Long Islander's Blog (2,814)

How Maine’s offshore wind went from ‘win-win’ to a political problem

March 18, 2024

by Billy Kobin

EXCERPTS

.................2009: “This is among my highest priorities,” U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican, said at the time. “It is a win-win for the state of Maine in terms of producing new jobs for the state and having the state lead the way in reducing our dependence on foreign oil.”.............................

For all the bipartisan praise more than a decade ago, offshore wind has become an…

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Added by Long Islander on March 18, 2024 at 12:42pm — No Comments

DUNCE ALERT: Federal government chooses final area in Gulf of Maine for offshore wind development

Maine Public | By Nicole Ogrysko

Published March 15, 2024 at 11:04 AM EDT

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has finalized an area in the Gulf of Maine where a commercial offshore wind farm could be developed.

The area covers 2 million acres offshore from Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts, ranging anywhere from 23 to 92 miles off the coast, BOEM said Friday.

The final area represents an 80% reduction from the section that…

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Added by Long Islander on March 16, 2024 at 9:00pm — 1 Comment

Electric Transmission Buildout Could Cost Americans Trillions of Dollars

March 14, 2024

Though windmills and solar panels get the headlines, the big energy topic in Washington is electric transmission. Whether it is Congress’s newfound interest in permitting reform, the U.S. Department of Energy’s new Grid Deployment Office, or the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) upcoming final rule on transmission planning and cost allocation, how to build and pay for long-range transmission to connect generators to customers is considered the final…

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Added by Long Islander on March 16, 2024 at 8:57pm — 1 Comment

Janet Mills proposes rolling back dune protections to build offshore wind port

by Michael Shepherd

March 15, 2024

AUGUSTA, Maine — Gov. Janet Mills wants to roll back protections for the sand dunes that partially make up the state’s preferred site for a landmark offshore wind terminal.

The Democratic governor’s bill, which was submitted this week by Rep. Gerry Runte, D-York, a member of the Legislature’s energy committee, is aimed at clearing the way for the terminal. The Mills administration picked Sears Island in Searsport over nearby Mack Point as…

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Added by Long Islander on March 15, 2024 at 4:28pm — 3 Comments

Legislators want final say over Maine’s electric vehicle rules

Democratic leaders and a group of Republicans seek to shift oversight of Maine's clean car standards from a citizen board to state lawmakers.

March 12, 2024

Stephen Singer

Press Herald

EXCERPTS

The Legislature’s two top Democrats and a group of minority Republicans want to take control of Maine’s electric vehicle rules.

A bill proposed Tuesday would give lawmakers, not a citizen board, the final say on clean car standards meant to curtail vehicle…

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Added by Long Islander on March 13, 2024 at 12:15pm — 1 Comment

Solar farm projects downsize to comply with new Maine law

By Lora Whelan, Quoddy Tides

March 9, 2024



“We will continue to develop future projects in Maine under the new structure and will work to make them financially viable at the 1 MW limit.”

A 2023 change in Maine law means that two of four Nexamp solar farm projects in Washington County will lose over half of their generating capacity when online.

Nexamp Communications Manager Keith Hevenor explained the…

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Added by Long Islander on March 13, 2024 at 11:30am — No Comments

Massive NH-VT Renewable Transmission Line Plan Scrapped After Project Deemed “Not Viable”

By Seamus Othot

March 11, 2024

EXCERPTS:

“National Grid thanks the dozens of route communities and regional partners who engaged with us and supported this project,” said the electrical utility company. “We will continue to pursue paths to building much-needed transmission capacity for the region and for our customers and communities.”

The transmission line, the so-called Twin State Clean Energy Link, was planned to be a 211-mile-long line through Vermont…

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Added by Long Islander on March 11, 2024 at 1:47pm — 1 Comment

Spanish energy giant Iberdrola offers to buy rest of CMP parent company for $2.5 billion

March 8, 2024

Stephen Singer

Press Herald

EXCERPTS

Spanish energy giant Iberdrola, which owns Central Maine Power Co.’s parent company, Avangrid Inc., is making a nearly $2.5 billion play for full control of its U.S. subsidiary and its extensive gas and electricity utilities in the Northeast.

