Frequently Asked Questions

What is the proposed Savoy Wind Project?
Why Savoy?
Why Renewable Energy
How will the Project be built?
What can Savoy expect during the Project’s operation?
What are the financial implications for Savoy residents?
What happens at the end of the useful life of the Project?

What is the proposed Savoy Wind Project?

Minuteman Wind LLC (Minuteman) proposes to build a wind energy project in Savoy, Massachusetts that will produce enough electricity for about 3,000 households in Western Massachusetts. The project will be located on West Hill on the eastern boundary of Savoy, on a privately owned parcel of forested land that is presently being used for logging. The proposed project is 12.5 megawatts (MW) and will be comprised of five 2.5 MW wind turbine generators (i.e., windmills). The project will generate around 30,000 kilowatt hours of electricity each year. Each turbine will be mounted on 262 foot towers. The towers will be spaced approximately 900 feet apart. The total height of a turbine on a tower will be approximately 420 feet to the highest tip of a blade.Minuteman plans to have the project in operation by the spring of 2011.

Why Savoy?

One of Savoy’s natural resources is strong and steady winds on certain of its hilltops. The owner of the proposed West Hill site believes that renewable wind-powered generation is good for the United States, Massachusetts, and Savoy. The site’s easy access to existing electric distribution lines makes it an economical location for the small scale wind project that has been proposed.

Why Renewable Energy?

The objective of the Savoy Wind Project is to generate clean, renewable energy. There are currently 10,000 MW of renewable wind-powered electricity generation operating in the United States alone. Renewable energy is widely recognized as a critical part of America’s long-term energy future due to the environmental impacts, uncertainty of long-term supply, and geo-political risks of existing traditional fossil fuel sources.
Today, electricity consumed in Savoy and Berkshire County is predominantly, if not entirely, generated using coal, oil, natural gas, and nuclear fission. These fuels create environmental problems and hazards during their mining, transportation, conversion to heat to turn turbines, and as a result of the waste products and emissions generated (e.g. carbon emissions released by burning fossil fuels or toxic nuclear waste products that must be stored and guarded for millennia). As demand for electricity continues to increase, the supplies of these fuels become harder and more expensive to find and produce. While the United States has coal resources for hundreds of years, their use will potentially increase the carbon dioxide problem associated with global warming. The United States’ reliance on foreign sources for fuel requires significant expense of human and financial capital to protect our interests abroad. Also, as international competition for these resources increases, America’s ability to get a disproportionately high percentage of the world’s energy resources may not be sustainable.

Benefits to Savoy and Berkshire County:
Property tax payments:
Savoy has few tax paying businesses. Much of the town is in state forest that pays no taxes and limits the town’s long term potential for future property tax income. The town’s budget is a significant local concern. Savoy’s limited property tax revenues must help pay for public safety, road maintenance, and schools and teachers, to name a few of the local expenses that town government assumes on behalf of residents. The town is very dependent on State support for education (Chapter 70), its share of lottery proceeds, etc. A preliminary estimate is that the proposed project could result in additional tax revenue in excess of $130,000 annually for the 20-year plus life of the project. This is the equivalent of the contribution of 50 new residences, without the demand for town services that residences often create. The State Department of Revenue has concluded that this additional income from the Savoy Wind Project will have little effect on the State’s total contribution to Savoy, described in more detail below.
Road Improvements:
As described in this document, the proposed route for delivery of materials to the site will require improvements by the Proponent to make it suitable for transporting the wind turbines and related equipment. Adams Road in particular, though a town road, is nearly impassible for most vehicles, eliminating an otherwise important east / west route. The proposed road improvements will make this road a more valuable resource for local residents.
Electric System Improvements
The Proponents will use the existing roadside electrical distribution network to transport power produced on West Hill onto the utility power system. Doing so will require replacement of some older poles and upgrading of service to three-phase from the single-phase service on the route. These improvements will reduce the likelihood of local loss of service due to storms and perhaps benefit consumers with equipment that can use three-phase service.
Clean, Regionally Generated Electricity Supply:
The proposed wind energy plant will generate electricity to meet the electricity of the equivalent of about 3,000 homes without causing environmental degradation in the region or contributing to world-wide climate change associated with burning fossil fuels. The proposed project will be a regional symbol of environmental responsibility, self-reliance, and global citizenship.
A Model for Regional Economic Development:
Many hill towns in Western Massachusetts have similar revenue constraints to Savoy and the same struggle to pay for local service needs. Wind is one of the few local natural resources that can be pursued for economic development purposes with minimal impact on the environment and no need for town-paid major infrastructure improvements.

How will the Project be built?

