DEP hosts public meeting on proposed Hancock County wind project

Members of the public got the chance to weigh in on a proposed wind project that would be located in Hancock County Thursday night.

The Department of Environmental Protection hosted the meeting in Aurora at the Airline Community School.

The Weaver Wind Project would build 22 turbines at a cost of 145 million dollars.

The turbines would be located in Eastbrook and Osborn with an operations and maintenance building in Aurora.

Those in attendance spoke both for and against the project.

"What's the water quality impact going to be?" asked resident Darren Lord. "What's the wildlife impact going to be? I am very, very scared about all of those things. I would really ask the experts to take a step back because I don't think we are in any rush."

"In addition to the overall benefits of this clean, emissions free source of renewable energy the Weaver Wind Project also will have a positive environmental effect on the public access to Lower and Middle Lead Mountain Ponds as well as the Union River watershed," said area resident Jeff Rose.

Continue here:

https://www.wabi.tv/content/news/DEP-hosts-public-meeting-on-propos...

Otis weighs wind farm ban

By Kate Cough | The Ellsworth American | April 18, 2019

OTIS – Wind turbines? Not in our backyard.

That was the message from the Otis Planning Board on April 4, when members voted 3-2 to adopt a new wind turbine ordinance aimed at blocking commercial wind development in the town.

Otis resident Teresa Davis said in an email that she and several other residents had been working for months to get the town to adopt the anti-industrial wind ordinance.

“It is too bad each town acts independently when one can affect the other so much,” Davis said, referring to wind projects in neighboring towns that could affect views and noise levels in Otis.

There will be a public hearing on Monday, April 22, at 6 p.m. at the town office to discuss the new rules. For the ordinance to go into effect, voters would have to approve it at Town Meeting on May 11.

Continue reading here:

https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2019/04/19/otis-weighs-wind-farm-ban/

Clifton wind farm expansion will double the number of turbines

By Eesha Pendharkar, BDN Staff | Bangor Daily News | April 19, 2019 | bangordailynews.com ~~

The wind farm in Clifton is on track to triple its energy capacity in the upcoming years by constructing five bigger wind turbines to join the existing five.

Two weeks ago, the Clifton planning board approved a pre-application plan for the 20-megawatt Silver Maple Wind Project, which will be an expansion of the 9-megawatt Pisgah Mountain wind energy project, according to meeting minutes.

The expansion will be developed by Halifax, Nova Scotia-based firm SWEB, a subsidiary of Austrian developer WEB Windenergie, which operates more than 200 wind farms across the world. SWEB first got involved in the Clifton wind farm project as partners to help locally owned Pisgah Mountain LLC purchase the original five turbines. However, according to documents filed by SWEB with the Maine Public Utilities Commission, Silver Maple Wind Project will be fully owned by SWEB.

The project is in its initial stages, with much of the engineering design and timeline yet to be decided. The company has filed a pre-application with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. However, the town does not have to wait for DEP’s decision to approve the project from its end, according to the planning board’s discussion recorded in the meeting minutes.

“We’ve initiated the process, but we’re still completing some of the deliverables for both DEP and municipal permits,” said Micahel Carey, development manager for SWEB.

Continue here:

https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2019/04/19/clifton-wind-farm-expans...

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Comment by Stephen Littlefield on April 19, 2019 at 7:27pm

Yup, more environmental destruction, more killing of hawks, eagles, and bats, more chances of runaway fires. All for inconsistent electricity and mountain tops that will be destroyed forever! This short sighted  idiocy will be judged harshly by future generations that will never see the beauty of these mountains except in photos, because greedy short sighted people that don't live anywhere near the destruction they will cause!! That's my take, how do you like me now!

Comment by Penny Gray on April 19, 2019 at 5:06pm

It blows my mind that there's such a strong opposition to the transmission corridor for Quebec hydro, and the opponents are citing all the same reasons there should be a strong opposition to the ever expanding wind sprawl in Maine.  These wind projects cause more cumulative damage, produce far less power and tear every rural town they target apart.  The bill being pushed through now to study the impacts of the transmission corridor and verify the claims of CO2 offset should be mandatory for every single one of these wind projects.  It was Bob Marshal who said, "It is impossible to evaluate just how much beauty adds to what is worthwhile in existence."  Maine stands to lose everything worthwhile to this insidious wind sprawl.

Comment by Dudley G. Gray on April 19, 2019 at 4:37pm

Here is the question I would ask. Maine does not need the power, so the construction, destruction , birds bats et al benefit only the investors, Reed & Reed and the out of state recipients of the power. I think it is good to remember that besides accelerated depreciation, investment tax credits and subsidies that we don't know about, the owner receives .022 per kilowatt tower of output irrespective of who buys it eventually. These guys breeze into your town ,and buy you off with property tax relief, and cash payments to all residents , mitigating your electric bills. This is known as payola, buying the public on the cheap.  it is just so sad to see people hoodwinked into thinking this is good.  The same people who are railing against the 145 mile CMP , clean energy connect are in favor wind power.  Figure that one out .Every wind farm i've seen requires lots of transmission lines to deliver their power, the size of which pales in comparison to NECEC. If CMP is to buy us off I'd rather have the 250 million over 40 years then the  regional destruction of this vista or that by these windmills.

Dudley Gray   Rangeley Plantation

Comment by John F. Hussey on April 19, 2019 at 4:27pm

The ENEMY is pushing hard in a full frontal attack trying to get as many wind turbines sited as possible before the tax credit dry up! 

 

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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