Long Islander's Posts - Citizens' Task Force on Wind Power - Maine2024-03-19T03:27:52ZLong Islanderhttps://www.windtaskforce.org/profile/LongIslanderhttps://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1548426210?profile=RESIZE_48X48&width=48&height=48&crop=1%3A1https://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blog/feed?user=132pbb3982nbc&xn_auth=noHow Maine’s offshore wind went from ‘win-win’ to a political problemtag:www.windtaskforce.org,2024-03-18:4401701:BlogPost:2592992024-03-18T16:42:12.000ZLong Islanderhttps://www.windtaskforce.org/profile/LongIslander
<p>March 18, 2024</p>
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<p>by Billy Kobin</p>
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<p>EXCERPTS</p>
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<p>.................2009: “This is among my highest priorities,” U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican, said at the time. “It is a win-win for the state of Maine in terms of producing new jobs for the state and having the state lead the way in reducing our dependence on foreign oil.”.............................</p>
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<p>For all the bipartisan praise more than a decade ago, offshore wind has become an…</p>
<p>March 18, 2024</p>
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<p>by Billy Kobin</p>
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<p>EXCERPTS</p>
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<p>.................2009: “This is among my highest priorities,” U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican, said at the time. “It is a win-win for the state of Maine in terms of producing new jobs for the state and having the state lead the way in reducing our dependence on foreign oil.”.............................</p>
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<p>For all the bipartisan praise more than a decade ago, offshore wind has become an increasingly testy political issue at the state and national levels, as evidenced by a hard-to-define mix of conservationists, progressives, conservatives and fishermen condemning the decision to use Sears Island over the nearby, privately owned and already developed Mack Point.<br/>Influential environmental and labor groups still argue the Sears Island port is essential to helping Maine meet its goals of using 100 percent renewable energy and procuring 3,000 megawatts of offshore wind energy by 2040. The tense atmosphere has left some longtime offshore wind supporters walking a fine line in discussing the industry’s future. <br/>On Friday, the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management finalized a designation that will keep offshore wind out of Maine’s biggest lobstering area. The Maine Lobstermen’s Association said it appreciated the decision to leave that zone out but added it “remains steadfast in its position that no area of the Gulf of Maine should be industrialized with offshore wind.”</p>
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<p><a href="https://www.bangordailynews.com/2024/03/18/politics/state-politics/offshore-wind-homegrown-win-win-to-political-problem-joam40zk0w/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.bangordailynews.com/2024/03/18/politics/state-politics/offshore-wind-homegrown-win-win-to-political-problem-joam40zk0w/</a></p>
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<p></p>DUNCE ALERT: Federal government chooses final area in Gulf of Maine for offshore wind developmenttag:www.windtaskforce.org,2024-03-17:4401701:BlogPost:2594122024-03-17T01:00:00.000ZLong Islanderhttps://www.windtaskforce.org/profile/LongIslander
<p>Maine Public | By Nicole Ogrysko<br></br> Published March 15, 2024 at 11:04 AM EDT</p>
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<p>The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has finalized an area in the Gulf of Maine where a commercial offshore wind farm could be developed.</p>
<p>The area covers 2 million acres offshore from Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts, ranging anywhere from 23 to 92 miles off the coast, BOEM said Friday.</p>
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<p>The final area represents an 80% reduction from the section that…</p>
<p>Maine Public | By Nicole Ogrysko<br/> Published March 15, 2024 at 11:04 AM EDT</p>
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<p>The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has finalized an area in the Gulf of Maine where a commercial offshore wind farm could be developed.</p>
<p>The area covers 2 million acres offshore from Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts, ranging anywhere from 23 to 92 miles off the coast, BOEM said Friday.</p>
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<p>The final area represents an 80% reduction from the section that federal officials had initially identified for potential leasing and a 43% cut from the draft that BOEM <a href="https://www.mainepublic.org/environment-and-outdoors/2023-10-19/draft-offshore-wind-area-excludes-popular-lobstering-ground" class="Link">released last fall</a>.</p>
<p>“We appreciate that the bureau has heeded our concerns and the majority of the concerns of Maine’s fishing communities in its final designation of wind energy areas for the Gulf of Maine," Gov. Janet Mills, U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree and Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King said Friday in a statement. "This decision preserves vital fishing grounds and seeks to minimize potential environmental and ecological impacts to the Gulf of Maine."</p>
<p>The wind area excludes Lobster Management Area 1, which is home to popular fishing grounds for the state's lobster fleet.</p>
<p>"BOEM did good in their attempt to come up and meet with small groups and really listen to what the fishermen had to say about those areas," said Virginia Olsen, the director of Maine Lobstering Union. "And I think that's a direct result of them coming off [the table]."</p>
<p>The wind area announced Friday also avoids two out of the three secondary regions in Maine that federal officials were considering but fishermen <a href="https://www.mainepublic.org/environment-and-outdoors/2023-11-06/lobstermen-watching-closely-as-federal-regulators-refine-area-for-potential-offshore-wind" class="Link">opposed</a>. The secondary area that is included is about 45 miles off the Midcoast, where Olsen said endangered North Atlantic right whales have been spotted.</p>
<p>BOEM said the final areas avoid most right whale habitats and a majority of historical and present-day fishing grounds of tribal nations, which conservation groups acknowledged.</p>
<p>"For the most part, this designation has carved out the most sensitive areas and excluded them from wind turbine construction,” Kate Sinding Daly, senior vice president of law and policy for the Conservation Law Foundation, said Friday in a statement. "CLF will continue to work with BOEM to ensure all possible protections for vulnerable marine wildlife and important habitats are built into the process as it moves toward leasing and construction of these floating turbines. This a very good day for our climate and our energy future.”</p>
<p>Sarah Haggerty, a conservation biologist with the Maine Audubon, said the group also feels its concerns were heard, as the selected locations should reduce the greatest risks to birds, bats and other wildlife.</p>
<p>"We really wanted to see any area being considered for wind development to be pushed further away from any land, including the islands," she said.</p>
<p>Haggerty acknowledged offshore wind poses many unknowns but believes future projects can protect wildlife and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.</p>
<p>"We need renewable energy; we're already decades late," she said. "And so we really need to going on addressing climate change, and we really do believe that with some dedication and hard work we can sort of have both."</p>
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<p>The full article, including maps, can be read at <a href="https://www.mainepublic.org/business-and-economy/2024-03-15/federal-government-chooses-final-area-in-gulf-of-maine-for-offshore-wind-development">https://www.mainepublic.org/business-and-economy/2024-03-15/federal-government-chooses-final-area-in-gulf-of-maine-for-offshore-wind-development</a></p>
