Being close to a windmill lowers the value of a property, says Derby's Board of Civil Authority (BCA). After inspecting property belonging to George and Doris Buzzell, the board decided to lower its appraised value by 10 percent from $242,300 to $227,600. ...According to the minutes of recent BCA meetings, the Buzzells objected to the recent revaluation of their property on Ridgehill Drive off Shattuck Hill Road. The couple was represented at meetings on October 29 and November 7 by Trevor Evans and Raymond Toolan. Mr. Toolan argued that noise and light from a windmill within 300 feet of the Buzzells' house lessens the home's value. The Buzzells say noises, vibrations and lights from the windmill, owned by Senator Vince Illuzzi and located on his property, interfere with the enjoyment of their home. Mr. Buzzell's "quality of living is far different today than when he purchased the property," Mr. Toolan said.

Selectboard members discussed the extent of their participation in upcoming public service board hearings on the proposed wind generation expansion in Searsburg and Readsboro at their regular board meeting Wednesday evening. ...“My personal objection is aesthetics,” said board member Meg Streeter. “I’ve heard from a lot of citizens that they foresee a loss of property values that will occur as a result of this. Unlike the existing windmills, these are considerably larger and will have FAA mandated lighting. They’ll be much more visible and obvious from numerous points in Wilmington.”

Environmentalists intend challenging in the Vermont Supreme Court recent approval for a large out-state wind-power company to build turbines atop a popular mountain ridge. Local conservation group Ridge Protectors opposes plans by Newton, Mass.-based UPC Wind to erect 16 wind turbines 425 feet high in the Hardscrabble Mountains near the town of Sheffield. ...The group claims the VPSB misapplied Vermont law and drew conclusions not in keeping with facts in the hearing record.

Noble Environmental Power, a Connecticut company, plans to turn on the power from its 120-turbine project in Clinton and neighboring Ellenburg this winter. A second developer, Texas-based Horizon Energy, is awaiting permits to erect 109 turbines next summer in the two towns. ...Visitors will hear no resolution to the debate over wind energy's benefits and costs that's going on back home. Although Clinton and Ellenburg have embraced wind development, the turbines have their fierce opponents as well as enthusiastic supporters. ... Amy Filion's Clinton home also sits amid the turbines. "It breaks my heart. I've lived here all my life because I love the country - and this isn't the country anymore," she said. ...It's not until travelers crisscross the two towns on back roads that jaws begin to drop. Towers are scattered across the landscape. Around each corner new towers appear, on the right, on the left, ahead and behind. They look like an alien army out of a "Star Wars" movie - but whether they are things of beauty or ugliness depends on the individual viewer.

A group opposed to a plan to build 16 wind-power turbines on a ridge line in Sheffield is taking its case to the Vermont Supreme Court. Ridge Protectors said it is appealing the Vermont Public Service Board approval of the project. The board granted the Massachusetts-based UPC Wind approval in August, with 36 conditions, including noise limits from turbine operations and a UPC sponsored wildlife management plan.

"It is our belief that the PSB decision is based on critical misapplications of Vermont laws, procedural errors, and several conclusions that are not based on findings of fact in the hearing record," said Paul Brouha, a founding member of Ridge Protectors. "The decision is inconsistent with Vermont legal precedent and if allowed to stand would open the door to alteration of ridgelines throughout the state," he said. Without generous federal subsidies and the lucrative regional market in renewable energy credits, developers would not be planning such projects in Vermont.

The state is part way through its half-million-dollar effort to gauge Vermonters' opinion on how electricity should be generated. Three of five polling workshops have been held -- and a more elaborate process, called "deliberative polling," which aims to tap the knowledge of a broad cross-section of the state's population, will be held this weekend. ...Vermont's energy mix has given the state the lowest "carbon footprint" in the nation, according to O'Brien. ...Generally speaking, energy efficiency and hydro-electricity are heavily supported, Raab said. Wind is also "pretty well" supported; people who live in Burlington and Montpelier, however, are typically more likely to tolerate a wind farm that can be seen from their home than people who live in the Northeast Kingdom, he said. ... Since anyone can register online to attend the workshops, the participants are self-selected and often come to advocate for or against a particular type of power

As part of their energy plan the town of Manchester is considering investing some of its money in "green" or environmentally-friendly funds. ...There are two definitions for green funds, O'Keefe said. One is a company that produces green products - such as wind turbines - but does not produce them in a green way. The other are companies that produce products that are not green, but produces them in a way consistent with environmental values - automobiles being an example. ...The possibility of investing in such funds is still in its infancy as O'Keefe said ..."It's not a done deal," said O'Keefe. "We have to be careful with public money and make sure that we're not playing social politics with it."

Concerned citizens of the Deerfield Valley, and as far away as the Berkshires, have come together to form "Save Vermont Ridgelines." The current proposal before the public service board, to allow or deny construction of an industrial wind power plant on 80 acres of highly visible United States Forest Service- controlled ridgelines, has brought us together to consider the scope and consequences of these 17 410-feet tall machines, with flashing lights stretched across one of the area's most prominent ridgelines. ...The goal of our group is to inform the public of the full intent and consequences of this proposed wind experiment.

