“This is one of the premier wind development sites in New England,” says Nick Di Domenico, project manager. “Our studies demonstrate that we can provide a clean, renewable energy source with minimal impacts to the surrounding community and environment.”

TransCanada has been conducting environmental and engineering studies for more than a year in the area. The results of these studies are being incorporated in the project design to take advantage of this superior wind resource while minimizing environmental and other impacts.

The proposed project will consist of 44, three-megawatt (MW) turbines on two ridges along the Boundary Mountains. In addition to 44 wind turbines, power collection lines and access roads, the project would include an electric transmission line to connect power generated by the turbines to the existing transmission grid. A 115 kilovolt line would extend from a proposed substation below the ridge lines in Kibby Township to an existing substation in the Bigelow, Maine area, approximately 25 miles to the south-southeast of the Township.

The LURC is the key regulatory process for the project. State and federal agencies that will also review the project include the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Federal Aviation Administration, in addition to local agencies.

Once the necessary permits and approvals are in place, TransCanada hopes to begin construction late in 2007. A portion of the project could be operational late in 2008, with the remaining portions of the project operational in 2009.

For more information, e-mail kibbywind@transcanada.com or call us toll-free at 1.877.943.3367.