Town officials in Fair Haven are trying to ensure a proposed biomass facility and wood pellet manufacturing plant is built, even though they acknowledge the state’s largest utility won’t likely buy power from it.
Fair Haven’s select board is continuing to push a plan for Massachusetts-based Beaver Wood Energy to build a 34-megawatt generator along Route 4 near the New York border.
In February, Beaver Wood Energy received the air pollution control permit it needs from the state. It still needs a certificate of public good from the Public Service Board.
The project is expected to create about 50 jobs at the plant and 140 jobs in the forest products industry. Proponents of biomass energy say that wood-fired power is a cleaner source of electricity than fossil fuels.
But frustrated members of Fair Haven’s select board say Green Mountain Power won’t buy energy produced at the plant, and they’re struggling to garner support from the Legislature.
At a select board meeting earlier this month, officials pledged to keep the project in the foreground by seeking support, at the very least, from other Rutland County towns.