State rejects initial application for Irasburg and Lowell wind project

State regulators have dealt a blow to a proposed wind energy project on Kidder Hill in Irasburg and Lowell.

The Public Utility Commission issued a four-page ruling on Monday saying the application for the project, which was filed in June after years of debate, is incomplete and missing crucial information. The project calls for two turbines capable of powering 2,000 homes.

But the commission said central information, including specific locations of the turbines and an access road, an assessment of natural resources in the area, and whether blasting will occur, is missing.

The commission said it considers the application to have never been filed, forcing the project's backer, AllEarth Renewables CEO David Blittersdorf, to begin the process again.

Many local residents have bitterly opposed the project.

The ruling comes as the state considers proposed new regulations that would make it more difficult to build large wind projects. A legislative panel has put off deciding on the proposed rules until late October. 

Gov. Phil Scott opposes industrial wind projects on ridgelines.

Blittersdorf, who owns the site of the proposed project, said in an email to Seven Days that "we will be responding and will address completely each and every item in this ruling."