Government subsidized 400-foot turbines erected by a foreign country continue to pop up on many of New Hampshire's most scenic ridge lines. Is Gov. Hassan taking an active role to protect New Hampshire from this outside aggression aimed at destroying the beauty of this state and its citizens' property values? The answer is a resounding "no".

Impact on Landscape Impact on People New Hampshire

Ken Kimball, the AMC’s director of research, reiterated his club’s opposition to the plan on Tuesday, saying there is no doubt hikers of Cardigan Mountain would see some, many, or most of EDP’s proposed 50-story wind towers planned for Canaan, Orange, Dorchester, Alexandria and Groton.

Impact on Landscape Impact on People New Hampshire

“They say the sound isn’t a problem, but we have what sounds like the sound of a jet going over — that doesn’t stop — at our home every night,” said Phoebe Sanborn of North Groton Road, whose home is within a few hundred feet of five of the plant’s 24 turbine towers.

Impact on People Noise New Hampshire

Big Wind still won’t listen and is in denial about the winds of change in these five New Hampshire towns and the surrounding region. Be prepared! Hundreds of people feel the need to express their outrage in person because the wind industry won’t listen.

Impact on Landscape Impact on People New Hampshire

The troubles surrounding the Groton Wind Farm all started in the front yard of a retired Boston Police officer named Mario Rampino. The Operations and Maintenance Building for Groton Wind towers over his house on a hill across the road. It looks like a warehouse, surrounded with tall chain-link fences topped with barbed wire.

Impact on People New Hampshire

The former Boston police officer who was seeking legal relief from Iberdrola Renewables after the company built its operations and maintenance building too close to his home for his comfort has settled with the company. The details of the settlement were not disclosed by Rampino or his lawyer, Justin Richardson, and Iberdrola officials did not return calls Wednesday.

Impact on People New Hampshire

Iberdrola officials said if we didn’t want them, they’d leave. They were sent here to win the hearts and minds of the locals. They’ve failed. ...Iberdrola needs to realize this is a losing cause. To throw additional money at these projects is to do a disservice to its shareholders. You [Iberdrola] made your case. It was rejected. Cut your losses. Keep your promise. Leave.

Impact on People New Hampshire

“Here’s where I think Northern Pass is today,” said Jack Savage, spokesman for the Society for the Preservation of New Hampshire Forests. “I would say the project is in jeopardy as long as Northern Pass and Hydro-Quebec refuse to look at more undergrounding of the proposed line.” ...The House Science, Technology and Energy Committee is pushing a bill that would direct the SEC to give preference to privately funded energy projects if they bury their transmission lines.

Impact on People Transmission New Hampshire

The SEC will be holding hearings on Rampino's legal brief and the claims of others, including the state fire marshal, that the company did not file the planned changes to its facility with the proper authority. Groton Wind did not submit new building, site and fire protection plans for to the state fire marshal prior to or during construction, according to state officials.

Impact on People Legal New Hampshire

The Antrim decision means that Northern Pass “is not an automatic ‘yes’” says Amy Manzelli, who represented opponents of the wind farm. “I think that the SEC will be trying to answer the questions … and they will be willing to say no if the weight of the evidence shows that the answer is no.” The “questions” at play are numerous, from aesthetics to air and water quality to impacts on historic sites and what is termed “orderly development.” Antrim shows that the Northern Pass decision could hinge not just on the look and size of the towers, but the scenery that they pass through.

Impact on People Transmission New Hampshire

“Iberdrola appears to say whatever is expedient at the moment,” said Wind Watch’s Nancy Watson. “They have on numerous occasions dating back to 2009 stated they will not install any industrial wind plant without community support. Then they show up in Alexandria (Tuesday) night, a town that rejected their proposed wind installation by a nearly 3-to-1 vote (at Town Meeting in March) and proceed to inform residents they are proceeding in spite of the overwhelming voter mandate to the contrary.”

Impact on Landscape Impact on People New Hampshire

“Iberdrola has demonstrated a reckless disregard for New Hampshire’s rules and its residents,” said Lori Lerner, president of Wind Watch. “The New Hampshire attorney general, our state fire marshal, and numerous members of the public have called on the SEC to require Iberdrola to correct the violations or for project operations to stop.”

Impact on People Legal New Hampshire

The New Hampshire Site Evaluation Committee ('SEC') has announced hearings to determine whether to suspend and revoke the Certificate of Site and Facility granted Groton Wind LLC, a limited liability corporation wholly-owned and managed by Iberdrola Renewables, Inc.

Impact on Views Impact on People Legal New Hampshire

While the presence of wetlands specifically affected the proposed Grafton site, Cherian said opposition from the community also played into Iberdrola’s decision. “We recognized that in Grafton, as in other towns, there are people that don’t support the project,” Cherian said.

Impact on Landscape Impact on People New Hampshire

Though Iberdrola Renewables hasn’t filed an application for the project yet with the state’s Site Evaluation Committee, the company has signed a 15-year agreement to sell power to a group of Massachusetts utilities. The agreement will benefit Massachusetts’ Renewable Energy Portfolio and its electricity customers, though there are questions about its value to New Hampshire.

Impact on Landscape Impact on Views Impact on People Massachusetts New Hampshire

Residents of the Newfound Region living around the Groton Wind Project now live with red flashing lights at night, loud roaring of industrial engines whenever the blades are spinning (day or night), shadow flicker from the blades for hours at a time during various parts of the day, the whooshing of the blades as they spin, and the low frequency vibrations that are not audible but are felt within the body.

Impact on Landscape Impact on People New Hampshire

NH WindWatch is also worried that the problems of other states could occur in New Hampshire. Stories of health problems in other states include that of Luann Therrien, a neighbor to the Sheffield, Vt. wind project, who says her family has been suffering health problems - headaches, nausea, sleep disruption - from the noise of the project's turbines for about a year.

Impact on People Energy Policy New Hampshire

The folks behind the development put on a good show. They send out happy looking ads, and buy favorable coverage in local newspapers that are more than happy to cash the check. But, like they say in any good crime drama-follow the money. These companies are not here to help the area. They are here to make profit. Period. And I would have no problem with that, if they were able to make a go of it without subsidies. But they can't. The business model collapses without Federal intervention. That's not the free market.

Impact on People Impact on Landscape New Hampshire

The students interviewed seven people from the area, several of them professionals, each of whom came from a different perspective - one had strong business interests, one was a watershed management specialist, etc. The residents expressed worries about the potential effect of 40-story towers and turbines on the area's economy.

Impact on People Impact on Landscape New Hampshire

The Forest Society has raised and spent millions buying land in hopes of killing the Northern Pass project, claiming transmission lines would damage New Hampshire’s landscape. ...Naturally, one would think the Forest Society would be equally opposed to 400-foot-tall, night-lit wind turbines, yet it played a significant role in paving the way for Groton Wind to be built. ...The Forest Society’s latest money-raising campaign is called “Trees Not Towers,” yet it clearly doesn’t apply to 400-foot wind towers. It is a stunning display of dishonesty and hypocrisy.

Impact on People Impact on Landscape New Hampshire