The Sun Journal editorial of Jan. 6 sarcastically criticized Buckfield and other towns that passed moratoriums on wind power. Such moratoriums allow towns to study wind power and write sensible ordinances for wind farms. The editorial claimed that Maine regulations for wind power are adequate. As Buckfield Planning Board Chairman Warren Wright told citizens at Buckfield’s special town meeting on Jan. 6, the state regulations were drafted and adopted in the 1980s.

From 1980 to 1990, the U.S. government funded about 13 experimental projects to design large-scale wind turbine generators with capacities greater than 1 megawatt. Prior to this, there had been no wind turbines of 1 megawatt capacity operating in the USA since the famed 1.25-megawatt turbine on Grand Pa’s Knob, N.H., was retired for blade failure in 1941 after just 1,100 hours of service. Almost all of the experimental units produced by the government effort of 1980-90 were retired for technical or economic reasons.

The present era of large-scale wind generation with multi-megawatt machines is uncharted territory. Even California’s famed San Giorgino Pass wind farm, under continuous construction since 1982, contains turbines averaging 200 kW capacity, standing only 80 to 100 feet high. In the 1980s, when Maine adopted its wind ordinance, no one had any data on the super-sized wind turbines — 1.5 to 2.5 megawatts per unit, standing over 400 feet high, proposed for installation all over the USA, in batches of 60 to 100 units.

Regulators have ignored the huge change in wind energy since the 1980s. The towns may lack the full resources to investigate large wind energy, but they do know some of the right questions. That is a long overdue step in the right direction.

Charles A. Berg, Buckfield