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<p></p>Electric Transmission Buildout Could Cost Americans Trillions of Dollarstag:www.windtaskforce.org,2024-03-17:4401701:BlogPost:2593822024-03-17T00:57:21.000ZLong Islanderhttps://www.windtaskforce.org/profile/LongIslander
<p>March 14, 2024</p>
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<p>Though windmills and solar panels get the headlines, the big energy topic in Washington is electric transmission. Whether it is Congress’s newfound interest in permitting reform, the U.S. Department of Energy’s new Grid Deployment Office, or the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) upcoming final rule on transmission planning and cost allocation, how to build and pay for long-range transmission to connect generators to customers is considered the final…</p>
<p>March 14, 2024</p>
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<p>Though windmills and solar panels get the headlines, the big energy topic in Washington is electric transmission. Whether it is Congress’s newfound interest in permitting reform, the U.S. Department of Energy’s new Grid Deployment Office, or the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) upcoming final rule on transmission planning and cost allocation, how to build and pay for long-range transmission to connect generators to customers is considered the final piece in the quest to meet net-zero goals.</p>
<p>Like so many issues in Washington, the need for more transmission lines is accepted without question and the costs are not considered. But for American consumers, especially low-income and elderly, as well as small businesses and energy intense manufacturers, building new transmission lines could result in much higher monthly bills and leave them on the hook for stranded assets.</p>
<p>Traditionally, high-voltage transmission lines, consisting of 150-foot lattice towers crossing the landscape for hundreds of miles, were planned for by local utilities to meet their customers’ energy needs and subject to approval by state public utility commissions. But public policy goals to promote renewables are changing how the grid is being developed.</p>
<p>Over the past few years, States established renewable energy mandates; Congress enacted over $1 trillion in taxpayer subsidies for renewable energy; and President Biden issued an executive order setting net-zero goals for electricity generation by 2035. To fulfill these policies, the grid needs new high-voltage transmission lines—lots of them—and they will be expensive.</p>
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<p>The full article can be read at <a href="https://realclearwire.com/articles/2024/03/14/electric_transmission_buildout_could_cost_americans_trillions_of_dollars_1018392.html">https://realclearwire.com/articles/2024/03/14/electric_transmission_buildout_could_cost_americans_trillions_of_dollars_1018392.html</a></p>
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<p><br/> <span style="font-size: 8pt;">Fair Use Notice: This website may reproduce or have links to copyrighted material the use of which has not been expressly authorized by the copyright owner. We make such material available, without profit, as part of our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, economic, scientific, and related issues. It is our understanding that this constitutes a "fair use" of any such copyrighted material as provided by law. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes that go beyond "fair use," you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.</span></p>
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<p></p>Janet Mills proposes rolling back dune protections to build offshore wind porttag:www.windtaskforce.org,2024-03-15:4401701:BlogPost:2594062024-03-15T20:28:46.000ZLong Islanderhttps://www.windtaskforce.org/profile/LongIslander
<p>by Michael Shepherd</p>
<p>March 15, 2024</p>
<p>AUGUSTA, Maine — Gov. Janet Mills wants to roll back protections for the sand dunes that partially make up the state’s preferred site for a landmark offshore wind terminal.<br></br> The Democratic governor’s bill, which was submitted this week by Rep. Gerry Runte, D-York, a member of the Legislature’s energy committee, is aimed at clearing the way for the terminal. The Mills administration picked Sears Island in Searsport over nearby Mack Point as…</p>
<p>by Michael Shepherd</p>
<p>March 15, 2024</p>
<p>AUGUSTA, Maine — Gov. Janet Mills wants to roll back protections for the sand dunes that partially make up the state’s preferred site for a landmark offshore wind terminal.<br/> The Democratic governor’s bill, which was submitted this week by Rep. Gerry Runte, D-York, a member of the Legislature’s energy committee, is aimed at clearing the way for the terminal. The Mills administration picked Sears Island in Searsport over nearby Mack Point as its preferred staging ground for shipping wind components out to sea.<br/> The state’s preference for Sears Island has been controversial, and it has been opposed by some conservationists plus an eclectic coalition of conservatives, progressives and tribes. Mills’ move to roll back existing environmental laws could add fuel to their arguments. The bill will give skeptics including fishermen another platform to oppose offshore wind in general.</p>
<p>Mills’ bill was made public late Wednesday. On Friday, Runte said he had been approached by administration officials within the last “couple of days” who told him they had recently realized that dunes on Sears Island posed an issue that the Legislature needs to resolve.</p>
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<p>Continue reading at <a href="https://www.bangordailynews.com/2024/03/15/politics/state-politics/janet-mills-dune-protections-sears-island-offshore-wind-xoasq1i29i/">https://www.bangordailynews.com/2024/03/15/politics/state-politics/janet-mills-dune-protections-sears-island-offshore-wind-xoasq1i29i/</a></p>
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<p><br/> <span style="font-size: 8pt;">Fair Use Notice: This website may reproduce or have links to copyrighted material the use of which has not been expressly authorized by the copyright owner. We make such material available, without profit, as part of our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, economic, scientific, and related issues. It is our understanding that this constitutes a "fair use" of any such copyrighted material as provided by law. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes that go beyond "fair use," you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 8pt;"> </span></p>Legislators want final say over Maine’s electric vehicle rulestag:www.windtaskforce.org,2024-03-13:4401701:BlogPost:2593682024-03-13T16:15:40.000ZLong Islanderhttps://www.windtaskforce.org/profile/LongIslander
<p>Democratic leaders and a group of Republicans seek to shift oversight of Maine's clean car standards from a citizen board to state lawmakers.</p>
<p>March 12, 2024<br></br> Stephen Singer<br></br> Press Herald</p>
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<p>EXCERPTS</p>
<p>The Legislature’s two top Democrats and a group of minority Republicans want to take control of Maine’s electric vehicle rules.</p>
<p>A bill proposed Tuesday would give lawmakers, not a citizen board, the final say on clean car standards meant to curtail vehicle…</p>
<p>Democratic leaders and a group of Republicans seek to shift oversight of Maine's clean car standards from a citizen board to state lawmakers.</p>
<p>March 12, 2024<br/> Stephen Singer<br/> Press Herald</p>
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<p>EXCERPTS</p>
<p>The Legislature’s two top Democrats and a group of minority Republicans want to take control of Maine’s electric vehicle rules.</p>
<p>A bill proposed Tuesday would give lawmakers, not a citizen board, the final say on clean car standards meant to curtail vehicle tailpipe emissions, a major source of greenhouse gas emissions.</p>
<p>The standards, which are still being developed, would require increasing the share of zero-emissions and near-zero emissions cars and trucks sold in Maine to 51% of all vehicles sold in 2028 – up from 43% as previously proposed – and 82% of all vehicles sold in 2032.</p>
