Trustees Consider

Green Power: Cost vs. Looks

BY JEANNE MILES, Staff Writer

Tuesday July 22, 2003

LYNDONVILLE VT- Does cheaper, cleaner power offset the effect of having huge wind turbines atop the mountains of the Northeast Kingdom ?

Burke resident Dr. Tom Broderick says no.

He brought his case before the Lyndonville Board of Trustees last night.

"Someone is going to come here and offer you a bone," Broderick said. The "bone" he referred to was cheap power. "Just don't throw the baby out with the bath."

Lyndonville Electric Department is owned by the village of Lyndonville . It is known in the world of utilities as a "municipal." Lyndonville trustees oversee how the department is run, but in the long run, they answer to the Public Service Board and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

"Our duty here is to LED customers, including you," Trustee Donald Blake said. "We have been told by the state to seek out green power."

The latest form of green power comes from the wind. Mathew Rubin, manager of the proposed East Haven Wind Farm, has approached LED about purchasing power from his proposed wind farm. They are still negotiating a price, according to LED manager Ken Mason.

"It's a business deal and that's how I'm looking at it," Mason said.

Rubin said Monday he plans to seek state approval to erect three wind turbines on land he owns on East Mountain in East Haven . These three turbines, he said, would be a demonstration to show people what they look like. Each tower will generate 1.5 megawatts of electricity. The towers will each be 220 feet in height with 110-foot blades, which are 5 feet in diameter. Eventually, Rubin would like to place up to 50 of these turbines on other mountaintops owned by Essex Timber. If completed, it will be the largest wind farm in the Northeast.

It is the size of these plans which has Broderick upset. Broderick is a member of a group opposed to the wind farm, calling themselves The Kingdom Commons Group. Broderick contends the huge towers will keep people away from the Northeast Kingdom . He believes these farms should be located closer to the most demand for more power which is on the western side of the state.

Broderick and others contend the turbines will lower property values and weaken an already fragile economy. Out of the four projects planned in the state, three are located in the NEK.

"The real cost is Burke Mountain closing," Broderick said. "And if Burke Mountain closes it will become Vermont 's biggest lowest income housing project."

Broderick said hydro power was a better option. He said the state should buy the hydro plants along the Connecticut River , owned by National Energy Group, which recently declared bankruptcy. LED should buy its power from local companies, Broderick said.

But Mason pointed out that there are not many local projects. The utility gets most of its electricity from Canada , Florida and other out-of-state producers.

Years ago, hydro was the answer to nuclear power, Mason said. Now, wind is being pushed to replace hydro. But the process to obtain permits to construct these wind farms is similar to Act 250, the state's planning law.

"It's not like this is going to happen in a smoked-filled room," Mason said. It will be a very public process.

Mason said LED was not involved with the wind development process. He said private companies are taking the risk that the cost of building these wind farms will pay off. Whether LED can refuse to deal with the East Haven Wind Farm is also doubtful. "If we say no, (Rubin) can go to FERC," Mason said. "There's more to it than whether you like it or not."