The town of Ira is holding a public meeting Wednesday so townspeople can talk over a proposal that has upset many in the small community. A large scale commercial wind farm is being proposed for Ira and five other towns west of Rutland. If completed, it would be the second largest energy producer in the state after Vermont Yankee. Although many in the area say they support wind power, a growing number say this project is too big.

Wind farm proponents want to dispel rumors regarding a proposed 80-megawatt development to be spread over a half dozen towns in Rutland County. Vermont Community Wind Farm owner Per White-Hansen and representative Jeff Wennberg spent approximately three hours with 50 citizens at the Clarendon Grange Community Center on Wednesday offering an overview and answering questions about the project - which they both said was in its early stages.

The neighbors gathered in Dan and Tina FitzGerald's kitchen had a list of grievances about five wind turbines proposed for the mountain in his backyard. The list began with this: A fear their voices will not be listened to. "We feel there is a tremendous amount of money stacked up against us," said Darlene Ross, who would have a view of the turbines from her home on Arrowhead Lake.

Although the Public Service Board granted the Deerfield Wind Project a certificate of public good, there remains a lot of work ahead. Now the wind project must obtain approval from federal and state agencies, and officials say it may be another year before construction of the wind turbines can commence. ...According to U.S. Forest Service supervisor Meg Mitchell, the forest service is reviewing the PSB decision. Mitchell said the forest service is also looking at submitted comments from the draft environmental impact statement.

Preliminary plans for a wind farm in Ira and surrounding communities has generated little support among town officials in neighboring Clarendon. "It doesn't sit right with me the way these folks are approaching this," Select Board Chairman Michael Klopchin said.

The turbines don't come without controversy. In early March, a wind turbine in Altona, N.Y., fell to the ground. No one was hurt. In the following days, Noble Environmental Power, which owns 257 turbines in Clinton and Franklin counties, blamed a combination of a "power loss" and a "wiring anomaly" for the topple. To this day, they have offered no further explanation.

The town might see its future if it looks to Lempster, N.H. The man who wants to build a wind farm in and around Ira appeared before the Select Board for the first time Monday. He told the 30 people who crowded into the Town Clerk's office the New Hampshire town's topography and wind turbines makes it a decent representation of what he wants to do.

Opposition is organizing against a proposed wind project in Ira, a small hilly town southwest of Rutland, with a handful of residents from Ira and surrounding towns meeting last week to discuss their concerns. A company called Vermont Community Wind Farm has proposed putting as many as 60 wind turbines in and around the town of 460 people.

Opposition to a proposed wind farm began to organize at the town hall Wednesday. A handful of residents for Ira and surrounding towns met to discuss their concerns about Vermont Community Wind Farm's efforts to put as many as 60 wind turbines in and around the town of 460. They discussed hiring lawyers, direct-mail campaigns and rewriting town plans.

A developer seeking to build a wind farm in and around Ira has approached the town about leasing forest land West Rutland owns in the neighboring town. Per White-Hansen of Vermont Community Wind Farm made his presentation to the Select Board Monday night, outlining his plan. The board made no decision Monday night, its members saying they would have to review materials White-Hansen gave them.

The Vermont Public Service Board has issued a certificate of public good for the Deerfield Wind Project, but the work must still be approved by the U.S. Forest Service. "They've cleared a major hurdle, but there's still a good bit of the race left to run," Meg Mitchell, supervisor of the Green Mountain National Forest, said Tuesday.

The Republican governor stood in his ceremonial Statehouse office and explained to reporters exactly why he opposed a major renewable-energy bill supported by environmental groups that was on track to be approved by the Vermont House. "I strongly support renewables, but we can't do it in a way that adds to the cost of living in this state," said Douglas

The prospect of having three wind turbines on East Mountain does not daunt the town's selectmen. They were told of the possibility recently in a letter from the Vermont Public Power Supply Authority, board Chairman Kirwin Flanders said Tuesday. The town has been considered for a wind farm in the past, but so far nothing has happened.

The Vermont Public Service Board on Thursday issued a Certificate of Public Good to Deerfield Wind, LLC, for the construction 15 400-foot wind turbines. ...The project's impact on black bear habitat was a concern for the board. Board member John Burke was opposed to issuing the certificate. "I do agree with my colleagues' determinations that the project will have adverse impacts on black bears and bear habitat, and that as proposed, the project offers insufficient benefits to offset those adverse impacts," Burke said.

The number of proposed wind farms under active development in Vermont has reached a new peak. If built as proposed - a big "if" - the five projects could provide up to nearly 7 percent of the state's electrical energy. ...Wind-energy projects are required to win a certificate of public good from the state Public Service Board, which weighs the impact of development on a long list of environmental factors, aesthetics, noise and more. Opponents can take part in the hearings and appeal the results.

The Vermont Public Service Board has approved a 15-turbine, 30-megawatt wind energy project in Searsburg and Readsboro. It is the second project in three years to win PSB approval. The order Thursday was signed by two of the board’s three members.

A renewable energy bill has cleared one House committee, but is drawing questions about whether it's too generous toward wind and solar power developers.

A $100 million wind project by Kingdom Community Wind on the Lowell ridge line might provide renewable power, helping VEC and Green Mountain Power fill out renewable energy portfolios, he said. But it will not reduce electricity rates for co-op members, Hallquist said. Electricity prices are expected to climb across the U.S., even if utilities use renewable local sources, he said.

A day after the developer of a proposed wind farm faced the public, several who attended the meeting said the discussion is far from over. Annette Smith, executive director of Vermonters for a Clean Environment, said she arrived at the forum in Tinmouth Monday night neutral, and said developer Per White-Hansen was off to a rough start. "He's already sent up a lot of red flags in an area that could embrace this if done right," she said.

The developer behind a proposed wind farm did not have answers to all the questions put to him Monday, but said the permitting process would provide them. More than 160 people crowded into the Tinmouth Community Hall to hear Per White-Hansen of Charlotte describe his plan.