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BNE has 3 years to build third turbine

COLEBROOK —  In late August, the Connecticut Siting Council granted BNE Energy three years to construct a third wind turbine at 17 and 29 Flagg Hill Road.

In 2010, the company announced its plans to construct six wind turbines, including three on the Flagg Hill Road property. Three others are to be built at the intersection of Route 44 and Rock Hall Road.

The plans to build the turbines were approved by the council after several public hearings were held in Colebrook.

In 2011 the company’s plans were delayed by legal challenges to the Siting Council made by citizen activist group FairWindCT.

Eventually, two of the planned turbines were constructed at the Flagg Hill Road location; both were operational by October 2015.

Each turbine generates 2.85 megawatts of energy, enough to power approximately 1,500 to 2,000 homes on an annual basis.

The Siting Council gave BNE a deadline of Sept. 23, 2018, to finish the six turbines.

In a letter to the council, attorney Lee Hoffman of Pullman & Comley in Hartford wrote that BNE needs an extension to complete financing on the project.

“BNE wants to make sure that all of its permits will be in full effect for as long as possible in order to show prospective lenders that there is no permitting risk associated with the project,” Hoffman wrote.

While he did not specify when the third turbine would be completed, Hoffman wrote that the company “has every interest in completing the project as expeditiously as possible.”

There was no mention of turbines being constructed on the company’s Rock Hall Road property in Hoffman’s letter to the commission.

With the council’s approval of the extension, the company now has until Sept. 23, 2021, to finish construction of the third turbine.

Hoffman said the third turbine will generate 2.85 megawatts of energy, like the two previously constructed turbines.

Neither BNE Energy CEO Gregory Zupkus and company Chairman Paul Corey responded to calls for comment for this story.

First Selectman Tom McKeon and Colebrook Land Use official Mike Halloran both said they are unaware of the company’s full plans for the site. Neither town official has been in contact with the company.

Meanwhile, BNE Energy’s lawsuit against the town, which was filed in June 2016, is working its way slowly through the court system.

The company filed suit against the town for what it claims is a wrongful tax assessment at its Flagg Hill Road property.

 

Lakeville Journal

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