Frequently Asked Questions

What can I do to help?

Answers to questions about Greenhouse Gases, Feeding the Grid, Public Health and Noise, Property Values, School Taxes, and Host Community Payments

Benefits
How will I benefit from having a wind farm in my community?
Wind Farms add both financial and environmental value to a community. Here’s a list of some of the ways in which you and your local community will benefit:

• Wind farm “Host payments” to towns. This money could be earmarked to lower property taxes, fund community projects and improve facilities.
• Wind farm payments to Vermont State Education Fund.
• Wind farm land lease payments to landowners.
• Long term sustainable forest management is enhanced by lease income.
• Vermont Community Wind will provide energy to Vermonters at favorable rates through stable long-term power purchase agreements with Vermont electric utilities.
• Vermont Community Wind will create hundreds of local job opportunities.
• Wind farms generate electricity without greenhouse gas emissions, other air pollution, wastewater discharges, traffic impacts (after construction), solid or hazardous wastes and place minimal demands on municipal services.

Appearance
Wind turbines are large. How will they impact our beautiful views?
It is true that due to their size it is difficult to hide a wind turbine. We have found however, that with careful planning (for example, uniformly spacing the turbines) and consideration to ‘view shed’ corridors, the ascetic impact of a wind farm is minimal. Using computer simulation is also very helpful when evaluating the visual impact prior to construction. Many have reported that they enjoy the steady movement of the wind turbine and that seeing them is a reminder that something good is being done for the environment. In general, support for wind turbines often increases after the wind farm is operational. (source: American Wind Energy Association)

Noise
Do wind turbines make any noise?
`According to the American Wind Energy Association, “Wind turbines are quiet. An operating modern wind farm at a distance of 750 to 1000 feet is no noisier than a kitchen refrigerator or a moderately quiet room. The sound turbines produce is similar to a light whooshing or swishing sound, and much quieter than other types of modern-day equipment. Even in rural or low-density areas, where there is little additional sound to mask that of the wind turbines, the sound of the blowing wind is often louder.” (source: http://www.awea.org/pubs/factsheets/050629_Myths_vs_Facts_Fact_Sheet.pdf)

Sound volume is measured in decibels. The American Wind Energy Association reports that in the range of 35 to 45 decibels, at a distance of 350 meters, sound produced by wind turbines is similar to the background sound found in a typical home.
(source: http://www.awea.org/pubs/factsheets/Sound_Factsheet.pdf)

Property Values
How will the wind farm affect property values?
Due to revenue potential, wind turbines actually increase the value of land on which they are sited. There have been many studies published on the affects of wind farms on property values and most of these report that commercial-scale wind turbines do not decrease ‘view shed’ property values.

Ice
Do wind turbines shed ice?
Wind turbines are designed to shut down when an imbalance is detected. Ice accumulation can produce an imbalance which sometimes results in ice shedding while the turbine is stopped or starting up again. Turbine setback requirements from roads and residences protect the public from injury due to possible ice shed.

Cost
How much does Wind Power cost?
“Over the last 20 years, the cost of electricity from utility-scale wind systems has dropped by more than 80%. In the early 1980s, when the first utility-scale turbines were installed, wind-generated electricity cost as much as 30 cents per kilowatt-hour. Now, state-of-the-art wind power plants can generate electricity for much less and with the Production Tax Credit in many parts of the U.S. at a price that is competitive with new coal- or gas-fired power plants.” From American Wind Energy Association. (Source: http://www.awea.org/faq/wwt_costs.html)

Birds and Bats
What impact will these wind turbines have on birds and bats?
It is unfortunate that many of our modern conveniences take their toll on our bird and bat population. According to the US Fish and Wildlife Service glass windows are the number one cause of bird mortality followed by power lines, house cats, motor vehicles and pesticides.

Birds occasionally collide with wind turbines, however a wind turbines overall impact on birds is low compared to other human related sources.

This on Bats from the American Wind Energy Association:
“Bat collisions at wind plants generally tend to be low in number and to involve common species which are quite numerous. Human disturbance of hibernating bats in caves is a far greater threat to species of concern. Still, a surprisingly high number of bat kills at a new wind plant in West Virginia in the fall of 2003 has raised concerns, and research at that plant and another in Pennsylvania in 2004 suggests that the problem may be a regional one. The wind industry has joined with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and Bat Conservation International to form the Bats and Wind Energy Cooperative (BWEC), which funded the 2004 research program and is continuing to explore ways to avoid or reduce bat kills.”