New England will need to add power plants capable of generating 4,300 megawatts, and $3.4 billion of additional transmission investment, by 2015 to avoid blackouts, the region’s grid operator says. The area will need 170 megawatts of new power before the summer of 2009 to assure adequate supplies, according to ISO New England Inc., the power grid and wholesale market operator that serves the region’s 14 million people........ If a 1,000 megawatt coal or nuclear power plant had been installed in 2005, buyers in the wholesale market would have saved $600 million in power costs, the report said.

In what may be a record, Sutton residents raised $7,000 during a spaghetti supper Oct. 6. The money was given to the town to help pay for legal fees to fight a proposed wind farm in town. The supper brought in $3,500 which was matched by an anonymous donor, according to resident Carol Brouha. “It was a block buster,” Brouha said Wednesday. “We’re a little town fighting against a huge developer.”

Wind Turbines drew a big contrast. Parker supports large scale wind projects. "The other thing we need is a governor who isn't opposed to large scale wind development. The state of Vermont is losing tax revenue, it's losing the opportunity of having a part of its portfolio from wind energy." Douglas does not support large wind projects. "This is a very controversial topic, lets face it, I think its very important as we move forward we respect everyone's point of view and have a civil discussion about the role of wind in our energy future."

BARTON — News that the Sheffield wind project will use access roads here to transport industrial turbines and towers to ridge line sites has prompted selectmen to seek an expanded role in the hearings before the Public Service Board (PSB). Following a Monday night meeting that saw citizens call for a more active role, the Barton Town Selectmen voted to petition the board for party status in the case. “I’m not saying one way or the other right now where we stand on the issue,” Chairman Rupert Chamberlin said in an interview Tuesday. He was reluctant to get the town involved in the ongoing debate over wind.

Changes to a proposed wind farm in Sheffield and Sutton will put Barton in the center of activity and that has some residents concerned. Residents urged selectmen during a meeting of the board Monday night to file for party status with the Vermont Public Service Board so the town can have a say in the process, Rupert Chamberlin, chairman of the board, said Wednesday. “Near as I can tell, there is a lot of concern,” Chamberlin said. “But the select board hasn’t taken a stand yet.”

The state’s renewable energy advocates and experts will gather in Burlington today to try to figure out how to encourage more projects and the businesses that build them. The Renewable Energy Vermont Conference, at the Wyndham Hotel this year, has become a regular event among the leaders in the field. That’s important because Vermont has emerged as a leader in the development of renewable energy businesses, experts and lawmakers said.

Saying New England holds tremendous opportunity for wind energy development, Connecticut-based Noble Environmental Power today announced that it is teaming up with Vermont-based Vermont Environmental Research Associates (VERA) to explore potential windpark locations throughout the region.

Despite similar conservation ethics in their personal lives, Douglas and Parker disagree about each other’s competency to lead the state through the energy obstacle course that lies ahead.

Electric power has re-emerged as a significant issue in this year’s political campaigns, and will probably continue to play a large role in campaigns over the next few election cycles. In large part that is because the state is facing huge changes regarding where its power comes from and how much it will pay for it.

The Free Press Editorial Board is asking candidates for U.S. Senate, U.S. House and governor five questions about issues in their campaigns. Their answers will appear on the Opinion and Forum pages through this month. The series continues today with candidates for governor of Vermont. You can also follow the series online at www.burlingtonfreepress.com. Go to the Opinion page and click on "Where they stand."

Three Public Service Board members and about 30 others drove along hilly, narrow dirt roads to view the Sheffield Wind Farm site Friday. Representatives from the Department of Public Service, Washington Electric Coop, UPC Wind and other interested parties met at the Wheelock Town Hall Friday morning for a multi stop site visit to areas thought to be impacted by the proposed wind utility. UPC’s proposed wind energy plant as it was revised last month calls for 14 wind turbines in Sheffield and two in Sutton on Norris Mountain, Granby Mountain and Libby Hill, down from 26 turbines as originally proposed.

The Vermont Public Service Board will visit the site of a proposed wind farm in the Northeast Kingdom on Friday.

To questions of environmental impacts, Gibbons said that there are very few, if any, renewable energy options that can meet the quick start, power capacity needs that the units are addressing. The generators will run only during peak usage — an estimated three percent of the year — and have the ability to start cold and be online within 10 minutes. This unique ability can help restore power during a blackout. Renewable energy such as wind, water or methane digestion, on the other hand, do not produce on the basis of need, Gibbons said.

Two very different versions of where Vermont is headed in environmental and energy policy were set out by Republican Gov. James Douglas and Democratic challenger Scudder Parker Monday night as the candidates met in their first debate centered on the environment. In Douglas’ Vermont, the state has made significant strides during his term in office in protecting the environment while easing the complexity of regulatory appeals. While not solved, the state is on its way to figuring out where it will get its electricity in the future, in Douglas’ view.

Sutton officials overspent $25,000 allocated for legal fees to fight the Sheffield Wind Farm, prompting a town spokesman on Monday to ask Lyndon selectmen to help pay for a new filing due in a week. Lyndon officials said they would look into it, but did not commit. Lyndon filed to intervene in the case shortly after UPC Wind in February petitioned for a permit for the project with the Vermont Public Service Board, but according to Bruce James, chairman of Lyndon’s select board, it was less an act of opposition than a request to stay informed.

Under the agreement, ISO New England will project regional power needs three years in advance and hold annual auctions to buy power resources, including new and existing power plants. Incentives would encourage private operators to respond to power system emergencies, and operators that don't make extra capacity available would face penalties.

The group of executives at the state’s largest employers talked about the state’s energy future. The track record to date isn’t bad. Vermont has the least expensive electric power in New England, due to low-cost sources at the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant and Hydro Quebec. But there’s concern about what happens after Vermont Yankee’s license expires in 2012 and Hydro Quebec contracts expire after that. Chris Dutton, president at Green Mountain Power Corp., posed the question that dominated the meeting. “What are we going to do when we think about replacing our base load resources?” Vermont’s base load power from large sources that run 24 hours a day, like Vermont Yankee, provide mostly clean, non-polluting energy. The debate continues over how large a role that renewable sources, like wind power, could play in the future. The Business Roundtable says some, but not all.

We're a small town," Brouha said. "We don't have much money, but no matter how many spaghetti suppers we have to hold, we'll do whatever it takes to save our mountains." The Ridge Protectors asked the board to hold off acting on the petition until they could present the board with one of their own.

SHEFFIELD – Town officials here say they applaud UPC Wind's recent decision to reduce the number of turbines for the proposed Sheffield Wind Farm, even though it means less money for the town, Selectman Chairman Max Aldrich said Thursday. "It seems good they are trying and making an honest attempt to address the issues and we are pleased by that," Aldrich said. The town would get less revenue than under the original proposal because the number of turbines that would be built in Sheffield has been reduced from 20 to 14. The agreement with the town calls for UPC to meet a number of conditions and provides the town with taxes and other payments.

Although scaling back - UPC Wind is asking the state for permission to build taller turbines that have greater energy production potential, to make up for the fact that there will be fewer of them. The new turbines would measure 420 feet tall.