<p>The new bill would classify those regulations as “major substantive” rules that require approval by the Legislature, rather than “routine technical” rules handled by the Board of Environmental Protection.</p>
<p>The BEP has scheduled a meeting March 20 to consider the EV rules, which have drawn criticism from Republicans and car dealers over the relatively high cost of the vehicles and a scarcity of vehicle chargers, particularly in Maine’s large rural areas.</p>
<p>The legislation would apply retroactively to May 22, 2023....................</p>
<p>...................Republicans have focused their opposition to the EV rules on the BEP, a seven-member citizen board appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Legislature. It should be denied the authority to change Mainers’ vehicle choices, GOP lawmakers have said........................<br/> ........................The bipartisan legislation was presented by Rep. Michael Soboleski, R-Phillips. It’s co-sponsored by Senate President Troy Jackson, D-Aroostook, and House Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross, D-Portland. Others who signed on to the legislation include House Republican leader Rep. Billy Bob Faulkingham of Winter Harbor, and other Republicans, including Reps. Reagan Paul of Winterport and Katrina Smith of Palermo, and Sens. Russell Black of Franklin and Peter Lyford of Penobscot.</p>
<p>Jackson said he’s “always in favor of the Legislature doing its job.”.........................................</p>
<p>........................He said in an interview he supports “clean cars” and favors incentives that will “let technology catch up” with more and better EV charging stations.................................</p>
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<p><a href="https://www.pressherald.com/2024/03/12/legislators-want-final-say-over-maines-electric-vehicle-rules/">https://www.pressherald.com/2024/03/12/legislators-want-final-say-over-maines-electric-vehicle-rules/</a></p>
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<p><br/> <span style="font-size: 8pt;">Fair Use Notice: This website may reproduce or have links to copyrighted material the use of which has not been expressly authorized by the copyright owner. We make such material available, without profit, as part of our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, economic, scientific, and related issues. It is our understanding that this constitutes a "fair use" of any such copyrighted material as provided by law. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes that go beyond "fair use," you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.</span></p>
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<p></p>Solar farm projects downsize to comply with new Maine lawtag:www.windtaskforce.org,2024-03-13:4401701:BlogPost:2593662024-03-13T15:30:00.000ZLong Islanderhttps://www.windtaskforce.org/profile/LongIslander
<p>By Lora Whelan, Quoddy Tides<br></br> March 9, 2024</p>
<p><br></br> <span style="font-size: 12pt;">“We will continue to develop future projects in Maine under the new structure and will work to make them financially viable at the 1 MW limit.”</span></p>
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<p>A 2023 change in Maine law means that two of four Nexamp solar farm projects in Washington County will lose over half of their generating capacity when online.</p>
<p>Nexamp Communications Manager Keith Hevenor explained the…</p>
<p>By Lora Whelan, Quoddy Tides<br/> March 9, 2024</p>
<p><br/> <span style="font-size: 12pt;">“We will continue to develop future projects in Maine under the new structure and will work to make them financially viable at the 1 MW limit.”</span></p>
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<p>A 2023 change in Maine law means that two of four Nexamp solar farm projects in Washington County will lose over half of their generating capacity when online.</p>
<p>Nexamp Communications Manager Keith Hevenor explained the company is continuing to work within the new framework and will try to modify those projects affected by the change in the net energy billing (NEB) law that now limits megawatt (MW) production for the farms in question to 1 MW or less.</p>
<p>Originally the projects in Lubec and Eastport were expected to produce 2.7 MW each, or enough power each to serve about 450-500 average single-family homes.</p>
<p>Nexamp, a community solar energy company, has 25 operational solar farms in Maine with dozens more in the works. The four ongoing solar farm projects in Washington County are located in Cutler, Eastport, Lubec and Pembroke.</p>
<p>The change in law does not impact the Cutler and Pembroke projects, which are further along in their development than the Eastport and Lubec projects. The Cutler farm is expected to produce 2.5 MW, and the Pembroke farm should produce 4.3 MW.</p>
<p>“Both are close to going online in the next few months,” Hevenor said. In February, the Town of Cutler enacted a 180-day moratorium on permit applications for solar and wind farms, cell towers and subdivisions, but the Nexamp project, because it was already permitted, will continue as planned.</p>
<p>Because of the change in NEB law, “most projects will need to be 1 MW or smaller,” said Henry Barrett, the Nexamp business development manager for New England. The Lubec and Eastport projects, because they were not as far along as the other two, now fall into this smaller category.</p>
<p>In addition, Nexamp is awaiting the results of the Versant Power cluster studies, which examine transmission systems and the capacity of the power grid to take on additional energy as required by ISONew England. Barrett noted the studies have not been completed yet, but he heard they should have the results by the end of April.</p>
<p>“We’re still committed to advancing the projects in Maine,” Barrett added. The projects will be smaller and will not benefit from economies of scale to the same degree. However, Hevenor noted “the 15% fixed discount remains for all current and future projects at this time” that Nexamp customers receive as credits on the supply-side of their electric bill.</p>
<p>The change in law was a surprise and a disappointment, said Hevenor.</p>
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<p>Article continues at <a href="https://themainemonitor.org/solar-farm-projects-downsize/">https://themainemonitor.org/solar-farm-projects-downsize/</a></p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 8pt;">************************************* </span></p>
<p><br/> <span style="font-size: 8pt;">Fair Use Notice: This website may reproduce or have links to copyrighted material the use of which has not been expressly authorized by the copyright owner. We make such material available, without profit, as part of our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, economic, scientific, and related issues. It is our understanding that this constitutes a "fair use" of any such copyrighted material as provided by law. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes that go beyond "fair use," you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.</span></p>
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<p></p>Massive NH-VT Renewable Transmission Line Plan Scrapped After Project Deemed “Not Viable”tag:www.windtaskforce.org,2024-03-11:4401701:BlogPost:2590902024-03-11T17:47:30.000ZLong Islanderhttps://www.windtaskforce.org/profile/LongIslander
<p>By Seamus Othot</p>
<p>March 11, 2024</p>
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<p>EXCERPTS:</p>
<p>“National Grid thanks the dozens of route communities and regional partners who engaged with us and supported this project,” said the electrical utility company. “We will continue to pursue paths to building much-needed transmission capacity for the region and for our customers and communities.”</p>
<p>The transmission line, the so-called Twin State Clean Energy Link, was planned to be a 211-mile-long line through Vermont…</p>
<p>By Seamus Othot</p>
<p>March 11, 2024</p>
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<p>EXCERPTS:</p>
<p>“National Grid thanks the dozens of route communities and regional partners who engaged with us and supported this project,” said the electrical utility company. “We will continue to pursue paths to building much-needed transmission capacity for the region and for our customers and communities.”</p>
