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Turbines Get the Green Light in Cohocton (VIDEO)
Laura Hutchinson

September 18, 2008

COHOCTON-- An advocacy group in Cohocton tried to stop First Wind from turning on 50 turbines in their community. The turbines in Cohocton are 420-feet tall; they're the largest in the country and have the ability to power 54,000 homes. While there are neighbors against them, the landowners with them on their property say they're happy with them. “You’ve got to start somewhere with energy, you cant just depend on foreign oil all the time,” landowner, Susan Schwingel said. Susan and Doug Schwingel have 4 of the 50 wind turbines on their property. They say First Wind, the company that built the structures, gave them more than just an energy producer. “We got a nice new field road out of this, we had one like everyone has, farmer roads with bumps and potholes, now we have almost a super highway,” Susan added. They say the structures are huge, but only take up a small parcel of land. “Next year we're going to be able to plant right up to them, we're not going to loose any ground and it seems like its going to work pretty good,” Doug said. Town Supervisor Jack Zigenfus says he knows members of his community are against the wind project, but regardless, everyone is now saving money. “We were able to reduce taxes by 30% which is almost unheard of in this economic climate,” Zigenfus said. He says he's proposing to do it again next year. That's because of a financial agreement that will bring in $20 million dollars over the next 20 years. Something he says is great for the town and the environment. “The wind just blows and we need to capitalize on that and other natural resources,” Zigenfus added. NYSEG still needs to get the turbines connected to the grid. They are expected to turn them on by mid-November. Members of the advocacy group, Cohocton Wind Watch” didn't want to speak with us on camera. They are meeting next week to discuss a possible appeal. We will have the very latest.
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