First Wind, with Steuben County projects, is one target of probe
Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo said Tuesday his office has launched an investigation of the practices of two wind farm developers, including one with projects in Steuben County.
The investigation will focus on Massachusetts-based First Wind, which has wind farms under development in the Cohocton area of Steuben County, and Noble Environmental Power LLC. Noble is based in Essex, Conn.
Cuomo said in a news release that the probe resulted from numerous complaints by citizens, organizations and local officials in eight counties. The complaints alleged improper relations between the companies and local officials and other illegal practices.
Some of those complaints came from Cohocton Wind Watch, a citizens’ group that has opposed the Cohocton-area projects and accused First Wind of illegal activities.
“We deserve a little bit of the credit,” said James Hall, the group’s spokesman. “We’re very pleased to hear about the investigation. Anti-trust violations have been rampant in this industry and we need to hold questionable developers accountable for their conduct.”
Hall said he places First Wind at the top of the list of questionable developers. His group publicly claimed earlier that First Wind had made improper payments to local officials.
First Wind did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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