Deerfield Wind
The Project Site
The project is sited on two parallel ridges which run along the west and east sides of Vermont Rt. 8. Constructed in 1997 by Green Mountain Power, the Searsburg Wind Facility was the first commercial scale wind facility in New England and currently remains Vermont's only operating wind project.
10 turbines will be placed on the western ridge (in the town of Searsburg) and 7 turbines on the eastern ridge (in the town of Readsboro) just south of the existing Searsburg Wind Facility. From south to north along the ridges, the wind turbines will be connected electrically via underground collector lines. Access to the eastern ridge will utilize the existing Searsburg Wind Facility access road from Sleepy Hollow Road. From there the electrical line will travel on an overhead collector line across Rt. 8 to the western ridge.
Once the line connects to the southernmost turbine on the western ridge, it will again follow an underground collection line to the project substation near the existing National Grid 69kV transmission line. Access to the western string would be constructed along Putnam Road, a private road intersecting with Route 8, with an Operations and Maintenance building located off this access road.
Over that past several years, the Deerfield Wind Project has undergone considerable environmental and economic evaluations, and has received stakeholder input resulting in refinements to the proposed layout that reduces its overall footprint. Now, as the project undergoes a State of Vermont Section 248 review by the Public Service Board, and a National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)