Democrat & Chronicle: Local News

Misty Edgecomb
Staff writer

(December 4, 2005) =97 Richard Foringer gives an ironic little = laugh when=20 he talks about being accused of "NIMBYism" =97 shorthand for "not = in my back=20 yard," or a selfish aversion to development.=20

Sitting at his kitchen table in Cazenovia, Madison County, he = glances=20 out the window to watch a 326-foot-high wind turbine's blades spin = through=20 the season's first snow. The behemoth, though not literally in = Foringer's=20 back yard, looms over his deck, just 1,000 feet from his house, on = a=20 neighbor's property. A slow, droning swish-thump is just barely = audible=20 through the walls and windows.=20

"You hear the whipping when a blade arcs. Sometimes it's like = an engine=20 running. You hear the gears creaking ... it's terrible," Foringer=20 said.

"I'd sell the house immediately, but I don't think I = could=20 sell it now," he said. "As far as I'm concerned, they took away = everything=20 I had here ... it's all gone now."=20

Foringer's story is what many residents in rural western New = York fear=20 when they hear that a wind developer is targeting their = town.

Many=20 small towns lack zoning laws, and those that have them rarely = mention such=20 technologies as industrial-scale wind turbines =97 which are still = uncommon=20 in the United States, though older developments pepper the = hillsides of=20 western Europe.=20

The state is encouraging wind power for its environmental = benefits, as=20 today's best hope for affordable, renewable power. But, citing a = long=20 tradition of "home rule," it is leaving the details wholly up to = local=20 leaders.=20

Dozens of communities have been approached by developers, and = many,=20 overwhelmed at facing an industry relatively new in the state, = have=20 imposed moratoriums =97 only spurring developers to cross the town = line and=20 try again.=20

"The state created this monster, but they're not willing to do = anything=20 to control it," said Donna Farrington of Rochester, who expects = that=20 turbines will be built near the cabin she and her husband, Todd = Sharrow,=20 own in Prattsburgh, Steuben County.=20

"We're totally exposed," Farrington said.

Few = regulatory hurdles

Like the gold, silver and land = rushes of=20 centuries past, wind power today has wide-open potential =97 and = relatively=20 few regulatory hurdles. The excitement among supporters is = palpable:=20 Finally, the promise of a future divorced from petroleum is being=20 realized. As the cost of gas and oil has risen in recent years, = wind is=20 becoming more competitive, with prices that have dropped below = those of=20 natural gas, said Paul DeCotis of NYSERDA, the New York State = Energy=20 Research and Development Authority.=20

Much of the benefit is due to subsidies, created in hopes of = reducing=20 dependence on foreign oil and cutting air pollution here at home. = A=20 federal tax credit for new wind developments completed by the end = of 2008=20 can reduce costs for a new project by nearly a third. In New York, = a state=20 program that collects a fee from electric customers and = distributes the=20 funds to boost renewable energy has provided more than $11.3 = million for=20 new wind projects, according to NYSERDA.=20

The energy standard championed by Gov. George Pataki adds = another level=20 of urgency =97 the state must increase its production of renewable = energy to=20 25 percent by 2013.=20

Supporters praise the state for its leadership, citing the = growing=20 concern over climate change and Albany's pledge to reduce = greenhouse gas=20 emissions in coming decades.=20

But if New York is to meet its goals, wind energy is key. New = York=20 currently gets just more than 19 percent of its energy from = renewable=20 sources =97 mostly hydroelectricity =97 and less than 1 percent = from wind.=20 Meeting the 25 percent standard will mean adding 3,000 megawatts, = or about=20 2,000 turbines, of wind generation over the next eight years. = About 5,200=20 megawatts of new capacity already has been proposed, according to = NYSERDA.=20

If just 3,000 megawatts of wind power replaces dirtier sources = of=20 electricity, that could keep 8.2 million pounds of carbon dioxide, = the=20 most prevalent greenhouse gas, out of the atmosphere, said Larisa = Washburn=20 of the Environmental Advocates of New York.=20

New York ranks 15th in the nation in terms of wind energy = potential,=20 based on both wind speed and open space. About 10,000 megawatts = could be=20 harvested =97 half on land and the other half offshore, in the = Atlantic=20 Ocean and the Great Lakes, says the American Wind Energy = Association, the=20 national trade association of the wind power industry.=20

Other approaches, such as solar power and hydrogen fuel cells, = have=20 potential, too, but the technology just isn't there yet. Wind is = something=20 we can do now, said Christine Vanderlan of Environmental Advocates = of New=20 York.=20

Critics, however, blame state leaders for creating an = artificial rush=20 that encourages developers to cut corners.

"Basically we = have a=20 governor saying, 'Let's do this,' and that has created almost a = frenzylike=20 push by companies and investors who want to get into this business = for=20 profit," said Tom Golisano, founder of Paychex Inc., who has = dedicated=20 some of his substantial personal resources to Save Upstate New = York, a=20 campaign against wind development.=20

"The green in this isn't green energy, it's money," said=20 Sharrow.

