Best hike Snow (Chain of Ponds) while you can- Feds $1M Penobscot Nation wind "farm"

[Vermonster]

Best hike Snow (Chain of Ponds) while you can- Feds $1M Penobscot Nation wind "farm"

Penobscot Nation receives $1M federal grant toward wind development project
By Nick McCrea, BDN Staff
Posted Feb. 16, 2012, at 8:28 p.m.

INDIAN ISLAND, Maine — The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded $1 million to the Penobscot Indian Nation that will help the tribe move forward in its attempt to install a 227-megawatt wind project in Alder Stream Township in Franklin County.
More: http://bangordailynews.com/2012/02/...t-toward-wind-development-project/?ref=latest

VT

edited to add: decent map of location that also shows Kibby Mtn wind project. (Warning 4MB PDF): http://www.stone-env.com/docs/Stone_GIS_ViewshedAnalysis.pdf

 

[bikehikeskifish]

I was up there this week and there is definitely signs this is progressing. We saw, for example, a brand new, heavy-duty bridge and a vehicle with a radar array for detecting/counting bats. More details here

Tim

 

[funkyfreddy]

Aargh! I hate this s#%t! Developing these areas for a few megawatts of power...... So shortsighted..... I'm glad I had a chance to hike there before this development occurs. There's already a wind factory close by Snow on Rt. 27..... how many of these damn things do we need in the Stratton area?

 

[bikehikeskifish]

The proximity to the Kibbe wind farm is what makes this one attractive. The transmission lines are already near by, and there are already turbines on the ridges. And there are nicely graded roads and bridges courtesy of loggers. Etc.

Tim

 

[brianW]

...and 15 years ago it was outrage over cell towers. Now there are threads abut where you can pick up service and which provider is best. If the US plans on becoming energy independent, reducing the carbon footprint, etc. We have to start somewhere. How is Cape Wind progressing? Thanks for the enviro nut jobs for stopping/slowing that down for the last decade. Nothing like going "Green" but not in my backyard.

 

[peakbagger]

That area of maine was identified long ago as a wind farm site by Kenetech. Most of the environmental groups in the state signed off on the original project but not without controversy.
http://www.windpowermonthly.com/news/955522/CONTROVERSY-MAINE-APPROVAL/. The link mentions Angus King, who is now running for senate. He was a principal of Independence wind that recently finished a wind farm in Roxbury Me and had proposed a large farm just south of Bigelow Mtn. He sold his interest int he company a few days before annoucing that he was running for senate.

Kenetech at some point got in financial trouble and Enron came riding in to save them. Enron was thinking about the project for awhile but I think they figured out they could make more money with financial creativity. GE eventually bought Enron's wind assets.

If the federal goverment doesnt extend the current feed in tariff wind incentives after Jan 2013, the new project will not go anywhere as the only way large winds farms get built in the US is by getting long term guaranteed subsidies for every KW they produce whether the grid needs it or not. These go away for any project that is not in commercial operation by Jan 2013. I guess the penobscot nation is guessing they will be extended.

 

[funkyfreddy]

Call me an "enviro wacko" or other names, I don't care. Here are a handful of many articles that scratch the surface of the case against wind power, which IMHO is a band aid solution to our energy needs that's been over-hyped and oversold by many who would profit from their development.

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/technology/2012/01/benefits-wind-power-questioned/47146/

http://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/02/06/the-case-against-industrial-wind-turbines/

http://noturbinesin.saddleworth.net/thecase.htm

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/06/us/06wind.html?pagewanted=all

Personally I wouldn't mind seeing wind turbine construction on the ocean, on top of bridges, skyscrapers, etc. However I do not think the energy yield is worth the cost of industrializing/destroying our ridge lines, wilderness areas, or forests....