LOCATION/TYPE

NEWS HOME

[ exact phrase in "" • results by date ]

[ Google-powered • results by relevance ]


Archive
RSS

Add NWW headlines to your site (click here)

Get weekly updates

WHAT TO DO
when your community is targeted

RSS

RSS feeds and more

Keep Wind Watch online and independent!

Donate via Paypal

Donate via Stripe

Selected Documents

All Documents

Research Links

Alerts

Press Releases

FAQs

Campaign Material

Photos & Graphics

Videos

Allied Groups

Wind Watch is a registered educational charity, founded in 2005.

News Watch Home

Zupkus’ Colebrook wind farm poised to grow 

Credit:  Matt Pilon | Hartford Business Journal | December 16, 2016 | www.hartfordbusiness.com ~~

For Gregory Zupkus, president and CEO of West Hartford wind-power developer BNE Energy, 2016 proved to be a mixed bag.

Though a massive wind project the company planned in Goshen doesn’t appear to have a viable path forward, Zupkus and his business partner, BNE Chairman Paul Corey – owners of the state’s sole commercial wind farm in Colebrook – could start construction on a third 3.5-megawatt turbine in Colebrook next year, following a successful bid into a state-run energy program.

“We’re excited that we’re growing in Connecticut,” Zupkus said in a November telephone interview, several weeks after the state notified BNE that its project was among the 24 selected from 100 proposals to enter into power-purchase contracts with utility companies.

The third turbine would push the Colebrook South wind farm’s annual generating capacity to approximately 9 megawatts.

Zupkus and Corey had been looking ahead to the state’s request for proposals (RFP) for some time as an avenue to make a third turbine financially viable.

While the results of the RFP were a victory for BNE, the company didn’t get everything it wanted. BNE also planned a much larger project in nearby Goshen, which included building a six-turbine, 20-megawatt wind farm on an isolated, wooded ridge owned by Torrington Water Co. Though the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection selected several similarly sized wind projects in New York and Vermont, it did not select BNE’s bid.

“It’s obvious it’s on hold at this time,” Zupkus said of the Goshen proposal. “That was an exciting project.”

Zupkus said BNE doesn’t have any other Connecticut projects in the works. The company has had approvals for some time to build another three-turbine farm in Colebrook, but Zupkus said there are no plans to move it forward. He said BNE has begun to look for opportunities outside of the state, including in Oklahoma.

Connecticut has not been an easy state for wind developers. Legislators enacted a three-year moratorium on wind projects in 2011. Opponents of the Colebrook South project staged a lengthy legal battle that ended up in the Connecticut Supreme Court, which ruled in favor of BNE in 2014.

“We’re hoping the process moves a little more quickly in the future,” Zupkus said.

Source:  Matt Pilon | Hartford Business Journal | December 16, 2016 | www.hartfordbusiness.com

This article is the work of the source indicated. Any opinions expressed in it are not necessarily those of National Wind Watch.

The copyright of this article resides with the author or publisher indicated. As part of its noncommercial educational effort to present the environmental, social, scientific, and economic issues of large-scale wind power development to a global audience seeking such information, National Wind Watch endeavors to observe “fair use” as provided for in section 107 of U.S. Copyright Law and similar “fair dealing” provisions of the copyright laws of other nations. Send requests to excerpt, general inquiries, and comments via e-mail.

Wind Watch relies entirely
on User Funding
   Donate via Paypal
(via Paypal)
Donate via Stripe
(via Stripe)

Share:

e-mail X FB LI TG TG Share


News Watch Home

Get the Facts
CONTACT DONATE PRIVACY ABOUT SEARCH
© National Wind Watch, Inc.
Use of copyrighted material adheres to Fair Use.
"Wind Watch" is a registered trademark.

 Follow:

Wind Watch on X Wind Watch on Facebook

Wind Watch on Linked In Wind Watch on Mastodon