From 2008-2013 electricity prices rose an average of 20.7 percent in the top 10 wind power states, seven-fold higher than the national electricity price increase of merely 2.8 percent according to U.S. Energy Information Administration data. ...higher electricity prices caused by wind power kill jobs throughout the entire state and national economy. Any way you…

16 OCT 2014: REPORT

Electric Power Rights of Way: 

A New Frontier for Conservation

Often mowed and doused with herbicides, power transmission lines have long been a bane for environmentalists. But that’s changing, as some utilities are starting to manage these areas as potentially valuable corridors for threatened wildlife.

by richard conniff…

EXCERPTS: ...favored by Democrats, including U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud, would revive Maine’s push for energy from wind...MICHAUD is taking a more cautious and nuanced approach to natural gas. He appears to be straddling the issue, torn between the effect that natural gas supply has on electric rates and the preference of many of his supporters for a strong shift to renewable energy. …

"We need to support wind, solar and tidal power so that we can keep our energy dollars right here in Maine".

Phil Bartlett served three terms on the Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee.…

LePage has no truck with the environmental left or the crony capitalists. He has repeatedly argued for less expensive energy and a market-based approach that eschews tax credits, subsidies and regulatory mandates favoring particular “green” sources.…

Finances are also at the core of the Friends of Maine’s Mountains appeal. O’Neil said he believes that the group’s strongest argument is about the adequacy of the fund set up for the ultimate decommissioning of the 62 turbines that would be built. A decommissioning fund would pay for restoring the scenic vistas if the wind project ultimately is abandoned. O’Neil claims First Wind has underestimated the cost of removing the turbines, which would soar up to 492 feet in height, while restoring…

Going from coal and oil to natural gas has cut carbon infinitely more than the 500+ foot tall "climate change scarecrows" which are in the process of maiming our state. But you'll never hear that from the Maine environmental groups so long as they keep taking money from the the Enronesque wind…

EXCERPTS:

...two appeals of the $398 million project, one from Friends of Maine’s Mountains and another from Alice Barnett, a longstanding critic of the project who has raised complaints about noise from the turbines.

John Lamontagne, a spokesman for First Wind, said the company is disappointed by the appeal.…

“My feeling on wind is this: If it is economically feasible, if it lowers the energy costs in the state of Maine, if it’s not doing environmental damage and if it’s not hindering people’s use or enjoyment of their land, then I’m OK with wind,” Dunphy said.…

The Bristol Board of Selectmen has warned, however, that the vote, the result of a petition, is likely nonbinding

EXCERPTS:

The vast majority of some 300 Bristol residents at a special town meeting Wednesday, Oct. 1, voted against allowing an offshore wind project to…

Boy, sure would have been nice had Maine electricity ratepayers not been charged for the MRRP (CMP Upgrade), i.e., the transmission lines built solely for the wind industry so they could get their Maine-destroying product to Mass and Ct.…

BDN: First Wind Pushing for 600' Tall Turbine Allowances

Two thoughts:

1. That's about 10% higher than the Washington Monument

2. Our # 1 industry, tourism, relies on people fleeing the views of…

Please see the comments below for latest Brad Blake email to BDN Reporter Jen Lynds on First Wind.

Yet another incursion in Katahdin country.

First Wind celebrates Oakfield windpower project groundbreaking

The power that will be generated by the project is contracted to be…

On a test score, the following sort of discrepancy could be the difference between failing a course or getting a good grade. But when it comes to electricity, i.e., the ratepayer's wallet, who cares?

PPH: The Ultimate Sustainable Campus Map

Excerpt:

UMPI’s wind turbine has not yet lived up to its projected potential of producing 700,000 kilowatt hours of electricity annually. 

 …

Because the term of another commissioner, David Littell, is up in March, Welch’s early departure means the next governor will appoint two of the three PUC commissioners.

http://www.pressherald.com/2014/09/24/tom-welch-maines-puc-chair-to-step-down-early/

Nauseating how the photo shamelessly wraps this taxpayer scam in the flag in an attempt to convey patriotism when in fact it is traitorous treasury draining fraud.…

Maine regulators agree on safety of CMP’s ‘smart meters’

http://www.pressherald.com/2014/09/23/smart-meters/

When the supply can't be depended upon as it can with a source like natural gas, an alternate way to match up supply and demand is to control the demand. Enter the smart meter.

"A smart grid would allow the…

EXCERPT:

Wind power from projects such as those in northern Maine have also become competitive with other sources of generation

http://www.pressherald.com/2014/09/23/maine-voices-with-maine-at-clean-energy-tipping-point-next-governor-to-play-crucial-role/

Excerpts:

Bowdoin College was putting in a major new solar complex, designed to generate about 8 percent of the campus’ annual electricity needs. 

What surprised us were the efforts being made in just about every corner of the state as institutions of higher education, both public and private, gear up for a future where oil is scarce, the stresses of global warming increase and Mainers have to become more…

Maine regulators asked to decide whether to charge electricity ratepayers for natural gas expansion

PUC staff is scheduled to report Oct. 1 on whether and to what extent the three-member commission should use its authority to assess a tariff on electricity ratepayers to pay for new pipeline capacity.…