WINDHAM, Vt. – A giant international wind-power company has asked the Vermont Public Service Board for permission to erect three test towers in the towns of Windham and Grafton in Windham County

A subsidiary of Iberdrola Renewables, Atlantic Wind LLC, wants to place two towers in Windham and one in Grafton on land owned by New Hampshire-based Meadowsend Timberlands Limited.

The 197-foot-tall towers have no foundations and are held in place by guy lines.

But the towers still require a certificate of public good from the Vermont Public Service Board.

Iberdrola spokesman Paul Copleman told the Brattleboro Reformer no decision has been made about whether the site would be feasible for the construction of commercial wind turbines.

“Obviously, we can’t know what the site is like unless we have a sense of what the wind looks like,” Copleman said.

The Windham town plan bans large, commercial wind turbines.

Windham Selectboard Chair Mary Boyer said officials have been planning and gathering information since a meeting last month with representatives of Iberdrola, the timber company and wind-power opponents.

In Grafton, town officials plan a visit next month to Iberdrola’s 12-turbine, 24-megawatt Lempster Wind Power Project in New Hampshire. Grafton Selectboard Chairman Al Sands said officials were hoping to arrange a meeting with local leaders from Lempster, Searsburg and other areas that host wind farms.

“They’re living with it,” he said. “They’re dealing with it. We’d like to have people who are dealing with it tell us what it’s really like.”

 

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