This may be unfortunate for Bruce Williamson, an excellent candidate!

http://bangordailynews.com/2015/06/03/politics/vote-imminent-on-puc...

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Comment by Eric A. Tuttle on June 8, 2015 at 3:47pm

The ENR cancelled their hearing today, as LePage withdrew his nomination. (from Dan Tartakoff - ENR Analysis)

Comment by Kathy Sherman on June 3, 2015 at 11:25pm
So many crises of confidence. Our entire regulatory system for the currently most necessary 'public' infrastructure has been thrown into turmoil. In no small part because of 'deregulation' without recognition of the requirements of Energy Act '05 to provide RELIABLE, COMPETITIVE GRID MARKETS through independent system operators. So our ISO-NE can say Maine (and other northern NEngl wind resources that have been pretty pitiful so far, pretty much as NREL predicted, are in areas with poor/congested transmission to NO transmission. Or we can blame FERC. The CT utility regulators can say that they had no choice but to approve No. 9 Mtn. because it was pre-ordained by the executive branch decision, or we can have First Wind/Iberdrola's contracts with Mass utilities approved one year ago without consideration of transmission requirements or reliability/grid impacts or consumer cost. Talk about revolving door! We certainly have had it in Mass between Exec Dept of Enviro Protection to major push for wind / anti-nuke Union of Concerned Scientists, the Utility Commission Commissioner to DEP, the legislative aide for major '08 statutes and subsequent expansion to that exec. Rule stakeholder, DOER, and on an on. The question is which branch has authority, which becomes mute when the lines are so blurred. Who is charged with protecting the ratepayer- regulation assured utilities of a profit on the backs of ratepayers but it was limited. 'Deregulation' seems to mean all sorts of return on investment from PTC to new investment vehicles once tax equity is milked based on power purchase agreements mortgaging ratepayers for 20-25 years. That, folks, is what I would call mortgaging our progeny's future and any legacy we might hope to have. And that seems to be what brought up the whole re-visit of the contracts. Finally the PUC said what risks should the developer bear on term sheets we are not privy to and over what time horizon. We could look at the tools the Governor's opponents chose and say calendars are part of public right-to-know and transparency- GREAT! Let's see the calendars for the authors of the expedited wind law, J Browne, the two prior governors, PUC's Adams etc. But it seems Dems may have rushed on to avoid such can-of-worms that they opened.

I can't defend LePage, because I am not a Mainer and I did not hear it. But I can say it is a royal mess and I am sick of it. I can say that we need someone to be looking out for the ratepayer. I can be pretty sure that across energy sectors, local impacts and environmental standards are foresaken, by eminent domain when necessary, ancient 'easement rights' often, and 'energy independence, economic development of rural or wild/pristine' to benefit urban areas ALWAYS. The 'water wars' are still going on. Well, I have asked long enough that we understand that this is something we should unite on or at least communicate about

 

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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