Town rejects wind farm permit
A proposed wind farm in Somerset County has hit a setback, after town officials voted down allowing the developer to build transmission wires for the project.
Assessors in Pleasant Ridge Plantation recently denied a permit for Highland Wind LLC, a subsidiary of former Gov. Angus King's Brunswick firm, Independence Wind, according to the Kennebec Journal. The wires are necessary to connect the 39-turbine wind farm in neighboring Highland Plantation to the grid. The assessors denied the permit because the proposed location of the wires at that crossing did not match what Highland Wind LLC submitted to the state's Land Use Regulation Commission, and because the lines would be unsightly. Assessors did approve permits for wires at three other crossings, saying they met legal requirements.
Highland Wind LLC can appeal the decision to the Somerset County commissioners. The permit is required for state approval of the wind farm, according to the paper. A citizens' group last year formed in opposition to the wind farm, saying it would industrialize the mountaintop and be too visible.
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