Published on January 14, 2004

EAST HAVEN — Not even frigid, sub-zero temperatures could cool the ardor of 100 or so people who turned out here Tuesday night for a public hearing on the first application to put wind towers on the ridgelines of the Northeast Kingdom.

Their reception to a proposal to put four 330-foot towers on the summit of East Mountain was as chilly as the January night air.

Of the 29 people who rose to speak during the first 90 minutes of the hearing before the Public Service Board (PSB), all but one opposed the project.

Repeated requests from PSB hearing officer Kurt Janson to hold the applause were ignored as the crowd cheered speakers who forcefully, and sometimes eloquently, spoke out against the project.

And if the crowd needed any more encouragement, they got it when a schoolgirl by the name of Mickaela Gray told them that members of her generation were hoping to learn a lesson.

“We want you to impress upon our youth the value of conservation,” she said.

Objections were raised in every shape and color, but the one that struck over and over again was the charge that the towers would forever alter the region’s character.

“There is no logical reason why wind farms should take precedence over the people who live in the Northeast Kingdom,” said Barbara Hill of West Burke.

“The happiness of life will be forever changed by those wind towers.”

“I’m not opposed to wind power but I think ruining the last best place in the northeast is wrong,” said Michael Michaud, who urged the board to look at the big picture.

Brian Kelly of West Burke argued that a “power plant on a mountaintop would significantly change the area and manifestly harm the northeastern highlands.”

He called the towers “four lurid monuments to myopia” that would be “more gold than green.”

David Dwyer, a school teacher for 35 years in the area, argued that the project is an example of “the arrogance of big money."

“We’re willing to fight for our homes, and we’re willing to send you home packing,” he said, addressing his comments to the developers.

The project is being proposed by Matthew Rubin, a Montpelier entrepreneur who owns and operates hydro plants on the Winooski River. He, along with David Rapaport, has formed the East Haven Windfarm company that has designed a long-range plan to place up to 50 wind towers on Essex County’s ridgelines.

Presently, as a demonstration project, the company is asking the PSB for a certificate of public good to put four wind turbines on East Mountain.

Built by General Electric, the turbines will generate six megawatts of power, which the company plans to sell to the Lyndonville Electric Department.

According to their statistics, that amount of power will run about 3,000 homes.

Despite promises to sell the power locally at less than current market prices, the crowd at the East Haven schoolhouse refused to believe they were getting a deal.

Other speakers noted that building wind towers on Essex County’s ridgelines would undermine gains the state had made with the recent Champion lands deal.

Will Staats, a wildlife biologist from Victory, said it didn’t make any sense to spend roughly $4-million of public money for conservation, only to lose to one developer.

He said the region’s beauty and rugged mountains lend a sense of serenity and peace to all who experience them.

“If you understand that, you will understand the passion that is in this room,” he told the board.

The only speaker in favor of the project didn’t hesitate to qualify his support.

Matteo Burani of the Vermont Natural Resources Council said that a lack of state planning was forcing environmentalists like himself to approach wind power projects on a case-by-case basis.

He argued a need for wind power as a way to displace society’s reliance on fossil fuel.

Yet while Mr. Burani believes that the four-tower project would provided an opportunity to study the effects on the environment and wildlife, he added that he would oppose any expansion onto the Champion lands that are protected by easements.

Others argued that the four towers would do little to conserve fossil fuel.

John Kane of East Burke said he objected to turning the mountain into “a guinea pig area.”

Still others argued that the plan’s call to place lights on the towers would destroy a last vast tract of darkness.

“Please don’t turn the green mountain state into the pinwheel state, said Don Nelson of Lowell.

“The construction of industrial wind turbine power plants within the fragile ecology of the beautiful mountains and hills of Vermont represents monumental and drastic changes of the principles and policies of land use in Vermont,” said Virginia Bastien of Danville.

Like other speakers, she called on the board to put a moratorium on wind towers until more can be learned about their effect on the environment.

Steve Watson of Lyndon was among those who joined her call.

“Where’s the fire? Where’s the rush?” he asked. “Why is the tail wagging the dog?”

Mr. Watson and others told the board they want the state to take its time and come up with a thoughtful policy on wind power.

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