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Developer Pulls The Plug On Wind Farm Proposed For Newfound Lake Area

Sam Evans-Brown
/
NHPR

Spanish Wind Developer Iberdrola has pulled the plug on Wild Meadows, a controversial wind farm that was proposed for the towns of Alexandria and Danbury, the troubled project submitted an application for construction in December but put it on hold to deal with problems at another wind farm the next town over.

The application to build the project has been on hold since the site evaluation committee declared it incomplete in January. Iberdrola has been plagued with regulatory battles over fire suppression equipment and alleged construction violations in another wind farm it built in Groton.

In a statement Iberdrola renewables blamed its decision to stop development of the 23-turbine wind farm on the regulatory and political climate in New Hampshire.

What would have been the fourth wind-farm in the state was unpopular in the proposed host communities since it was announced.  All of the towns that would have hosted the turbines voted by sizable margins in town meetings to oppose its construction.

The legislature passed a bill this year that tightened the requirements for building wind farms in the state, requiring stricter sound, and set-back standards.

Sam Evans-Brown has been working for New Hampshire Public Radio since 2010, when he began as a freelancer. He shifted gears in 2016 and began producing Outside/In, a podcast and radio show about “the natural world and how we use it.” His work has won him several awards, including two regional Edward R. Murrow awards, one national Murrow, and the Overseas Press Club of America's award for best environmental reporting in any medium. He studied Politics and Spanish at Bates College, and before reporting was variously employed as a Spanish teacher, farmer, bicycle mechanic, ski coach, research assistant, a wilderness trip leader and a technical supporter.
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