CHURUBUSCO -- Like some northern Clinton County residents, Paul and Christine Boyea were initially hesitant about having windparks dotting the local landscape.
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But after two years of extensive research, the Ellenburg couple was in full support of the Noble Environmental Power projects and signed on to have two turbines erected on their property.
"And we're very pleased," Mr. Boyea said Saturday afternoon during the official ribbon-cutting ceremony at Noble Environmental Power's Churubusco office that marked the completion of the Clinton and Ellenburg windparks.
Noble Chief Executive Officer Charles Hinckley said there are now 122 fully commissioned 400-foot turbines between the two parks.
When the projects began about three years ago, many people feared they would bring adverse noise and environmental impacts.
But, Hinckley said, the final result has "quieted down" almost all of the dissent.
"There are still some people around here who don't support the project, but the vast majority do," he said.
"A lot of the issues really slowed down once they (the turbines) were up and people could see them for themselves. And I think there's a wide degree of acceptance now."
The $360 million investment has created jobs and will help to reduce taxes while generating enough clean energy to power 60,000 homes and bringing an estimated $231 million in revenue to the rural economy over the next 20 years.
Clinton Town Supervisor Michael Filion said the project has "been a long process, but well worth the effort. And now it's time to reap the benefits."
"It has to happen to protect us from global warming or at least slow it down," said David Manwell of Beekmantown, who has strongly advocated for turbines in his hometown, where the issue remains highly controversial.
"We are very lucky to have wind like this and we need to develop it more and more."
As in Clinton and Ellenburg, some Beekmantown residents are concerned about the potential noise impact.
"We've even heard people say they're going to drive them from their homes," Manwell said.
"But you don't even hear them," his wife, Anne, said. "You hear a slight sound of humming from the electricity that they're generating, but it's nothing louder than having a refrigerator on."
Boyea agreed and said he hasn't experienced "a lot of the things that people said."
Like the Manwells, the Boyeas said the local turbines will help create clean energy at a time when it's increasingly needed.
"We'd rather see the turbines than smoke stacks," Mrs. Boyea said. "They're beautiful and they're clean."
State officials and representatives said the local windparks are helping to move New York in the desired direction of having 25 percent of all state electricity coming from renewable energy within the next five years.
"We have to be green. We know it's a reality," Assemblywoman Janet Duprey (R-Peru) said during the ceremony.
"And why not take advantage of what Mother Nature gave us a lot of (in the North Country)," she said as dozens of area residents nodded in agreement.
Hinckley said there are currently projects under way in Altona and Chateaugay, which will bring another 134 turbines to the area.
There are plans already in the works for possible windparks in Burke and Brandon, as well, he said.
And, according to Tom Gray of the American Wind Energy Association, "More wind power today means a better tomorrow."
avanvalkenburg@pressrepublican.com
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