Permitting Required
The wind project will receive a substantial amount of public input prior to its construction. This input will be provided through reviews by Savoy’s Zoning Board of Appeals and Conservation Commission, and state review under the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act. These processes ensure that effects on sound level, wetlands, and wildlife, among other issues, are within acceptable limits. Also, the Federal Aviation Administration will review the Project as proposed to ensure that it will not interfere with aircraft and the agency will establish lighting requirements to protect aviation.
Construction Process
Construction will take place during daylight hours, typically between 7 am and 6 pm. Project construction will include the following:

Improvements to the local electric distribution system will most likely be started first because this will require the longest construction activity. Electricity produced will be transmitted into the electric system using the existing distribution system (network of poles and wires along town roads) owned by Western Mass Electric Company (WMECo). Improvements are required to make lines and poles suitable to carry power generated locally by the wind turbines. Minuteman will pay WMECo for all of these upgrades. These improvements will also benefit the local community by increasing the capacity and reliability of the local electric distribution system.
Depending on the final route selected to deliver equipment and materials to the site,some off-site access roads may need improvement. Minuteman will work with town officials to plan these improvements and will pay all necessary expenses.
Next, on-site access roads will be completed to allow wind turbine equipment and construction vehicles to get up to West Hill. Developing the access roads and the turbine locations will require clearing trees on the roadway route and around the turbine sites.

A primary factor in preparing the project layout has been to avoid impacts on wetlands. As a result, only one narrow wetland area of 2,000 square feet on West Hill will be impacted by the access road. These impacts will be mitigated by creating new wetlands. All other potential impacts will be avoided by installing erosion control measures.
There will be noise associated with construction of the access road on the site and opening the clearings around each turbine. This will include tree cutting, earth moving equipment, and blasting of rock to build the foundations.

Foundations will be built next. Each tower has a steel and concrete foundation.
The complete tower, generator and blades are assembled on-site. A crane will be brought in to raise the four sections that comprise each tower and to install a wind turbine generator and blades on top of each.
The on-site electrical and control system will be installed last and connected to the WMECo electrical system.

Length of Construction Period
Assuming the weather cooperates, Minuteman estimates that on-site construction will be completed in less than 6 months.
Transport of Materials and Equipment to the Site
During the construction period, the equipment components will be transported to the work site by truck. Also, a crane will be brought to the site and erected to lift the components into place. A total of 45 oversized trucks will deliver the major wind turbine generator components within a 1 month period. There may be disruptions to normal traffic when the major wind turbine components are delivered, but Minuteman will try to schedule deliveries during non-peak traffic hours to minimize disruptions. In addition, there will be normal equipment deliveries and construction vehicles. The greatest number of vehicles will be concrete trucks, up to 200, based on the detailed design, during the pouring of the wind turbine foundations, but they should not disrupt traffic.
Every effort will be made to avoid damaging local roads and related infrastructure. Some temporary damage is inevitable given the size and weight of the loads being transported. After construction is completed, Minuteman will have the roads repaired to equal or better than existing condition, working with the town’s highway department, and will reimburse the Town of Savoy for any repairs required.

What can Savoy expect during the Project’s operation?

