After a week that smoothed the path for a proposed Coos County wind farm, a state attorney is asking for closer scrutiny of its financing.

Peter Roth, a senior assistant attorney general, has asked the state Site Evaluation Committee to suspend hearings to license the construction of 33 wind turbines along forested ridgelines. He said Granite Reliable Power has not shown it can pay for the $275 million project, a claim rebutted by an attorney for the company.

The state committee denied Roth's request in a letter last week, although it ordered Granite Reliable to pay for a financial consultant hired by the state.

The committee also received a letter last week saying the Fish and Game Department and Appalachian Mountain Club had reached an "agreement in principle" on a plan to mitigate environmental damage to the terrain, home to threatened species and old-growth forest.

But consideration of the project's financial stability may continue, as Roth said yesterday he planned to submit testimony from an investment banker describing difficulties the company could face financing a large project in the current market.

"It's designed to discuss the conditions of the financing markets for projects like this in the United States, the situation facing this particular project and the likelihood of getting financing in the near future," he said. "I would have expected to see papers demonstrating they have commitments from lenders to give them money to do this."

Both that testimony and a motion from the company's attorney explaining payment plans were to be filed last night, Roth said. Calls made to Doug Patch, the attorney representing the company, were not immediately returned yesterday.

Granite Reliable Power is a subsidiary of Connecticut-based Noble Environmental Power. Formed in 2004, Noble reported $240 million in assets at the end of 2007. Noble has wind farms with a total capacity of 3,850 megawatts under development in eight states including New Hampshire.

The Coos County project proposes constructing 410-foot turbines at high points in Dixville and Millsfield, both unincorporated areas. The wind farm would produce up to 99 megawatts, enough power for 33,000 homes, and would absorb the remaining capacity of the Coos County loop transmission line.

Roth said he worries Granite Reliable may be unable to pay for environmental-protection measures.

The project will clear 58 acres of high-elevation habitat for threatened species such as the Canada lynx, the three-toed woodpecker and the American marten, a relative of the weasel. Fish and Game has said all 3,747 acres of the project will be disrupted.

A hearing for the project is scheduled for 10 a.m. March 9 at the Public Utilities Commission office at 21 S. State St. in Concord.