FARMINGTON — The expansion of the Kibby Wind Power Project has earned the support of the Board of Directors of the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce.

Expanding the project onto nearby Sisk Mountain will help maintain hundreds of construction jobs and provide enough electricity for 17,000 homes, a spokesperson for the chamber said.

The project is in the Expedited Zone where wind energy has been designated as an appropriate use by the Legislature. TransCanada is proposing to construct and operate this 45-megawatt wind turbine project within two miles of its 132-megawatt Kibby project.

To date, more than $9 million of direct expenditures in Franklin County are attributable to the Kibby project, with additional spin-off economic benefits, noted the spokesperson.

“The Kibby project has earned awards for safety and praise for the environmental sensitivity of the construction methods,” said Matt Wotton, the Chamber’s President. “TransCanada has been a very positive presence in Franklin County, and we want to encourage them to continue to invest here,” he added.

The chamber made its decision to support the proposed expansion project because of the economic benefits and also because it believes that diversifying New England’s energy sources is important to long term economic health and that wind power is an important part of this effort.

In addition, the environmental benefits of renewable energy, especially in regards to mitigation of climate change are important globally as well as to the local economy, which depends so heavily on tourism related to winter sports.