<p>The transmission line, the so-called Twin State Clean Energy Link, was planned to be a 211-mile-long line through Vermont and New Hampshire, connecting New England to renewable energy sources — wind, solar, and hydro — in Canada.</p>
<p>The transmission line would have functioned two-ways, allowing New England to purchase clean energy from Canada, and also allow New England to sell energy into Canada, depending on market conditions.</p>
<p>National Grid, the N.Y.- and Mass.-based company which would have built the line, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20231128232057/https://www.twinstatescleanenergylink.com/news/twin-states-clean-energy-link-selected-for-federal-investment">highlighted</a> the possibility of selling power from offshore wind projects, such as the controversial project being proposed in Maine......................................</p>
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<p>....................................Currently, Maine is struggling to construct its own clean energy transmission line as part of the so-called Aroostook Renewable Energy Gateway, which would be a 116-mile-long transmission line. That proposed line would connect a massive planned wind power facility in Northern Maine to the New England energy grid.</p>
<p>Although Maine’s line plan has not been officially cancelled, it has encountered numerous roadblocks, and has not yet begun construction. Maine is currently searching for a new contractor to construct the line after the previous contractor, LS power, was unable to undertake the project for the agreed upon price.</p>
<p>The Aroostook Renewable Gateway has also faced opposition from the public, and has contended with legislative efforts to halt the line’s construction.</p>
<p>Mainers and some legislators have opposed the line largely on the grounds that construction will require the use of eminent domain to seize the land necessary for the 160-mile-long, 115-foot-wide transmission corridor.</p>
<p>Before it was cancelled, the Twin State Line was scheduled to be built along pre-existing transmission corridors and placed underground along roadways, avoiding the need to seize land with eminent domain.</p>
<p>The cancellation of the Twin State Line does not bode well for Maine’s embattled renewable energy projects.</p>
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<p>The full article appears at <a href="https://www.themainewire.com/2024/03/massive-new-england-renewable-transmission-line-plan-scrapped-after-project-deemed-not-viable/">https://www.themainewire.com/2024/03/massive-new-england-renewable-transmission-line-plan-scrapped-after-project-deemed-not-viable/</a></p>
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<p><br/> <span style="font-size: 8pt;">Fair Use Notice: This website may reproduce or have links to copyrighted material the use of which has not been expressly authorized by the copyright owner. We make such material available, without profit, as part of our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, economic, scientific, and related issues. It is our understanding that this constitutes a "fair use" of any such copyrighted material as provided by law. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes that go beyond "fair use," you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.</span></p>
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<p></p>Spanish energy giant Iberdrola offers to buy rest of CMP parent company for $2.5 billiontag:www.windtaskforce.org,2024-03-09:4401701:BlogPost:2592792024-03-09T23:35:36.000ZLong Islanderhttps://www.windtaskforce.org/profile/LongIslander
<p>March 8, 2024</p>
<p>Stephen Singer</p>
<p>Press Herald</p>
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<p>EXCERPTS</p>
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<p>Spanish energy giant Iberdrola, which owns Central Maine Power Co.’s parent company, Avangrid Inc., is making a nearly $2.5 billion play for full control of its U.S. subsidiary and its extensive gas and electricity utilities in the Northeast.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.avangrid.com/investors/investors/earningreleases">Avangrid said Thursday</a> it received a nonbinding proposal, but not an offer,…</p>
<p>March 8, 2024</p>
<p>Stephen Singer</p>
<p>Press Herald</p>
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<p>EXCERPTS</p>
<p></p>
<p>Spanish energy giant Iberdrola, which owns Central Maine Power Co.’s parent company, Avangrid Inc., is making a nearly $2.5 billion play for full control of its U.S. subsidiary and its extensive gas and electricity utilities in the Northeast.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.avangrid.com/investors/investors/earningreleases">Avangrid said Thursday</a> it received a nonbinding proposal, but not an offer, from Iberdrola to buy the more than 18% of shares not already owned by the Spanish company.</p>
<p>Iberdrola offered $34.25 a share in cash, 10% above the weighted average price over the last 30 days. Iberdrola, which owns about 81.6% of <a href="https://www.iberdrola.com/press-room/news/detail/iberdrola-launches-an-offer-to-acquire-184-of-its-us-subsidiary-avangrid">Avangrid stock</a>, pegged the value of the deal at $2.48 billion.....................</p>
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<p>...........................It’s unclear what, if any, impact the Iberdrola deal would have on Maine ratepayers if it is ultimately agreed upon. As a regulated business, Avangrid must get permission from the state Public Utilities Commission for changes that affect its customers.</p>
<p>Mike Doyle, senior equity analyst for utilities at Edward Jones, said Iberdrola’s proposal is a “little puzzling.</p>
<p>“Basically, it has control of the company,” he said.</p>
<p>Avangrid’s network of regulated businesses operates in states with political and regulatory environments that are generally more favorable to ratepayers than investors, he said. Avangrid also has “had some trouble hitting operating performance,” he said in an interview.</p>
<p>“There’s a lot going on,” Doyle said. “You could own other utilities, and investors have taken the opportunity to do that.”</p>
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<p><a href="https://www.pressherald.com/2024/03/08/spanish-energy-giant-iberdrola-offers-to-buy-rest-of-cmp-parent-company-for-2-5b/">https://www.pressherald.com/2024/03/08/spanish-energy-giant-iberdrola-offers-to-buy-rest-of-cmp-parent-company-for-2-5b/</a></p>
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<p><br/> <span style="font-size: 8pt;">Fair Use Notice: This website may reproduce or have links to copyrighted material the use of which has not been expressly authorized by the copyright owner. We make such material available, without profit, as part of our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, economic, scientific, and related issues. It is our understanding that this constitutes a "fair use" of any such copyrighted material as provided by law. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes that go beyond "fair use," you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 8pt;"> </span></p>Maine Rep: Drop wind power; It’s time for Maine to drop this green energy pipe dreamtag:www.windtaskforce.org,2024-03-08:4401701:BlogPost:2590832024-03-08T12:05:18.000ZLong Islanderhttps://www.windtaskforce.org/profile/LongIslander
<p>March 8, 2024</p>
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<p>By Rep. Reagan Paul</p>
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<p>EXCERPTS</p>
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<div class="subscriber-preview"><p>Gov. Janet Mills announced Feb. 20 that Sears Island is the location where her administration will launch its long-awaited offshore wind energy project. Climate extremists were ecstatic with the news. Renewable energy lobbyists were bouncing off the State House walls. But sadly there is a clear loser here — it’s Maine’s environment.…</p>
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<p>March 8, 2024</p>
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<p>By Rep. Reagan Paul</p>
