Five wind turbines proposed for Georgia Mountain are either a way to save the planet from dependence on fossil fuels or an environment-wrecking boondoggle, according to public comments at Tuesday evening's Vermont Public Service Board hearing. The board is considering whether to allow the Harrison family, which owns a concrete and construction business, to erect five 400-foot tall wind turbines on the mountain, which straddles Milton and Georgia.

Legislation regulating the placement of wind turbines around the state ought to be considered by lawmakers during the next legislative session. That was the main message delivered to Rutland County senators and representatives during a two-hour meeting on Wednesday at the Clarendon Grange Community Center. ..."There will be an attempt this session to put this on the table," Potter said. Klopchin urged all legislators to "work hard to pass laws" during the coming year. "Many hands make light work," he said.

VPR Photo/John Dillon (Host) A proposal for a large-scale wind energy project is bringing out strong emotions in the Northeast Kingdom. At a public meeting this week, residents worried about the potential noise from the turbines, and the impact on tourism and property values. VPR's John Dillon has more.

A proposed wind farm on Lowell Mountain will be the subject of a public meeting on Thursday night, November 5, at the Lowell school. The meeting, organized by the project's would-be developers, has no official status, and thus won't affect the permitting process the project would ultimately face, if the developers and the voters of Lowell agree to proceed.

Voters in the town of Lowell will get to decide whether they want a wind power development on the Lowell ridgeline. The Lowell Board of Selectmen will conduct a referendum by Australian ballot about Kingdom Community Wind at town meeting in March, board Chairman Richard Pion said Tuesday. And Green Mountain Power officials said Tuesday that they will abide by the will of the Lowell voters.

A proposal to place a meteorological tower on Antrim's Tuttle Hill to study whether the spot is ideal for wind turbines to generate electricity has ruffled some feathers. The debate in Antrim is just one example of the controversy blowing across the country over the placement of wind farms as the focus on renewable energy sources grows. Last month, the Antrim zoning board gave Antrim Wind Energy LLC permission to place a temporary 196-foot tower on privately owned property off Route 9.

A solar-powered light should be installed on a meteorological tower atop Susie's Peak as a safety measure for aviators. That was the message in a letter sent by the state Agency of Transportation to the Public Service Board regarding Vermont Community Wind Farm's temporary wind measurement tower. "It was a recommendation from a safety standpoint," said Rich Turner, AOT's aviation program manager.

The US Forest Service is one step closer to issuing a decision on the Deerfield Wind Project. The Manchester Ranger District of the Green Mountain National Forest has reviewed the Public Service Board's approval and the public comments it received regarding last year's Draft Environmental Impact Statement. Now the forest service is ready to release a supplemental report on their latest findings. But despite the new information, some state officials are urging the forest service take extra precautions before they make a final decision.

Two speakers said wind towers need to be a safe distance from homes and another said they do not need to be in Vermont during a forum Thursday. Vermonters for a Clean Environment organized the meeting at West Rutland Town Hall in light of the proposal of Vermont Community Wind Farm to build an 80-megawatt development in and around Ira. VCE executive director Annette Smith moderated the meeting.

A temporary wind measurement tower erected on Susie's Peak has local officials crying foul over its placement. The tower, built by Vermont Community Wind Farm, was not placed at the site approved by the state Public Service Board, according to Clarendon Select Board Chairman Michael Klopchin. A small group of concerned residents used global positioning satellite equipment to pinpoint the location of the VCWF tower, he said.

Enel North America rang few bells in local energy circles last month when the firm announced its involvement in a proposed wind project in Ira. ...It's something Ira seems to want to know. Concerns that developer Per White-Hansen, who retains sole ownership of the project, might sell it off to another company have come up repeatedly at meetings about the proposal. Sennott said Enel will also provide capital and technical expertise to the Ira project.

Regional airport official have not taken a position on a developer's plan to install wind turbines atop Susie's Peak in Clarendon and Herrick Mountain in Ira. However, Vermont Community Wind Farm's proposal to construct the largest industrial wind facility in the state has certainly caught their attention.

Following numerous and heated public hearings, the zoning board approved a height variance for a meteorological tower on Tuttle Hill after just more than an hour of deliberation. Chairman John Kendall was the sole negative vote on the variance, which approved the construction of a 196-foot met tower on ridgetop property owned by resident Michael Ott. The decision will be effective at the end of the 30-day appeals period, but resident Richard Block has no intention of letting that happen. "It will be appealed, on a number of levels," said Block after the meeting.

Wind power is immensely attractive in more than a few ways. Like tidal power, it's seemingly benign and non polluting, and doesn't involve exporting our energy dollars abroad year after year. But wind power isn't all that simple. For example, it doesn't work just anywhere. Despite the best intentions of the city of Keene, which is known widely for environmental innovation, two studies have found that local wind patterns aren't strong or steady enough to justify investments in turbines.

The dozen twirling towers atop Lempster Mountain can be seen from the high school in Newport, 12 miles away. Some call them "majestic." Others have said "striking," "unreal" or "in your face," depending on their perspectives. Anyway, there's no way to camouflage these 256-foot-tall towers and their 139-foot blades. ...The turbines look like they're churning out electricity, but just how much? And is it enough to make a difference, or are they just striking symbols of the goal of energy independence?

Sitting shoulder to shoulder in the portrait room at the ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center, community members listened intently to panelists before engaging in a somewhat heated debate about windmills and nature. Lights were dimmed as images emerged of Don Quixote's jousting windmills and of dead bats to illustrate the wind-energy debate. The presentation, titled "Windmills: Viewed through the lens of art, science, and animal impact" included panelists Patrick Marold, Thomas Tailer and Scott Darling in this culminating event of a three-part series, "The Energy Project Vermont," a partnership between ECHO and Burlington City Arts with the support of University of Vermont.

The Department of Public Service agreed Thursday to support Entergy’s plan to spin off Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant into a new subsidiary called Enexus. In July, the DPS urged the Vermont Public Service Board not to issue a certificate of public good unless certain conditions were met. Those conditions included the status of the plant’s condenser and its back-up power transformer, the decommissioning fund, on-site spent fuel handling costs and a power purchase agreement.

An environmental court judge has dealt a setback to a wind energy developer that wants to build a project in the Northeast Kingdom. The judge has set a trial for December to hear arguments about whether the project complies with Vermont's water quality regulations. Parts of Judge Merideth Wright's ruling went in favor of First Wind, the company that wants to put the 16 turbines on a ridgeline in Sheffield. But when the judge focused on how the project will affect the water quality of high elevation streams, she handed the opponents a victory.

After holding a public hearing for the first proposed wind turbine in Gilford, and without an engineer to answer specific technical questions, the Zoning Board of Adjustment decided to resume the hearing at a later date. ...The ZBA asked that the Lavallieres hire an independent engineer to test the property and the different sites, one of which is in need of a variance and another on the shoreline, though the shoreline is not a desired location for the applicants, who fear the turbine could cause an "eyesore."

State officials have investigated complaints but found no evidence that a Lowell property owner was building a wind site access road before permits are in place. Officials with the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources said Friday that logger Trip Wileman was following his forestry plan in building a logging road on his property on Lowell Mountain. The property is where Green Mountain Power wants to raise three wind measurement towers and eventually a wind power development.