VINALHAVEN, Maine (AP) – Vinalhaven and neighboring North Haven are now getting their electric power from three windmills in what’s billed as the largest community-owned wind farm on the East Coast.

The project was dedicated Tuesday by Gov. John Baldacci and other officials as a large crowd of island residents watched.

The Fox Islands Wind Project is expected to stabilize power supplies and lower energy costs for residents of the two islands, which are about 12 miles off the coast and have a combined year-round population of around 1,600.

Residents approved the project in a nearly unanimous vote in July 2008. Several other island and coastal communities are now looking at community wind power as a viable alternative to traditional energy sources.