When this year's renewable energy conference got under way in Burlington on Wednesday there were, by some estimates, as many as 500 people at the event. Gov. James Douglas was not among them. "I was disappointed to not be invited," Douglas said Thursday. Douglas has been at the gathering of advocates, manufacturers and politicians involved in renewable power in the past - it is the sixth year of the conference. But this year other political leaders were invited and Douglas' name didn't come up, said Andrew Perchlik, executive director of Renewable Energy Vermont. It was not an intentional decision made because of Douglas' outspoken opposition to wind, he said.

Residents upset about recent state approval for a wind power project in a neighboring town have launched a petition drive to change the town plan to prohibit commercial wind power development. “This petition basically reinforces that we don’t want to look at the ones at the end of Crystal Lake, and we don’t want the construction coming through,” said Liz Butterfield, owner of the Barton Village Corner Store. “And in the future, we don’t want wind development in the town of Barton.” ...“I think a 420-food wind tower at the end of a state park is a travesty,” Butterfield said.

So many people packed the town's municipal office Wednesday night to learn about a possible wind turbine project at Grandpa's Knob that officials were forced to move the meeting to the Lothrop Elementary School. Brad King, of Noble Environmental Power, a wind energy developer based in Essex, Conn., met with the Select Board and residents to speak about wind turbines.

Tensions were high Wednesday night as an audience of 50 residents and interested parties met in Memorial Hall to ask questions regarding the Searsburg and Readsboro wind project. Neil Habig, a representative from PPM Energy, which is heading the project, was booed when he did not fully respond to various questions or provided answers that did not satisfy the crowd.

While the panel provided insights on alternatives to the wind project, the question and answer session was more engaging. Many in the audience had concerns and doubts regarding the Deerfield Wind Project. Susan Haughwout, of Wilmington, said she had heard rumors that they were no longer building small wind turbines and the ones currently on site in Searsburg may be replaced by taller ones. Neil Habig, project manager for the Deerfield Wind Project, could not confirm or deny the rumors but said for the time being it did not fit into the current plans. Lynne Matthews, also of Wilmington, asked if Habig could provide the the wind speed of the turbines and describe what category they would fall into. Habig responded that the wind speeds of the turbines were proprietary and that he was not familiar with the category chart itself. Many in the audience laughed at Habig's response as one person shouted back, "You don't want us to know the truth." But for Matthews, ignorance was no excuse. "You should know that," she said to a round of applause.

Grandpa's Knob, a craggy mountain top between Castleton and West Rutland, made history 66 years ago this month. That's when a 110-foot wind tower began producing electricity. ...Today, a Connecticut-based company hopes to install much larger, 410-foot tall turbines on the site.

The company looking to expand the wind power facility in Searsburg has specified its intentions of building 17 wind turbines on the hills of Searsburg and Readsboro.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has issued a letter saying it would not authorize a permit for the Sheffield Wind Farm without further review of environmental impact. Concerns over waterways, wetlands, wildlife and habitat fragmentation are key issues with the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, according to Michael S. Adams, a senior project manager with the Department of the Army New England District Corps of Engineers. ... "The Corps of Engineers permission is required under the Clean Water Act for the construction of the project," Adams said. "At this time it is likely that an individual permit process is going to be required."

When the state Public Service Board granted permission this month for 16 big wind turbines atop a ridge in Sheffield, the three regulators did more than approve Vermont's first commercial wind development in 10 years. They also dispelled some developers' fear that no mountaintop project involving 400-foot-tall structures could ever win a permit. Most important, experts said last week, the board's 119-page decision in the case of UPC Vermont Wind gave wind developers a road map through the long, hilly terrain of Vermont's review process.

Still pending, and waiting in the wings at this moment, are the project's opponents, which include the citizens' group known as the Ridge Protectors and the Town of Sutton. The deadline to ask the board to reconsider its decision will arrive on Saturday, ten days after the order was released. But opponents may be looking to take a bigger step by filing an appeal with the Vermont Supreme Court. In an interview Tuesday night, Paul Brouha of Sutton said there was little interest among opponents to give the board a chance to refine its decision. Rather, he said, opponents are looking to bring issues before the state Supreme Court that have "a chance to change the outcome." The group has 30 days to file an appeal. One of those issue that may come up for appeal, noted Mr. Brouha, is the board's finding that the project would not interfere with the region's orderly growth. To give their appeal greater weight before the high court, opponents are hoping to enlist the aid of surrounding towns like Westmore and Barton.

MONTPELIER - State regulators on Wednesday approved the 16-turbine UPC Wind project to be built in the Northeast Kingdom town of Sheffield, although they also required a series of accommodations by the company before it can put up the project. If built the project would be the first commercial wind power station in Vermont since the Searsburg facility was completed a decade ago.