CARRABASSETT VALLEY - A public hearing on a proposal for a wind farm that would be New England's largest drew little opposition.

Two representatives of a grass-roots group that wants to keep 44 wind turbines off Kibby Mountain in western Maine stood alone in opposition to the project at Wednesday's Land Use Regulation Commission hearing.

The Maine Audubon, Natural Resources Council of Maine and Appalachian Mountain Club — critics of other wind power projects — all support the Kibby Wind Power Project.

TransCanada's wind farm on Kibby Mountain would have a capacity to produce 132 megawatts, about three times more than the new Mars Hill wind farm in northern Maine. That's enough power to supply the needs of every household in Oxford, Franklin and Somerset counties.

The Land Use Regulation Commission is holding hearings on whether to rezone two parcels of land for the project.

Speaking against the project were Bob Kimber, an environmental author and advocate from Temple, and Herb Wilson, an ornithologist from Colby College. Both belong to the Friends of the Boundary Mountains.

Kimber described the proposal as "development and land conversion on an unprecedented scale" in the border region.

The plan calls for 44 towers, each about 41 stories high, to run along 13 miles of ridges on Kibby Mountain and Kibby Range. If LURC approves rezoning the region to allow commercial development, work could begin early next year.

Major wind farms are also proposed for Stetson Mountain in eastern Maine and Black Nubble Mountain in western Maine.