Steve Thurston's Blog (55)

LePage considering a run for Governor

Send him your thoughts.  

https://mainegop.com/lepagemessage/

Added by Steve Thurston on April 9, 2021 at 2:21pm — 6 Comments

Why Renewables Can't Save the Planet

This needs to be a conversation at every energy committee in every state legislature - 

https://quillette.com/2019/02/27/why-renewables-cant-save-the-planet/?fbclid=IwAR3pUfjG7_mQBtXZDPx3Oc1e_6Y_fAVm4YgWlhF_MYQOgrE78fWT7wE_Rng

Added by Steve Thurston on March 1, 2019 at 11:24am — 5 Comments

FMM and Chris O'Neil mentioned in this article about wind opposition in the US.

"In Maine, plans to erect turbines atop ridges have outraged people worried about marring the rugged landscape and hurting tourism. The group Friends of Maine's Mountains has been fighting wind-energy developments in the state Legislature, before regulatory panels and in the courts. It has managed to slow or stop nearly all of the proposals.

Group spokesman Christopher O'Neil said he knows wind farms remain popular with many people in distant, more populated areas near Portland or…

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Added by Steve Thurston on February 20, 2018 at 9:34pm — No Comments

Vermont Public Service Board adopts 35 dBA nighttime noise level for wind turbines.

The PSB just issued its new rule, which has been submitted to ICAR.  See this section, excerpted from the rule, below.  This is a huge victory for us!!  They adopted the German nighttime standard of 35 dBA and the highest standard in Denmark for daytime of 42 dBA, plus a setback of 10x the total height which is what Poland requires and the Cape Cod Commission recommend.  The wind industry just sustained a huge loss.  This comes as a big surprise, and we will have to defend this through the…

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Added by Steve Thurston on March 3, 2017 at 6:35pm — 5 Comments

The latest renewable integration study covers the entire Eastern Grid

A study led by wind developers, AWEA, turbine and solar panel manufacturers, and other renewable advocates paid for by our tax dollars through NREL/DOE concludes that renewables can supply up to 30% "penetration" in the Eastern US and Canada.   Not included in the study is the cost of generation, transmission, or market rule changes needed for this to happen - which would of course be immense.  The study does highlight the relatively clean ISO-NE grid compared to the other grids serving the…

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Added by Steve Thurston on September 18, 2016 at 10:11am — 2 Comments

Public Workshop on the Wind Energy Act Standards for Scenic Character, Shadow Flicker, Public Safety, Tangible Benefits, and Decommissioning

Public Workshop on the Wind Energy Act Standards for Scenic Character, Shadow Flicker, Public Safety, Tangible Benefits, and Decommissioning - Wednesday September 21

https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/MEDEP/bulletins/164394c

Added by Steve Thurston on September 14, 2016 at 10:22pm — 2 Comments

Plant Trees not Solar Panels

Solar Panels are a Waste of Taxpayer and Ratepayer Money for the Environmental Benefits Achieved.

Solar proponents (https://solarpowerrocks.com/vermont/) advertise a 9.9% annual rate of return over the life of a 5 kw solar project, which costs about $20,000. Investors can claim a first year tax credit of 30%, or $6000. The electric utility is required to credit 5.4…

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Added by Steve Thurston on March 26, 2016 at 10:12am — 6 Comments

Why wind is a bad deal for taxpayers and ratepayers.

Renewables advocates constantly imply that wind and solar are becoming “competitive” but they fail to include the cornucopia of subsidies, which add up to much more than the value of the electricity produced. When challenged they talk about the “social cost” of fossil fuels, as if fossil fuels provide no benefit to society, and imply that these social costs justify the high cost, human suffering, visual blight, habitat destruction, environmental degradation, loss of local control,…

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Added by Steve Thurston on March 15, 2016 at 9:41pm — 2 Comments

STILL TIME TO ACT! LD 1513 Work Session carried over to tomorrow Wednesday 3/9/16

EUT Committee Co-Chairman Representative Mark Dion's bill to allow generators to be owned by affiliates of T&D utilities was given a sound thrashing at today's work session.   Witnesses representing utilities, consumer groups, generators, and the conservation of Maine's landscape all emphasized that there could be no "Code of Conduct" written that would prevent Iberdrola from profiting from its ownership of both CMP as the transmission company and Avangrid as the generation company in…

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Added by Steve Thurston on March 8, 2016 at 7:52pm — No Comments

CALL TO ACTION - Work Session on Amended LD 1513 to continue next Tuesday, March 8

The work session on LD 1513 introduced a completely re-written bill which has not yet been published on the EUT website.  Co-Chairman Dion, one of the sponsors, defended his role in allowing only proponents of the bill to work with the EUT's policy analyst to draft the "amended" bill.  The EUT will allow opposition to this bill to be heard at its next work session on Tuesday.  Please email the Committee members if you cannot attend the work session in person. 

