Tues 4/30/13 Noon & 7pm Wind power is a hot topic around the state, and it’s also part of the focus of a special commission that was asked review how, where and who approves energy projects in the state. Our guests are commission chair Jan Eastman and Chris Recchia, commissioner of the Department of Public Service, to discuss the five key recommendations the commission made last week:
- Increase emphasis on planning at State, Regional/Municipal levels... to help ensure that electric generation projects are sited, whenever possible, in the best places with adequate prior public input.
- Adopt a Simplified Tiered approach to siting to achieve a quicker, more efficient review of a greater number of small/less controversial projects while focusing the bulk of PSB time and effort on evaluation of larger, more complex projects.
- Implement specific process modifications to increase the opportunity for Public Participation.
- Implement specific process modifications to increase transparency, efficiency and coordination.
- Update environmental, health and other protection guidelines (on a technology basis, where necessary).
Comments or questions on the Energy Generation Siting Policy Commission's recommendations? Post below, or on Vermont Edition's Facebook page.
Also in the program, we put a spotlight on Manchester. This winter, the shire town of Bennington County has been enjoying a transportation improvement to "malfunction junction" that was a decade in planning. We talk with Andrew McKeever, managing editor of the Manchester Journal, about how the improvement eased traffic during ski season and how the town's widely known retail economy is fairing.
