About Our Project
The Lowell Mountain range extends over 10 miles in a generally northeast-southwest orientation from the southern part of Irasburg through Lowell in Orleans County and into Eden in Lamoille County. From north to south, the highest elevations along the ridge in southern Lowell range between 2,200 feet to over 2,600 feet.
Kingdom Community Wind is proposed along a 3-mile portion of the Lowell Mountain range in this southwest corner of the Northeast Kingdom community of Lowell. Farming and logging have long roots in Lowell (around 1900 there were several mills in town), and the property on which KCW is proposed has been a working timber farm for generations. The portion of ridgeline where KCW is being proposed is within 2000-acre privately owned properties, and could potentially accommodate between sixteen and twenty-four wind turbines.
State Route 100 parallels the Lowell Mountain range to the west through the town of Lowell, and State Route 14 parallels the mountain range to the east through the town of Albany. To the north, State Route 58 climbs up over the mountain range, connecting the east and west sides of the ridge. These nearby existing roads will aid in getting the wind turbine and electric infrastructure components to the site.
To the north and west of the mountain two 34.5 kV (kilovolt) transmission lines exist -- one headed north from Lowell to Jay along Route 100 and another headed west from Lowell to Johnson. A 46 kV transmission line runs east from Lowell to Irasburg. At the intersection of these three lines, just north of the Rt. 100/Rt. 58 intersection in the village of Lowell, Vermont Electric Co-Op (VEC) and Central Vermont Public Service Corp (CVPS) each have a substation. This existing nearby transmission infrastructure will transmit the power to Vermont utilities.
Photo of 34kV line along Rte 100 between Lowell and Jay, similar to that which will be required to transmit the electricity from KCW to Vermont utilities.
This project will be an environmentally responsible contributor to Vermont’s energy needs and bring economic benefits to our local and state-wide communities. Using local companies and local utilities, Kingdom Community Wind will improve our environment as well as improve and strengthen our local economy. Kingdom Community Wind hopes to file for a Vermont Public Service Board Certificate of Public Good in 2010. Development studies are underway in preparation of this and other permitting processes.