The Sugarloaf Community Wind Farm is a wind power project in western Maine under development by Endless Energy Corporation. The wind farm is planned to be situated between the Sugarloaf and the Saddleback Maine ski resorts on Redington Pond Range and Black Nubble Mountains. [1]
The 30 wind turbine project is estimated to have a cost of $180 million and would have a capacity of over 90 megawatts, enough to power roughly 40,000 Maine homes.
The Sugarloaf Community Wind Farm was derived from the Redington Wind Farm, a previous project proposed by Maine Mountain Power, a joint venture 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. [2]
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 plants such as coal or petroleum, wind power does not need to use water for cooling. [3] 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.[ citation needed ]
However, the boards of various Appalachian Trail affiliates have opposed the project due to its proximity to the trail. [4] Maine Audubon has also expressed concerns for the fragile environment of the mountains of western Maine. [5] The Natural Resources Council of Maine opposed the full project, but supported the cut down Black Nubble version. [6]
At a selectmen's meeting on January 5, 2009, Endless Energy spoke to Carrabassett Valley residents about the possibility of the town to annex the site of the proposed wind farm in the adjacent Redington Township. The town would benefit from the additional property taxes it would receive from the project as well as other benefits of wind farm development such as stable priced power and job creation. The wind farm 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 into the Maine Legislature. [7]
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 wind farm to get permits, it would then have then applied to the Department of Environmental Protection instead of the Land Use Regulation Commission. [8] [9] On June 1, 2009, the Maine Senate voted against the annexation 29-6, and two days later the House also voted it down. [10]
Mars Hill is a town in Aroostook County, Maine, United States, nestled at the foot of Mars Hill Mountain. The town borders with Wicklow Parish, New Brunswick, Canada. The region is mainly agricultural. The population was 1,493 at the time of the 2010 census.
Sugarloaf is a ski area and resort located on Sugarloaf Mountain in Carrabassett Valley, western Maine. It is the second largest ski resort east of the Mississippi in terms of skiable area and snowmaking percentage (95%); its continuous vertical drop of 2,820 feet (860 m) is the second longest in New England. Sugarloaf recorded a total of 352,000 skier visits in the 2005–2006 season, ranking it second among Maine resorts and 11th in New England.
The Western Maine Lakes and Mountains region spans most of Maine's western border with New Hampshire. A small part of the scenic White Mountain National Forest is located in this area. The region consists of Oxford County, Androscoggin County, Franklin County, as well as northern York and interior Cumberland Counties. The largest cities in the region are Lewiston and Auburn. Notable towns include Bethel, Bridgton, Oxford, Rangeley, and Rumford. Many of the state's highest peaks are located in the region, although the highest, Mount Katahdin, is not.
The Cape Wind Project was a proposed offshore wind farm on Horseshoe Shoal in Nantucket Sound off of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, United States. It was approved but then lost several key contracts and suffered several licensing and legislative setbacks. The developer, Jim Gordon of Energy Management Inc., eventually terminated the lease rights for the site in late 2017.
The Carrabassett River, a tributary of the Kennebec River, is located in Franklin County and Somerset County, Maine, in the United States. It rises near Sugarloaf Mountain, east of Rangeley Lake, and runs for 33.8 miles (54.4 km), flowing southeast past Kingfield and joining the Kennebec River in the town of Anson.
Equinox Mountain is a mountain in Bennington County, Vermont, United States, in the town of Manchester. The mountain is the highest peak of the Taconic Range, and the highest point of Bennington County. It is one of thirteen peaks in Vermont with a topographic prominence over 2,000 feet (610 m), ranked third behind Mansfield and Killington. Equinox is the second highest peak in southern Vermont, after Stratton Mountain.
Mount Redington is a mountain located in Franklin County, Maine. Redington is flanked to the northeast by South Crocker Mountain and to the west by Black Nubble. Redington stands just northeast of the U.S. Navy Survival Escape and Evasion Training Facility (USSEAETF).
Wind power in the United States is a branch of the energy industry that has expanded quickly over the latest several years. From January through December 2020, 337.5 terawatt-hours were generated by wind power, or 8.42% of all generated electrical energy in the United States. In 2019, wind power surpassed hydroelectric power as the largest renewable energy source generated in the U.S.
Maine Huts & Trails is a United States non-profit public service organization that aims to create a 180-mile network of non-motorized, multi-use trails stretching between the Mahoosuc Range in western Maine to Moosehead Lake, the state's largest water body.
Black Nubble is a mountain located in Franklin County, Maine. Black Nubble is flanked to the southeast by Mount Redington. Redington stands just north of the U.S. Navy Survival Escape and Evasion Training Facility (USSEAETF).
A floating wind turbine is an offshore wind turbine mounted on a floating structure that allows the turbine to generate electricity in water depths where fixed-foundation turbines are not feasible. Floating wind farms have the potential to significantly increase the sea area available for offshore wind farms, especially in countries with limited shallow waters, such as Japan, France and US West coast. Locating wind farms further offshore can also reduce visual pollution, provide better accommodation for fishing and shipping lanes, and reach stronger and more consistent winds.
Stetson Mountain is a small mountain located in Washington County, Maine; a 8-mile (13 km) long ridge running roughly north–south. The summit elevation is between 1,080 ft (330 m) and 1,090 ft (330 m). Stetson is approximately 10 miles (16 km) from the Canada–United States border with New Brunswick.
Kibby Wind Power Project is a wind farm on Kibby Mountain in Franklin County, Maine, United States of America.
There are a number of wind power projects in the state of Maine, totaling more than 900 megawatts (MW) in capacity and responsible for 13.85% of in-state electricity production in 2017. In 2019, Maine had more wind capacity than the other five New England states combined, at 923 MW.
Ørsted U.S. Offshore Wind is an offshore wind energy development group that is affiliated with Ørsted, a Danish firm. It is joint headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts and Providence, Rhode Island. As of 2019, it was involved in some of the largest offshore wind farm projects in the United States.
Wind power in New Hampshire began in 1980, with the installation of the world's first wind farm at Crotched Mountain, consisting of 20 30 kW wind turbines, although it closed decades ago. As of 2020, five wind power projects are operating in the state of New Hampshire – Lempster Mountain, which opened in 2008, Granite Reliable Wind Farm, which opened in late 2011, Groton Wind, which opened in 2012, Jericho Mountain, which opened in 2015, and Antrim Wind, which opened in 2020.
Block Island Wind Farm is the first commercial offshore wind farm in the United States, located 3.8 miles (6.1 km) from Block Island, Rhode Island in the Atlantic Ocean. The five-turbine, 30 MW project was developed by Deepwater Wind. Construction began in 2015 and in late summer 2016 five Alstom Haliade 150-6-MW turbines were erected. Operations were launched in December 2016. It is the largest project using wind power in Rhode Island.
The University of Maine (UMaine) Deepwater Offshore Wind Test Site, located nearly 3 miles south west of Monhegan Island, Maine is available for use by commercial and non-commercial entities in partnership with the University of Maine, or the University of Maine itself, to research and develop ocean energy devices, such as floating wind turbines or wave energy converters.
