Vinalhaven Wind Turbines Up

Portland Press Herald:

"And on Tuesday, the $14.5 million Fox Islands Wind project officially goes on line with a ribbon-cutting event, marking the completion of Maine's first island wind project. It's also the largest community-owned wind project on East Coast.

Vinalhaven itself is a step back in time, a small, close community that looks out for its own. Stacks of lobster traps adorn the docks, and the cut granite that has been the island's industry for more than 100 years is everywhere.

The island has long generated its own power. Tidal waters flow under the Tidewater Motel, through the remains of a mill system that once used hydropower to run a granite cutting operation and a blacksmith's bellows with a network of belts. At one time, a coal-fueled power plant operated near where the ferry landing sits today."