Mills calls for Maine to borrow $239 million - use of funds includes clean energy

This article (and perhaps the Governor's package???) does not specify the dollars that would be allocated to "clean" energy. Nor does it provide any details.

Mills calls for Maine to borrow $239 million - use of funds includes clean energy

AUGUSTA — Gov. Janet Mills rolled out a $239 million bond package Tuesday that would, among other things, invest in broadband internet and renewable energy, replace aging roads and bridges and rebuild the Land for Maine’s Future program.

Speaking from the Cabinet Room with more than a dozen commissioners lined up behind her, the Democratic governor called the bond proposal a series of “targeted, reasonable investments.”

“Today my administration is announcing an investment of strategy to expand our economy, diversify our economy and address the most critical challenges facing our state, and to position the state to succeed for the future,” she said.

The measures all require legislative approval before going out to voters. Mills said she envisions $189 million on the ballot this November and the remaining $50 million pushed to 2020.

State bonds are always part of the budget discussions because the state’s debt service – the total payout for all existing borrowing – is a substantial line item. Republicans and Democrats alike are typically in favor of bonds, although there often is disparity over priorities.

Mills said leaders from the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee have been briefed about her proposals. In addition to the $239 million proposed by the governor, there are dozens of bonds bills under consideration that total nearly $2 billion. Some of those overlap with Mills’ priorities and many others will never be heard.

The biggest of the four bonds proposed by Mills is $105 million for transportation. This would be the 5th consecutive year Maine has borrowed a large sum to invest in roads and bridges. Mills said every Mainer is aware of the conditions of state roads and that this borrowing would trigger as much as $140 million in federal funding as well.

The next biggest bond, $65 million, is for environmental protection and clean energy, with the biggest amount, $30 million, going toward the Land for Maine’s Future Program, which helps preserve land from development..................................

Read the full article here:

https://www.pressherald.com/2019/06/04/mills-proposes-239-million-i...

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Comment by Stephen Littlefield on June 5, 2019 at 6:06pm

Here we go! borrowing money at crazy amounts for her further destruction of Maines' natural resources! There won't be a mountain with a top left in Maine by the end of four years of this asshat clown that looks like Alfred E. Neumans sister! Please let me get out of state while I can still sell my home!

Comment by Willem Post on June 5, 2019 at 1:31pm

Maine is going hog-wild for EXPENSIVE renewable energy using BORROWED money. 

Lord, when will that stupidity come to an end?

Where is the global warming?

It was 40F at 6 AM this morning in Woodstock, VT

Maine making itself more expensive to compete in the future.

The standard of living of already-struggling Joe and Jane Maine Worker will decrease.

Comment by Art Brigades on June 5, 2019 at 11:27am

Looks like assistance with heat pumps and solar panels for municipal governments. 

 

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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