Electricity Produced
Electricity produced is transmitted into the electric system using the existing distribution system owned by Western Mass Electric Company (WMECo). While Minuteman would like to provide the output directly to Savoy residents, that is not possible under WMECo’s franchise arrangement. Power must be sold to a retail energy supplier, such as WMECo, who in turn will resell the power to retail customers.
Views of Turbines
Minuteman’s consultant Epsilon Associates has developed an analysis to identify areas that the project can be seen from. Though much of Savoy and the surrounding towns are heavily wooded and have rolling topography, locations with an unimpeded view of West Hill will see the turbines on the ridge top. There will also be partial views of the upper part of the towers, turbines, and blades in some other areas above treetops and hills. Since many roadways in town have thick wooded borders, even when leaves are off the trees they will naturally screen views of turbines. Nevertheless, there will be some open roadside views of West Hill over fields, particularly on the Upper Loop Road, Barnard Road, Chapel Road, and Black Brook Road. Minuteman has had photo-simulations of views prepared from representative locations using a commercial software product that inserts images into digital photographs based on equipment size and geographic coordinates. These are being posted on the Minuteman Wind website at www.minutemanwind.com.
Turbine Lighting
Minuteman must comply with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requirements for lighting the turbines so they are not a hazard to air traffic. Minuteman will make every effort to negotiate the least intrusive lighting possible, to minimize inconvenience to people with views of the turbines. In the worst case, lighting could be required on each turbine. Alternatively, it may only be required on the turbines at each end. Lights are placed on top the nacelle (i.e. the central hub of the blades that contains the generator) of the turbine and may be red or white.
Other Visual Effects
Under certain circumstances, some observers of wind turbines report seeing so called “flicker effects” or “shadow flicker” when sunlight passed between rotating blades located between an observer and the sun. Shadow flicker only can occur during periods near sunrise and sunset when the turbines intersect the sun. Only a handful of properties could be affected by shadow flicker for minutes during each year due to the orientation of the project relative to sunrise and sunset, the topography of Savoy, and the locations of residences in town.
Sounds from Turbines
Epsilon Associates has conducted a noise study on the site to ensure that the proposed project meets state noise requirements and limits. The study found that sound will not be perceptible at the property line under most conditions. Noise limits under all possible scenarios will easily meet the State’s Noise Policy. The full report completed by Epsilon is posted on Minuteman Wind’s website at www.minutemanwind.com/noise.html.
Effects on Wildlife
Site investigations of plants and animals between June 2005 and August 2006 by Epsilon Associates for Minuteman identified no endangered species on West Hill. Further, the Massachusetts Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program, the state agency responsible for protecting endangered species, has informed Minuteman in writing that no endangered species occur on the project site.
Expert studies on the effects of wind turbines on bats and birds have shown that the impacts are minimal. The modern wind turbine is far less harmful to birds than are radio towers, tall buildings, airplanes and vehicles and numerous other manmade objects. Summaries of available wind studies can be found at www.currykerlinger.com and www.nationalwind.org. Avian studies at wind farm sites show that bird kills per turbine average two to five per year or less, with the exception of a single 3-turbine plant in Tennessee that has recorded eight per turbine per year. These include sites passed by millions of migrating birds each year. At some sites, no kills have been found at all.
Community-Based Telecom Infrastructure and FCC-Licensed Services
The Project on West Hill is not expected to cause interference with public safety radio, broadcast AM, FM, and TV stations, wireless facilities, or microwave paths. To be sure, a Signal Strength Study will be performed to ascertain that the Project does not degrade the signal reception of broadcast AM, FM, and TV stations. The radio frequency (RF) spectrum environment will be swept both before and after construction to confirm that no interference is caused. Any interference issues that are identified will be mitigated.
Safety
The presence of the Project on West Hill should not result in an increase in hazards to abutters. Abutters have expressed concerns about fire hazards, increased lightning-caused damage, ice throw from turbine blades, and equipment collapse.
Fires associated with wind turbines are extremely rare and are generally not considered a significant risk by insurance underwriters. A major insurance company that has insured wind projects for 20 years tells Minuteman that it has never paid a claim for a wind turbine fire and do not even consider fire protection in the nacelles in their underwriting criteria. Turbines are constructed of non-combustible and fire resistant materials and incorporate safety systems to avoid fires. These include lightening and fire detection systems and systems to shut down the turbines if high temperatures are detected within the equipment. If there were a fire in the unmanned nacelle-mounted generator, no action would be required by local fire and safety personnel other than to monitor the surrounding area for ground fire. Turbines will be grounded to prevent damage from lightning strikes. Minuteman also plans to install a UL and NFPA- approved fire suppression system in each turbine to protect the turbine and the surrounding area in the remote chance that there is a fire in the turbine. . Finally, setbacks of equipment from property lines will protect nearby residences from potential ice throw damage or from the unlikely event of a turbine component falling.

What are the financial implications for Savoy residents?

Revenues for Town of Savoy
While the final amount of property tax to be paid to Savoy by the wind project will be determined by an assessment by the town of Savoy of the commercial value of the project, MMW estimates that this amount will be at least $100,000 per year over the life of the project (at least 20 years). MW will consider negotiating a fixed tax payment, if that is of interest to Savoy, to save Savoy the cost of periodically reassessing the project.
Project’s Effect on State Aid to Savoy
Increased property tax revenue from the Project will likely result in a very small decrease in State aid, but the increased property tax revenue would result in a major overall increase in town revenues. Major forms of state aid are determined in part on the equalized valuation of property, so an increase in property values can affect the amount of state aid. Minuteman discussed the impact of the project on state aid with various officials in the Department of Revenue and Department of Education. These officials reviewed the state aid formulas with the assumption that the project was part of the Savoy tax base in FY07 with an assessed value of $10,000,000 in FY07. With this change, Chapter 70 Aid for Education would have decreased about $2100 and Lottery Aid would have decreased about $5000. This total decrease of about $7,100 in state aid would be offset by the property tax revenues from the project of $130,800 (again assuming a $10,000,000 valuation), so the Town would net over $123,000 in increased revenues.
Additional costs incurred as a result of the Adams Road Improvements
Minuteman believes that the only additional costs the Town will incur as a result of the Adams Road improvements will be for snowplowing and annual maintenance. Minuteman estimates that snowplowing will require two passes of a snowplow (one pass in each direction) for every four inches of snow. Minuteman estimates the cost of annual maintenance to Adams Road will be approximately $7,500 per year in today’s dollars. The snowplowing and annual maintenance should keep Adams Road passable to all traffic for the anticipated project life and beyond.
Property values
Reports from other communities with wind projects are that property values do not decline. Studies of the effect of wind turbines on property values are posted on Minuteman’s website. Minuteman believes that, on the whole, the Project will not negatively affect local property values in Savoy.

What happens at the end of the useful life of the Project?

Decommissioning
Decommissioning is the process whereby the Project will be dismantled when it is no longer operated or maintained. Minuteman plans to dismantle the turbines at the end of their useful life and to restore the property to the extent required by the owner. Furthermore, the Town of Savoy will put guidelines in place that ensure that Minuteman (or any successor to Minuteman) has made provision or set aside funds to cover costs associated with agreed to decommissioning requirements.