Georgia Mountain Community Wind
Georgia Mountain Community Wind (GMCW) is a locally developed 10 megawatt 4-turbine project that provides long-term, clean electricity and environmental benefits to Vermonters. It was developed by Jim Harrison of Georgia, VT, owner of Harrison Concrete Const. and Redi-Mix Corp., and the construction financing was provided by renewable energy entrepreneur David Blittersdorf of Charlotte, VT. In 2017, GMCW was acquired by Greenbacker Renewable Energy Company, LLC.
The project is sited on land owned by the Harrison Family of Georgia, VT and the Green Crow Corp., a forest products company based in Waterbury, VT harnessing power from the wind flowing through the Champlain Valley. Energy, capacity and renewable energy credits (RECs) are sold to the Burlington Electric Department under a long-term power purchase agreement to meet the needs of 30% of Burlington Electric's residential customers.
As the team leader and project manager for GMCW, Martha Staskus led the project from it's early developmental phases through regulatory reviews, construction, and into operations. VERA then led the project through a successful sale and transition to Greenbacker.
Our feasibility analysis for this project evaluated key development aspects and sought to identify and mitigate potential "fatal flaws". We also assisted in the acquisition rights to develop neighboring land, directed the interconnection study, managed the power purchase solicitation and agreement, directed wind turbine procurement, developed and secured the turbine supply agreement, and solicited and secured outside financing.
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We designed and managed the wind resource assessment program for our client, including permitting and installation, to generating complex computer models to calculate each of the four wind turbine's wind and energy production potential and micro-site each turbine based on production optimization.
Working closely with our client, we assembled a development team comprised of Vermont technical experts. The hallmark of this community project is the local participation in all major aspects of development, include the sale of electricity to a local Vermont utility, Long-term financing for the project was provided from the project's owners and Vermont's Merchants Bank.
In 2012, VERA assumed the role of owner's representative throughout the construction and commissioning process. In these efforts, we acted as liaison between the project owner, turbine supplier, balance of plant contractor, ISO-New England, as well as numerous engineering and transportation firms in order to minimize costs and ensure the project was completed efficiently on all fronts and on time.
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