Today 2PM - CMP Briefing Environment and Natural Resources on NECEC Transmission Li
The three hour meeting just started. (2:02PM)
http://legislature.maine.gov/Audio/#216
Cross Building, Room 216
Audio should be available as soon as the meeting starts at approximately 2PM today, 4/9/18 at the following link: http://legislature.maine.gov/committee/#Committees/ENR
Meetings do not always start on time and there's usually dead air until the start when the microphone is turned on.
There seem to be differing opinions on how this line might relate to wind power in Maine.
CMP's proposed NECEC transmission line is presently positioned as HVDC (High Voltage Direct Current) and would carry Canadian hydropower south to satisfy the clean energy goals enacted by Massachusetts.
- One opinion is that the more hydro satisfying Mass, the lower the chances of wind projects in Maine to satisfy these same goals. Moreover, it has been said that it would be prohibitively expensive for wind projects to connect to this line, as the line is DC and wind uses AC. Additionally, it has been said that co-locating separate wind AC transmission lines within the same transmission corridor as the HVDC line could be very problematic due to electromagnetic interference issues.
- Another opinion is that the above mentioned cost and technology issues are in fact overstated and should not be regarded as significant impediments and that in fact, the NECEC would accommodate wind-produced electricity and thus encourage wind project development in Maine.
Many communities in Maine are already suffering the effects of wind project development to date and if this project were to reduce the odds of additional wind projects being built, that would likely overall be a good thing. However, if there is a risk that the project would not deter wind development and in fact facilitate such development, it would be very bad for this reason, along with any environmental impacts the NECEC might create in and of itself.
Opinion
Insist on new Natural Gas pipeline to Maine through Mass
Massachusetts wants this project built across Maine yet has effectively banned the construction of any natural gas pipelines through Mass that would bring this essential and plentiful fuel to Maine. Without more natural gas, Maine is in danger of rolling blackouts and skyrocketing energy prices such as when expensive oil must be burned during periods of peak electricity demand. Maine should understand its leverage in this situation and press for Mass to allow such natural gas pipelines before it simply rolls over and allows Mass's desired Canadian hydro to be brought across Maine. If Mass can bar natural gas pipeline Maine needs, why would Maine simply bow to Mass's request for transmission through Maine?
Stipulate No Wind Power through NECEC lines or corridor
With regard to the possibility of wind being able to use the NECEC corridor or lines to carry wind electricity, Maine should stipulate that CMP guarantee that this not be permitted to happen. CMP is poised to make a fortune with the NECEC and Maine should make this a condition of any approval if they wish to have a clear path ahead on the NECEC. Frankly, if the aforementioned economic and technological obstacles of piggybacking wind onto the NECEC lines or corridor are real, CMP should have no problem assenting to providing such assurance.
Committee on Environment and Natural Resources
Senator Thomas B. Saviello (R-Franklin), Chair
Senator Amy F. Volk (R-Cumberland)
Senator Geoffrey M. Gratwick (D-Penobscot)
Representative Ralph L. Tucker (D-Brunswick), Chair
Representative Robert S. Duchesne (D-Hudson)
Representative John L. Martin (D-Eagle Lake)
Representative Jessica L. Fay (D-Raymond)
Representative Stanley Paige Zeigler, Jr. (D-Montville)
Representative Jonathan L. Kinney (R-Limington)*
Representative Richard H. Campbell (R-Orrington)
Representative Jeffrey K. Pierce (R-Dresden)
Representative Scott Walter Strom (R-Pittsfield)
Representative Denise Patricia Harlow (I-Portland)
*Ranking Minority Member
Hearing Room: Room 216, Cross State Office Building - phone (207) 287-4149
Committee Clerk: Dylan Sinclair
Views: 280
Comment
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Comment by Long Islander on April 9, 2018 at 2:18pm
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Still on here. I noticed when I used another application while listening, the sound cut off. Weird.
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On here since 2:02PM
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Comment by Eric A. Tuttle on April 9, 2018 at 1:08pm
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Comment by John F. Hussey on April 9, 2018 at 11:14am
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Smoke and mirrors AC/DC! Hydro produces AC voltage at a stable 60 Hertz and sends it into the grid. Turbines produce AC power but at different voltages and Hertz depending on wind speed. You cannot connect unstabalized AC voltage to the grid unless you first convert it to DC! In the conversion you get a stable DC voltage, the amps will vary but you don't have to worry about creating 60 Hertz.
That's why they want to run a DC line south...it will collect DC power from proposed wind turbines in southern Quebec and then add power from another boat load of turbines proposed for Western Maine.
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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