Industrial wind foes win round one

By Jason Agrell
Special to the Observer

Ten of 14 unorganized townships that submitted petitions to be removed from Maine’s “expedited wind zone” have been unanimously approved by the Land Use Planning Commission. Many of the Moosehead Lake region’s unorganized townships have sought removal from the expedited wind zone in response to a proposed industrial wind project on Misery Ridge.

SunEdison proposed the construction of a 26-turbine, 85-megawatt wind farm on Misery Ridge. The developer has already erected five meteorological towers on land it is leasing from Weyerhauser, a large land management company that recently merged with Plum Creek.

Weyerhauser and another developer, Frontier Forest, have requested substantive reviews of three other townships in the area.

In 2009, Plum Creek was approved for the largest development and conservation plan in Maine history. In an effort to offset this new plan, which opened the region to wide residential and commercial development, conservation groups purchased a conservation easement as part of a multi-million dollar deal with Plum Creek. The proposed project would be built on land that is part of that easement.

“The easement was intended to help mitigate high impact development areas planned by Plum Creek. The approval to allow industrial wind in a conservation easement is counterintuitive. Why would you set aside land for conservation, then site 26, 500-foot tall industrial wind turbines and associated facilities on ridgeline overlooking Moosehead Lake?” said John Willard, president of the Moosehead Region Futures Committee.

While residents continue with the process of petitioning for their removal from the “expedited wind zone,” SunEdison, the company behind the proposed wind project, finds itself in troubled waters. The company appears to be facing bankruptcy as the result of a collapse in stock price and legal actions filed against the company in state and federal courts. Lawsuits claim irregularities in business practices including a series of complicated financial maneuvers.

SunEdison is also being investigated by the Securities Exchange Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice.

Despite the approval of 10 petitions and the trouble faced by SunEdision, the fight to keep wind development away from the Moosehead Region is not over.

“We’re gathering the necessary resources to mount an effective defense of the remaining petitions and look forward to the hearings,” said Willard. “This is round one in our fight to stop the inappropriate placement of industrial wind development in the Moosehead region.”