The U.S. Forest Service (FS) has approved the construction of a 30 MW wind energy facility on the Green Mountain National Forest in Vermont. The wind farm will consist of 15 2 MW turbines that will stand 389 feet tall.
The announcement marks the culmination of an environmental analysis and record of decision for the proposal to construct and operate a commercially viable, utility-scale wind energy facility on the national forest in the towns of Searsburg and Readsboro, next to the Searsburg Wind Facility, which is operated by Green Mountain Power Co. on private land.
The Green Mountain National Forest accepted the formal application from Deerfield Wind LLC (owned by Iberdrola Renewables) in November 2004. The FS began the National Environmental Policy Act process for the proposal in July 2005. A similarly required state review process conducted by the Vermont Public Service Board formally began in 2007. The board concluded its review in July 2009, with a decision to approve construction and operation of a 15-turbine configuration, subject to specific conditions.
The FS intends to allow the project to proceed by issuing one special-use permit to Deerfield Wind to use up to 80 acres of National Forest System land. A second special-use permit will be issued to Central Vermont Public Service to facilitate the distribution of the power generated by the project over the transmission lines that it currently owns.
