Caledonian-Record: Irasburg May seek Party Status In Wind Project

Article posted below from original at Caledonian-Record.

Irasburg May seek Party Status In Wind Project

Robin Smith
Staff Writer

Irasburg officials may seek party status in the hearings before state regulators about the Lowell wind development project.

Selectman Ken Johnson opened the door for that idea Tuesday at an informational meeting at the town hall about the Green Mountain Power wind project called Kingdom Community Wind.

He told those who want the town to apply for party status to get on the agenda for the next selectmen’s meeting and lobby the board, but he didn’t give any indication what the board will do.

The town of Irasburg is late to the table when it comes to getting involved with the Lowell wind project.

The deadline has already passed to apply to become an “intervenor” in the Act 248 process before the Public Service Board. Intervenors can submit expert testimony and challenge GMP’s experts.

People may give comments at a hearing planned for Sept. 23 or send in a written comment, but they cannot participate in the hearings without intervenor status.

Albany and Craftsbury applied by the deadline. Others interested in intervening include the Lowell Mountain Group, which opposes the project, as well as the Green Mountain Club and some area residents.

Sue Hudson, Public Service Board clerk, said Irasburg has a right to file a motion to request intervenor status in the GMP hearings on the Lowell project. And other parties have a right to react to that motion, she said.

It will be up to the three-member board to decide whether to grant intervenor status to a late applicant, she said.

Hudson could not say if the board has ever allowed a late request in the past.

GMP wants to erect 20 to 21 wind turbines on the Lowell Mountain ridge line, which will be visible from Lowell to Albany.

The Irasburg Board of Selectmen allowed the Craftsbury Conservation Commission to host Tuesday’s gathering in Irasburg. It was similar to a past meeting in Craftsbury that led to Craftsbury seeking intervenor status.

Three representatives of the Craftsbury commission gave an overview of the project and the Act 248 process.

Engineers, attorneys, experts and consultants are “the stars” in the Act 248 process, Steve Wright of the Craftsbury Commission said.

“It’s complex, attorney-driven and not particularly friendly” to residents who have an interest in the application, he said.

It appears, Wright said, the Public Service Board bases its decisions about power projects on the amount of electricity to be generated and the cost, and whether there is a reasonable balance.

GMP has already applied for a certificate of public good.

“The train has left the station,” he said.

Irasburg residents were able to ask questions of both the commission and representatives of GMP for awhile. And then heated exchanges developed, as some in the audience disputed comments from GMP officials. Most of the information has been hashed out during the past several years in meetings throughout the region.

Arguments centered over the value of big wind projects versus solar power, about noise from turbines, the transportation route and the impact on wildlife.

GMP officials said they are doing solar power projects but can’t do enough to generate the 63 megawatts of capacity that the wind turbines on Lowell’s ridge line could create.

Benjamin Luce, a professor at Lyndon State College, challenged GMP on that point, saying new technology in the next five to 10 years will make solar units affordable for the average homeowner.

The Lowell wind project at capacity would power 20,000 homes.

GMP official Robert Dostis said it would be impossible for a utility to achieve the same amount of power from solar.

“Trying to coordinate 20,000 homeowners would be a daunting task at the least,” he said.

GMP is encouraging individual users to install solar and is paying them for it, he said.

The Lowell wind project is not viable without federal wind tax credits, Dostis said.

Another challenge came later in the meeting when GMP officials were asked to donate $100,000 to each of the towns so they can do their own studies of the impacts of wind turbines. Dostis said no to that.

He encouraged towns to ask the Department of Public Service, which represents consumers, to represent their interests.

Dostis said GMP would make Good Neighbor payments to neighboring towns. These payments reflect how much of the towns are within a close radius of the wind turbines.

GMP has agreed to pay about a half-million dollars annually to Lowell in lieu of taxes. Some said Lowell residents would not have voted for the wind project without the payments. However, Dostis said every town with a GMP power plant, whether wind, solar or hydro, gets tax payments from GMP.