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<p>EXCERPTS</p>
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<div class="subscriber-preview"><p>Gov. Janet Mills announced Feb. 20 that Sears Island is the location where her administration will launch its long-awaited offshore wind energy project. Climate extremists were ecstatic with the news. Renewable energy lobbyists were bouncing off the State House walls. But sadly there is a clear loser here — it’s Maine’s environment.</p>
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<div class="subscriber-preview"><p>Simply put, climate activists now represent a clear and present danger to Maine’s environment and even our livelihoods. Yes, the very people who claim to be doing everything they can to save our environment are instead doing everything they can to destroy it.</p>
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<div class="subscriber-only"><p>Just off Searsport, Sears Island has long been known as a place of tranquility and home to abundant wildlife, migratory birds, botanical resources and historical sites. It boasts a wealth of Wabanaki history as well as historical significance dating back to the Revolutionary War.</p>
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<div class="subscriber-only"><p>It is also the largest undeveloped, uninhabited island on our nation’s East Coast. This local treasure is important to the Midcoast community as a significant tourist attraction, welcoming thousands of visitors from around the globe every year.....................</p>
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<p>............................And the windmills as tall as skyscrapers that are being proposed offshore will threaten everything from endangered right whales, piping plovers and least terns to the collapse of our fishing industry. The hypocrisy here is almost laughable.</p>
<div class="subscriber-only"><p>It all has to do with this cult-like desire to attain a greenhouse gas-free environment. Well, removing 100 acres of trees certainly doesn’t help, nor does the fact that China accounts for more than 30% of all greenhouse gas emissions compared to only 15% for the U.S............................</p>
<p>..............................All you have to do is drive by a solar farm after a snowstorm and see every single panel covered with snow or think about steel corroding in saltwater. Billions of dollars in subsidies have been handed to solar and wind companies for inefficient and expensive energy sources that do nothing but ecological and economic harm. This isn’t complicated.</p>
<div class="subscriber-only"><p>That is why I submitted LD 1549, which would direct the PUC to request information about the time, estimated cost and potential site locations for such reactors in Maine. It’s a no brainer. Unfortunately, Democrats have left my bill — mind you, a simple informational request to look into this technology — in the purgatory of unfinished business for nearly nine months.</p>
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<p>The full piece appears at <a href="https://waldo.villagesoup.com/opinion/commentary/drop-wind-power-pursue-cleaner-energy-options-hydro-geothermal-and-nuclear/article_3d8f7adc-da93-11ee-98d9-d7dc689575e2.html">https://waldo.villagesoup.com/opinion/commentary/drop-wind-power-pursue-cleaner-energy-options-hydro-geothermal-and-nuclear/article_3d8f7adc-da93-11ee-98d9-d7dc689575e2.html</a></p>
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<p><br/> <span style="font-size: 8pt;">Fair Use Notice: This website may reproduce or have links to copyrighted material the use of which has not been expressly authorized by the copyright owner. We make such material available, without profit, as part of our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, economic, scientific, and related issues. It is our understanding that this constitutes a "fair use" of any such copyrighted material as provided by law. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes that go beyond "fair use," you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.</span></p>
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<p></p>The American Revolt Against Green Energy Has Beguntag:www.windtaskforce.org,2024-03-06:4401701:BlogPost:2593572024-03-06T22:04:15.000ZLong Islanderhttps://www.windtaskforce.org/profile/LongIslander
<p class="entry-meta"><span class="entry-meta-date updated">March 6, 2024</span></p>
<div class="entry-content clearfix"><p><a href="https://www.activistpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/smoking-windmill-749x437-1.webp"><img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-264757" height="437" src="https://www.activistpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/smoking-windmill-749x437-1.webp" width="749"></img></a> <em>The only way to protect your city or town from the destruction that always follows windmills and solar panels is to prevent their construction in the first place. Besides the eyesores, sound fatigue, pollution, dead birds, etc., your electricity rates will…</em></p>
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<p class="entry-meta"><span class="entry-meta-date updated">March 6, 2024</span></p>
<div class="entry-content clearfix"><p><a href="https://www.activistpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/smoking-windmill-749x437-1.webp"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-264757" src="https://www.activistpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/smoking-windmill-749x437-1.webp" alt="" width="749" height="437"/></a><em>The only way to protect your city or town from the destruction that always follows windmills and solar panels is to prevent their construction in the first place. Besides the eyesores, sound fatigue, pollution, dead birds, etc., your electricity rates will soar. Many cities are finally figuring this out and are saying NO MORE! — Technocracy News & Trends Editor <a class="easyazon-link" href="https://www.activistpost.com/product/B0BNLZJVS6/US/permacultucom-20/?cart=y" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Patrick Wood</a></em></p>
<p><span class="entry-meta-author vcard author">By: <a class="fn keychainify-checked" href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/ar-BB1jbhhO">David Blackmon via The Telegraph</a></span></p>
<p><span class="dropcap-element-slot">I</span>n a story filled with all the standard climate alarmist narratives, USA Today <a class="ck-custom-link keychainify-checked" href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/investigations/2024/02/04/us-counties-ban-renewable-energy-plants/71841063007/?fbclid=IwAR1pSeKWeYEzZleI1FdDHda0lReL_y3oYYwdcYHXzEWu5z6rkGiFE_cbFpY" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">recently reported</a> on the rising movement by local governments in the United States to refuse to permit unwanted wind and solar industrial sites in their jurisdictions.</p>
<p class="continue-read-break">After setting the stage by parroting the Biden administration goals of “100 per cent clean energy by 2035, a goal that depends on the building of large-scale solar and wind,” USA Today points to the reality that such big, intrusive, ugly, and destructive industrial sites have been rejected by twice as many county governments as approved them. The writers complain that the rejections come about by some combination of “outright <a class="ck-custom-link keychainify-checked" href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/investigations/2024/02/04/green-energy-nationwide-bans/71841275007/" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">bans, moratoriums, construction impediments and other conditions</a> that make green energy difficult to build,” but don’t go on to describe why the rejections are taking place.</p>
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<p class="">Simply put, these huge industrial sites – we simply must stop using the friendly-sounding term “farms” to describe them – create all manner of negative consequences for local communities. Consequences like <a class="ck-custom-link keychainify-checked" href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1548746/Wind-turbines-are-ruining-our-quality-of-life.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">loud noise from wind turbines</a>, hundreds of dead birds and bats sprinkled across the countryside, thousands of acres of productive farm or ranchlands taken out of production for many years if not permanently, spoiled views, enormous “graveyards” filled with 150-foot blades and solar panels popping up all over the place, and impacts to local wind and weather patterns that are only now beginning to be understood.</p>
