The select board voted Wednesday to oppose a tower to measure wind speeds for an industrial wind turbine planned on Dairy Air Farm. The board is expected to seek to become an intervenor in the state review process of the meteorological or “met” tower. 

General Vermont

In a surprising change, the Grafton Select Board now believes it may be able to hold a formal, binding vote of registered voters on the proposed Iberdrola wind project to coincide with the presidential election — Tuesday, Nov. 8. The Spanish wind company is proposing to construct 28, 500-foot wind turbines on land in Windham and Grafton in what would be the largest industrial wind farm in Vermont.

General Vermont

Vermont’s Public Service Board is clearly a captured agency. Our soon-to-be-former Governor Shumlin is the “capturer-in-chief”.  He is using his office to push for out-of-scale, unwanted and destructive siting of industrial wind turbines regardless of the environmental damage they cause.  

General Vermont

SEARSBURG — Activists opposing industrial wind turbines from all over Vermont greeted Gov. Peter Shumlin on Monday, some with rude signs and gestures, as Avangrid Renewables held a ceremonial groundbreaking for its 20-megawatt Deerfield Wind project.

General Vermont

After an Iberdrola representative questioned the integrity of a Nov. 8 vote regarding a proposed 28-turbine wind farm in Windham and Grafton, second-home owners in Windham have decided to delay the results of their opinion poll until after Election Day.

General Vermont

Wind turbines in Vermont may emit noise no louder than 45 decibels, as measured outside neighboring homes, or 30 decibels measured inside neighboring homes. The Swanton Wind project will for many Fairfield Pond homes produce 30 or fewer decibels as measured outside those homes, Iarrapino said.

General Vermont

Town officials say they may not meet a developer-imposed deadline to vote on the controversial Stiles Brook Wind Project proposal.

General Vermont

Facing the prospect of having seven 499-foot industrial turbines built on their prized Rocky Ridge hillside, local residents stood with Republican gubernatorial candidate Phil Scott to declare opposition to the project.

Zoning/Planning Vermont

Second home owners in Windham say they will hold their own referendum on a proposed commercial wind project, even though the project developer has refused to consider their votes.

Impact on People Vermont

The Department of Public Service wants Vermonters to make sacrifices to meet the state’s ambitious alternative energy goals. Giving up some rural landscapes for solar arrays, sharing cars and driving less, and generally using less cheap oil and gas are all in order if the state has any hope of achieving 90 percent renewable energy usage by 2050.

Energy Policy Vermont

The debate over giving towns a say over poorly sited renewable energy projects is beginning to affect the gubernatorial race, as a mega-wind project proposed for Windham and Grafton is set to affect the largest number of homes of any wind project in Vermont.

Impact on Landscape Impact on People Vermont

The issue of sound, and its effects on neighboring property owners, has become the brightest flashpoint in the wind-energy debate. And opponents of ridgeline turbines, like Rodgers, hope data from the state-funded sound-monitoring equipment will bolster their case. 

Noise Vermont

The stage is set for a vote that could have big implications for the town of Windham’s landscape and for the wind industry in Vermont.  ...While Vermont towns don’t have statutory veto power over such projects, Stiles Brook developer Iberdrola Renewables says it won’t move forward if residents in Windham and neighboring Grafton reject the proposal.

Zoning/Planning Vermont

We've done our research. We've learned that wind energy does not reduce carbon emissions. Those claims are false. Wind energy projects destroy natural resources. Many environmentalists have raised concerns about destruction of otherwise undisturbed areas and the deaths of birds and bats.

Impact on Landscape Impact on People Vermont

Pilette says Vermont's new energy siting law gives towns a say in where renewable energy projects can be built if the towns have updated town plans. Grafton is working on its town plan, and so Pilette says the board doesn't want to hold a vote until the plan is in place.

General Vermont

A lobbying and communications firm that works with a high-profile wind developer in Vermont has formed a wind energy advocacy group. Alexandra MacLean registered Wind Works VT ...would not say whether Iberdrola was one of the contributors.

General Vermont

Maine’s quest to become a leader in wind power – producing enough megawatts to light up more than a million homes – has gotten pushback from rural residents who say they want a greater voice in proposals that now bypass them and go directly to the state for review.

Impact on People Maine Vermont

Brouha and his attorney, Denise Anderson, had contended that it had been proven on the record that the company’s permit conditions were violated already, but the state has decided to order further testing in the matter, in a recent order.

Noise Vermont

The Therriens abandoned their home in 2014 after living there for two decades because they said the sound and vibrations from the power plant were causing sleepless nights and health problems. When the property recently went up for tax sale, Energize Vermont seized the opportunity to pay off the family’s back taxes and made an agreement to use the property for research purposes.

General Vermont

Windham officials have refused to negotiate with Iberdrola, on the advice of the town’s attorney, Robert Fisher of Brattleboro, according to Seawright. To enter into negotiations would send the message that the town has endorsed the project, he said. He said he expected Iberdrola to make a last-minute proposal directly to Windham residents just before the Nov. 8 vote.

General Vermont