Who Owns Falmouth Wind Turbine II

When your lender has your wind turbine or other property repossessed, it sells the property, usually at auction.

If the proceeds from the sale don't cover the total of what you owe to the lender—they rarely do—you might be liable for the balance, called a "deficiency" or "deficiency balance."

The Falmouth wind turbine loan requirements last as long as it has an outstanding balance on it, so if you purchase a commercial wind turbine with a lien on it, you must pay it off in full before it becomes an asset. In other words, Falmouth wind turbine number two has a budget deficit of 3.5 million plus 2 percent interest.

After the balance is paid off the Town of Falmouth has clear the title to the wind turbine. The Falmouth Select Board is working toward moving two town-owned wind turbines beyond Falmouth to another community but can the Falmouth Wind II turbine be moved with 3.5 million-plus 2 percent interest on the ARRA, American Recovery, and Reinvestment Act outstanding debt?

In 2010 and 2012 the Town of Falmouth, Massachusetts assembled two commercial foreign-made Vestas V-82 wind turbines named Falmouth Wind I & II.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 is federal money used to buy American products and put Americans to work.

In order for the Town of Falmouth to use the ARRA money to build wind turbines (Falmouth Wind II), the town got a federal EPA permit waiver to buy the foreign wind turbine because no domestic wind turbines were available.

Contrary to a requirement of the federal EPA waiver to buy American the town neglected to say General Electric a domestic wind turbine company in 2008 refused to place a single wind turbine due to residential setbacks and ice throw to Rte 28 otherwise GE would have built a commercial wind turbine but had access to a 2005 KEMA Inc. report done for the Town of Falmouth that said the noise from one GE turbine would affect 99 residential homes and they needed a Special Permit to install their turbine.

One Vestas wind turbine at 110 decibels is twice as loud as a GE wind turbine, Two Vestas turbines generate 113 decibels of noise. Over 110 decibels equals a rock band playing 24/7 and produces infra-sound causing sleep disturbance, headache, tinnitus, ear pressure, dizziness, vertigo, nausea, visual blurring, tachycardia, irritability, problems with concentration and memory, and panic episodes and more.

The two foreign-made Vestas wind turbines were installed without a Special Permit as stated in the federal EPA waiver to buy American. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds were used by the town to take health and property rights. The 5 million dollar loan should never have been made.

In June of 2017, the Massachusetts courts shut down the nuisance wind turbines forever.

November 2019 Falmouth Town Meeting voted 2.5 million to disassemble the turbines but the town does not own Falmouth Wind II as it has a balance of 3.5 million in ARRA loan funds due at 2 percent.

Private legal counsel hired by the state of Massachusetts has advised MassDEP 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") brokered by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection and the Falmouth town 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.

The Town of Falmouth still has not paid back the balance of the 5 million ARRA loan at 2 percent.

How can the town legally take down Falmouth Wind II?

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Rare Falmouth Special Town Meeting June 2009 ARRA Loan -3 Articles

Meeting starts at 20 minute mark: