Long Islander's Blog – March 2015 Archive (30)

White House Claims About Wind Power Are Implausible and Dangerous

The White House's estimate is based on hope - hope that some as-yet unimagined future technology will change the economics of wind power, making it more cost effective than fossil fuel-based generation.......expanding wind penetration beyond about 10 percent requires a significant increase in the amount of available "spinning reserve" - instantly available power generation from an alternative source that can be brought online whenever the wind is too strong or too weak to supply enough power…

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Added by Long Islander on March 31, 2015 at 4:30pm — No Comments

VT weighs turbo-charge from Hydro-Québec

Base-rate residential service from provincial utility Hydro-Québec clocks in at 5.6 cents per kilowatt-hour, according to its website — about one-third that of the typical customer in New England (Green Mountain Power's base rate for residences is 14.7 cents/kWh)........Fed by Québec's seemingly limitless resource of running water, banks of hydro turbines provide steady, reliable "base-load" power. Some turbines, too, can be reserved in standby mode, ready at a moment's notice to…

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Added by Long Islander on March 31, 2015 at 8:43am — No Comments

Only 52% of Maine survey respondents would invest in renewable energy or energy efficiency

If a bare majority of 52% supports renewable energy OR energy efficiency, then perhaps only a minority supports renewable energy. Does a yet smaller minority support industrial wind? Considering the Maine media have been feeding their audiences with a steady diet of pro-wind propaganda for years, it is highly likely that such a minority of Mainers supporting wind would shrivel up significantly more once educated that wind power has high negative…

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Added by Long Islander on March 29, 2015 at 9:00am — 2 Comments

Energy at Bowdoin: Some students becoming attuned to the perils of placing symbolic value over critical thinking?

Maybe Bowdoin and other campuses in Maine would be open to hearing the facts that wind turbines have nothing but symbolic value, e.g., Robert Bryce's "Climate Change Scarecrows".

Excerpt: (from Bowdoin Orient's Editorial Board)

We are beginning to see students who do not support divestment speak out. Kuangji Chen ’15 wrote a detailed op-ed…

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Added by Long Islander on March 27, 2015 at 10:00am — No Comments

David Littell staying on at PUC after term expires until replacement starts

David Littell said he wants to continue participating in cases involving wind power contracts........ By law, commissioners can remain on the job after their term has ended, if a new commissioner hasn’t been nominated and confirmed by the Legislature.

http://www.pressherald.com/2015/03/25/puc-commissioner-plans-to-stay-after-his-term-expires/

Added by Long Islander on March 26, 2015 at 11:30pm — 5 Comments

Analysis: IRS sets stage for two years of robust wind development

A decision by the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to give wind developers an extra year to bring projects online and still collect the $0.023/kWh production tax credit (PTC) sets the stage for two years of robust growth in the US market.

http://www.windaction.org/posts/42391-analysis-irs-grants-developers-an-extra-12-months

Added by Long Islander on March 23, 2015 at 11:20am — No Comments

RIPOFF REPORT: CMP nears completion of 5-year, $1.4B power grid upgrade

This candy coated AP release does not tell the real story.

http://www.sunjournal.com/news/maine/2015/03/23/cmp-nears-completion-5-year-14b-power-grid-upgrade/1672280

This $1.4 billion travesty (gift to the wind industry) demands an investigation. Please read more at the link below and prepare to get involved. If we do not hold the Baldacci PUC…

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Added by Long Islander on March 23, 2015 at 10:30am — 1 Comment

A Troubling Document

While you may not have the time to read this latest piece of pro-wind propaganda, please download the file for your future reference and browse through the table of contents.

http://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/WindVision_Report_final.pdf

This underscores the need for the…

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Added by Long Islander on March 22, 2015 at 10:00am — 7 Comments

Friends of Maine's Mountains Testimony on LD 132 and Work Session Advisory (Mar 25 1PM)

Click on the following link to read FMM's testimony in favor of LD 132, An Act to Remove the 100 Megawatt Limit on Hydropower under the Renewable Resources Laws.

