July 22, 2020
New York

Tower removal confirms demise of Somerset wind project, supervisor says

Thomas J. Prohaska | The Buffalo News | Jul 22, 2020 | buffalonews.com

Apex Clean Energy last week removed its last meteorological tower on Lower Lake Road in Somerset, which Supervisor Jeffrey M. Dewart said is further evidence that the Lighthouse Wind project is dead.

In a news release Wednesday, Dewart urged the company to make it official by removing the project from the state’s approval process. An Apex spokesman said the project is still in development.

Dewart’s predecessor, Daniel M. Engert, declared in April 2019 that the project was dead after Apex closed its office in town and informed him that it would not make a formal application to the state for approval of the project.

The company had planned 47 wind turbines near the shore of Lake Ontario, 39 in Somerset and eight in neighboring Yates, each 591 feet tall including the length of the rotors.

That version was scaled back from Apex’s original 70-turbine plan, announced in 2014 and fought vigorously by the towns after surveys showed most residents opposed it.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2020/07/22/tower-removal-confirms-demise-of-somerset-wind-project-supervisor-says/