Regulators approve sale of NH’s largest commercial wind farm

LANCASTER, N.H. (AP) — New Hampshire regulators have formally approved the sale of the state’s largest commercial wind farm.

Granite Reliable Power wind farm in Coos County will be bought by NextEra Energy Partners from majority owner Brookfield Renewable Energy, the Caledonian-Record reported Wednesday. The farm will be owned by NextEra subsidiary Tusk Wind Holdings LLC.

The wind farm extends along 15 miles of mountain ridgeline in the unincorporated places of Dixville, Ervings Location, Millsfield and Odell and in the community of Dummer. The 99-megawatt, 33-turbine wind farm has been in operation since 2012. Nearly all of its megawatts were put under long-term contracts with Vermont utilities.

The New Hampshire Site Evaluation Committee approved the sale Aug. 17 with conditions, such as periodic estimates by Tusk of its decommissioning fund to make sure it is keeping pace with costs.

NextEra operates and manages about 18,000 megawatts of wind energy in 20 states and four Canadian provinces.