Each town in the Mad River Valley has a well-crafted Town Plan that includes a specific section on energy and also includes specific siting criteria for alternative energy.
That was done to ensure that Vermont’s Public Service Board would consider those Town Plans when reviewing alternative energy project applications.
Last year the Vermont Legislature passed Act 174, which speaks to how the state will achieve 90 percent renewable energy usage by 2050. Part of that act called for the Public Service Department to draft regulations for the public service board to use when considering alternative energy applications and when specifically local Town Plans will receive “substantial deference.”
The issue of who gets to determine where in a town or on what pristine ridgeline commercial wind should be developed is a critically important one for our state and for our Valley. It was also a very significant issue in this month’s gubernatorial election. Republican candidate and Governor-elect Phil Scott favored giving towns more say in the process. His challenger, Democrat Sue Minter, was comfortable with letting the state have the final say.
The hoops that towns must jump through in order to be given “substantial deference” are not insignificant. The Mad River Valley Planning District’s steering committee discussed them recently, finding them overly technical and onerous and difficult for small towns to tackle. But our existing Town Plans are quite good. We’re well on our way to being able to meet the new criteria.
And the hoops may be significant, but we are fortunate enough to have a multi-town governmental body in the planning district that can and should take this on. This is a multi-town issue as our ridgelines run through many towns. We need Moretown and Duxbury in on this too. It’s a watershed issue as well.
It is critically important that we are able to protect our ridgelines and unfragmented deep-woods species habitat and pristine high-elevation headwaters.
The truth is that we have heaped more on the plate of our planning district staff than they can accomplish in one year or even two, but tackling this project should become a priority.
We’re going to need to find the time and find the money.
