Wind Energy

Citing a desire to avoid a confrontation with a legislative committee, the Site Evaluation Committee Wednesday softened proposed a rule involving "public interest" as part of its consideration of new utility projects.

The issue at the meeting was whether the Site Evaluation Committee had gone beyond what the legislature intended when it ordered the body’s reorganization so it would better serve "the public good" and "provide clarity" about its rules and how it makes decisions.

The state’s energy siting board has put off deciding whether to take jurisdiction over the proposal to build a small wind farm in the town of Antrim.

But for Portsmouth-based developer Eolian Renewable Energy, what’s a few more weeks when you’ve been trying to build a wind farm for seven years?

The latest question before the state hinges on whether proposed changes designed to lessen the visual impact of the project are different enough to constitute a new project.

It might seem like Jack Kenworthy is a glutton for punishment.

EDP renewables, a company based in Portugal that operates 3,600 Megawatts of wind power in the US, has proposed a 29-turbine wind farm for five towns in the Newfound region. So for many in that area town meeting season is an opportunity to express their opposition to wind farms.

But how? Strategies vary. While some in those towns are sticking to more traditional forms of opposition, others are using town meeting to declare themselves ready to employ civil disobedience to stop the project.

Spanish Wind Developer Iberdrola has pulled the plug on Wild Meadows, a controversial wind farm that was proposed for the towns of Alexandria and Danbury, the troubled project submitted an application for construction in December but put it on hold to deal with problems at another wind farm the next town over.

When one of country’s first wind farms came to Crotched Mountain New Hampshire in 1980, wind power seemed an environmental “no-brainer”: a pollution-free renewable energy source.   Although the project only lasted a year, it was considered a success for the future of wind development.

It will be almost another year before state regulators decide whether to revoke the certificate of a 24 turbine wind farm in Groton.

Wind power developer Iberdrola Renewables has signed a contract to sell power to four Massachusetts utilities, and has included in that contract a proposed wind farm in New Hampshire that has yet to submit its application for construction.

It’s town meeting season. Around Newfound Lake Several towns are contemplating non-binding resolutions to take the pulse of voters on the question of wind-farms.

New Hampshire’s legislature will not put a moratorium on new wind projects... at least not now. Today a house committee voted to work on the bill over the summer. 

Several members of the Science, Technology and Energy committee, like Meredith Republican Herbert Vadney, indicated support for a moratorium, because of the controversy bubbling around Newfound Lake.

A proposed wind farm in the Newfound lake area has once again raised familiar themes in New Hampsire:  A desire for the Granite state to use more clean energy, versus local concerns over property values, as well as impacts on the environment and tourism.  We’ll re-examine these arguments in light of this new proposal. 

Guests

The Newfound Lake Region Association is adding its voice to those opposing a new wind farm. As proposed, the Wild Meadows Wind Power Project would include 37 turbines spaced out over six-thousand acres leased in Alexandria, Danbury, and Grafton.  At the blades’ peak, the towers would be 400-feet tall. 

The towns of Alexandria, Danbury, and Grafton are weighing if they want a 36 turbine wind farm along their ridgelines.

It’s a contentious decision the town of Lempster approved in 2007. That project has been operating for four years, and it's the closest thing New Hampshire has to an analog for the decision these three towns are now facing.

When representatives from the Spanish energy company Iberdrola Renewables  meet with people in Alexandria, Grafton and Danbury, it gets pretty heated.