From: tgray@igc.apc.org (Tom Gray)
Newsgroups: sci.environment
Subject: --VT Utility Seeks Windfarm Permits
Date: 25 Jan 93 19:28:00 GMT
Nf-ID: #N:cdp:1466602061:000:3535
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!tgray    Jan 25 11:28:00 1993


/* Written 11:22 am  Jan 25, 1993 by tgray@igc.apc.org in igc:en.energy */

GREEN MOUNTAIN MOVES
AHEAD ON PERMITTING
 
Green Mountain Power Corp. (GMP) said it plans to continue working
to obtain permits for two wind projects in southern Vermont
regardless of whether the sites are developed in the immediate
future.
 
The utility, which is based in South Burlington, VT, had proposed
wind power plants at the sites along with another in western
Massachusetts in response to a request for proposals for "green
power" from New England Power Co. (NEPCO) (see Wind Energy Weekly
#477, December 16, 1991, p. 5).
 
Subsequently, NEPCO notified GMP that two of the three proposals,
totalling 17 MW in capacity, had been selected as part of a
"Negotiating Group" for further discussions and possible power
contract negotiations.
 
The projects chosen by NEPCO for further discussion include a 7-MW
proposal for a wind facility in the town of Florida, Mass., and a
10-MW proposal covering a project in the southern Vermont towns of
Searsburg and Readsboro.
 
 
However, GMP said recently in a newsletter on its wind activities
that it plans to go forward with permitting on both the
Searsburg/Readsboro site and another on the Hoosac Range in
Stamford and Readsboro, "based on our belief that wind power will
provide an environmentally sound and economical source of new
energy in the not-too-distant future.
 
"This belief is a result of the wind resource and environmental
studies we have conducted at these site areas since 1980; the
experience we have gained operating turbines atop Little Equinox
Mountain; and the generally favorable reaction to our plans by . .
. local town officials and environmental groups."
 
GMP is working on Special Use Permit Applications to be filed with
the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) for the Vermont sites, and is
coordinating its plans with the Vermont Public Service Board (PSB)
and the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources.  The projects, it
said, will require a Certificate of Public Good from the PSB in
addition to the USFS permits.
 
The permitting process in Vermont is of special interest because
the state's environmental community is strong and well-organized
and highly sensitive to development on visible mountain ridgelines. 
Although the PSB has generally sought to encourage renewable
energy, private developers have expected the windfarm siting
process to be long and difficult, and have opted to pursue
opportunities in other states.
 
===============================

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*******************************************************************
Tom Gray                                 EcoNet/PeaceNet: tgray@igc
Internet/Bitnet: tgray@igc.apc.org            UUCP: uunet!cdp!tgray
Newsgroups: sci.environment