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BANGOR – In a non-binding vote, state land use regulators unanimously indicated they would not support a proposal by TransCanada Maine Wind Development, Inc. to expand a wind power project in northern Franklin County at a meeting Wednesday.
After a lengthy discussion and straw poll vote, the Land Use Regulation Commission board instructed its staff to draft a denial to TransCanada’s proposed 15-turbine, $100 million expansion to the Kibby Wind Power Project. A final vote is scheduled for Aug. 4.
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As the two-year construction of the $320 million, 44-turbine project located on Kibby Mountain and Kibby Range is set for completion this fall, TransCanada is seeking approval to erect another 15 Vestas V90 turbines on the 3,300-foot Sisk Mountain ridge line, located to the west and immediately adjacent to the Kibby project. The turbines would produce another 45 megawatts, utilize a new substation and 325 feet of transmission line to run the power through the Kibby project’s infrastructure. Completion of the expansion was set for the summer of 2011.
According to LURC director Catherine Carroll, the commissioners voiced concerns over the adverse visual impact of the project’s proposed location overlooking the Chain of Ponds and its potential detrimental impact to the Bicknell’s thrush breeding area and sensitive sub-alpine habitat.
“They all reluctantly voted to deny the project, but its not necessarily going to be a unanimous final vote,” Carroll said. Some of the commissioners “were on the fence,” she said about the decision, expressing dismay over the loss of the local community’s potential economic benefit of the project.
Commissioner Steve Schaefer of Grand Lake Stream, and others mentioned the economic benefit of the project would be lost. TransCanada’s 44-turbine project on Kibby in construction over the past two years, has meant the influx of hundreds of jobs, an increase in local service industry benefits, additional tax revenue to the county and a $100,000 boost to be paid each year to Eustis, which uses the revenue to offset local tax increases.
But the overall concerns of commissioners of the visual and ecological impacts with the project’s proposal seemed to outweigh the benefits, Carroll said. Commissioners indicated they had no problem with the eight turbines proposed along the northern half of the project, but the seven turbines along the southern portion end were enough to nix the entire project.
At a two-day public hearing held March 18 & 19 in Carrabassett Valley, representatives of Maine Audubon Society and Natural Resources Council of Maine argued in support of only half of the project’s expansion but were opposed to the other seven sited in the southern string.
“… we support clean, renewable energy in general,” said Ted Koffman, executive director of Maine Audubon at the public hearing. “However, we cannot support the elements of TransCanada’s proposal that would threaten high-value habitat. Unique and uncommon natural features run right through the middle of this area, which also includes a rare, sub-alpine wildlife community and a large wetland habitat that sustains an animal on Maine’s threatened species list. Clearly, this isn’t an appropriate location for commercial wind power.”
If, in the likely event the LURC board majority does deny the proposal at the final vote, it will also be sending another message to projects proposed in so-called wind energy expedited areas.
TransCanada’s 15-turbine expansion proposal on Sisk Mountain is located within the expedited permitting area set aside by the governor’s Wind Power Task Force and passed into law in April 2008. As such, TransCanada needed only a LURC-issued construction permit, avoiding the often-lengthy rezoning process before the law was passed.
“It doesn’t mean that just because all 15 wind turbines are in the expedited wind area it’s a slam dunk,” Carroll said.
” When I was asked earlier about the issue of coal…under my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket…even regardless of what I say about whether coal is good or bad, because I’m capping greenhouse gasses, coal power plants, natural gas…you name it…whatever the plants were, whatever the industry was, they would have to retro-fit their operations.
That will cost money…they will pass that money on to the consumers. You can already see what the arguments are going to be during the general election. People will say Obama and Al Gore …these folks…they’re going to destroy the economy.
This is going to cost us 8 trillion dollars or whatever their number is.”
Obama January 2008
Read more: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/kerry-picket/2008/11/02/obama-energy-prices-will-skyrocket#ixzz0t7WLrAjT
Three cheers for LURC. They are following the law to protect Maine’s irreplaceable scenic assets.
Finally! One inkling of sanity in the corrupt rush to destroy Maine’s mountains for corporate greed! The LURC appears to have the integrity to say enough! Once LURC OK’d Kibby, you knew TransCanada would want more, more, more. Every developer does it. Hands off Sisk Mt! It was purposely left out of the heinous expedited wind permitting zone that effectively handed over two thirds of the state to wind developers and denied citizen input to the permitting process. This is one of the greatest environmental travesties I have witnessed in my very long life in Maine. Allowing the blasting away of mountains, destroying wildlife habitat, and ruining our treasured quality of place (What the Brookings Institute touts as Maine’s greatest asset!) all for corporate greed. Industrial wind is not about producing electricity, as it is unpredictable, unreliable, inefficient, and costly. It is about corporations feeding like pigs at the TAXPAYER SUBSIDY trough. Anyone who would take the time to actually research the plethora of issues related to industrial wind would understand this and stand up for our mountains.
Have there been any studies or plans to remove the billions of yards of concrete from the mountain tops in 20 years when these windmills reach their lifespan? Have there been any such requirement of these companies to make disassembling plans? Anything that detrimental to the earth should be required to have an exit plan and the funds set aside to carry it out.
Would you anti everything in your back yard people please take a trip to the gulf and help clean some birds and beaches. Please turn off your lights when you leave. Oh yeah, have a nice walk.
I can see the home of the leading yack’ers against wind power in Mexico, Maine. Your place is lit up like a christmas tree every night, all night, and has been for the last 20+ years. Haven’t you got brains enough to turn out the lights or are you afraid of the dark??
Blah, blah, blah, give it a rest.
Geeezzzzzzzzzzz……….BILLIONS of yards of concrete?…………………billions……………