February 10, 2011
Rhode Island

Settlement to go toward wind projects in Narragansett, South Kingstown

By Alex Kuffner, Journal Staff Writer, The Providence Journal, www.projo.com 10 February 2011

PROVIDENCE – Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin has directed $240,000 from a settlement agreement with a violator of the federal Clean Air Act to the completion of a small wind turbine in Narragansett and the construction of another in South Kingstown.

The money is coming from a 2007 multistate settlement with American Electric Power Service (AEP), which constructed and modified numerous power plants in the Ohio River Valley without the permits required by the Clean Air Act. Under the settlement, AEP paid a $15-million penalty and committed $60 million to perform or finance environmental mitigation projects. Of that amount, $24 million was distributed to eight states to fund projects. Rhode Island’s portion of the settlement was $1.2 million, distributed through five annual installments of $240,000 through 2012.

About $156,000 of this year’s installment will go toward completing a 100-kilowatt wind turbine installed by the state Department of Environmental Management at Fisherman’s Memorial State Campground, in Narragansett. The turbine will provide about two-thirds of the electricity needed to run the campground.

About $84,000 will be used to build a 10-kilowatt turbine at East Matunuck State Beach, in South Kingstown. That machine will generate about 30 percent of the beach facility’s electricity.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/02/10/settlement-to-go-toward-wind-projects-in-narragansett-south-kingstown/