Wind Farm Faces Opposition

Regardless of their opposition, residents of Ferdinand, VT, may witness construction on a 20-turbine wind farm atop the local Seneca Mountain. In a non-binding vote on Jan. 13, 171 property owners voted against the project, owned by Seneca Mountain Wind, compared to 107 property owners in support.

Project manager John Soininen was disappointed in the outcome of the vote, but remained unphased.

“For now we recognize that there are local concerns,” he stated, “and in the end we hope that there is a viable project that can achieve local support and bring myriad benefits of wind energy to Ferdinand.”

According to the company website, the project will provide 60 MW of, “clean domestic energy to tens of thousands of homes.” Eoilian Renewable Energy, the parent energy company of Seneca Mountain Wind, is currently advancing four other projects in New Hampshire, Maine and Pennsylvania.

Residents opposing the project argue that it will ruin the sublime beauty of the landscape.

“If you’re trying to endear yourself with people, if the project is at all going to move forward, this is certainly not the way to do it,” said Pam Aborio, a local resident. Aborio is a member of “Save our Senecas”, a group that intends to “preserve in perpetuity the Seneca Mountains and surrounding area ecosystems in their wild and scenic state,” according to their website.

Seneca Mountain Wind has asserted that investment in renewable energy could enhance Vermont’s national reputation, thereby boosting tourism. In 2012, roughly three thousand residents of Massachussetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island and New York sent letters of support to Governor Schumlin in a response to his energy reforms. The letters were based on a template designed by the Vermont Sierra Club, and stated that “I am a supporter of clean energy, and a potential Vermont tourist. Vermont has an incredible opportunity to be a leader in renewable energy. It would be fitting for the Green Mountain State to also be known as the Green Energy State.”

Seneca Wind Project Manager John Soininen expressed further concerns that local opponents fail to comprehend the enormity of a statewide energy overhaul.

“There’s the mandate to get to 90 percent renewables by 2050,” he stated in an interview with the Burlington Free Press, “but there isn’t any serious planning to that end.”

Daniel Ouimette, the decade-long owner of the proposed site, remained optimistic that the wind project would continue.

“There are going to be some wind towers on this mountain one of these days,” he said. “I am not going to give this up.”
Ouimette’s cooperation with the company has spawned heated criticism from some local residents. Aborio stated that,

“Once he decided to make this a commercial venture, once this is a now an industrial project, he no longer is a good-old-boy neighbor.”

Despite the company’s desire for a “recreational resource for hunters and snowmobilers,” Ouimette recently closed 16 miles of snowmoblie trails and posted no-trespassing signs around his property.

“I say I don’t want anybody on my property that’s an opponent of mine riding across my property with their snow machine and finding fault with what I do,” Ouimette argued. He claims to have suffered harassment since the project was first proposed, and set up the signs in response to vandalism.

Ultimately, the Vermont Public Service Board will decide whether or not to approve the project.