PORTSMOUTH — The Town Council Monday tabled until Sept. 28 a request to grant a 120-day extension of the contract between the town and the company chosen to replace the inoperable wind turbine at the high school.
Council member David Gleason put the item on the agenda, saying residents deserve a public update on what’s happening with the turbine.
“It’s time the public knows as much as we know,” Mr. Gleason said.
Voters approved building the turbine with a $3 million bond issue in 2007. The windmill was built in 2009 but has been idle since 2012 due to a faulty gearbox supplied by a company that has since gone bankrupt.
In November 2014 the council voted to enter into a contract with Wind Energy Development (WED) of North Kingstown that would allow the town to pay off the remaining debt that’s left on the turbine. Under the agreement, WED was to pay a lump sum of $1.45 million to the town. In exchange, the town would buy energy generated from the new 1.5-megawatt turbine over a 25-year period at a rate of 15.5 cents per kilowatt hour.
WED was given 180 days from the start of the contract to satisfy a series of conditions to move forward, Town Planner Gary Crosby told the council. But in May of this year, WED requested and received from the council a 120-day extension — ending on Sept. 7 — to meet those conditions. The council had discussed the matter in executive session before a public vote.
WED, however, is now requesting another 120-day extension to Dec. 31, said Stephen Brusini, attorney for WED.
Reasons for delay
Mr. Brusini said the project has undergone recent challenges due to disagreements with National Grid as well as key legislation that died in the General Assembly.
WED had believed all along, he said, that a new study on connecting the turbine to the grid would not be needed because there’s already a turbine on the site.
Sen. Christopher Ottiano, R-Portsmouth, said legislation had been drafted to exempt Portsmouth’s turbine from a new study, which he likened to a “$1.2 million circuit breaker.” That new fee would have “ground things to a halt,” he said. The bill failed on the final night of the last legislative session, he said.
Although Mr. Brusini said lawmakers had promised to take the legislation up again this fall, it may be a moot point since recent talks with National Grid have been more fruitful, he said. WED has a verbal agreement with the utility company that turbine wouldn’t be treated as a new project, he said.
Larry Fitzmorris of the taxpayer group Portsmouth Concerned Citizens said he was concerned that any additional extensions granted to WED could impact the original agreement to take the turbine down. “Is that agreement still in place?” Mr. Fitzmorris asked.
Mr. Brusini promised that whether or not a new turbine goes up, WED will take the existing one down.
Mr. Fitzmorris thanked Mr. Gleason for putting the matter on the agenda but added, “If the council is approving contract extensions, it should be done in public session.”
Spring 2016?
Answering a question by Mr. Gleason, Mr. Brusini said WED now hopes to put up a new turbine by the spring of 2016.
Council President Keith Hamilton, saying he was concerned about the delays on the project, wanted assurances from WED that its escrow account if fully funded before work on the turbine begins.
“I don’t have the warm and fuzzies I had a year ago,” Mr. Hamilton said.
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