The Sugarloaf Community Wind Farm is a

wind power Wind power or wind energy is mostly the use of wind turbines to generate electricity. Wind power is a popular, sustainable, renewable energy source that has a much smaller impact on the environment than burning fossil fuels. Historicall ...

project in western

Maine Maine () is a U.S. state, state in the New England and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and territories of Canad ...

under development by Endless Energy Corporation. The

wind farm A wind farm or wind park, also called a wind power station or wind power plant, is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electricity. Wind farms vary in size from a small number of turbines to several hundred wind tur ...

is planned to be situated between the

Sugarloaf A sugarloaf was the usual form in which refined sugar was produced and sold until the late 19th century, when granulated and cube sugars were introduced. A tall cone with a rounded top was the end product of a process in which dark molasses, a ...

and the Saddleback Maine

ski resort A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area – a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In N ...

s on Redington Pond Range and Black Nubble Mountains. The 30

wind turbine A wind turbine is a device that converts the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy. Hundreds of thousands of large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, now generate over 650 gigawatts of power, with 60 GW added each year. W ...

project is estimated to have a cost of $180 million and would have a capacity of over 90

megawatt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after Jame ...

s, enough to power roughly 40,000 Maine homes.

History

The Sugarloaf Community Wind Farm was derived from the Redington Wind Farm, a previous project proposed by Maine Mountain Power, a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

of Endless Energy and Edison Mission Group. In 2007 a permit for this project was denied by the Land Use Regulation Commission although their staff had recommended approval. The developer proposed an alternative project cut down to being only on Black Nubble, which was rejected by LURC a year later.

Public opinion

There has been some controversy over the possibility of a wind farm on the Mount Redington area. Numerous positive environmental effects of wind power have been cited, including pollution avoided from electricity generation from fossil fuels as well as the fact that unlike electricity production from

fossil fuel power plant A fossil fuel power station is a thermal power station which burns a fossil fuel, such as coal or natural gas, to produce electricity. Fossil fuel power stations have machinery to convert the heat energy of combustion into mechanical energy, ...

s such as

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as stratum, rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen ...

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crude ...

does not need to use water for cooling. A survey by the Potholm group in 2006 showed 9:1 statewide public support for a wind farm on Redington Mountain (with a margin of error of 5%). The same survey found that 74% of dues paying members of environmental groups in the state were also in favor. Public Opinion Wind Farm Redington Mountain

Public Opinion Wind Farm Redington Mountain

However, the boards of various

Appalachian Trail The Appalachian Trail (also called the A.T.), is a hiking trail in the Eastern United States, extending almost between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine, and passing through 14 states.Gailey, Chris (2006)"Appalachian ...

affiliates have opposed the project due to its proximity to the trail. Maine Audubon has also expressed concerns for the fragile environment of the mountains of western Maine. The Natural Resources Council of Maine opposed the full project, but supported the cut down Black Nubble version.

Annexation

At a selectmen's meeting on January 5, 2009, Endless Energy spoke to Carrabassett Valley residents about the possibility of the town to

annex Annex or Annexe refers to a building joined to or associated with a main building, providing additional space or accommodations. It may also refer to: Places * The Annex, a neighbourhood in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada * The Annex (New ...

the site of the proposed

in the adjacent Redington Township. The town would benefit from the additional

property tax A property tax or millage rate is an ad valorem tax on the value of a property.In the OECD classification scheme, tax on property includes "taxes on immovable property or net wealth, taxes on the change of ownership of property through inher ...

es it would receive from the project as well as other benefits of wind farm development such as stable priced power and job creation. The

would benefit from being included in Maine’s expedited wind power permitting zone, as designated by the Governor’s Wind Power Task Force which was put into state law in 2008. The selectmen unanimously voted in favor of sending a

Bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

into the

Maine Legislature The Maine Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maine. It is a bicameral body composed of the lower house Maine House of Representatives and the upper house Maine Senate. The Legislature convenes at the State House in Augus ...

. The annexation bill (SP288)LD741 passed Maine’s Joint Standing Committee on State and Local Government 8-3 on May 11, 2009 with the amendment that all of Redington Township be annexed. To become law it would have required a positive vote from the Senate and House as well as a majority vote in a Carrabassett Valley referendum. For the

to get permits, it would then have then applied to the

Department of Environmental Protection This article lists subnational environmental agencies in the United States, by state. Agencies with a variety of titles and responsibilities are included, e.g. Department of Environment, Department of Environmental Conservation, Department of ...

instead of the Land Use Regulation Commission. On June 1, 2009, the Maine Senate voted against the annexation 29-6, and two days later the House also voted it down.

References

External links

Annexation Bill: LD741
{{coord missing, Maine Wind farms in Maine Buildings and structures in Franklin County, Maine

History

Public opinion

Annexation

See also

References

External links