Lowell Wind Power Project Moves Forward

AP File Photo/Toby Talbot

A single wind turbine at the ridge line of Lowell Mountain, March 2010.

(Host) Vermont's second largest electric utility filed for permission today to build a new wind power project in the Northeast Kingdom.

Green Mountain Power's Kingdom Community Wind farm in Lowell would generate 63 megawatts.

That would be enough electricity to power 20,000 homes and would be the largest generator owned by GMP.

Company CEO Mary Powell says:

(Powell) "We see it as very significant in terms of really moving forward on renewable energy that's cost effective for our customers."

(Host) The project would be the first wind generator built in Vermont since GMP opened its smaller wind farm in Searsburg in 1997.

Other projects have been proposed, but opposition has so far prevented any from being built.

Powell says GMP has tried to avoid the problems that came up with other proposals.

(Powell) "It can be challenging to build projects. I think that one of the things that our team spent a lot of time talking about and looking at was, well, what were the problems in those other arenas and what happened that can inform our thinking about how we approach this."

(Host) Green Mountain hopes to have the turbines generating electricity by the end of 2012.