Editor’s note: This oped is by Lukas B. Snelling, the director of communications for Energize Vermont, a non-profit “dedicated to advocating for renewable energy solutions in harmony with the irreplaceable character of Vermont.”
Vermont is blessed with extraordinary mountains. They provide much of the state’s special character and offer a picturesque backdrop to our daily life. Recent utility scale wind farm proposals across the state threaten to fundamentally alter these mountains. We must avoid this sacrifice in the name of progress and pursue another road: to be among the first in the nation to utilize a mix of alternatives that will preserve our mountains and provide the progress we very badly need.
Utility scale wind projects are proposed or approved in no fewer than eight locations across Vermont: Lowell, Londonderry, Ira, West Rutland, Waitsfield, Georgia, Sheffield and Deerfield. Each of these projects would extend across miles of ridgeline. These multi-mile, multi-tower facilities would fundamentally alter ridgelines and are not the best use of these large machines, which are more appropriate on flat fields with strong wind resources where their output can be optimized. When combined with concerns over siting distances, noise, and health effects, we believe that these projects are simply not compatible with the special character of our state.
Fortunately we can meet our energy needs without sacrificing one of the things that we love most about our state. First, efforts towards energy consumption reduction have proven to be extremely successful, but much more can be done. Making further reductions in residential and industrial energy use is far cheaper than building new generation facilities. By taking efficiency education to the next level and employing more advanced reduction tactics such as dynamic pricing we can discover even greater energy savings.
By embracing smaller scale solar, hydro, wind and biomass installations we have the ability to make Vermont a leader in power generation and management. Numerous small community driven installations enhance the reliability of the grid, reduce line transmission loss and deliver substantially less environmental impact. Also, when the energy is generated and consumed close to home (if not at home) there becomes a much higher awareness of usage, creating even more efficiency savings.
Vermont currently offers home owners and businesses incentives to invest in renewable energy generation, but fails to provide a road map to do so. Greater education is needed to ease the barriers to entry for these systems. If we can plan now to combine an increased use of net metering with emerging smart grid technology, in future years we will both reduce energy consumption and generate power locally, with almost zero environmental impact.
These alternatives also have significant economic benefits. Widespread investment will create jobs right in the communities generating and consuming the power. Additionally, the added reliability of distributed generation means significantly less economic loss due to blackouts, ensuring a steady, humming economy. Skeptics say such a system would raise rates and reduce business potential. However, long term savings in efficiency and grid maintenance mean that such a system is not only viable, but can bring significant savings over existing rates.
Vermont has shown it has the ability to overcome great challenges with unique solutions. Energize Vermont is proud to continue this tradition by proposing valid alternatives to altering our beloved landscape. We welcome everyone who believes in this mission to join us in taking a stand and letting our state’s energy leaders know there are alternatives to utility scale production. The future of our Green Mountains depends on it.
