October 8, 2011
Massachusetts

West Stockbridge turbine plan turned off

By Clarence Fanto, Berkshire Eagle Staff, www.berkshireeagle.com 8 October 2011

WEST STOCKBRIDGE – The town has a site suitable for wind turbines, but its remote, land-locked location makes it impractical to develop, according to a town official.

As a result, the town has no plan to pursue a wind turbine project atop Harvey Mountain. It’s “a difficult spot with no easy access,” said Administrative Assistant Mark Webber.

While a wind turbine project isn’t on the proverbial back burner, Webber acknowledged “it’s not completely off the stove.”

Harvey Mountain is “the one site that meets the base-line requirements, but it’s not practical as far as we can see,” he said.

A wind installation atop Harvey Mountain, which borders Austerlitz, N.Y., also would require electrical power to originate over the state line in New York.

Fierce political headwinds also would be likely to buffet any town government that puts forth even a tentative wind turbine idea, as demonstrated currently in Lenox.

Some wind turbine advocates have eyed the hilly terrain that dominates towns such as Mount Washington and Savoy.

The only turbines operating in Berkshire County are atop Brodie Mountain in New Ashford, Jiminy Peak in Hancock and at a business in Otis, overlooking the Massachusetts Turnpike.

The Brodie Mountain project was delayed by years of litigation by the adjacent, still-undeveloped Snowy Owl Resort.

A 30-megawatt, 20-turbine wind farm is under development on Bakke Mountain in Florida and Crum Hill in Monroe, but it also had been held up by lawsuits.