Voters scrap wind power moratorium

Clifton residents defeated a wind energy moratorium at a special town meeting Thursday, clearing the way for a proposed four-tower wind farm on Pisgah Mountain.

Bangor businessman Paul Fuller and his wife, Sandy, purchased 270 acres on the mountain to build a wind farm along with their business partner, Mike Smith, according to the Bangor Daily News. The developers want to spend $15 million to erect four 1.6- or 2.5-megawatt GE wind turbines on the mountain, and offered the town a $5,000 stipend per megawatt, which would equal $32,000 to $50,000 annually.

The moratorium was proposed by opponents of the development who wanted more time to study the impact of wind farms. Voters denied the measure, 86-75.