The Planning Commission made a recommendation Monday night that the Select Board review a petition by Endless Energy Corporation (EEC), NRG Systems and Earth Turbines to allow for construction of an 80-foot high, 2.5 kilowatt, wind turbine on top of Little Equinox Mountain.

Permission sought for extension

The petition seeks permission to allow Earth Turbines - a Williston based manufacturing company of wind technology - to build the turbine to test measurement sensors that are designed, among other things, to measure wind in extreme icing environments through December of 2010.

The blades of the turbine would be 14 feet in diameter and no clearing or new foundations would be required for the project. The petition states the site is ideal for testing wind equipment because of the strong consistent winds, existing foundation, good road access, connection to the electrical power grid, and a good cellular connection to collect data.

CEO of Earth Turbines and co-owner of NRG Systems, David Blittersdorf, said the wind turbine would generate 600 to 800 kilowatt hours per month and would feed into the electric lines nearby. The electricity produced would be used by the Carthusian Monastery and excess energy potentially could be used by the town.

Locating the test turbine in a location such as the top of Little Equinox is important because of the wind speeds.

"We'll get winds exceeding 100 miles an hour and that's important for our testing because we're looking to market the wind turbine for 120 mile an hour winds," said Blittersdorf.

Having a turbine withstand winds of up to 120 miles per hour is part of the new standards set by the American Wind Energy Association, Blittersdorf said.

Technically, NRG and Earth Systems will be joining Endless Energy Corporation in seeking an amendment to an existing Certificate of Public Good, currently held by Endless Energy Corp. That permit expires at the end of this year and the partners are hoping for an extension through December, 2010.

5-tower plan

But this may not be the last wind turbine activity on the top of Little Equinox in the near future.

In an affidavit in support of the petition, Harley Lee, President of Endless Energy Corporation - a wind development company out of Yarmouth, Maine - stated that EEC was still hoping to install wind turbines on Little Equinox Mountain under a proposed innovative community wind structure that would provide local residents, businesses, and other utility customers with cost effective power.

An earlier proposal to install five, 410-foot high turbines at the top of Little Equinox stirred enormous local controversy in 2005-06. That ended with the town setting aside $100,000 to fight a permit Lee was seeking from the state Public Service Board to construct the turbines. Ultimately, Lee put the application on hold and the permits were not obtained at the time.

Lee said a major point of contention among community members in 2005-06 was that the power would be sold to the Burlington Electric Department, in addition to the visual impact.

The new proposal, which Lee expects to present within the next six months, will be similar in terms of the number and height of the machines. When the project was proposed in 2005 EEC wanted to install five turbines, which would have been 410 feet tall at the tip of the blade.

At the time of the proposal in 2005 the visual impact of the turbines was a major concern for community members, but Lee believes the community may be able to justify constructing the turbines this time because they would be benefiting from them directly.

"I think local benefit helps get more support for projects in general so that's where we're headed. We have a low price to begin with and it escalates at a low rate and I think that would appeal even more to people," Lee said. "[Also] I think people are more cognizant of the risk of fossil fuel prices going up so that should help us as well."

Lee said EEC is currently conducting research to determine what the cost would be to the average citizen and structuring a contract that makes sense.

If the proposed project were to move forward, Lee said each three-megawatt wind turbine would produce upward of eight million kilowatt hours per year - enough energy to power 1,100 homes per year.

By contrast, Lee said the 11 turbine wind farm that was created in Searsburg generates a total of 12 to 14 million kilowatt hours per year.

Prior to the construction of the wind turbines in Searsburg, Lee said a survey was done to gauge whether or not the community was in favor of them. The survey showed that the turbines had an approval rating of two to one, Lee said. After the turbines were built, Lee said the approval rating changed to five to one.