DORSET — The Vermont Telecommunications Authority (VTA) is beginning an initiative that will see more than 200 wind turbine cell towers installed throughout the state and there is a small possibility that one of those towers could be located in Dorset.
Dorset Town Manager Rob Giaotti said the town registered a piece of property located in the town's fire district as a possible site to have a tower constructed and are waiting to hear back from the VTA.
"The goal is to provide service to that Route 30 corridor," said Gaiotti. "I think it's safe to say that the town will look at all reasonable methods to provide that new cell phone coverage on Route 30."
Gaiotti said the initiative most likely would open the door for area residents who were interested in having a wind turbine tower on their property that would not only help provide service to the Route 30 corridor, but reduce their electric bill as well.
The town's hope is that VTA will be interested in the site they have registered — or another site — that would enable them to provide coverage along Route 30. Giaotti said that even if a tower is not located in Dorset, he hopes one is constructed someplace nearby, such as Pawlet, to provide coverage to the area.
Executive Director of the Vermont Telecommunications Authority (VTA), William Shuttleworth, said that the concept for the wind turbine cell towers had been around for a few
The project may be state wide, but Shuttleworth said that VTA was especially interested in southern Vermont.
"The mandate for the VTA ... is to get service where there currently is not service," he said. "We're looking for an announcement this summer. It will be in excess of 200 towers and the construction will take place late this year and next year."
Shuttleworth said VTA did studies around the state to determine which areas had service and he said the first step in the process to determine where to place the towers was to define the term "unserved." The second step in the process, he said, would be to ascertain how much of the unserved area they could economically serve. As an example, Shuttleworth said it would not be economically justifiable to establish a tower in a location where there were only five homes.
Unlike the traditional cell tower, which Shuttleworth said would cost anywhere from $250,000 to over $1 million, the proposed wind turbine cell tower would cost about $60,000. The 112-foot tall towers generate 2.5 kilowatts an hour. If placed in a good wind site, Shuttleworth said the electricity output would be enough to power half of what the typical home requires.
The electricity produced by the wind turbine's would go into the grid, but Shuttleworth said that homeowners would also directly benefit from the turbine by their meter being turned backwards.
On VTA's Web site, www.telecomvt.org, there is a link for people who may be interested in having a cell tower or an antennae constructed on their property. So far, Shuttleworth said 400 people have filled out the questionnaire and he believes that even more people would have done so had there been any mention of the towers being wind turbine towers on the Web site.
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