Published on September 17, 2003

MONTPELIER — The first test to bring commercially viable wind power to the Northeast Kingdom, and win converts to an alternative energy technology that has attracted opposition across a broad spectrum of interests, is about to get underway.

East Haven Windfarm of Montpelier submitted an application to regional planners Tuesday to erect four 335-foot wind turbines on East Mountain to serve as a demonstration project.

"Now the debate can begin in earnest," advised David Rappaport, who is Windfarm's vice president as well as point man for a long-range project to install multiple wind turbines along the ridge lines of East Haven in Essex County.

Developers hope that the demonstration project will sway public opinion and at the same time demonstrate how wind power can lower utility bills for one of the poorest regions in the state.

Tuesday's filing with Northeast Vermont Development Association (NVDA) is the first step required of developers to submit their plan to regional planners 45 days before going to the state's Public Service Board (PSB).

In order to get approval for its project, to have four turbines up and running by 2005 at the latest, the Montpelier-based company must first obtain a certificate of public good. While the decision to award such a certificate is based on testimony at hearings before the PSB, Northeast Kingdom residents could get a preview of the debate if NVDA decides to hold a hearing of its own.

Last month, as Windfarm was preparing its application, NVDA staff member Dave Snedeker said he believed the regional planning organization would hold such a public hearing. NVDA's role is limited, however.

"All we can do is comment, we can't stop the process," noted Mr. Snedeker.

For NVDA, Tuesday's filing comes at an opportune moment. At their regular monthly meeting in October, NVDA board members will decide if they will convene a task force to study the impact of wind farms on the region.

Opponents repeatedly have argued that large, visible wind towers on the region's ridge lines will constitute an eyesore, adversely affect tourism and cause property values to plummet.

Mr. Rappaport said in an interview Monday that the demonstration project will give the public a chance to judge for itself.

"The demonstration really is a way to allow people in the neighborhood to see what the towers look like," he said.

Mr. Rappaport, who has been crisscrossing the region since spring, promoting his company's plan to erect a total of 50 wind turbines on Essex County ridges, is confident that the demonstration project will elevate the debate.

"It will be a much more informed discussion for having seen some of the actual wind towers," he said.

The four towers will be installed on the summit of East Mountain, the site of an old U.S. radar base that was built in the early fifties. The property was purchased in 2001 by Windfarm's founder and president, Matthew Rubin of Montpelier.

Mr. Rubin is an alternative energy entrepreneur who over the last 25 years has developed three hydro plants on the Winooski River in Burlington, East Montpelier, and Springfield. In 2001 he installed wind gauges at the 3,400-foot top of East Mountain and came up with an average wind speed of 20 mph, which he characterized as "ideal for making electricity."

Details of the proposed demonstration say that the towers will be painted "a pale gray-blue to match the average cloudy day." Visual appearance of the turbines from the closest permanent residence, six miles away, "would be well hidden by an aspirin tablet held at arm's length," according to the company's project description.

The plan also argues that the project will have little or no environmental impact.

"The amount of cleared space required for the construction is about half an acre per turbine, including the roadway between them," according to a description of the project that is also being mailed this week to East Haven residents.

"In this case, virtually all of this space is already cleared, and in some places covered with black top or concrete, left behind by the radar base."

The cost of erecting the four towers is estimated between $11-million and $12-million. And while the costs will be borne entirely by Windfarm, Mr. Rappaport said Monday that the demonstration project is expected to make the company money and lower the cost of power for Lyndonville Electric Department (LED).

As envisioned, the four wind turbines will provide LED with roughly 30 per cent of it power needs at a savings of up to $100,000 a year, according to Mr. Rappaport. The 30 percent, according to the company statistics, represents the amount of electricity consumed by roughly 3,000 Vermont homes.

Windfarm anticipates that it will be able to sell the power produced by the turbines to LED for "approximately 10 percent below" New England wholesale market price. The plan calls for transmitting the power to LED by a line running from East Mountain to a substation in Burke.

Mr. Rappaport characterized the demonstration as a sound business decision and an independent project that, if approved, will be around a long time.

"This is a project that's got at least a 20-year life," he said. "It's not going to be taken down after a couple of years."