Officials from Vermont Community Wind have organized a bus trip to a wind farm in New Hampshire to try and build support for a large scale wind farm they're proposing in and around the Rutland County town of Ira. Company officials say about 35 residents from the area will travel to Lempster, New Hampshire, on Saturday where a 24-megawatt wind farm has recently been built.

A 33 turbine wind farm on land in central Coös was given the green light by the state Site Evaluation Committee on Wednesday, June 10. The SEC voted unanimously, 7 to 0, to issue the needed state permit - a Certificate of Site and Facility - to Granite Reliable Power. Although a very significant step, gaining the SEC's approval is by no means the final hurdle over which GRP must jump.

A plan to put 33 wind turbines on forested ridgelines in Coos County won unanimous approval yesterday from the state panel charged with reviewing new renewable energy facilities. Members of the Site Evaluation Committee added a long list of conditions to its approval, many regarding the environmental impact.

After a sorely disappointing eight-month trial period, the town of Kittery, Maine, is shutting down the 50-kilowatt wind turbine it installed at the Transfer Station last fall. Real-time data from the 124-foot turbine shows that it generated less than 15 percent of the electricity expected between October and May.

Once upon a time, the primary questions to ask about upgrading the electrical transmission line in Coos County were how much it would cost and who would pay for it. After all, without such a line, projects for power generation from renewable resources like wind and wood, seen as key contributors to economic development in the hard-hit region, would come to a standstill. But lately, other questions have been raised: How much of an upgrade will be needed? And will it be needed at all?

The wind farm proposed for central Coös County has cleared another hurdle. The seven-member Site Evaluation Committee (SEC) voted unanimously on Wednesday afternoon that constructing and operating the 33-turbine 99-megawatt wind farm would not have unreasonable adverse effects on the natural environment, water and air quality, and public health and safety.

Several hurdles remain regarding the proposed St. Lawrence and Cape Vincent wind farms and their future connection to the regional electrical system. One of them is a route to the grid. Acciona Energy North America, developer of St. Lawrence Wind Farm, has taken the lead on a possible route that would follow the abandoned New York Central Railroad corridor. But that corridor also contains the regional water line operated by the Development Authority of the North Country.

A proposed $275 million wind park in Coos Country has meet the statutory criteria to go forward. The Site Evaluation Committee yesterday agreed the project proposed by Granite Reliable Power LLC did not adversely affect the natural environment, water and air quality or public health and safety, but will decide what conditions will be placed on the project at a later date. ...The evaluation committee also voted yesterday to give itself another month to make a final determination on the project. The deadline is now June 30.

After recessing deliberations for over an hour on Wednesday afternoon to consult in executive session with its own counsel, Site Evaluation Committee (SEC) chairman Tom Getz suspended all deliberations on whether or not to issue a Certificate of Site and Facility to Granite Reliable Power (GRP), the company that seeks to build 33 wind towers in Millsfield and Dixville, both Unincorporated Places in Coös County.

Dr. Kent also said he believed it would be important for the state Fish and Game Department and scientists from the Appalachian Mountain Club to verify - ground-truth - the condition of the 1,700 acres that would be set aside as a mitigation package to compensate for habitat loss on Mt. Kelsey and Dixville Peak. "We need to know the details, what's really on the ground, to understand if it's "tit-for-tat" - that is, the same spruce-fir habitat that will be lost on those ridgelines," Dr. Kent said. "No evidence has been presented."

Concerns about the safety of birds and bats were voiced at a state hearing yesterday on a proposal to construct a wind-energy park in Coos County. ...A subcontractor for the developer conducted a study of the birds and bats in the project area, but Don Kent, a member of the site committee and the Natural Heritage Board, said it was inadequate.

Committee member Don Kent of the Natural Heritage Board said he felt the pre-construction bird studies were inadequate and indicated he will seek a year of additional bird studies as a condition of the permit. The committee requested more information on the collapse of a wind turbine in Alton, N.Y, owned by GRP's parent company, Noble Environmental. Also requested was an onsite habitat assessment of the land proposed as mitigation in the settlement agreement.

Vermont Public Power Supply Authority based in Waterbury wants to build three turbines on an old Air Force radar base in East Haven. The project would provide renewable power for approximately 4,000 homes.

Granite Reliable Power's $275 million plan to build a wind park in Coos County got a step closer yesterday to permitting. ...The committee still has to determine how the project will affect air and water and other environmental aspects as well as public safety and health. The committee reconvenes Monday at 10 a.m. at the Public Utilities Commission to take up those issues.

The Industrial Wind Action Group filed a motion yesterday seeking to remove Fish and Game Executive Director Glenn Normandeau from voting on Granite Reliable Power's wind power certificate. ...The motion asks Fish and Game Director Normandeau be removed from the committee and barred from participating in the deliberations because of the appearance of a conflict.

Fred King, a longtime state senator who is now Coos County treasurer, says the state has been "ill-served" by the man charged with representing the public in Granite Reliable Power's application to build a wind park. ...Roth, appointed by Ayotte in the permit proceedings, expressed reservations at a March 23 public hearing in Lancaster about Granite Reliable Power's ability to finance and operate the $275 million project.

If the state is to approve a 99 megawatt wind park in Coos County, the counsel for the public said, the state should require Granite Reliable Power build a firehouse with two trucks and a visitor center in Errol and show it has $300 million prior to construction. Those are among a list of 30 conditions that counsel for the public Peter Roth suggested to the state Site Evaluation Committee.

About $9 million of mechanic's liens filed in New York against Noble Environmental Power will have no effect on the company's ability to finance its $257 million plan to erect 33 wind turbines on peaks in Coos County and should not worry the people of New Hampshire, according to the company's chief financial officer. ...Christopher Lowe [Noble CFO] said that most of the liens are being settled and that the same issues would not be repeated in New Hampshire.

The company that wants to build 33 wind turbines on forested peaks in Coos County owes at least $6 million to contractors and suppliers who worked on its wind parks in New York, according to liens filed against the properties. Now, the state committee that is reviewing the New Hampshire project wants to hear more from Noble Environmental Power Chief Financial Officer Christopher Lowe about whether the company has the financial and managerial abilities to do business here.