May 13, 2015
New Hampshire

Wind developer offers conservation donation

By Ashley Saari | Monadnock Ledger-Transcript | Wednesday, May 13, 2015 | www.ledgertranscript.com

Antrim Wind Energy has added land to a growing parcel that will be earmarked for conservation as part of its mitigation plan should its wind towers be built on the ridgeline of Willard Mountain and Tuttle Hill.

This week, Antrim Wind reached an agreement with the New England Forestry Foundation to donate $100,000 to permanently conserve working forest land in southern New Hampshire if its $61 million wind project is approved. AWE has already reached conservation purchase agreements with several landholders, for a total of 908 acres, mostly in the direct vicinity of the proposed wind towers.

AWE, and its parent company, Eolian Energy, have been attempting for several years to earn approval for their project to erect multiple wind towers on the Tuttle ridgeline. The state Site Evaluation Committee rejected the proposal last year, in part because it affected views from Willard Pond. Now, Antrim Wind is back before the SEC, requesting it take jurisdiction on the current project, which shortens one tower and removes another near Willard Pond, reducing the project from 10 towers to nine.

The SEC is still considering whether to take jurisdiction of the project from the town approval process.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2015/05/13/wind-developer-offers-conservation-donation/