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Previously Rejected Wind Farm To Try Again In Antrim

Chris Jensen
/
NHPR

A proposed wind farm in the Monadnock Region is resubmitting its application to the state. Almost two years ago regulators rejected the project.

Portsmouth Developer Aeolian Renewables wants to build nine wind turbines on a ridge in the town of Antrim that would generate slightly less than 30 megawatts, making it on the smaller side for wind farms in the state. In a letter sent to the state’s Site Evaluation Committee (SEC) the developer’s attorney stated it would remove one of the turbines proposed in the original project, and reduce the height of another. The letter did not specify how much shorter the turbine will be.

The letter also states that at a meeting toward the end of September, the Antrim board of selectmen "voted unanimously to reaffirm its support of the project, as well as the SEC's  continued jurisdiction over the project."

The SEC normally does not normally regulate projects smaller than 30 megawatts, but the town of Antrim petitioned the state to take jurisdiction of the decision saying it did not have the "requisite expertise" to evaluate the project.

The SEC denied a permit to the project in 2013, and based that decision primarily on the visual impact the wind farm would have on the surrounding region.

Sam Evans-Brown has been working for New Hampshire Public Radio since 2010, when he began as a freelancer. He shifted gears in 2016 and began producing Outside/In, a podcast and radio show about “the natural world and how we use it.” His work has won him several awards, including two regional Edward R. Murrow awards, one national Murrow, and the Overseas Press Club of America's award for best environmental reporting in any medium. He studied Politics and Spanish at Bates College, and before reporting was variously employed as a Spanish teacher, farmer, bicycle mechanic, ski coach, research assistant, a wilderness trip leader and a technical supporter.

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