The road toward commercial scale
development of alternative energy resources is always a rocky one, as West
Hartford, Connecticut wind farm developer BNE Energy is learning in the course
of planning for the first wind farm in Connecticut – a $24 million, six
turbine, 9.6 megawatt project to be built in Colebrook. BNE is being sued by
North Carolina engineering firm Zapata, Inc. for $179,465 in unpaid engineering
fees for 17 months of work on the project.
In addition to the engineering fee
dispute, the Colebrook project has been stalled by permitting disputes with the
Army Corps of Engineers, and a contretemps with the Connecticut Department of
Energy and Environmental Protection over the improper felling by BNE of 300
trees within the Housatonic State Forest. Despite these setbacks, BNE chairman
Paul Corey remains optimistic: “The important thing is the project is going
well and we’re excited about it.,” he said, refusing comment on the Zapata
lawsuit.
