Falmouth Wind Turbine ARRA 3.5M Debt Outstanding

Fuzzy math is a catchphrase used by taxpayers to describe the Massachusetts Clean Water Trust state revolving fund and politicians who describe numbers, particularly in regard to government spending, that most claims do not add up correctly.

The two wind turbines at the town’s wastewater treatment plant have been a source of noise, shadow flicker, and health issues since they began spinning ten years ago in 2010 and 2012.

It's never been disclosed to the public that each turbine designed in the late 1990s emit 110 decibels of noise each and together could reach as high as 113 decibels.

Three years ago the courts shut down the turbines as they are a nuisance costing the town as much as $50,000.00 a year to maintain them.

According to a 5 million loan agreement brokered by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, the second wind turbine must remain energy efficient or the remainder of the loan 3.5 million must be paid back.

Outside legal counsel hired by the state of Massachusetts has advised the Town of Falmouth that Wind II is subject to specific provisions of ARRA and applicable federal regulations and guidelines ("Federal Law') in addition to the terms and conditions of the Project Regulatory Agreement ("PRA") and the Loan Agreement associated with the funding of Wind II.

Under Federal Law and the PRA and Loan Agreement, the Town must maintain Wind II as an "energy efficiency" project, as described in EPA guidelines dated March 2, 2009, in order to benefit from the financial subsidy provided by the Trust under ARRA and the Trust's Clean Water State Revolving Fund program.

To make a long story short the state officials from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Trust are allowing Falmouth to use renewable energy funds that should be paid back to the state revolving funds to go back out to operating energy-efficient projects.

In November of 2019 town meeting voted 2.5 million to lease the turbines out of town without knowing the full cost down the road.

A quasi-public Massachusetts agency focused on the adoption of technology faces $18,000 in storage fees after failing to find a buyer for two wind turbines it bought for $5.2 million in 2005 ?

In 2005 the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC) a state agency bought the turbines in order to resell them to local wind projects. The state paid 5.2 million in 2005 for both!

The Town of Falmouth today in 2020 fifteen years later feels they are working with 5 to 10 million in taxpayer assets?

To date, the town after several years (3) has not issued a formal request for proposals, RFP, regarding the wind turbines.

Falmouth Special Town Meeting June , 2009 Falmouth Wind Turbine II Loan Vote Starts after 14 minutes of advertising :