PORTLAND, Maine - A $100 million effort to build 16 wind turbines near Bowers Mountain in Penobscot County has been rejected by Maine's highest court.
SunEdison, the company behind the effort, has lost its final appeal before the Maine Supreme Judicial Court.
The Maine Department of Environmental Protection rejected the project - which several environmental advocacy groups opposed -- on the basis that it would interfere with scenic views of nine lakes nearby; SunEdison appealed that rejection to the Board of Environmental Protection, which also denied it.
This ruling is the end of the road for the project in Maine. Speaking to the Portland Press Herald, SunEdison spokesman John LaMontagne said the company believes the project would have brought significant economic benefits to the region, and says it will decide next steps soon.
The Bowers Mountain project would have generated 16 megawatts of electricity in an area already designated for wind power generation.
In her decision, Chief Justice Leigh Saufley wrote that the 2004 Wind Energy Act, which allows for specially-permitted zones for wind power generation, stipulates that projects must not significantly compromise views from a scenic resource of state or national significance.
