Two Western Mass. Towns Pass Bylaws Restricting Wind Turbines

Voters in the town of Peru, Massachusetts narrowly approved a bylaw banning industrial wind projects at a recent town meeting. The bylaw prohibits the construction of wind turbines where more than half of the power generated would be sold off-site. The bylaw was initiated by the group, Peru Concerned Citizens , which formed after developer Lightship Energy proposed building two 500-foot turbines in town. By a vote of 105 to 52, the measure exactly met the required two-thirds. Susan Masino is a member of PCC. “If you want to make it a significant source of energy would require devastating communities and basically sacrificing our ridgelines,” said Masino. The bylaw allows property owners to build their own turbines and sell up to 50 percent of power generated. Lightship withdrew its application in May. On Monday, voters in nearby Cheshire adopted a bylaw banning turbines within a half-mile of a home.