A plan to put 33 wind turbines on forested ridgelines in Coos County won unanimous approval yesterday from the state panel charged with reviewing new renewable energy facilities. Members of the Site Evaluation Committee added a long list of conditions to its approval, many having to do with the turbines' effect on the environment.

Granite Reliable Power submitted an application to the committee 11 months ago that called for turbines on peaks in Millsfield and Dixville and a substation in Dummer. The wind farm would connect to a transmission line known as the Coos County loop and produce 99 megawatts of electricity, making it the largest in the state.

A statement from the company, which is a subsidiary of Noble Environmental Power, applauded the committee for "conducting a thorough and open review of the project."

General Manager Pip Decker has said the company could begin clearing this fall in preparation for heavy construction next year.

Though the committee's decision clears a major hurdle for the company, the $257 million project still needs approval from the federal Army Corps of Engineers; the Federal Aviation Administration, which looks for hazards to planes; and ISO New England, which controls the regional electricity grid.

Much of the committee's deliberations over the past two months have concerned the project's environmental effect.

The Fish and Game Department and the Appalachian Mountain Club originally contested the project because they were concerned about the impact on sensitive high-elevation forests. The peaks of Dixville and Mount Kelsey, which are included in the project area, are home to threatened species, including the American marten and the three-toed woodpecker, and to the Bicknell's thrush, a state species of concern.

Granite Reliable came to a settlement with those groups that required the company to give the state 1,735 acres of protected high-elevation forest, $750,000 to conserve more property in the North Country, and $200,000 to study rare and threatened species in the area.

That was critical, said Public Utilities Commission Chairman Thomas Getz, who oversaw proceedings. Without it, he said, the project likely would have been determined to have an unreasonable adverse effect on the natural environment, which could have been cause for rejecting it.

Yesterday, the committee added more environmental requirements to the project:

No significant tree clearing may occur on the peaks of Mount Kelsey and Dixville between April 1 and Aug. 1, a key time for bird nesting and the hatching of young.

The company must work with Fish and Game to restore spruce and fir habitat disturbed by construction, where appropriate.

Until the start of construction, the company must continue to survey populations of migratory birds and raptors in the project area to establish a better baseline for comparison with later studies of the turbines' effect on those species.

Granite Reliable must conduct surveys of breeding birds in the first, third and fifth year after construction to be compared with the pre-construction surveys. The protocol must be approved by Fish and Game.

If the Site Evaluation Committee determines that there has been an "unreasonable adverse impact" on those species, then it may take action, such as limiting when the turbines may operate.

Single page