The town's Select Board plans to file documents with the state Public Service Board opposing a wind farm proposal to be located in Clarendon, Ira and neighboring towns. Board members voted Monday to oppose Vermont Community Wind Farm's plan to develop an 80-megawatt wind facility and to erect a 197-foot temporary wind measurement tower on Susie's Peak in Clarendon.

A proposed wind farm dominated discussion of updating the town plan Tuesday, with many residents asking if the town can put a stop to the development. Neither the Select Board nor the Planning Commission took any formal action Tuesday night, but commission member Tim Martin called the comments "very useful" and said the commission would work on revisions. He said the commission was not used to getting this amount of input.

A wind farm developer has reapplied for a permit to put up testing equipment after relocating a proposed site from Ira to Clarendon. ...VCWF spokesman Jeffrey Wennberg said consultants first identified the Suzie's Peak location during the winter. When they went back in the spring, they discovered it was close to a wetland.

More than 150 people gathered tonight in Georgia to debate a proposed five-turbine wind farm on Georgia Mountain. Some 30 speakers and the broader audience seemed split on the project as they participated in a hearing before the state Public Service Board, which would have to approve the development for it to proceed.

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.

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 $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.

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.

The Vermont Public Service Board has denied Ridge Protectors Inc.'s request for discovery and hearings on the certificate of public good being issued for a wind generation facility in Sheffield. ...The case relates to the Aug. 8, 2007, Public Service Board's issuance of a certificate of public good which granted conditional approval of a wind generation facility by Vermont Wind.

Chairman Ivan Beattie said he would have been inclined to support the project, as recommended by the Planning Commission, had it not been for a decision made at town meeting in 2006 that gave the town $150,000 to oppose a much larger wind project on the mountain. The former project, proposed by Endless Energy, would have put five 390-foot turbines on the mountain and generated 30 million killowatt-hours a year. Beattie called the two projects "different animals," but he wanted to err on the side of caution. "The integrity of a town meeting vote," he said, "is one of the most important elements of local government."

Ridge Protectors is attempting to block Vermont Wind (formerly UPC Vermont Wind) from moving forward with the project which will see a series of towering, more than 400-foot tall wind turbines installed along the ridgelines here. The group believes there is new information since the certificate was issued last August, and that more hearings are needed to be sure the project is in the public's interest. In a motion submitted Aug. 8 to the Public Service Board, the Ridge Protectors appealed to the board in a Motion For Relief, seeking to have the Certificate of Public Good for the project either withdrawn or rescinded.

"While wind power is a popular and growing source of electricity generation in the United States ... it continues to face regulatory obstacles and local opposition," stated the Vermont Energy Partnership report. "And while there is clear potential for an expansion of wind in the State of Vermont, even fully developed, wind can only meet a fraction of the state's electricity needs. To ensure that Vermont has a dependable supply of clean and low-cost electricity, base load providers such as Vermont Yankee and HydroQuébec must continue to serve our state into the future," stated the report.

State and regional regulators acknowledge the hurdles - especially in northern New Hampshire - but don't have ready solutions. A bill before the New Hampshire Senate would have the state be ready to act if no regional solution is forthcoming. ISO New England, which manages power for the region, is considering changing rules so more of the costs of transmission upgrades could be shared regionally. But as things stand now, backers of projects generally must pay for upgrades needed to connect them to the system. "None of this is a real speedy process," acknowledges Michael Harrington, senior regional policy adviser for the state Public Utilities Commission.

Although the valley's smallest town often has the highest voter turnout, several controversial articles on the warning may have swelled the ranks at this year's meeting. In the evening's biggest upset, voters reversed last year's nonbinding resolution to oppose PPM Energy's proposed wind generation project in Searsburg and Readsboro. In a paper ballot, the town voted to support the project 29 to 16, a substantial margin. Moderator Gary Sage told voters that the secretary of state's office had advised the town that wording of the article was ambiguous. Article 16 asked voters to "see if the town will vote to determine whether the voters approve of, or are opposed to" the project. According to the secretary of state, the language could mean the town was holding a vote on whether to have a vote.

UPC Wind plans to continue with its construction schedule for a wind farm in Sheffield, even though Ridge Protectors, a citizens group opposed to commercial wind on Vermont's rural ridgelines, has filed an appeal of the Vermont Public Service Board's decision with the Vermont Supreme Court. "We think the Public Service Board's decision will stand the test of time," said Matt Kearns of UPC, project manager for Sheffield, on Friday. The Supreme Court could overturn the PSB's decision, if it decides to hear the case. Kearns said UPC has faith that won't happen. ...Ridge Protectors suit, filed by attorneys Dan Hershenson of Norwich and Anthony Roisman of Lyme, N.H., argues that the wind farm will not have a substantial economic benefit to Vermonters, largely because it doesn't have stable power contracts. Kearns said UPC expects those to be in place this winter.

A proposed wind farm on Grandpa's Knob cleared its first state hurdle last week. The Public Service Board issued a certificate of public good for a pair of meteorological towers that will test the wind levels atop the Grandpa's Knob ridgeline. The towers, described in the finding as up to 197 feet tall and 8 to 10 inches thick, are set to land on sites in Castleton and Hubbardton. Testing could last up to five years, according to the board's findings. ...Public reaction to the proposal is muted. None of the select boards from the involved towns sent in an official response, through Pittsford passed along correspondents from residents before its portion of the request was withdrawn.

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.

Well above the number of required voters have signed a petition in Barton asking that the town plan be changed to ban commercial and industrial wind power. Members of the Ladies Improvement Society and others launched a petition to change the town plan, which is up for review, so that commercial wind turbines would be prohibited in Barton. About 200 people signed the petition out of 1,600 registered voters, JoAnn Stefanski said. ...The petition drive is a response to UPC Wind's project planned for Sheffield, which has been approved by the Vermont Public Service Board with conditions.