CSAB Presentations to Town of Barre Board

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At the August 14, 2019 Town of Barre Board meeting, Clear Skies Above Barre presented some of the numerous reasons why we oppose the Heritage Wind project proposed by Apex. 

We are unsure of the locations and size of the proposed Industrial Wind Turbines. We do not know how much electricity would be produced, or who will ultimately own and operate the proposed project. When will we know and how can we trust what is said when there have been so many changes?

We have zoning laws that prohibit properties like car dealerships, superstores, and warehouses from being built in our agricultural residential community, so need to apply the same to Industrial Wind Turbines. What precedence would this set for future development?

Industrial Wind Turbines are monitored by the Department of Public Service, not Agriculture and Markets. They generate electricity from wind, which is not cultivated and, therefore, cannot be harvested. Yet, the Industrial Wind Turbines do use viable agricultural land - over 53 acres of agricultural land is lost in the Heritage Wind proposal.

 Opposition to Industrial Wind does NOT correlate to not supporting agriculture. 

"The total tip height for each wind energy conversion unit cannot exceed 500 feet as measured from the base of the unit to the tip of the unit's longest blade."

The upstate grid is 87% carbon emission free energy while the downstate grid is only 28% carbon emission free. NYS is full of electric transmission bottlenecks that limit the flow of electricity from upstate to downstate. 80% of the state's transmission lines were built before 1980.

 “Absent investment to expand the transfer capability of the bulk power system, investment in renewables in upstate load zones runs the risk of bringing diminishing returns in terms of progress toward both renewable energy production and carbon dioxide emissions reduction goals. This is largely because nearly 90% of the energy produced in upstate New York already is derived from carbon-free resources. Because load in the region is not projected to grow, the addition of new renewable resources increasingly displaces other sources of clean generation in the region.” - 2019 Power Trends 

Which means HIGHER STATE TAXES and HIGHER ELECTRIC BILLS.