Falmouth -MassCEC Put Massachusetts Ratepayers At Risk

Falmouth Turbines Risking General Interests of Ratepayers

Falmouth Wind Turbine ZBA April 14 2016

Since March 5, 2016 almost six weeks ago the Falmouth Zoning Board of Appeals's attorney, Mark Bobrowski, has been diligently working on a draft of that ZBA meeting. The draft says theTown of Falmouth has not met necessary bylaw requirements and the structure known as Wind 1 is prohibited per the Falmouth Zoning Code.

The Falmouth ZBA will review the draft on April 14, 2016.

It's unclear at this time if Diane Tillotson, ‎Partner at Hemenway & Barnes a Boston attorney hired by the town for the zoning matter will make an appearance.

The ZBA is a quasi-judicial body that operates under the authority of Chapter 40A of Massachusetts General Laws for the purpose of promoting health, safety, convenience and general welfare of the Town of Falmouth.

The ruling by the ZBA may have far reaching effects of the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center April 2, 2013 memo and subsequent modification for MassCEC to waive delivery of theRenewable Energy Credits and to waive the contractual requirement that the town refund the MassCEC prepayment for RECs not delivered. This appears to be another job for the town attorney.

In that memo the MassCEC admitted the original MTC-commissioned feasibility study for Falmouth over-estimated the likely acoustic impact on residential homes. In other words the sound study done for Falmouth Wind 1 prior to the installation was wrong.

The Town of Falmouth had been notified by Vestas wind company in writing that the turbine the town bought generates 110 decibels of noise.The town was aware that Falmouth Wind 1 is seven decibels louder than the General Electric model used in wind turbine tests. The MassCEC admits acoustic noise mistakes using the GE model and has never acknowledged the seven additional decibels generated by the Vestas turbine.

The MassCEC has admitted acoustic noise mistakes using the General Electric wind turbine. The problem for everyone today is there is no model tests for the Vestas wind turbine that was installed only that it is almost twice as loud as the GE turbine and town officials had always been aware of the noise warning

Risk taken hiding the Vestas 110 decibel noise warning letter :

The nature of the action taken by the Town hiding the Vestas 110 decibel noise warning does not advance the general interests of ratepayers of MassCEC’s Renewable Energy Trust.

A possible violation of the original and modified renewable energy credit agreements. Massachusetts ratepayers are subsidizing what the town knew was a megawatt turbine too loud to be placed near residential homes. The ratepayers should get their money back . Massachusetts ratepayers should not be subsidizing turbines installed with NO permits and noise warnings that the turbines did not belong in residential locations.

Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healy needs to start judicial oversight of the Falmouth fiasco.

Falmouth Chairperson Mary Pat Flynn was notified on May 15, 2012 by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection the turbines were in fact breaking the law .

In March of 2014 the modified renewable energy credit agreement amended the original agreement between the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center and the town signed in 2009. Under that agreement MassCEC agreed to prepay the town $1 million for Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) generated by the entire project.

Next the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center in the March 2014 gave Falmouth 1.8 million taxpayer dollars to help pay litigation costs and finance a drawn out protracted legal defense of the Falmouth wind turbines

The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center is risking the general interests of Massachusetts ratepayers of MassCEC’s Renewable Energy Trust.

The Falmouth wind turbines are a health and financial fiasco.

Neighbors are far better acoustic analyzers for determining the quality of their life.