The Board of Directors of Washington Electric Cooperative, voted on January 9, 2013 to oppose a moratorium on wind development in Vermont.
In an excerpt from their statement released January 14th, the Board states:
It would be a serious, regressive and damaging mistake to enact an arbitrary moratorium, or to set conditions whose apparent intent is to make sure no wind projects can get built. Climate change is already affecting us, as Vermonters, and as utilities responsible for reliable delivery of power. As Vermont rightly begins to also focus more attention on other uses of energy besides electricity such as transportation, we will see significant new demand for electricity, as much as 30% more for transportation alone. In order to move meaningfully and quickly to a cleaner and sustainable energy future for electricity, thermal and transportation uses, we need to use the full range of renewable generation technologies, small and large. Really tackling climate change is an enormous and urgent undertaking that does call for some industrial-scale measures. It means we may have to look at where some of power actually comes from, rather than expecting it to come from elsewhere, or just not caring where it comes from.
To read the full statement, visit Washington Electric Co-op’s website.