Some renewable energy projects take a hit

By Veronica Burns

A recent defeat in the U.S. Senate of a proposal to extend the Production Tax Credit for renewable energy projects has taken some wind out of the sails of the energy industry. The proposal was in the form of an amendment attached to the approved transportation bill and needed 60 votes to pass. The voting was a nonpartisan 49-49. Also defeated was a credit for solar projects and a separate incentive for gas powered vehicles. Does this indicate a downturn in enthusiasm for renewable energy projects?

FairWindCT, a Colebrook-based group, which has been waging a campaign against BNE Energy’s Wind Farm project in Colebrook, opposed the tax credit extension and organized a petition. “We had over 140 names on the letter to the senate,” says FairWindCT president, Joyce Hemingson, “and in addition to that, many people sent individual e-mails. Most came from the Northwest Corner.”

In Connecticut, for now at least, the green light has become a stop light for wind turbine applications. Until the Connecticut Siting Council has signed off on new regulations specifically for large-scale (over 1-megawatt) wind turbine installations, there can be no further wind energy applications. The council has drafted regulations, which are still subject to review.

Nicholas Harding, attorney for FairWindCT, considers those draft regulations inadequate. “We think they are not sufficiently protective of Connecticut’s environment and we hope to see a large turnout of people when a public hearing is scheduled about them.” The draft document is now with the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection for its comment. “The regulations still call for a lot of discretion on the part of the council,” says Harding, “and these people are not elected. They are the sole deciding body.” It seems likely that it will be fall before new regulations take effect.

BNE Energy’s wind projects, officially known as Colebrook South (Flagg Hill Road) and Colebrook North (Rock Hall Road), skirted the legislature’s call for new regulations and were approved by the council last June. Some loose ends of the application process are still being completed. BNE Energy recently filed a submission to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, as required by law. The Army Corps had notified BNE that a permit was required before any work could be done. Harding says he is expecting the Army Corps “to exercise independent judgment” on the wetlands at the BNE sites. “Both have significant wetland issues,” he says, and added that he would not be surprised if the Army Corps asked BNE to “redesign portions of the project.”

A request made by the siting council in its Decision and Order document required BNE to submit plans for conservation easements for the two sites. Unlike most standard easements in Connecticut, which are granted in perpetuity, these would be of a temporary nature, existing only as long as the wind turbines are in operation. Paul Corey, BNE president, says they are “trying to work out the details” for both easements. The Northwestern Connecticut Sportsmen’s Association, which abuts the Flagg Hill site, has agreed in principle to be the grantee for Colebrook South’s easement. Corey says that it will probably be the landowners who will be the grantees for Colebrook North.

Other glitches have popped up for BNE. Earlier this year, Zapata Incorporated, a North Carolina-based engineering company filed a lawsuit against BNE in the Litchfield Superior Court. Zapata requested to foreclose on a Mechanic’s Lien on the Flagg Hill property, and also claimed non-payment of invoices totaling $179,465.62 for work the company claims to have completed at the two Colebrook sites. The case remains pending, BNE having recently filed a request for an extension to enter a pleading.

Meanwhile, the appeal by FairWindCT, Stella and Michael Somers and Sukey Wagner is being heard in the New Britain Superior Court. That trial was held at the end of January and Judge Henry A. Cohn recently upheld the legality of the appeal. Harding says that a brief is due by April 16, possibly followed by a reply brief in May. The judge will set oral arguments if he deems it appropriate, and within 160 days will rule on the appeal. If FairWindCT et al are successful, it is possible that BNE will appeal that decision, so it could be a protracted process. Everything remains on hold for the town of Colebrook also, while the appeal is ongoing.

This is not stopping BNE however. Corey says they have started site work at Colebrook South, “clearing areas where the turbines will be and doing some work on the access road. We are moving forward and we hope to have it built by the end of the year.”