Wind Farm in Adirondacks closer to reality

PAUL SMITHS — A wind farm near the Gore Mountain ski area moved a step closer to fruition Thursday.

In Saratoga County, the Greenfield Town Board moved along a request from a separate wind energy company to erect nearly 200-foot test towers near Lake Desolation.

The project in Johnsburg, Warren County, had been stalled at the Adirondack Park Agency. Staff at the agency have been pushing Adirondack Wind Partners to file for a permit to build the entire 10-turbine wind farm they plan, rather than put up a second test tower. But the agency commissioners overturned the staff decision at an APA meeting in Franklin County Thursday.

Jim McAndrew, vice president of the Barton Group, an abrasives company that is part of the Adirondack Wind Partners, said the company needs more information about the speed and consistency of the wind over Gore Mountain before it can formally apply to build a wind farm. The second tower will be about a half-mile from the existing test tower, which has been gathering wind data for more than two years.

Albany Times-Union