Maine Wind Energy Law Update from Juliet Browne of Portland Law Firm Verrill Dana

This energy blog discusses several departures from current DEP practice in the areas of decommissioning, power purchase agreements, effect on electricity rates and setbacks.

SEE: http://www.energylawupdate.com/energy-law-update/2017/11/15/maine-d...

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Comment by Monique Aniel Thurston on November 17, 2017 at 7:38pm

so glad to see Juliet miffed .

Comment by Penny Gray on November 17, 2017 at 4:22pm

And just to cheer you up, here's an uplifting four minute speech by Senator Lamar Alexander on the Senate floor on why the PTC should be ended NOW.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJNUrLHL7RQ&feature=youtu.be

Comment by Barbara Durkin on November 17, 2017 at 10:24am
Verrill Dana?

Look who claims to have created wind friendly regulations & represents 90% of ME wind projects

Verrill Dana

Website-

SunEdison: Wind Power Development
We represent SunEdison in the development, permitting, construction and operation of its wind power projects in Maine. Our Environmental Group has been instrumental in wind power development since its inception in Maine, not only because we represent over 90 percent of the wind power capacity in the State, but because we have shaped the legislation, regulation and judicial precedent that will make it possible for wind energy development to continue to flourish in the future.

http://www.verrilldana.com/services/xpqServiceDetail.aspx?xpST=Serv...

Upcoming 'wind' events:

EBC Renewable Energy Program: Wind Turbine Noise and Health Impacts - Report of the Massachusetts Expert Panel
Date & Time: Wednesday, April 25, 2012 - 7:30 AM - 10:30AM
Location: CDM Smith
World Headquarters
50 Hampshire Street
Cambridge, MA 02139
: [directions]

Description: The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) in collaboration with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) convened a panel of independent experts to identify any documented or potential health impact risks that may be associated with exposure to wind turbines, and, specifically, to facilitate discussion of wind turbines and public health based on scientific findings. The Report of the Independent Expert Panel was released in January 2012. This EBC Program will include a presentation on the report by Alicia Barton McDevitt, Mass DEP Deputy Commissioner, followed by a panel discussion.

Program Chair:
Stephen B. Barrett, Director of Clean Energy, HMMH

Panel Moderator:
Juliet Browne, Partner, Verrill Dana LLP

Speakers include:
Alicia Barton McDevitt, Deputy Commissioner, MassDEP
Wendy Heiger-Bernys, Associate Professor of Environmental Health, MA DEP and Boston University School of Public Health

Chair, Lexington Board of Health
Member of the Expert Panel

James Cassida, Principal Ecologist and Regulatory Specialist, Normandeau Associates, Inc.
Dr. Robert McCunney, Research Scientist and Lecturer, Massachusetts General Hospital

Wind Turbine Health Impact Study:
Report of Independent Expert Panel

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) in collaboration with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) convened a panel of independent experts to identify any documented or potential health impact risks that may be associated with exposure to wind turbines, and, specifically, to facilitate discussion of wind turbines and public health based on scientific findings. The Report of the Independent Expert Panel was released in January 2012. This EBC Program will include a presentation on the report by Alicia Barton McDevitt, Mass DEP Deputy Commissioner followed by a panel discussion.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

CDM Smith
50 Hampshire Street
Cambridge, Massachusetts

7:30 a.m. Registration and Networking, Continental Breakfast

8:00 a.m. Welcome Daniel K. Moon, President EBC
Introduction: Stephen B. Barrett, Director of Clean Energy, HMMH

8:15 a.m. Review: Wind Turbine Health Impact Study: Report of Independent Expert Panel
Alicia Barton McDevitt, Deputy Commissioner for Policy
Massachusetts DEP

8:45 a.m. Following MASS DEP Deputy Commissioner McDevitt's presentation, a panel of experts will address the report and issues of concern.