<p>Those consequences and more have become increasingly clear as time has progressed, and that is making it harder for developers to gain acceptance from the communities that would serve as hosts. Such pushback is likely to grow more strident in the coming years as it becomes clear to citizens that their state governments have failed to enact effective regulatory structures requiring timely and full retirement and remediation of these industrial sites when their useful life has expired. By that time, these sites will most likely have been sold off by the big developers who built them to smaller companies that will be unlikely to be able to bear the enormous costs involved in full removal and remediation.</p>
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<p>But by then, it will be too late for the communities to protect their rights. The only real way to protect a city or county from these myriad impacts is to refuse to allow them to be built.</p>
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<p>Continue reading at <a href="https://www.activistpost.com/2024/03/the-american-revolt-against-green-energy-has-begun.html">https://www.activistpost.com/2024/03/the-american-revolt-against-green-energy-has-begun.html</a></p>
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<p><br/> <span style="font-size: 8pt;">Fair Use Notice: This website may reproduce or have links to copyrighted material the use of which has not been expressly authorized by the copyright owner. We make such material available, without profit, as part of our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, economic, scientific, and related issues. It is our understanding that this constitutes a "fair use" of any such copyrighted material as provided by law. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes that go beyond "fair use," you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.</span></p>
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</div>Maine legislature considers blocking seizure of private land to build power linestag:www.windtaskforce.org,2024-03-06:4401701:BlogPost:2593592024-03-06T22:00:00.000ZLong Islanderhttps://www.windtaskforce.org/profile/LongIslander
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>VOTE OUT EVERY SINGLE LAST SOB WHO SUPPORTS EMINENT DOMAIN FOR THESE TOTAL SCAM TRANSMISSION LINES AND EVERY SOB WHO SUPPORTS ANY NEW TRANSMISSION FOR BS WIND POWER<br></br></strong></span></p>
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<p>March 6, 2024<br></br> Stephen Singer<br></br> Press Herald</p>
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<p>EXCERPTS:</p>
<p>Maine legislators are looking for middle ground between developers of electricity transmission lines needed to deliver clean energy and property owners demanding more of a…</p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>VOTE OUT EVERY SINGLE LAST SOB WHO SUPPORTS EMINENT DOMAIN FOR THESE TOTAL SCAM TRANSMISSION LINES AND EVERY SOB WHO SUPPORTS ANY NEW TRANSMISSION FOR BS WIND POWER<br/></strong></span></p>
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<p>March 6, 2024<br/> Stephen Singer<br/> Press Herald</p>
<p></p>
<p>EXCERPTS:</p>
<p>Maine legislators are looking for middle ground between developers of electricity transmission lines needed to deliver clean energy and property owners demanding more of a role in deciding where giant towers are built.</p>
<p>Lawmakers on Tuesday took up a proposal that would ban the use of eminent domain – the government’s power to take private property for a public use at “just compensation” – to build a transmission line. </p>
<p>It’s one of several bills this session that could change how such projects are reviewed and approved. Other pieces of legislation governing and studying transmission lines are scheduled for separate reviews.</p>
<p>The state needs more transmission lines to meet its clean energy goals, which require broader reliance on wind and solar energy, battery storage and energy efficiency.</p>
<p>Regulators in December <a href="https://www.pressherald.com/2023/12/21/state-regulators-kill-transmission-line-wind-deal-from-northern-maine-to-new-england-grid/">rejected</a> a project that would have connected a large wind farm in northern Maine to the New England grid via up to 160 miles of overhead lines between Aroostook County and greater Augusta. The state Public Utilities Commission scuttled the transmission line — called the Aroostook Renewable Gateway Project — after developer LS Power said it could not hold to its price. </p>
<p>For months, residents also <a href="https://www.pressherald.com/2023/11/17/unity-adopts-moratorium-on-high-voltage-power-lines-as-it-codifies-opposition-to-power-corridor/">voiced concerns</a> about towering transmission lines that would cut through farmland and forests, and several towns along the planned line have <a href="https://www.pressherald.com/2023/11/17/unity-adopts-moratorium-on-high-voltage-power-lines-as-it-codifies-opposition-to-power-corridor/">passed measures</a> to temporarily block it.</p>
<p>The wind farm in northern Maine that would generate the energy to be transmitted along the power line would be the largest onshore wind project east of the Mississippi River. Its turbines could generate as much as 3.2 billion kilowatts, which is enough electricity to power 450,000 typical homes — more than half of Maine’s housing inventory.</p>
<p>Maine ratepayers would pay for 60% of the project’s electricity output and Massachusetts has committed to the other 40%.</p>
<p>“Maine’s and Massachusetts’ energy gain would be a burden on the backs of rural Maine property owners,” Carole L. Getchell of Corinth told lawmakers in written testimony. Eminent domain shifts the balance of power to the “taker, not the property owner,” she said. Corinth, a town of about 2,900 people in Penobscot County, is in the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=413955837829441&set=a.122026750355686">path</a> of the proposed LS Power transmission line.........................</p>
<p>...........................While Maine has been looking to its expansive access to the Atlantic Ocean for offshore wind, the Aroostook power line would be a significant overland wind power project.</p>
<p>Supporters of the $2 billion wind farm say it’s critical for the rural region’s economic development.</p>
<p>Sen. Chip Curry, D-Waldo, who presented the eminent domain legislation, L.D. 2087, on Tuesday told the Legislature’s Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee that a group negotiating details is looking to protect the rights of property owners “without killing all transmission lines.”..............................</p>
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<p>...............................And the Maine Renewable Energy Association said without eminent domain, the northern Maine project might not attract interest from developers.</p>
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<p><a href="https://www.pressherald.com/2024/03/06/legislature-considers-blocking-seizure-of-private-land-to-build-power-lines/">https://www.pressherald.com/2024/03/06/legislature-considers-blocking-seizure-of-private-land-to-build-power-lines/</a></p>
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<p><br/> <span style="font-size: 8pt;">Fair Use Notice: This website may reproduce or have links to copyrighted material the use of which has not been expressly authorized by the copyright owner. We make such material available, without profit, as part of our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, economic, scientific, and related issues. It is our understanding that this constitutes a "fair use" of any such copyrighted material as provided by law. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes that go beyond "fair use," you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.</span></p>Florida has no wind turbines but it’s going to ban them anywaytag:www.windtaskforce.org,2024-03-06:4401701:BlogPost:2590742024-03-06T19:56:45.000ZLong Islanderhttps://www.windtaskforce.org/profile/LongIslander
