Maine wind industry alarmed as utility regulators consider rethinking approved projects
Maine's reshaped Public Utilities Commission wants to reconsider two proposed wind projects it approved two months ago.........Payne said he believes LePage, who has long opposed wind power because of its high cost, is trying to interfere in the process.......
http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2015/02/20/maine-wind-industry-a...
NOTE: This AP story has also been picked up by the Portland Press Herald:
http://www.pressherald.com/2015/02/20/wind-industry-sees-political-...
and
Maine Commission Could Reopen Energy Proposals, But Critics Say LePage is Meddling
http://news.mpbn.net/post/maine-commission-could-reopen-energy-prop...
and
An editorial from the ever wind cheer leading BDN:
LePage’s meddling in energy contracts fits dangerous pattern
By The BDN Editorial Board,
Published Feb. 20, 2015, at 4:49 p.m.
In a Dec. 8 letter to the commission the PUC since has made confidential, LePage raised concerns that long-term contracts did not include nonrenewable, existing sources of electricity. “Accordingly, I request that you expand your current request for proposals to include any clean energy resource, including existing hydropower and nuclear, and review whether these potential contracts could have benefits for the ratepayers in Maine and our broader economy,” the governor wrote..............
http://bangordailynews.com/2015/02/20/the-point/lepages-meddling-in...
Views: 357
Comment
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Comment by Long Islander on February 22, 2015 at 9:33am
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Here's a reader comment from the article suggesting a possible tightening of the state's ethics laws:
A very good place to start would be to listen to, and follow, Roger Katz's folk's who are, now, setting the stage for some VERY serious State Ethics Statute's, some that are, even now, calling for MANDATORY MINIMUM STRAIGHT 10 YEAR sentence's, for violating the public's trust. The MTA mess, w/ Violette, as well as the Kurt Adams and 1st Wind fiasco, were very early warning sign's of just how vulnerable Maine was, and is, to public corruption. It's well past time for this kind of BS to be put a stop to, and to do so with some VERY SERIOUS AND STIFF PENALTY'S to make the point stick !
http://bangordailynews.com/2015/02/20/the-point/lepages-meddling-in...
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Comment by Dan McKay on February 21, 2015 at 1:09pm
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Go to :https://mpuc-cms.maine.gov/CQM.Public.WebUI/Common/CaseMaster.aspx?...
Click on public comments.
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Those who want to post comment to PUC............https://mpuc-cms.maine.gov/.../Comm.../CaseNumberSearch.aspx Type: 2014-00024 for case number
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"including wind energy facilities that can only run when the wind blows, and often receive tax credits for production."
If ISO-NE can recognize wind receives extra revenue outside the market, why doesn't the PUC subtract this extra revenue from the bid WIND makes in these long term contracts ? Level the field, protect the ratepayer as your mission statement tells you to do, PUC.
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ISO-NE, the administrator for the New England wholesale electric market would like it to be known " Allowing resources to submit negative offers accommodates resources that can operate economically at very low energy prices, including wind energy facilities that can only run when the wind blows, and often receive tax credits for production."" Another key change is that the market parameters have been expanded to include negative offers. Before, the minimum offer was $0 per megawatt-hour (MWh). Now, resources can provide power at prices as low as -$150/MWh—or, to put it another way, they can PAY as much as $150/MWh to stay online and produce power."
The PUC contracts CMP to buy wind output at 5 cents per kilowatt, while the ISO-NE allows wind to bid negative prices to wholesale, which is the only market CMP can sell the purchased wind output. Re-structuring of the electric system in 2000 does not allow CMP to sell at the retail level.
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/
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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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