Avangrid said Thursday it received a nonbinding proposal, but not an offer,…

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Added by Long Islander on March 9, 2024 at 6:35pm — No Comments

Maine Rep: Drop wind power; It’s time for Maine to drop this green energy pipe dream

March 8, 2024

By Rep. Reagan Paul

EXCERPTS

Gov. Janet Mills announced Feb. 20 that Sears Island is the location where her administration will launch its long-awaited offshore wind energy project. Climate extremists were ecstatic with the news. Renewable energy lobbyists were bouncing off the State House walls. But sadly there is a clear loser here — it’s Maine’s environment.…

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Added by Long Islander on March 8, 2024 at 7:05am — 3 Comments

The American Revolt Against Green Energy Has Begun

The only way to protect your city or town from the destruction that always follows windmills and solar panels is to prevent their construction in the first place. Besides the eyesores, sound fatigue, pollution, dead birds, etc., your electricity rates will…

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Added by Long Islander on March 6, 2024 at 5:04pm — No Comments

Maine legislature considers blocking seizure of private land to build power lines

VOTE OUT EVERY SINGLE LAST SOB WHO SUPPORTS EMINENT DOMAIN FOR THESE TOTAL SCAM TRANSMISSION LINES AND EVERY SOB WHO SUPPORTS ANY NEW TRANSMISSION FOR BS WIND POWER

March 6, 2024

Stephen Singer

Press Herald

EXCERPTS:

Maine legislators are looking for middle ground between developers of electricity transmission lines needed to deliver clean energy and property owners demanding more of a…

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Added by Long Islander on March 6, 2024 at 5:00pm — 3 Comments

Florida has no wind turbines but it’s going to ban them anyway

The Tampa Bay Times also reports that the bill is “rolling back some regulations on natural gas pipelines by making it so any pipeline shorter than 100 miles wouldn’t have to go through a certification process. Currently, anything longer than 15 miles triggers that oversight.”

https://electrek.co/2024/03/05/florida-wind-turbine-ban/

Added by Long Islander on March 6, 2024 at 2:56pm — No Comments

Steve Thurston: Adding insult to insanity

on February 28, 2024

by Steve Thurston

When the Public Utility Commission tells the legislature that a bill that does nothing to solve global warming will cost Vermonters $1 billion, and legislators vote for it anyway, it’s time for the voters to thank them for their service and show them the door on election day.   

H.289, an Act Related to the Renewable Energy Standard, sponsored by the chair and co-chair of the House Energy and Environment…

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Added by Long Islander on February 28, 2024 at 9:36pm — No Comments

Will Maine's Outdoor Recreation Economy Roadmap consider devastation from wind turbines, solar arrays and transmission?

Maine's Outdoor Recreation Economy Roadmap: Igniting Growth and Shaping the Future in 2024

Media Contact: Isa Morton isa@blaze-partners.com…

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Added by Long Islander on February 28, 2024 at 11:41am — 1 Comment

The obscure law that complicates offshore wind development

By Kate Cough

February 25, 2024

EXCERPTS

..............The Merchant Marine Act of 1920, better known as the Jones Act, requires goods shipped between U.S. ports to be transported on vessels that have been built in American shipyards, are registered in the U.S. and are crewed and owned by U.S. citizens.

Customs and Border Protection, which enforces the law, has said it applies to any device installed on the seafloor up to 200 nautical miles…

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Added by Long Islander on February 25, 2024 at 12:17pm — 1 Comment

The Maine Golden Eagle Study, a citizen-science project, is hoping to learn more about the presence of an endangered species in Maine

February 25, 2024

HERB WILSON

EXCERPTS

..............We can characterize the abundance of golden eagles in Maine as rare year-round. Perhaps the best time of year see one is in March in the western mountains, when the Labrador and Newfoundland breeders are migrating back to their nesting grounds.