None of the critics interviewed for this = article=20 said they opposed wind energy in theory. But turbines that are = nearly as=20 tall as Xerox Tower, the highest point on Rochester's skyline, = don't=20 belong in residential neighborhoods, they say.=20

"Most people have this vision of a little wooden windmill," = Golisano=20 said. "When they find out they're the size of a 20-story building, = it's a=20 whole different ball game."=20

Small town feels blow

Sixty miles southeast of = Rochester,=20 residents of Prattsburgh are living the wind debate every day. The = dirt=20 roads that meander over rolling hills are dotted with signs that = identify=20 residents not as Republican or Democrat but as pro- or anti-wind.=20

"It has been a battleground down there," said John Saint Cross = of=20 NYSERDA. "By nature a turbine can't be hidden. People want their = power,=20 but they don't want to see power plants."=20

Two companies, Ecogen and WindFarm Prattsburgh, have proposed a = combined 120 turbines in this small town and its nearby neighbor, = Italy.=20 Many residents would see multiple turbines out their windows, and = several=20 believe that the towers, taller than the Statue of Liberty, could = stand=20 just 1,000 feet from their homes.=20

"They're plopping them in between people's houses," Sharrow=20 said.

It makes for controversial projects, but that's the=20 geographic reality of wind development in New York, explained = Bruce=20 Bailey, president of AWS Truewind, an Albany consulting firm.=20

Less than 1 percent of New York's land is suitable for wind = turbines =97=20 that is, offering average wind speeds exceeding 15 mph, open space = for the=20 turbines and nearby electricity transmission lines. Most of that = is along=20 the high ridges of the Finger Lakes region, the same areas in high = demand=20 for summer cottages and retirement homes.=20

"What's going to happen when all the out-of-town people sell at = a loss=20 and leave?" said Ruthe Matilsky of Rochester, who has a summer = home in=20 Prattsburgh. She said a majority of the town taxes are paid by = part-time=20 residents.=20

Bruce Taylor, on the other hand, has volunteered to lease land = for as=20 many as five turbines on his Prattsburgh farm, all within view of = the=20 bed-and-breakfast that provides much of his income.=20

"It's like telephone poles," said Taylor, who has visited wind = farms at=20 Fenner, Madison County, and Wethersfield, Wyoming County. "Your = mind kind=20 of blocks out the turbines and you see the beauty of the land."=20

The good, the bad

Indeed, wind turbines are very = much in=20 the eye, or ear, of the beholder.

In Fenner, Donna Griffin = pastures=20 her cows near the turbines, watches them out her front window and = sells=20 T-shirts to the tourists who have inundated this small farm town. = The=20 noise that has annoyed Richard Foringer so much that he hopes to = sell his=20 house doesn't faze Griffin. "If you have a car going by or a flock = flying=20 over ... it drowns it out," she said.=20

But Wayne Danley, who lives across the ridge in Cazenovia, is=20 considering legal action over a turbine so close to his home that = it wakes=20 him up at night.=20

"There's a flickering effect when the sun goes down. It's like = you're=20 out on the dance floor at a club," Danley said, describing the = result of=20 the sun shining through the blades at dawn and dusk that is known = as=20 "shadow flicker."=20

In Prattsburgh, supporters of the wind farms say that problems = are=20 greatly exaggerated and predict a $15 million windfall in new = jobs,=20 payments in lieu of taxes and a fund to help subsidize heat for = low-income=20 residents.=20

"I would say that 95 percent of the community is supportive," = said Kim=20 Lambertz, who has lived in the town for 11 years and now works for = WindFarm Prattsburgh. "When Tom Golisano came down to tell the = people of=20 Prattsburgh what's best for them, that galvanized a lot of people" = in=20 support of wind farms.=20

Those who lease land for turbines can count on thousands of = dollars in=20 annual income. Many see the developers as saviors for a farm = community=20 that can't attract big industry.=20

"The wind farm brings money into the community that doesn't = come out of=20 our pockets," Taylor said.

But without statewide standards = for wind=20 farms, many residents fear the worst, Golisano says =97 = corporations running=20 roughshod over homeowners while local leaders, pacified by = donations that=20 are small change to wind developers, look the other way.=20

Golisano says Save Upstate New York is only getting started. = And he=20 predicts that lawsuits are inevitable.

Cynthia Cole of = Prattsburgh=20 agrees. The financial gains don't balance out what would be lost, = she=20 said.=20

"What are we going to get =97 a couple lawn-mowing jobs?" Cole = said. "I=20 want to look out my window and see God-made hilltops. ... I don't = want=20 this man-made technology looming over the hill."=20

MEDGECOM@DemocratandChr= onicle.com=20