According to Mitch…

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Added by Steve Thurston on March 3, 2016 at 9:11pm — 1 Comment

My letter to the EUT Commitee

February 3, 2016 

Honorable Members of the EUT Committee,…

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Added by Steve Thurston on February 3, 2016 at 7:55pm — 5 Comments

VERMONT AG’S OFFICE INVESTIGATING COMPLAINTS AGAINST ANNETTE SMITH, ANTI-WIND ADVOCATE

The state attorney general’s office has opened an investigation into criminal complaints against a prominent champion of Vermonters who are adversely affected by renewable development.

The attorney general’s office is investigating whether Annette Smith, executive director of Vermonters for a Clean Environment, has practiced law without a license — a charge with penalties left entirely to the court’s discretion.

Smith says the complaints that prompted the AG’s investigation are…

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Added by Steve Thurston on January 23, 2016 at 9:47am — 10 Comments

The IPCC's poster child for Climate Change - Bangladesh

The IPCC lists Bangladesh as the country most at risk from climate change.  But guess what?  Bangladesh is shifting its electricity generation from expensive imported gas to cheap domestic coal in order to increase its GDP.   “Bangladesh’s short-term economic and political costs resulting from not using its coal for the generation of electricity are far higher than the longer term costs resulting from climate change. This also explains why there are no specific plans for using the more…

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Added by Steve Thurston on December 9, 2015 at 5:30pm — 4 Comments

Nuclear versus Wind

At the moment ISO-NE's is using about 15,000 MW of electricity.  35%  of that electricity is coming from 4 nuclear generators with a combined capacity of 4000 MW that consistently operate at a 90% capacity factor year after year. On the opposite end of the efficiency spectrum, 104 MW is coming from over 800 MW of installed capacity of wind turbines that occupy over 80 miles of New England's ridges.  That has been the story all summer long - the time of peak demand on the…

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Added by Steve Thurston on September 19, 2015 at 10:03am — 14 Comments

ISO-NE real time "fuel mix chart" shows dismal performance of wind power

I have been checking the ISO-NE website regularly for the past few weeks, since they announced the addition of the "real time fuel mix chart".   The chart is on the bottom of the "ISO Express"  page.   Today's fuel mix has been typical.   Total demand follows a curve from low during the night to high during the day.  …

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Added by Steve Thurston on July 7, 2015 at 6:00pm — 22 Comments

MAINE'S WIND FUTURE

ISO-NE prepared a forecast in 2011 which outlined several scenarios for wind development in Maine.  This picture taken from slides from that report shows what may happen if nothing is done to prevent it.  Wind developers will continue to build wind projects, and ratepayers will share the costs of transmission, as long as there are mountains or fields on which to build turbines.  The upper left shows potential wind project locations, the upper right shows the transmission needed to support…

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Added by Steve Thurston on June 12, 2015 at 5:32pm — 2 Comments

Vote for Wind Warrior and Maine Guide Dave Corrigan in the Appalachian Trail photo contest

He running a close second to a picture of a rainbow.  Let's put him over the top!

http://a.pgtb.me/gJlj03?app_data=entry_id%3D58128486

 

Added by Steve Thurston on July 14, 2014 at 1:59pm — No Comments

Eagles on Roxbury Pond

I took the accompanying pictures on Roxbury Pond two weeks ago. A pair of eagles have been raising their young on an island in the pond for several decades. Most eagles hatch 2 or 3, but only one survives to fly. These eagles have rebuilt their nest in the same tree and successfully parented 2 chicks to fly from the nest year after year. The value of their DNA to future generations of eagles is enormous. But with the coming of the turbines, and Obama giving free…

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Added by Steve Thurston on July 4, 2014 at 11:28pm — 8 Comments

Landscape architect Walter Cudhohufsky blasts wind turbines on New England's ridges in the VT Digger

Cudnohufsky: The devastation of ridgeline turbine installations in New England

Editor’s note: This op-ed is by Walter Cudnohufsky, a landscape architect and land planner, and landscape artist. He has served on the Ashfield (Mass.) Planning Board and Wind Advisory Committee.

As a landscape architect, I am concerned about and cherish deeply our expansive and…

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Added by Steve Thurston on May 13, 2013 at 5:42pm — No 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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