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Old 11-17-2012, 04:12 PM   #1
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Default "Wild Meadows Wind Farm?"

Hey Winni,

Did you know that a Spanish company is planning on putting a huge windfarm in Alexandria, Grafton and Danbury. The company has been planning the project for the past 3 years, the people of communities were only told a few weeks ago!

Your ridgeline could be next.. learn more at

http://www.facebook.com/groups/129068240577619/

www.newfoundlakewindwatch.com
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Old 11-17-2012, 05:47 PM   #2
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New Hampshire probably has a lot of wind what with its mountains, geography, and prevailing winds coming from the west.

If you do a little bit of driving around Plymouth and Campton close to the Plymouth Wal-Mart, plus on Route 93 northbound for one mile between Exit 25 and Exit 26, it is almost impossible not to notice the 24 different, reflective white, 300-400' high wind turbines located in Groton, known as the Groton wind farm. These were constructed in the summer and fall of 2012, and it is planned for all 24 to be spinning in the wind by the end of this year. As of today, maybe just three of the 24 are actually now able to spin with the wind.

The town of Groton receives $22,000+/year for each one of the 24 white, wind turbines, so I strongly suspect there are residents of Groton who are delighted with how they look because they are seeing their property tax bills get greatly reduced. So, for the Groton individual property tax payer, it may well be worth having huge, white, wind turbine towers and white,turbine propeller blades for neighbors, especially if they do not have to view them from their own homes permanently into the future, and only occaisionally have to catch a glimpse of them as they may be out driving.

For someone who lives in a town that is a neighbor to a wind farm, such as in Campton or Plymouth and who receives no large property tax reduction as a result, and now has a permanent view of the white wind turbines, they are most likely very very unhappy with the new wind turbine view. Goodbye majestic all-natural mountain ridgelines, and hello same ridgeline now adorned with a number of all-white, 300-400' high, reflective white colored towers and three-propeller rotary turning white windmill blades on what had previously been an unadorned ridgeline, and probably a major reason why you chose to live there in the first place. Your place used to have a terrific scenic peaceful view!

For a photo, just google "groton wind farm" and click on images.

New Hampshire is not really a single state of 1.3-million people, but more like a collection of 150 different towns that all have their own different individual property tax collection systems, so what is good for one town could be bad for its neighbor town.
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Last edited by fatlazyless; 11-18-2012 at 07:34 AM.
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Old 11-17-2012, 07:06 PM   #3
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Default Property Taxes

Property taxes will not be a windfall for the town Groton or any other NH towns.
The 22k per windmill is only applied to the municipal budget portion of your their taxes. Here's the math for Groton.

Groton, NH Actual Savings

2010 tax rate (before turbines) $12.98/per 1000
On a 100k evaluation you pay $1,298


2012 tax rate (post turbines) $11.23/per 1000
On a 100k evaluation you pay $1,123


Tax savings $175

After the turbines are completed the state assesses then and charges the town more so it can collect on the value.

Now deduct your property value loss
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Old 11-17-2012, 07:27 PM   #4
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Groton voters will ultimately decide where the new revenue is spent. Some of the funding will most likely go for fixing roads that have fallen into disrepair as well as other routine work.

Groton Town Government does not want to dramatically drop the town tax rate, because they are afraid it will draw in more residential and commercial development. They want to keep the town the way it is now, its nice rural character, its peacefulness, its recreational opportunities.

These wind turbines are a win win situation for the citizens of Groton.
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Old 11-17-2012, 09:14 PM   #5
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Groton lost its "Rural Character" the moment the first 454 ft turbine was raised.
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Old 11-18-2012, 05:20 AM   #6
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Default Rusty

I agree with Broome Building, the windmills take any character the town may have had away. Soon it will be known as" that town with those ugly windmills".
If my info is correct that I received on the northern pass project the owners of the turbines can petition for a tax abatement from the government down the road which is almost always granted. By, by tax dollars!
What I would like to know is how much are the residents saving on their electric bill? Probably not one red cent.
So you have these towering eye sores visible for miles around that are producing electricity for in most cases residents of another state, and the town is getting a mere 22K a year. That is probably the road departments cost to fill potholes in the town.
I do agree with a lot of your posts Rusty but on this subject, no, I do not think any town in NH has anything to gain by windmills or power lines going through or being built. In the long run the towns will be getting nothing and still have those ugly scares to show for it.
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Old 11-18-2012, 05:58 AM   #7
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Lakes Region Residents I urge you to go to your town halls and ask if there any MET Towers (theses measure wind) on your ridges. If you do then a very large wind company has targeted your community.

Zoning will NOT protect you. Once an energy project reaches a certain mega watt size towns loose control and the State of New Hampshire steps in.
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Old 11-18-2012, 06:46 AM   #8
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Default New project proposes..

from Boston.com

http://www.boston.com/news/local/new...ELL/story.html

from the article

"As with the Groton project, Iberdrola expects to offer the towns of Grafton, Alexandria, and Danbury an annual payment in lieu of taxes. Groton, for example, will get more than $500,000 per year for 15 years, Cherian said."

More info and reaction to the existing wind farm in Groton.

http://www.unionleader.com/article/2...WS05/708279935

Very interesting debate. Seems on the surface to be a good idea, but like everything else, there are always opposing points of view. Frankly I'm not sure that the turbines are any more "ugly" than the towers and lights from the ski resorts all over New Hampshire. We can see the lights at night from Gunstock from our house in Gilford.. to me.. no big deal. Gunstock brings recreational value which creates jobs, hotel and meals taxes from visitors.

Winnipesaukee itself does the same.. jobs, revenue, etc. Are we spoiling the "view" by allowing boats on Winnipesaukee? (relax..just kidding... )

The broader issue may well be that wind and solar are inevitable, so should we be building this stuff here in the USA or outsourcing it to companies from Spain, like this project.
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Old 11-18-2012, 07:27 AM   #9
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Here's one way to tone down the visibility of the white towers and white 3-blades; repaint them a non-reflecting mountain camoflage green-gray-beige to makee them blendee a whole lot betteree.

Just tell Iberdrola to run on down to Rand's Hardware over on Main St, Plymouth, and pick up some of that Rustoleum camoflage spray paint.....and get to work!
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Old 11-18-2012, 08:54 AM   #10
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Industrial-scale wind energy is widely promoted as a clean and sustainable source of energy. It brings, however, many adverse impacts of its own which are often ignored or even denied. Of most immediate concern for communities targeted for wind power facilities are their huge size and unavoidable noise, and strobe lights day and night, with the consequent loss of amenity and, in many cases, health.


People concerned with the environment are increasingly aware of the negative impacts of the giant machines and their additional supporting infrastructure (including heavy-duty roads, transformers, and powerlines) on wetlands, birds, bats, beneficial insects, and other wildlife — both directly and by degrading, fragmenting, and destroying habitat for their erection.


Considering these and other impacts, the construction of industrial wind energy facilities cannot be justified in the rural and wild places that developers usually target. They do more harm than good.


How much good do they actually do? The claims of reducing pollution or greenhouse gases appear to be greatly exaggerated. Wind is a diffuse and fickle resource that does not follow demand. Despite decades of experience and substantial installations in Denmark, Germany, and Spain, the giant turbines have not been shown to meaningfully reduce the use of other fuels on the electric grid — such as natural gas, coal, and nuclear — let alone gasoline for transport and oil for heating. For this reason, their ability to reduce carbon dioxide emissions that contribute to global warming or pollutants that cause acid rain and health problems is doubtful, despite their tremendous size and sprawl.
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