CMP wins key certificate from regulators for transmission line

HALLOWELL — Maine’s Public Utilities Commission voted Thursday to grant a key certificate to Central Maine Power’s controversial, 145-mile transmission line through western Maine.

Via 3-0 vote, PUC commissioners effectively endorsed a settlement agreement negotiated by several major parties in exchange for a variety of public benefits. That agreement was signed in March by Gov. Janet Mills, the Office of Public Advocate and others following an intense debate fueled by project opponents..................................For supporters, the project offers 1,200 megawatts of clean energy that will bolster Maine’s rural economy, lower electric rates and reduce New England reliance on fossil fuels while combating climate change. For critics, it’s a greedy money grab for foreign developers, etching a 150-foot scar that would run 52 miles through Maine’s North Woods to help Massachusetts meet its renewable energy goals, while falling short of delivering the promised benefits for Mainers or for the planet.............................

Read the full article here:

https://www.pressherald.com/2019/04/11/cmp-wins-key-certificate-fro...

BDN -State regulators endorse key permit for CMP’s $1 billion hydropower project

In addition to concurring with the staff’s Examiners’ Report in their Thursday morning deliberations, the three commissioners also supported a stipulation with more than $250 million in benefits over the 40-year life of the project to local towns along the corridor route. Gov. Janet Mills’ office signed the stipulation along with some environmental groups and other parties.

This story will be updated.

Read the full article here:

https://bangordailynews.com/2019/04/11/business/state-regulators-en...

Opponents, Supporters Of CMP's 145-Mile Transmission Line Weigh In On Bills That Could Sink Project

A handful of measures that supporters hope could sink Central Maine Power's proposed 145-mile transmission line through western Maine were up for public hearing in Augusta Wednesday. Legislative action comes just as state energy regulators prepare to rule on a key permit for the project.

The line would bring low-polluting hydro-electricity from Canadian dams into the regional grid, to serve customers in Masachusetts, who would pay for the project.

One of the bills takes aim at it by requiring a vote of approval from any town that would host big power lines that, like CMP's, are not considered necessary for reliability.

"The Legislature can weigh in and should weigh in, in some way," said Rep. Seth Berry, a Bowdoinham Democrat who co-chairs the Legislature's Energy and Utilities Committee, sponsored the measure. He says it would help Maine plan for a future that likely will include more demands from southern New England for renewable energy that comes from or through Maine.......................................CMP officials, a lobbyist for big energy users, and economic development officials lined up to oppose Berry's bill and other measures that would limit a utility's ability to use eminent domain to override local control. They say there are legitimate public policy goals, such as reducing New England's dependence on fossil fuels, that state regulators can properly weigh against local concerns...................................

Read the full article here:

https://www.mainepublic.org/post/opponents-supporters-cmps-145-mile...

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Comment by Willem Post on April 13, 2019 at 11:04am

Hi Art Brigades,

Great data.

I have been looking for that a long time

Please provide the URL for HQ sales to NE and Vermont

Comment by Art Brigades on April 12, 2019 at 10:58am

HQ sold 3,771,578 MWHs to New England during the 4th quarter 2018, including its sales to Vermont (325,631 MWHs). NECEC would add approx 2.4 million MWH per quarter sold to New England.  HQ’s average wholesale price during the quarter was $45.02/MWH versus ISO-NE average of $45.60/MWH. In the NECEC contract with Mass, the floor price is $58.00/MWH.

Comment by Willem Post on April 11, 2019 at 10:45pm

Whetstone,

Snuffing out home grown, expensive wind and solar plants, that inefficiently produce variable, intermittent electricity, that needs huge direct and indirect subsidies to make their their prices somewhat palatable, and that could never exist on the grid on their own without gas turbines performing the peaking, filling in and balancing (another crutch), would be a good thing for the near zero growth Maine economy.

Heavily subsidized, expensive junk electricity, is an economy and job killer.

Millionaires are thriving, but Joe and Jane Worker get the shaft in more ways than one.

Comment by Willem Post on April 11, 2019 at 4:41pm

Whetstone,

Self-serving critics think we are naive idiots.

Those critics do not know the numbers.

Hydro Quebec sells electricity at 6 c/kWh at the NE border, under 20-y contracts.

Green Mountain Power, a subsidiary of a French company, pays 5.56 c/kWh

No direct and indirect subsidies are required.

Wind sells at 9 c/kWh, and field-mounted solar sells at 11 c/kWh, but they require direct and indirect subsidies that enable system owners to reduce their sell prices by at least 55% to 60%, and be “competitive”, aka obscenely expensive.

High wind and solar energy costs and the direct and indirect subsidies come out of the pockets of hard working Joe and Jane Worker trying to make ends meet in the near zero growth Maine economy.

The multi millionaires get to laugh all the way to the bank, because they are getting richer and richer by paying RE rabble-rousers, like McKibben, Bernie and AOC, aka, airhead on crack, to demagogue global warming scare tactics, such as telling us the absurdity the world will come to an end in 12 years.

Who are these people?

Are they nuts?

They belong in a nuthouse.

Comment by Whetstone_Willy on April 11, 2019 at 3:35pm

"Critics say it would snuff out homegrown green energy projects, like solar and wind power, in Maine."

https://www.wral.com/maine-utility-regulators-to-deliberate-145-mil...

Comment by John F. Hussey on April 11, 2019 at 1:08pm

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ in their pockets  ??????????????

Comment by Willem Post on April 11, 2019 at 12:30pm

The transmission line has a capacity of 1200 MW

The electricity transmission would be about 1200 MW x 8766 h/y x 0.50, capacity factor = 5,250,960,000 kWh/y

This electricity from Canada is about 98% hydro.

Will that electricity stay in Maine, or be sent to Massachusetts?

For comparison,

Vermont grid load is about 6,000,000,000 kWh/y, or 6.0 TWh/y

After 7% T&D losses, arriving at user meters, is about 5,600,000,000 kWh/y

Comment by Eric A. Tuttle on April 11, 2019 at 12:02pm

The PUC decision is near the bottom as I tried to keep a chronological order. 

Comment by Eric A. Tuttle on April 11, 2019 at 12:01pm

This by without directly stating so, opens Maines Western Maine Mountains to MORE wind turbines in the future. Also it completes all but about 31 miles of an established corridor across Maine for Energy Transportation. A highway being the most expensive and last utility.

My video / audio captures of the events / proceedings though many may not be facebook fans such as myself other than it is but another tool can be viewed through this document. 

https://www.facebook.com/notes/say-no-to-necec/427524204670588/ 

 

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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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.

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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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