Published on June 29, 2005

The same developers who want to put a wind farm on Hardscrabble Mountain also have one similar in size planned for northern Maine.

Evergreen Wind Power, a “wholly owned affiliate” by UPC Wind, plans to erect 33 turbines on Mars Hill Mountain in Aroostook County.

Unlike the situation in Sheffield, however, the town of Myers Hill is a co-applicant in the project.

Town Manager Raymond Mersereau was not available Tuesday, but according to the company’s web site, lease and royalties to Mars Hill’s landowners will amount to $100,000 a year.  Revenue from the project’s property tax is calculated at $150,000.

“All of the electricity from the Mars Hill wind farm will be used in the region, most likely by Aroostook County homes and businesses,” says a posted description of the project.

The project has won support from the Natural Resources Council of Maine.  In a press release featured on the UPC web site, the council found that the project would not have a significant impact on the environment and wildlife.

“The top of Mars Hill already hosts a series of telecommunications towers, roads, transmissions lines, and a ski area,” says a release dated March 2004.  It goes on to say that the environmental benefits would “substantially outweigh anticipated environmental impacts.”

Evergreen Wind Power is one of five subsidiaries owned by UPC that are “dedicated exclusively to the operation and maintenance of its wind parks,” according to the company’s web page.  The subsidiaries, it adds, “have installed hundreds of anemometers throughout Europe, Africa, and America.”

Remote with large tracts of timber and open spaces, Aroostook County has similar characteristics to the Northeast Kingdom.  It has two cities, 54 towns, and over 100 unorganized gores.  At 6,672 acres, it is the largest county in Maine.

Among sportsmen the county it is known as the home of wilderness places like the Allagash, Madawaska, and Fort Kent, all legendary towns of the North Woods.

Like the Kingdom, it too is a poor area.  The county’s per capita income in 1999 was listed on its web page at roughly $15,000, compared to $19,500 for the state.  Median household income for the same year was listed at $28,837.

Roughly 14 percent of its residents lived below the poverty line.  The county is bordered on the  east, west, and  north by Canada.  The latest official count put the population at 74,000.