An in depth look at the Proposed Aroostook County Wind and Transmission Projects

by Dan McKay

yesterday

"Although the transmission and generation developers selected through this process will rely on private financing for construction, ratepayers will eventually repay those costs via their utility bills. The question that Sanborn, and ultimately the PUC, will consider is whether the projects will unlock enough savings—for example, by generating cheaper power than existing sources and eliminating transmission bottlenecks—to outweigh those costs, as well as who bears the risk or potential rewards."
Prices and turbines going up at the same time hasn’t sat well with residents of Aroostook County. “People are seeing their electricity bills go up and up and up, and meanwhile there are all these projects getting built and they’re not seeing any benefit from it,” Josh Davis, a resident of Monticello and substitute teacher, told ICN. Davis added that he supports wind power but felt that the state was “going about it the wrong way.”
The full report:

  • Dan McKay

    Jack Shapiro of NRCM splews his usual narrative about how wind plants lower prices in the ISO-NE wholesale market. He does not say anything about how ISO-NE values reliable, dispatchable and backstop power like natural gas. ISO-NE controls more than just the energy market that Jack refers to. It also operates a reserve market that pays "balancing resources" big money so they remain profitable and do not retire from loss of revenue from intervention of intermittent resources such as wind.

    Jack also does not say anything about how wind is able to price themselves into the market because of "power purchase agreements" that charge ratepayers more than the market does.

    Jack does not say anything about how wind, once in the market, receives the same money that natural gas plants receive for their valued generation. 

    Or how wind receives "renewable energy credits" that increase the "standard offer price"

    Or how RGGI charges natural gas plants for emissions that increase the "standard offer price" as gas plants must add RGGI costs to market prices or go out of business.

    Jack Shapiro has and always will be a Wind Developer Shill and will lie all the way to the bank for them.

    yesterday