More Windpower

Town of Westfield: GOLISANO COMING TO WESTFIELD FOR WIND MEETING

County Executive Greg Edwards has announced that a meeting will be held on Nov. 8th at Westfield High School at 7 p.m. to discuss efforts to harness the potential of wind energy that comes off Lake Erie. This regional initiative, which can greatly benefit Chautauqua County, is being co-hosted by Mr. Edwards and the Towns of Westfield and Ripley. The speakers will be Tom Golisano, Chairman, and Keith Pitman, President & CEO, of Empire State Wind Energy, LLC.

Edwards said, “Certainly Mr. Golisano needs no introduction to western New York, but we need to listen to the unique business model he and Mr. Pitman have developed for community wind projects. After some initial discussion the leadership in Ripley and Westfield wanted a forum to permit their residents to hear about this approach, and we thought other towns would want to hear it, too, particularly those in the north county where wind energy—renewable, green energy—is viable. Economic development here is critical, and low-cost electric for our industries coupled with dollars flowing directly into our towns, rather than going elsewhere, are stepping stones for economic development.”

Town of Westfield Supervisor Martha Bills is encouraging all interested parties to attend this meeting.

“This is an important informational meeting that will present a very different approach to windpower development with a lot of potential benefits to the community,” she said. “We encourage everyone to attend and hear about this opportunity firsthand.”

Town of Jordanville: EXPERTS COMPLETING STUDIES FOR JORDANVILLE WIND PROJECT

Experts studying the proposed Jordanville Wind Energy Project are in the process of finalizing additional environmental, geophysical and operational studies for the State Environmental Quality Review process as project developer Community Energy continues its extensive pre-construction review.

Community Energy, based in Wayne, Pa., released the project's Draft Environmental Impact Statement in May. The additional studies are evaluating social and economic factors as well as environmental effects.

One of the issues being looked at, at the request of the Department of Environmental Conservation, is what impact the project will have on the area's karst topography, including the presence of sinkholes and underground limestone caves. Opponents of the project are saying the impact on karst features would put groundwater safety at risk.

“We are studying this issue extensively as asked by the DEC,” said Skip Brennan, New York Development Director with Community Energy. “We concur with the DEC that we do not want to put such an expensive turbine in a sinkhole application. We're going to look at the correct places to put these turbines.”
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According to Community Energy, the 136-megawatt Jordanville Wind Farm is expected to generate $6.3 million in wage and salary compensation paid to local workers during construction, generate around $800,000 in annual revenues for local governments and school districts, and have the capacity to provide the annual electric needs of more than 51,000 homes.

If the project receives ultimate approval, construction would begin next spring and likely finish up next fall, said Brennan.