Wind Power in the Berkshires
Berkshire Natural Resources Council weighs the costs and the benefits.

Truck carrying tower base • length approx. 140 • width 14 • Blade 118	Illustration showing turning radius of truck carrying 118 blade for Hoosac.	Road Construction on steep slopes to access wind turbine sites

• Hoosac Wind Plant construction cost is estimated to be $40 million.
• Over 15 years the Hoosac project could produce $80 million dollars in governmental incentives for Enxco.
• The cost of purchasing the pollution credits equal to the emissions Enxco claims will be offset by Hoosac = $250,000/year.
• Hoosacs projected contribution equals .14% of the electricity used in Massachusetts in one year.

Recent wind power projects proposed in the Berkshires have ignited debate, education and soul searching. As scrutiny of the Cape Wind proposal increased in eastern Massachusetts, proposals in the Berkshires received streamlined approvals and less rigorous review. Berkshire Natural Resources Council voiced its concern that siting guidelines, environmental review and decommissioning standards should be consistent across the Commonwealth and basic energy conservation measures should take priority over increasing generation capacity.

Tax credits can successfully incentivize the construction of wind power plants, but if sites are not chosen carefully the costs may outweigh the benefits. Sites that require long access roads up steep slopes through unfragmented forests with multiple stream crossings do not make sense economically or environmentally. Marginal projects may be abandoned once equipment fails, leaving roads inviting sprawl development farther into what is now our last remaining roadless landscape.
Some projects in New England have been proposed on land protected for the public, such as national forest and town watershed. Conservation land is already serving an important public purpose and should be the last place we look to for energy development. We also need to understand the potential impacts on avian migration routes and bats. If all these concerns are met with rigorous research, consistent guidelines and local input, the projects that make it to the construction phase will be well-conceived successes. If not, we may be making irreversible multi-million dollar mistakes.

In April 2005, the Board of Directors of Berkshire Natural Resources Council adopted a Position Statement on Wind Energy Development that addresses site selection, environmental review and decommissioning. Through a cost-benefit analysis approach, we believe wind power plants should be sited where the greatest amount of power can be produced with the least environmental impact. Wind power projects should be built at the best sites first. In Massachusetts, the best commercial sites are almost certainly off-shore, not on the Berkshire ridgelines. A copy of the full position statement is available on our web site at www.bnrc.net.