their split geographic location, were filed Dec. 6 and Dec. 13, respectively.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/01/04/wind-turbines-up-for-consideration-siting-council-to-discuss-prospect-colebrook-sites/