Maine Governor: Socialists Favor Wind Power
Maine Governor: Socialists love to subsidize new wind and solar projects
High Electricity Prices are Costing Mainers Good Jobs
We?ve been saying it for ?ve years: Maine?s electricity prices are not competitive. My Administration
has made progress to lower heating costs with modern heating systems, and lower oil prices are
providing some relief. But the high cost of electricity in the manufacturing and industrial sectors
continues to kill good jobs for Mainers.
We have dozens of letters from well-respected Maine companies telling us that high energy costs make
it dif?cult?if not impossible?to do business here. Maine?s electric rates are 12th highest in the country,
and the Legislature is making it worse. Special interests are constantly lobbying for carve?outs and
above-market contracts to bene?t themselves. Incredibly, last year the Legislature thought it was a good
idea to sign more long-term contracts for above~market rates.
Current market rates are at 4 to 5 cents per kilowatt on average. But the Legislature forced the PUC to
sign long?term contracts for 20 years at prices ranging from 8.3 to 10 cents per kilowatt before
distribution and transmission. Now we know the exact price of their failure to protect Mainers: $38
million has been added to your costs for the above-market contracts.
Instead of arti?cially increasing electric bills, legislators should focus on lowering rates for the Maine
people. Lower electricity rates would help attract employers to our state and lower the cost of living and
working in our state. The Maine people deserve a break, not the wealthy Special interests in Augusta,
who pro?t off our hardworking middle class.
Socialists love to subsidize new wind and solar energy projects because they think it will save the earth,
but that kind of expensive and inef?cient energy bene?ts only a few wealthy investors, and our
electrical generation is already one of the cleanest in the country. Instead, let?s support the existing
Maine-based biomass infrastructure that is already in place to take advantage of our plentiful natural
resource: wood.
The biomass industry creates good jobs for Mainers, ranging from loggers and truckers to mill workers
and lumber yard crews. Biomass facilities are often the largest taxpayers in small towns, and biomass
reduces our reliance on fossil fuels. Let?s help our economy and all Mainers, rather than arti?cially
limiting sources of inexpensive energy.
Meanwhile, my Administration continues to make progress working with other New England states to
expand hydropower and natural gas into our region. Right now there is construction underway to expand
our pipelines into New England, and clean and affordable hydropower is right next door in Quebec.
It?s time to switch off expensive energy. We must plug into the affordable reserves of nearby natural gas
and hydropower. We must be willing to transmit hydropower to the states south of us.
How many more Mainers must lose their jobs before the Legislature wakes up and takes action?
http://www.pressherald.com/2016/02/08/lepage-rails-against-socialis...
http://bangordailynews.com/2016/02/08/politics/state-house/lepage-b...
http://www.maine.gov/tools/whatsnew/attach.php?id=669201&an=1
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RELATED:
"Windmills are doing damage to our quality of life and our mountains"
-- Governor Paul LePage
http://www.windtaskforce.org/video/knox-county-capitol-for-a-day
Views: 270
Comment
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Comment by Marshall Rosenthal on February 8, 2016 at 10:33pm
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The problem with socialist thinking is that it is utopian. This is a form of euphoria, just as is any drug induced euphoria, that relieves the socialist thinker from having to reckon with real problems that confront people in their daily lives, like why can't I get any sleep since those huge wind turbines were put next door, or why has my electric bill trebled and my income has gone down, and other strange new problems that just won't go away. If I can just keep my head in the clouds maybe the nagging problems, like when will I be able to afford a new car, because this one is driving me into the poor house from trying to keep it on the road? But the President and the Governor and the well dressed politicians and lawyers tell me that things will get so much better if we give away billions to the wind and solar developers because.. why? Maybe Bernie will save the day. But he wants to give those guys even more. These dots just don't connect. Maybe if I can just bring up that socialist dream...
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Comment by Jim Wiegand on February 8, 2016 at 9:40pm
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It must be that socialists are easier easier to Brainwash. I know they are not too bright because Sanders is charming his supporters with virtually the same garbage Obama used to get into office.
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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