August 15, 2012
Rhode Island

Jamestown wind mill proposal could be dust in the wind

Dee DeQuattro | WPRO News | 630wpro.com 14 August 2012

The Jamestown Town Council is close to voting on a wind mill project that has been five years in the making. The project involves a wind turbine at Taylor Point which is an estimated $6 million project.

It’s not a done deal yet says Bill Murphy a Jamestown Town Councilor who says there are a lot of uncertainties associated with the project. “I’m not opposed to wind energy but in Jamestown we have been at this for five years looking at all the pluses and the minuses and we still don’t have all the facts in and at this point I have come to the conclusion that Jamestown should be in the energy production business, we shouldn’t be creating an electric company that is not our job, our job is to run the town,” William Murphy told the WPRO Morning News with Tara Granahan and Andrew Gobeil.

If Jamestown goes forward with the wind turbine project Murphy fears it could have the same fate as nearby Portsmouth which now is left with a half a million dollar bill on their wind mill project.

“Their misfortune actually may turn out a blessing for us because I kept feeling that one hiccup, the numbers are so small, one hiccup, we could be in trouble and all profitability could be wiped out and low and behold that is what happened in Portsmouth,” said Murphy.

It is too soon to tell which way other members of the town council will vote but Murphy believes other council members share his views on the windmill and would rather see the project go to a private company.

Currently the town of Jamestown has invested $100,000 into the project according to Murphy.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/08/15/jamestown-wind-mill-proposal-could-be-dust-in-the-wind/