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Wind project's planning stage by Barry Matulaitis ROXBURY - If Independence Wind founders Angus King and Robert Gardiner have their way, Maine will take a leadership role in having wind energy as an integral part of its generated power. Independence Wind, LLC, is in the planning phase of a proposed wind tower project that, if approved through a rigorous permitting process, would be located on Partridge, Record, and Flathead mountains in Roxbury and Byron. King explained that Independence Wind was formed about one year ago after he had gone up to speak at Sugarloaf and learned of the proposed Redington wind project that had been defeated by a vote of the Land Use Regulation Commission. While King is best known for his stint as Maine governor from 1995 to 2003, he noted in a recent interview "I have a long history in the energy business going back to 1980." During the 80s, his company did hydropower and biomass projects across the state and for the next five years King became renowned for his energy conservation work. "Hydropower was where the action was then," Gardiner recalled. Gardiner and King have a connection that goes back to Gardiner's years as producer at WCBB, when King was host of Maine Watch. Additionally, Gardiner was the executive director of Maine's Natural Resource Council for several years and has four years experience with the Maine Conservation Law Foundation as an advocate for alternative energy solutions. Gardiner is particularly interested in finding multiple uses for land in terms of recreational, energy, and resource conservation purposes. "All of those multiple uses fit into sort of a big puzzle," he said. "It doesn't have to be mutually exclusive." So, what makes wind power a viable energy source? "One reason is it's an indigenous source," King explained. "We don't have to buy the fuel from anyone else. We are really dependent on outside prices, outside forces. It also makes its own volume." Another reason, he stated, is the issue of volatility, and wind power use could result in more stability in energy prices. "I think there is an economic benefit to Maine in that you can predict the prices far into the future." Then, King continued, there is the issue of the environment and how the burning of fossil fuels impacts it. This leads to not only erosion of the ozone layer, but also to generating harmful "greenhouse" gases. "I do believe the scientific evidence is overwhelming that burning fossil fuels is going to be tremendously devastating to our wildlife habitat, our water sources," said King. However, he also pointed out that wind power is "not going to solve the whole problem. It's going to solve part of the problem." "The public is beginning to understand that global warming is the preeminent environmental concern," said Gardiner. The Roxbury and Byron site is a north-south ridge, with the prevailing wind coming from the west or northwest. This is considered an ideal situation for taking advantage of the wind, as it means it will be coming at such an angle to turn the blades of a wind tower even at relatively low velocities. Another favorable factor that the Independence Wind principals have identified on the site is it is close to the power grid, meaning it is feasible to put up above ground transmission lines to connect to it. "There are issues involved with that, not the least of which is cost," offered Gardiner. Altitude is another factor that must be taken into consideration. The ridge in question is between 2,000 and 2,500 feet high, or lower than the 2,700 feet and over elevations that are considered specially protected in Maine. "This element is key to understanding wind. Over 95 percent of Maine is not windy enough to meet the requirements." Wind speed must be an average of at least 15 miles per hour annually. On land, it must be focused in such a way that it is forced up and over ridgetops. However, ridges that are at a certain elevation are in environmentally sensitive zones. "It's not so high as to be controversial," said Gardiner of the Roxbury wind project proposal. Incidentally, this was one of the hotly debated aspects of the proposed Redington wind farm, which was to be situated at altitudes approaching 4,000 feet and was near fragile alpine areas. Endless Energy Corp. of Yarmouth, the Redington developer, is looking at a scaled-back version of the wind farm and has presented a proposal that will soon go through the public hearing process. "Although there are quite a few places where it is windy, there's very few places where you could site a wind farm," Gardiner continued. Only 5 to 10 percent of western Maine is suitable for wind towers. The proposed Byron-Roxbury wind towers would, if approved, be situated on land currently owned by Bay Root, LLC and managed by Wagner Forest Management. Almost the entire parcel is owned by one landowner, which King noted simplifies negotiations and access. The five to 5.5-mile stretch of ridge would include 20 to 25 wind towers pending a wind survey. There are two experimental wind towers that have been put up in that area to measure wind data for six to nine months. After the data has been collected and analyzed, the project's principals will make a final determination on whether it can proceed. Each tower would generate between two and three megawatts of energy, with a minimum of 40 megawatts and as much as 60 megawatts for the entire collection of wind turbines. With a turbine generating two megawatts, it would operate at one third of its annual capacity, and one third of the time it would not be running at all. Winds between 0 and 5 miles per hour generate no power on a wind farm. Over the course of a year, said King and Gardiner, the Roxbury-Byron site could generate enough electricity to power all of Oxford County. However, they cautioned, not all of the generated power will go to Oxford County towns, as it will be dispersed throughout the grid. When pressed as to exactly where the power would go, King noted that the electricity probably would not be able to travel on the grid south of Portland. "But as far as the economics of where you sell the power, you could sell it anywhere." Noise and visual issues are likely to be concerns of residents living near where the towers would go. King and Gardiner took a trip up to Mars Hill this spring to check out the wind power project that was put into place, and based on their experiences, Gardiner said "There's very little noise associated with them." They noted that people who live on the upwind, or west side, of the wind towers would not be able to hear anything most of the time. On the east side, within a half mile of the structures, there is a "whooshing" sound that can be heard with enough wind to turn the blades but not enough to mix down to lower elevations and block out the sound. "We are pretty sure there don't seem to be any residences within the zone that could hear it," said King of the Roxbury-Byron wind project. Gardiner added that the two stood right under the Mars Hill windmills and noted no mechanical noise coming from them. The Mars Hill windmills have blades with an 80-meter diameter end to end, and the proposed Roxbury wind towers would have 90-meter blades. Gardiner noted that they would not be seen from Rumford and Mexico, and could only been seen from some locations on the shores of Roxbury Pond and Garland Pond. The towers will be lighted per Federal Aviation Administration rules. "Typically, every third or fourth tower will have to have a light," said Gardiner. "We will avoid strobes." The lights would be located on top of the towers. With regard to the road system used to bring the turbines up, construct them, and subsequently maintain them, Gardiner said that the roads would be built up the west side of the ridge from Route 120. Once constructed, the roads would be kept in place for maintenance and plowing done during the winter. Both King and Gardiner said that Wagner does not intend to change the current recreational use of the land by ATVs and, more often, snowmobiles. There will be some jobs generated during the construction of the towers, although only eight to 12 year-round positions would be created. "It's too small an amount to be meaningful," Gardiner said. The project would lead to much higher valuations for Roxbury and Byron, according to the principals. "We shouldn't lead people to believe that their taxes will drop down a lot," said Gardiner. "But they will drop some." King and Gardiner have met with selectmen in the two towns and the Silver Lake and Garland Pond campowner's associations. In the near future, they will meet with other residents in the two towns in a series of public meetings. "I would characterize the reaction as willing to listen," said King of his impression of public opinion so far. Some are in favor of the project, while others are opposed, and still more are taking a middle ground. "We're trying to be as factual as we can," said King. "I've been impressed at how deeply people seem to understand global warming and the need to seek alternative energy sources," Gardiner mentioned. Wednesday, October 3, 2007 front |
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