Published on October 13, 2004

MONTPELIER — Three new test towers for wind power are being planned for the Northeast Kingdom.

David Rapaport, vice president of East Haven Windfarm, confirmed Tuesday that applications for three new towers are expected to be submitted to the Public Service Board (PSB) sometime next month.

The plans call for the test towers to go up on private land in the towns of Brighton, Ferdinand and East Haven.

Mr. Rapaport said in a phone interview that the towers are “in keeping with what the company wants to do,” and called them steps to allow the company to test wind power potential at future sites.

The three-sided towers will be roughly 200 feet tall, and are expected to stand for about five years. Mr. Rapaport said it is difficult to estimate how long it will take to get the wind measurements the company needs to evaluate the sites.

While the sites are on privately owned ridgelines, only two of the three are above 2,500 feet, he said.

Mr. Rapaport declined to identify the landowners or say how much the company is paying to lease the sites. One is on East Haven Mountain, while the other two are on ridgelines difficult to pinpoint, according to Mr. Rapaport. He described one as being southeast of the village of Island Pond; and the other to the southwest.

Before the towers can be erected, the company will need approval from the PSB, the state agency that regulates all aspects of electrical power development in Vermont.

Since the towers are temporary, they will not go through the same rigorous PSB review that is now underway on East Haven Windfarm’s proposal to put up four 300-foot towers on East Mountain in East Haven.

The PSB has scheduled a site visit at East Mountain Wednesday, October 13, as part of its ongoing review of the company’s proposal, which has stirred controversy throughout the state. At issue is whether a commercial wind farm belongs on Vermont’s ridgelines, or in this case, on the ridgelines of the Northeast Kingdom where the beauty of its rugged scenery is equaled only by the region’s abject poverty and its shrinking manufacturing base.

East Haven Windfarm has sent out notices to the towns where the test towers are scheduled to go. And so far, according to Mr. Rapaport, the controversy that has dogged the East Mountain project has not extended to the test towers.

“There hasn’t been any issues raised at this point,” he said.

For at least one town, that could change by next week, when the Brighton Planning Commission meets.

Ouida Testut, who chairs the commission, said Tuesday night that her members have not yet had a chance to formally discuss the proposal. She said she has heard informally that some citizens think it would be good for the town, while others think it would hurt it.

The commission meets for its regular meeting next Monday night, October 18.

Mr. Rapaport noted that the towns can play a role in the planning by holding hearings of their own, or by participating in the PSB hearing.

As a rule of thumb, he noted, it is easier to get PSB approval for test towers than for the turbine-holding towers that generate electricity.