Monroe and Florida Face Hoosac Project Completion

WAMC reporter Lucas Willard provides an update* on Iberdrola’s Hoosac turbine project.

This is a private, for-profit, 28.5 megawatt project of 19 turbines (1.5 MW each) on two mountain ridges in the Berkshires. Iberdrola has a power purchase agreement with NSTAR. Florida and Monroe have an agreement with Iberdrola for compensation, but although Willard reports the turbines will power 6,000 homes in Massachusetts, the electricity is going into a grid to serve the utility’s customers, wherever they are.

Mike Fairneny is a concerned resident who lives on the Eastern slope of Crum Hill in Florida, and what he says about a “10 minute walk” to the nearest turbine of the wind farm. He’s worried about the impact of the project on the property value of his home and the possibility of what’s been called “wind turbine syndrome” –  a name first penned by Dr. Nina Pierpont referring to the effects on human health caused by the low frequency vibrations from the spinning turbines, which could include headaches, nausea, vertigo, and depression.