WIND COMPROMISE

Presented with a scaled-back version of a wind farm project that its staff has already extensively reviewed, the Land Use Regulation Commission would best use its limited time and resources to continue to evaluate Maine Mountain Power’s application rather than beginning the process anew.

In January the commission recommended denial of a 90-megawatt project on Redington and Black Nubble mountains in western Maine. Despite a staff recommendation for the 30-turbine project, the commission voted 6-1 to recommend denial due to concerns about its impact on views and the mountaintop ecology. The commission had yet to vote to reject the project so the full application remains pending.

Earlier this month, Maine Mountain Power asked LURC to reopen the record to allow it to revise its application to consist of 18 turbines only on Black Nubble Mountain while putting protections on Redington. Much of the concern about the company’s previous proposal focused on the taller Redington Pond Range, which had more environmentally sensitive habitat and was closer to the Appalachian Trail. The new plan follows a suggestion from the Natural Resources Council of Maine, which last year proposed turbines only on Black Nubble Mountain.

Moving forward with the revised plan, with opportunities for public comment, is a reasonable request that LURC should grant at its meeting Wednesday.

In a memo supporting Maine Mountain Power’s request, LURC staff set the appropriate standard of a process that is “efficient yet fair.” Reopening the record meets that standard. Much of the information needed to evaluate the impact of turbines on Black Nubble Mountain has already been submitted to LURC and staff believes it can readily be separated from data involving the Redington Pond Range. Moving ahead with the revised application, obtaining new information where necessary and holding a public hearing on the scaled-back version is a better use of staff time than requiring Maine Mountain Power to withdraw its original application and start the process over with a new filing.

It also sends the message that regulators are willing to work with, rather than simply punish, applicants that are willing to compromise.

The Conservation Law Foundation calculates that New England needs about 8,000 megawatts of wind power to meet regional climate-change goals that Maine agreed to. The only existing wind farm, on Mars Hill in Aroostook County, produces 54 megawatts. Maine has the greatest wind potential of any state in the region, but potential doesn’t turn on the lights.

Moving ahead with Maine Mountain Power’s application is a small but needed step toward lessening our dependence on highly polluting oil and coal to power those lights.