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.…

Critics of the decision — many of them directly involved in the wind industry — claim that reopening the bidding will create “regulatory uncertainty” in the global market and put the flow of investment dollars to the state at risk. We believe any such risk would be limited to further investment in land-based wind power development in Maine. And our view — one shared by many others in Maine — is that such a slowdown is a welcome occurrence.…

In other words, something is terribly flawed with the law that was of course created by and for corporations who continue to write legislation affecting the wind industry, most recently evidenced by former Senate president Justin Alfond's 178 pages of emails with the wind industry exposed by the nonpartisan …

Anti-wind development group withdraws appeal of Bingham project

http://bangordailynews.com/2015/03/05/business/anti-wind-development-group-withdraws-appeal-of-bingham-project/?ref=regionmidmaine

Bingham Wind project gets…

Any ordinance writer knows regulations are fact-based documents, not political mandates written to accommodate a possible, chosen one.

http://www.sunjournal.com/news/weeklies/2015/03/04/dixfield-must-get-line-wind-power-money/1660599

and…

 The state continues to prop up unreliable and intermittent wind power with a wind law that favors the out-of-state wind industry at the expense of Mainers.....

http://bangordailynews.com/2015/03/03/opinion/letters/wednesday-march-4-2015-acadia-bus-stop-harvesting-wood-products-national-park/

“To demonstrate the challenge offshore wind is having, 12 companies qualified to bid but only two submitted bids. Although the four leases were in the heart of some of the windiest areas of the U.S., they are further south of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket Island. But being in deeper water than the stymied Cape Wind project located to the north, their development and operating costs will be considerably greater.”

The prospects for U.S. offshore wind power, after…

Listen to live webcast in five minutes: DEP to brief EUT Committee on wind power

If you are interested in hearing the DEP's briefing on wind energy to be presented to the Legislature's Utilities Committee, tune in Tuesday at 1 pm. It will include the DEP's lessons learned and a glimpse at their future plans to regulate Maine's worst boondoggle. Click here to listen:…

BY PAUL ACKERMAN

Maine Audubon’s 2014 list of corporate sponsors notes the following among the wind industry & backers/ beneficiaries: Eagle donor ($10,000-plus from First Wind), Falcon donor ($5,000 from Reed & Reed Inc.), Osprey donor ($2,500-plus from Central Maine Power Company), Owl donor ($1,000-plus from Cianbro and Patriot Renewables).…

Firm vs. Intermittent Resourcing: A primer on wind/solar power deficiency (Part I)

By Thomas Stacy II -- February 26, 2015…

The appeal, filed by Friends of Maine's Mountains, asks the board to overturn a DEP decision approving the construction of a 56-turbine wind farm in Somerset County

http://www.pressherald.com/2015/03/02/wind-opponents-hope-for-reversal-on-project/…

n a statement attacking the proposals, Bournemouth Tourism Management Board also said it was furious that EDF Energy, one of the backers of the Navitus Bay project, was “completely disregarding the environmental and consequential economic impact on the local area and refusing to compensate for the multi-million pound damage local businesses face”.…

...the term of commissioner Littell, appointed by LePage’s Democratic predecessor John Baldacci, expires in March. “This proceeding has already had a lot of delay, and I think we should proceed with all due speed,” Littell said.…

U.S. court upholds Maine wind farm permit in bald eagle case

Ayesha Rascoe

(Reuters) - A federal court has ruled that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers did not violate environmental regulations when it granted a permit to a Maine wind farm, prompting an environmental attorney to remark that "the fix is in" for wind power projects.

Environmentalists sued the agency in 2013, arguing that construction of the wind energy facility in Oakfield, Maine would violate the…

Friends of Maine Mountains filed an appeal of the project permits to the BEP in October, arguing in part that the company did not have adequate financing to provide for the project’s decommissioning.

BEP staff wrote in the draft order that the company was right in its estimates of those costs and that its plan meets the requirement that project decommissioning be fully funded before construction begins.

First Wind has reached agreements to make for 20 years annual…

When Governor Baldacci handpicked a wind task force and told them to remove all obstacles for the wind developers, today's critics never said that was meddling. Or how about the 171 pages of emails between then Senate president Justin Alfond and the wind industry that…

Other windmill components also will be coming to Maine from Denmark by ship, he said. The first ship carrying windmill blades and generators is expected to dock at Mack Point on Wednesday night.

http://bangordailynews.com/2015/02/23/business/aroostook-county-windmill-parts-driven-100-miles-away-for-storage/

.....So, they get an agreement to sell the power in another state before they even have a permit in place to build the wind turbines, or even more significantly, before the Maine ratepayers of CMP and Emera (without knowing it) pay for the transmission lines to get the power to the grid out of state! 

..........Part 2 will delve into other aspects of Big Wind, including the contradiction of Maine environmental organizations taking donations from First Wind and other…

“Obviously the substance will be very complicated and very complex … but I think what I will bring is an understanding of the process, to make sure the integrity of the process is upheld transparently,”......…