The Connecticut Siting tentatively approved the state’s first commercial wind project.
On Tuesday, the members of the siting council voted 6-1 in a non-binding straw poll to approve three 492-foot wind turbines in Colebrook. The siting council has the sole authority to approve power generation projects in the state, ranging from nuclear to natural gas plants.
The straw poll taken Tuesday is an indicator of how the council members intend to vote when the issue comes for final approval on June 2. When the siting council rejected a commercial wind farm in Prospect on May 12, the final vote mirrored the straw poll exactly, said Linda Roberts, siting council executive director.
The Colebrook project is one of three commercial wind farms proposed by West Hartford clean energy firm BNE Energy. The other two are the already-denied Prospect proposal and a second location in Colebrook, whose straw poll is scheduled for June 2 and final vote for June 9.
The proposals were heavily opposed by residents in Colebrook and Prospect. The state representative for the area – Vickie Nardello, D-Prospect, co-chair of the Energy & Technology Committee – even proposed legislation placing a moratorium on all wind projects in Connecticut.
When the Prospect proposal was denied on the ground that the turbines wouldn’t be visually appealing in the area, the opponents rejoiced. With Thursday’s straw poll paving the way for Connecticut’s first commercial wind project, the Colebrook residents begged the siting council to reconsider.
“We are disappointed with the Council’s vote and hope they reconsider all the facts before the final vote,” said Joyce Hemingson, president of Colebrook-based FairWindCT. “Constant noise, especially at night, is the greatest complaint about industrial turbines. Placing turbines that are 492-feet tall only 150 feet from residential property lines is not a best practice anywhere in the country.”
Nardello’s legislation opposing commercial wind projects still moves through the state legislature and is pending before the state senate. If passed into law, the bill won’t impact the Colebrook turbines because the siting council approved them before the bill’s enactment date.