FMM%20Testimony%20on%20LD%20132.doc

The EUT Committee's work session covering this bill is Wednesday, Mar 25, 2015 from 1PM-5PM.…

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Added by Long Islander on March 21, 2015 at 10:57pm — 2 Comments

Four Maine wind power articles today

LePage Seeks to Remove Cap on Maine Hydropower

The cap was put in place several years ago to encourage renewable energy generation, and it exempts wind power. LePage says the cap prevents Maine from accessing cheaper power from Canada, and he's trying the get the Legislature to agree.…

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Added by Long Islander on March 20, 2015 at 4:00pm — 2 Comments

NEW - Moosehead Lake In Crosshairs of First Wind and Plum Creek (Bangor Daily News - Mar 18)

3/18/15

First Wind has applied for permission to install six meteorological towers in Chase Stream, Misery, Misery Gore and Johnson Mountain townships, according to Samantha Horn-Olsen, planning manager for the Land Use Planning Commission......The relevant parcel is owned by Plum Creek Maine…

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Added by Long Islander on March 18, 2015 at 6:30pm — 17 Comments

Maine, you’re an eyewitness to a train wreck

3/17/15

Business reporter Darren Fishell at the Bangor Daily News wrote earlier today that, “The corporate subsidy watchdog agency Good Jobs First found Central Maine Power Co. parent company Iberdrola topped the list of all recipients of federal grants and tax credits, primarily in tax…

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Added by Long Islander on March 18, 2015 at 5:00pm — No Comments

EDP tactic to quiet an increasingly vocal, well-educated and well-informed opposition

“EDP's remarks appear to be a standard wind industry tactic to try to quiet an increasingly vocal, well-educated and well-informed opposition......"

EDP filed plans on Nov. 5 with the Federal Aviation Administration for 29 wind turbines standing 499 feet in height......…

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Added by Long Islander on March 18, 2015 at 1:00am — 5 Comments

Iberdrola & First Wind top federal subsidy recipients since 2000 (Bangor Daily News)

SunEdison, which purchased wind developer First Wind earlier this year, was second on the list for the same reason. Both companies are major owners of wind projects.

.....the public has a right to detailed, company-specific information on the support federal agencies are providing to the private sector, and that disclosure is fundamental to reform,” the report states.…

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Added by Long Islander on March 17, 2015 at 8:30pm — 6 Comments

IRS rules for wind power: Legal or Not?

Lisa Linowes - February 24, 2015

Taxes & Subsidies USA

Clearly, the interpretation of what constitutes “begin construction” is important, yet at no time during the two years since the PTC was extended with this wording did the IRS bother to seek public comment under the Administrative Procedure Act ("APA"), the federal statute that requires federal agencies to provide notice and an opportunity to comment before promulgating rules.

Read more at:…

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Added by Long Islander on March 14, 2015 at 2:00pm — No Comments

BDN - New Maine wind "farm" reopens legal questions

Before wind power developer Atlantic Wind moves ahead with its 50-turbine project in Somerset County, state regulators want to answer big legal questions about what kind of financial ties the developer can have with Central Maine Power Co.

Both companies are owned by the Spanish utility Iberdrola, though both are separated by various levels of corporate subsidiary relationships.…

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Added by Long Islander on March 13, 2015 at 2:00pm — 1 Comment

Windfarm worries for Angus tourism firms

Business owners have raised fears of “irretrievable damage” if the go-ahead is given for a major windfarm in the Angus glens. Hundreds of responses have already been received after the planning application was submitted to Angus Council and Perth and Kinross Council.…

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Added by Long Islander on March 12, 2015 at 10:30pm — No Comments

BDN: Maine Audubon telling wildlife tales

Unfortunately, those of us close to the wind fight in Maine know all too well that Maine Audubon's telling of wildlife tales sometimes overlooks things.

Please be sure to click on and read: FMM attacks Maine Audubon on ties to industrial wind and flawed report

The BDN article is …

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Added by Long Islander on March 11, 2015 at 5:00pm — 2 Comments

National Park Service: Keep wind turbines at least 34 miles away

If the National Park Service sees fit to keep wind turbines 34 miles away from a lighthouse that is only 156' tall as noted at the link below, then surely Maine needs to reassess the far smaller distances it tolerates from these out of scale and place structures. Perhaps the NPS needs to intervene on behalf of the Appalachian…

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Added by Long Islander on March 11, 2015 at 11:00am — 8 Comments

BDN - Why do selectmen push for 500' Tall Turbines when 89% of residents call their rural way of life important?

89 percent of residents categorize our rural way of life as “important” or “very important.” The plan’s land use goal says that new development should “be compatible with [Orland’s] rural attributes such as open ridgelines and scenic views.” Yet our selectmen have supported a plan for 500-foot industrial wind turbines.…

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Added by Long Islander on March 10, 2015 at 9:00am — 12 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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