The Way to Wind

August 19, 2007

When the state Public Service Board granted permission this month for 16 big wind turbines atop a ridge in Sheffield, the three regulators did more than approve Vermont's first commercial wind development in 10 years.

They also dispelled some developers' fear that no mountaintop project involving 400-foot-tall structures could ever win a permit."The order sets a really high bar for developers to meet, but it lays out all the hoops you need to jump through," said James Moore, clean-energy advocate for the Vermont Public Interest Research Group.

The decision came as a relief to Moore and other renewable-energy advocates.

Moore, the VPIRG advocate, and Andrew Perchlik at the Renewable Energy Vermont advocacy group say wind development faces another challenge.

UPC won a permit, but one that came with 32 conditions after many years and large expense. That's too long, too expensive, too arduous, the advocates said, and is likely to encourage big projects built by out-of-state companies. Local entrepreneurs and Vermont towns interested in a little energy independence might be shut out, they said.

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