Response Moderator and Panelists
Moderator: Juliet T. Browne, Partner, Verrill Dana
Panelists:
Alicia Barton McDevitt, Deputy Commissioner, Massachusetts DEP
Wendy Heiger-Bernys, Associate Professor of Environmental Health
Department of Environmental Health
Boston University School of Public Health
Chair, Lexington Board of Health, Member of the Expert Panel
James Cassida, Principal Ecologist and Regulatory Specialist
Normandeau Associates
Robert McCunney, Research Scientist and Lecturer
Massachusetts General Hospital (invited)

10:00 a.m. Adjourn

STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS PRESENTS BIASED STUDIES TO ADVANCE WIND

The DPU process is predicated upon the Mass Department of Environmental Protection’s (MassDEP) so called ‘Health Impact Study’. The process MassDEP employed and the document produced are seriously flawed. A biased panel reviewed cherry picked materials. Among the most egregious flaws are the following: the panel only met two times, did not follow the scope document, did not review all materials submitted to MassDEP from the public (which included peer-reviewed scientific articles and evidence of direct links between wind turbines and adverse health impacts) and did not conduct a field trip to interview people in MA within one hour of Boston who are experiencing health problems since wind turbines were constructed nearby.

MA Energy and Environment Secretary Richard Sullivan’s September 2011 comment foretold the study findings of no harm before the process commenced.
http://www.planning.org/mobile/news/story.htm?story_id=163602509

Cape Cod Times 9/16/11:
While the panel's work will be valuable in the creation of setbacks and other standards for wind energy projects, the Patrick administration does not believe at this point that there are major health affects from turbines, Sullivan said.

Berkshire residents claim the Patrick Administration cannot be trusted to act in the public interest when it comes to siting wind projects, Berkshire Eagle 1/28/14. I so agree.
http://www.berkshireeagle.com/news/ci_25006521/berkshire-residents-...

A biased panel reviews of literature is challenged by MA residents who cite the lack of objectivity of this health report-
• Mass: Wind turbine critics question panel’s report on health impacts
By Kyle Cheney / State House News Service
Tuesday, February 14, 2012 –
http://fiwn.wordpress.com/2012/02/15/mass-wind-turbine-critics-ques...

• Enterprise
Residents Call State Turbine Study Faulty And Biased
http://www.capenews.net/communities/region/news/1672

• January 21, 2012 • Massachusetts
Wind farm critics slam health study; Patrick standing by controversial report
Credit: Christine Lee, 22News State House Correspondent,

WWLP, www.wwlp.com 20 January 2012 January 21, 2012 • Massachusetts
• Falmouth turbine foes reject state study
By JON OFFREDO
joffredo@capecodonline.com
January 24, 2012 2:00 A

Cut/
State wind power task force members

R. Alec Giffen, director, Maine Forest Service; Sen. Phillip Bartlett, D-Gorham; Juliet Browne, Verrill Dana lawyer who represented wind power developers including First Wind and TransCanada; Pete Didisheim, director of advocacy, Natural Resources Council of Maine; Judith A. Dorsey, private citizen; Rep. Stacey Fitts, R-Pittsfield; Sen. Walter Gooley, R-Farmington; Jody Jones, a wildlife ecologist with Maine Audubon; John Kerry, director, Office of Energy Independence & Security; Kathleen Leyden, coastal program manager, State Planning Office; David Littell, commissioner, Department of Environmental Protection; Rep. W. Bruce MacDonald, D-Boothbay; Milton McBreairty, business manager, IBEW Local Union 567; Patrick McGowan, commissioner, Department of Conservation; Steve Timpano, environmental coordinator, Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife; David Wilby, executive director, Independent Energy Producers of Maine, an energy-industry trade group. A 17th member, Dave Publicover of the Appalachian Mountain Club, was an alternate with the Maine Audubon representative on the task force.

http://bangordailynews.com/2010/08/09/news/some-who-created-windpow...

 

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 

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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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