Several months after TransCanada announced plans to expand its Kibby Mountain wind project to adjacent Sisk Mountain in western Maine, the Maine Land Use Regulation Commission has begun reviewing the request. Local residents turned out to wholeheartedly endorse the project. But several environmental groups are only offering partial support. They're worried about development of what they say is an ecologically sensitive area.

As throngs of skiers turned out to enjoy a bright warm day on the slopes of Sugarloaf, inside the Sugarloaf Inn members of the Land Use Regulation Commission pored over documents and listened to members of the public weigh in on TransCanada's latest expansion plans. Nick DiDomenico is a spokesman for the company.

"What TransCanada has currently pending is an expansion application for an additional 15 turbines -- 45 megawatts -- and that is currently in an area that is designated 'expedited,'" says TransCanada spokesman Nick DiDomenico.

An expedited area allows for fast-track wind permitting. And TransCanada has also petitioned LURC to expand the expedited area by 150 acres. DiDomenico says that would give the company more flexibility to site the additional 15 turbines, "Because when we get on the ground and do future investigation, there may be need to micro-site, move things over a few hundred feet. Some of these turbines are literally 200 feet on the other side of the Kibby-Chain of Ponds boundary."

But that Chain of Ponds boundary is what concerns Maine Audubon, the Natural Resources Council of Maine and the Appalachian Mountain Club.

All three environmental groups supported TransCanada's original 44-turbine wind project on Kibby Mountain. About half the turbines are currently up and running, and the rest are expected to be operational by fall.

But the environmental groups say the Chain of Ponds, a series of ponds rated by the state as having "outstanding" scenic significance, and a popular back-country recreation area, could be negatively affected by the company's plans to erect the seven southernmost turbines in its expansion project.

"We think turbines are going to be likely highly visible from parts of the Chain of Ponds, and namely Long Pond," said Dylan Voorhees, the clean energy policy director for the Natural Resouces Council of Maine. "This is a remarkably undeveloped set of ponds, despite their accessibility and that's really, as you know, increasingly rare."

Voorhees says wind development is not just a blight on a picture-perfect scene. He says it changes the character and the experience of people who use this area for primitive purposes, such as fishing, paddling and camping.

Also a concern, says wildlife ecologist Jody Jones of Maine Audubon, is that the southernmost seven turbines would be located in the middle of a large block of rare subalpine forest that provides habitat for species of concern like the Bicknell's thrush.

Jones says it would also compromise a large wetland that provides habitat for the threatened northern bog lemming. "And the size and the location of this wetland make it unlikely that this habitat could be conserved, protected or particularly enhanced if the petition is granted," she said. Jones says all of these values are supposed to be protected under LURC's own Comprehensive Land Use Plan.

But despite environmental groups' criticism of the southernmost part of the expansion plan, local residents turned out to praise TransCanada and thank LURC for approving the original project.

Andy Brann is a small general contractor in the area who works with TransCanada and has hired full and part-time workers as a result. "This has been a godsend for us with these economical times. If we hadn't had this project running, I'd probably say I'd be out of business. So wouldn't a few other businesses in this area."

According to Eustis selectman Earl Wyman, 25 Franklin County businesses have received $7 million as a result of the Kibby Project. and Wyman says money from TransCanada's benefits package will be used to offset local taxes.

Wyman also presented an unofficial petition to LURC from nearly a hundred property and business owners and others who think the company and its contractors have been good neighbors. "They attend our events, donate to our causes, support the education of our children, communicate consistently about their plans and activities and follow through on their commitments," he said.

Wyman says there are probably some wind projects in this state that he would not want in his backyard, but he says the Kibby project has generated no sound complaints and very few visual issues since it started. LURC is expected to take up the rest of TransCanada's expanded development project in May.