What, no comment from any of the Berliners about this article?
COOS COUNTY — In a letter to Gov. John Lynch, the Coos County Commissioners announced their support for the 66-megawatt biomass plant proposed by Laidlaw Environmental. The March 10, letter notes the commission, county delegation, and planning board have already gone on record in favor of Granite Reliable Power’s 99-megawatt wind farm in the Phillips Brook watershed. The commission said it wanted to also go on record as supporting the various biomass proposals.
The letter states “the commissioners think that it is important to give careful consideration to biomass projects such as the one being considered in Berlin at the former mill site. We support this project. The commission’s position is certain to anger the Berlin city council which strongly opposes the Laidlaw project. The council believes there are better uses for the site and has thrown its support behind
a smaller 29-megawatt biomass plant proposed by Clean Power Development. The Clean Power plant would be located on a
parcel adjacent to the city’s wastewater treatment facility that the city will sell to Clean Power.
Commissioner Paul Grenier said the commission believes the biomass projects would have a positive regional impact on
the county’s forest products industry. He estimated the two projects would create as many as 300 to 400 indirect jobs in the forest industry. “The Coos commissioners are taking a
position to support working families trying desperately to hold on to their lives as they know it. The future is now for
Coos County,” he said. The commissioners argue there is very
little new investment in the business community in the county
and little projected for the future. As the value of industrial properties decline, the letter notes property taxes for the average home owner are going up.
If all the wind and biomass projects and the upgrade to the Coos transmission line come to fruition, the commission
said as much as $500 million of new taxable property could
be created. The commissioners wrote they believe the projects can be built without environmental degradation and hurting the tourism industry.
The letter points out that the closing of all but the Gorham paper mill have resulted in the loss of hundreds of good paying jobs with retirement and health benefits. [b/The commissioners report that Coos County currently has the highest unemployment rate in the state, the highest share of
poor elderly, and the lowest family incomes of the state’s ten counties. The commissioners also note that the state
has set a goal of generating 25 percent of the state’s energy from renewable resources by 2025. The projects proposed for Coos County, the commissioners wrote, would help the
state meet its goal.
News 
Market Data 
Discover 
AI