<p>The <em>Tampa Bay Times</em> also reports that the bill is “rolling back some regulations on natural gas pipelines by making it so any pipeline shorter than 100 miles wouldn’t have to go through a certification process. Currently, anything longer than 15 miles triggers that oversight.”</p>
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<p><a href="https://electrek.co/2024/03/05/florida-wind-turbine-ban/">https://electrek.co/2024/03/05/florida-wind-turbine-ban/</a></p>
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<p>The <em>Tampa Bay Times</em> also reports that the bill is “rolling back some regulations on natural gas pipelines by making it so any pipeline shorter than 100 miles wouldn’t have to go through a certification process. Currently, anything longer than 15 miles triggers that oversight.”</p>
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<p><a href="https://electrek.co/2024/03/05/florida-wind-turbine-ban/">https://electrek.co/2024/03/05/florida-wind-turbine-ban/</a></p>
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<p></p>Steve Thurston: Adding insult to insanitytag:www.windtaskforce.org,2024-02-29:4401701:BlogPost:2590402024-02-29T02:36:08.000ZLong Islanderhttps://www.windtaskforce.org/profile/LongIslander
<p>on February 28, 2024</p>
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<p><strong>by Steve Thurston</strong></p>
<p>When the Public Utility Commission tells the legislature that a bill that does nothing to solve global warming will cost Vermonters $1 billion, and legislators vote for it anyway, it’s time for the voters to thank them for their service and show them the door on election day. </p>
<p>H.289, an Act Related to the Renewable Energy Standard, sponsored by the chair and co-chair of the House Energy and Environment…</p>
<p>on February 28, 2024</p>
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<p><strong>by Steve Thurston</strong></p>
<p>When the Public Utility Commission tells the legislature that a bill that does nothing to solve global warming will cost Vermonters $1 billion, and legislators vote for it anyway, it’s time for the voters to thank them for their service and show them the door on election day. </p>
<p>H.289, an Act Related to the Renewable Energy Standard, sponsored by the chair and co-chair of the House Energy and Environment Committee, requires Vermont’s electric utilities to generate 100% of their electricity with wind turbines, solar panels, running water, and battery storage within the next 6-10 years. Utilities that cannot accomplish this will be punished for their non-compliance and will pass those compliance penalties on to their customers, the ratepayers. This bill has the fingerprints of the renewable energy lobby all over it. “Vermont must lead the way in saving the planet!” is their mantra. “Why?”, we ask. </p>
<p>Senator Chris Bray, Chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, described the situation this way on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/live/23xGEnCPLzM?si=ZcMsjbHaDxvdFe3c&t=3156">1/24/23</a>, “<em>The North Star is reducing greenhouse gases, because the physics of the problem we’re facing are that if we don’t reduce greenhouse gases, we trifle. Now, we can talk about Vermont’s role and all that kind of stuff, but on this point we’re clear, both in law and I’d say we have a moral obligation to address that problem.”</em> </p>
<p>The “law” Bray is referring to is the Global Warming Solutions Act, which he championed and helped force into law over Governor Scott’s veto in 2020. Every Republican voted against the GWSA. But to the Super Majority Democrat/Progressive legislature, Republicans, including the governor, are non-persons whose views need not be considered. </p>
<p>Senator Bray’s “moral obligation” argument presumes that those who disagree with his understanding of physics are immoral, or at least not as moral as he is. Ask yourself, “How moral is it to draft a law, force it into effect over the objections of the Governor and every Republican, and then use that law to justify your otherwise indefensible actions?” </p>
<p>One could easily argue that Vermont’s existing renewable energy mandates are “trifling” with the well-being of the average Vermont resident. They receive no benefit but pay ever-increasing rates to subsidize the solar panels and wind turbines installed by subsidy seeking corporations and upper income property owners who can take advantage of tax credits. </p>
<p>Senator Bray says, “We can talk about Vermont’s role and all that stuff”, but he ignores the voices of Vermonters. The PUC surveyed 700 Vermonters about their electricity priorities last summer. 87% said reliability and affordability were very important. More important than emissions or renewables were impacts on the environment and support for a strong economy, 66% and 67%. Only 55% said reducing emissions or whether the source was renewable was very important. Vermonters have a different “North Star” than Senator Bray. </p>
<p>Will Vermont’s solar panels and wind turbines make a difference to the climate? Even the sponsors of this bill admit they won’t. Co-sponsor Laura Sibilia said the following to her colleagues in the House last session when reporting the deceptively titled “Affordable Heat Act”, <em>“We have heard folks say that stopping all of Vermont’s emissions would do nothing to change the weather patterns that we are seeing with climate change. With apologies to my environmental friends, I mostly agree.”</em> She then went on to say that volatile global fossil fuel prices were the real reason we needed to put an estimated 70 cent per gallon tax on home heating oil with the “Affordable Heat Act”. </p>
<p>Increasing Vermont’s renewable mandates from current levels to 100% is adding insult to insanity. The proof is this winter’s weather. Heavy cloud cover and calm days have reduced the output of solar panels and wind turbines, for weeks at a time, to a trickle that would not keep a light on over your kitchen table, much less charge your EV or run your heat pump. Thankfully the grid operator has dealt with this situation by making sure that zero emission nuclear and Canadian hydro plants, as well as low polluting natural gas plants have been running 24/7 to avoid the blackouts that would have resulted if the grid relied on 100% renewables.</p>
<p>We are told that the “energy transition” away from the existing grid is unstoppable, and we just need to get on board. In fact, the push towards “Net Zero by 2050” in New England is due to Democrat state energy policies forcing ISO-NE to experiment with increasing amounts of volatile wind and solar energy that turn the smooth curves of load management into jagged lines of spikes and dips and add unnecessary costs to electricity rates. </p>
<p>Wind and solar are the grid operator’s worst nightmare. Imagine you are the grid operator and just as the sun goes down and everyone gets home from work and turns on the lights and appliances the single biggest generator for the last few hours suddenly shuts down because the sun has disappeared from the sky? Where does the electricity come from then? The existing grid of course.</p>
<p>In short, there will be no “energy transition”. Wind turbines and solar panels will not replace the need for existing sources of reliable, on-demand generation. The conventional grid must be maintained and paid for. Renewables only add to that cost. </p>
<p>Several Democrats in the House Ways and Means Committee said they would not vote for this bill when it reaches the House floor out of concern for the $1 billion dollar impact on their constituents. That’s encouraging. Let’s see if they survive the beating they will take from the Democrat leadership. Maybe their courage will spread to other clear-thinking members of their party. </p>
<p><em>Penned by Steve Thurston, a retired general contractor and home builder from Ferrisburgh, this commentary highlights his unwavering dedication to energy efficiency and conservation. As a founding member and co-chair of Maine’s Citizens Task Force on Wind Power, he played a pivotal role in 2011 by spearheading a triumphant citizens petition. This petition led to the creation of a specialized section within Maine’s noise regulations, specifically addressing the issue of wind turbine noise.</em></p>
