BURLINGTON, Vt. -
Railroad crews spent Sunday off-loading 12 23-thousand pound wind turbine blades.
Soon they'll be loaded back onto trucks headed for a near-by mountain which sits along the border of Milton and Georgia.
"We're really excited. We're on track for completing the project by the end of 2012," said Martha Staskus, the project manager for Georgia Mountain Community Wind.
She said manufacturing delays slowed the project but adds that the rather large pieces are coming together. "Our electrical collective line is just about in, the site construction is pretty much wrapped up and we're seeing the large components come now," she said.
"It's good news for us because we're counting on this being operational by the end of December," said Barb Grimes with Burlington Electric Department.
The Utility will receive all of the farm's future output -- about 9- percent of customer demand -- and boost its renewable portfolio to about 80 percent of total usage.
"Hopefully within the next five to eight years we will be close to that goal of 100 percent renewability," Grimes added.
The wind farm should supply enough energy to power about 27-hundred homes.
Carbon emissions are expected to fall by about 13-thousand tons, or the output of an average car over 24 million miles.
But not everyone in the surrounding area is sold on the project. "We're working with neighbors to address their concerns," Staskus said.
The project will move forward though, even if debate lingers over whether the green initiative is smart for the Green Mountain State.