Fall migrants are more common in the western mountains as well, beginning in late September, peaking in late October to November, trailing off in…

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Added by Long Islander on February 25, 2024 at 10:25am — No Comments

Unpopular “Aroostook Renewable Gateway” May Face More Roadblocks

By Seamus Othot

February 21, 2024

EXCERPTS

Maine’s Committee on Energy Utilities and Technology (EUT) held a public hearing on Tuesday on a bill which could strike another blow against the controversial Aroostook Renewable Energy Gateway.

[RELATED: The Heavily Criticized “Aroostook Renewable Gateway” Suffers Another Setback…]

“The opposition of this transmission line was not specific to any political party. It is a bipartisan issue,…

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Added by Long Islander on February 22, 2024 at 1:30pm — 3 Comments

Organizers stand against building offshore wind port at Sears Island

By Marleigha Clipston

Published: Feb. 21, 2024 at 8:33 PM EST

BANGOR, Maine (WABI) - The Alliance for Sears Island and their allies gathered in Belfast today to stand against the decision to build an offshore wind port at Sears Island

Governor Mills announced the location Tuesday.

The Alliance believes the state should have offshore wind power, but the port should be at a different location

They say Mack Point would be a better site and just as many…

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Added by Long Islander on February 22, 2024 at 12:30pm — 2 Comments

Sears Island selected as preferred site for offshore wind power port

Maine Public | By Susan Sharon

Published February 20, 2024 at 1:26 PM EST

Gov. Janet Mills at a press conference announcing Sears Island as the preferred site for an offshore wind port on Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024.
Nicole Ogrysko/Maine Public file
Members of a state working group tasked with finding a suitable port to serve the offshore wind industry toured Sears Island in Nov. 2022. Later, they toured the port of Mack Point, visible in…
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Added by Long Islander on February 20, 2024 at 4:00pm — 7 Comments

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Maine as Third World Country:

CMP Transmission Rate Skyrockets 19.6% Due to Wind Power

 

Click here to read how the Maine ratepayer has been sold down the river by the Angus King cabal.

Maine Center For Public Interest Reporting – Three Part Series: A CRITICAL LOOK AT MAINE’S WIND ACT

******** IF LINKS BELOW DON'T WORK, GOOGLE THEM*********

(excerpts) From Part 1 – On Maine’s Wind Law “Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine if the law’s goals were met." . – Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, August 2010 https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/From Part 2 – On Wind and Oil Yet using wind energy doesn’t lower dependence on imported foreign oil. That’s because the majority of imported oil in Maine is used for heating and transportation. And switching our dependence from foreign oil to Maine-produced electricity isn’t likely to happen very soon, says Bartlett. “Right now, people can’t switch to electric cars and heating – if they did, we’d be in trouble.” So was one of the fundamental premises of the task force false, or at least misleading?" https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-swept-task-force-set-the-rules/From Part 3 – On Wind-Required New Transmission Lines Finally, the building of enormous, high-voltage transmission lines that the regional electricity system operator says are required to move substantial amounts of wind power to markets south of Maine was never even discussed by the task force – an omission that Mills said will come to haunt the state.“If you try to put 2,500 or 3,000 megawatts in northern or eastern Maine – oh, my god, try to build the transmission!” said Mills. “It’s not just the towers, it’s the lines – that’s when I begin to think that the goal is a little farfetched.” https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/flaws-in-bill-like-skating-with-dull-skates/

Not yet a member?

Sign up today and lend your voice and presence to the steadily rising tide that will soon sweep the scourge of useless and wretched turbines from our beloved Maine countryside. For many of us, our little pieces of paradise have been hard won. Did the carpetbaggers think they could simply steal them from us?

We have the facts on our side. We have the truth on our side. All we need now is YOU.

“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”

 -- Mahatma Gandhi

"It's not whether you get knocked down: it's whether you get up."
Vince Lombardi 

Task Force membership is free. Please sign up today!

Hannah Pingree on the Maine expedited wind law

Hannah Pingree - Director of Maine's Office of Innovation and the Future

"Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine."

https://pinetreewatch.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/

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