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<p><a href="https://vermontdailychronicle.com/thurston-adding-insult-to-insanity/#respond">https://vermontdailychronicle.com/thurston-adding-insult-to-insanity/#respond</a></p>
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<p><br/> <span style="font-size: 8pt;">Fair Use Notice: This website may reproduce or have links to copyrighted material the use of which has not been expressly authorized by the copyright owner. We make such material available, without profit, as part of our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, economic, scientific, and related issues. It is our understanding that this constitutes a "fair use" of any such copyrighted material as provided by law. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes that go beyond "fair use," you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.</span></p>
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<p></p>Will Maine's Outdoor Recreation Economy Roadmap consider devastation from wind turbines, solar arrays and transmission?tag:www.windtaskforce.org,2024-02-28:4401701:BlogPost:2593332024-02-28T16:41:58.000ZLong Islanderhttps://www.windtaskforce.org/profile/LongIslander
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<h1>Maine's Outdoor Recreation Economy Roadmap: Igniting Growth and Shaping the Future in 2024</h1>
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<p style="margin-right: 456px; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="line-height: 114%;"><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><u><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">Media Contact</span></u><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">: Isa Morton isa@blaze-partners.com…</span></span></span></span></span></p>
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<h1>Maine's Outdoor Recreation Economy Roadmap: Igniting Growth and Shaping the Future in 2024</h1>
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<p style="margin-right: 456px; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="line-height: 114%;"><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><u><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">Media Contact</span></u><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">: Isa Morton isa@blaze-partners.com</span></span></span></span></span></p>
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<h3 align="center" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-left: 1px; text-align: center; text-indent: -0.5pt;"><strong>MAINE'S OUTDOOR RECREATION ECONOMY ROADMAP: IGNITING GROWTH AND SHAPING THE FUTURE IN 2024</strong></h3>
<p style="margin-right: 3px; margin-bottom: 1px; text-indent: -0.5pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="line-height: 111%;"><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">MAINE — February 16 — Maine Outdoor Brands, the University of Maine, and the Maine</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right: 3px; margin-bottom: 19px; text-indent: -0.5pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="line-height: 111%;"><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Office of Outdoor Recreation have joined forces to initiate the Maine Outdoor Recreation Economy Roadmap, an initiative set to catalyze sustainable growth and diversification within Maine's vibrant outdoor recreation industry.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right: 3px; margin-bottom: 19px; text-indent: -0.5pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="line-height: 111%;"><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">“This collaborative effort is poised to propel Maine’s outdoor recreation economy to new heights, fostering job creation, economic resilience, and an enhanced quality of life for residents and visitors alike,” states Jenny Kordick, Executive Director of Maine Outdoor Brands.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right: 3px; margin-bottom: 19px; text-indent: -0.5pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="line-height: 111%;"><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Further strengthening the initiative, core partners such as the Maine Marine Trade Association, Maine Technology Institute, and the Bureau of Parks and Lands are actively engaged. Additionally, the Steering Committee comprises over 20 individuals from the public and private sectors across the state. Past statewide roadmaps, such as the Forest Opportunity Roadmap (FOR/ME), have been catalysts for focusing stakeholder efforts and expanding collaboration, opportunity, and investment for their respective sectors, serving as a successful model for this new effort.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right: 3px; margin-bottom: 19px; text-indent: -0.5pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="line-height: 111%;"><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Outdoor recreation contributes $3.3 billion to Maine's economy — nearly 4% of the state's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) — according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Once completed, the Maine Outdoor Recreation Economy Roadmap will chart a comprehensive strategy to bolster statewide economic growth and diversification through the pursuit of four key objectives:</span></span></span></span></p>
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<li style="margin-right: 3px; margin-left: 8px;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="line-height: 111%;"><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><b>Economic Analysis</b>: Provide a current analysis of the economic value of the outdoor economy to the State of Maine.</span></span></span></span></li>
<li style="margin-right: 3px; margin-left: 8px;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="line-height: 111%;"><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><b>Sector Awareness</b>: Define and increase awareness of the diverse sectors that make up Maine’s outdoor recreation economy.</span></span></span></span></li>
<li style="margin-right: 3px; margin-left: 8px;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="line-height: 111%;"><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><b>Strategic Investment</b>: Identify pivotal strategies and investments needed to fuel sustained growth and diversification of Maine’s outdoor economy over the next decade.</span></span></span></span></li>
<li style="margin-right: 3px; margin-bottom: 19px; margin-left: 8px;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="line-height: 111%;"><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><b>Partnerships & Collaborations</b>: Forge partnerships and collaborations to secure additional investment and enact the strategies identified.</span></span></span></span></li>
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<p style="margin-right: 3px; margin-bottom: 19px; text-indent: -0.5pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="line-height: 111%;"><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">“This effort is not just about defining Maine’s outdoor recreation economy; it’s about unlocking its full potential,” adds Carolann Ouellette, Director of the Maine Office of Outdoor Recreation. “Through a baseline analysis, strategic identification of growth drivers, and expanding partnerships, we’re laying the foundation for a thriving future.”</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right: 3px; margin-bottom: 19px; text-indent: -0.5pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="line-height: 111%;"><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">The Roadmap initiative commenced with an extensive stakeholder engagement process launched last November at the Maine Outdoor Economy Summit, convening nearly 200 industry leaders from across the state for strategic visioning sessions. Building on this momentum, ongoing collaborative efforts include additional workshops open to interested participants February 26-29. These facilitated, action-oriented workshops are designed to harness collective expertise and transform ideas into concrete strategies supporting the Roadmap's objectives. <span style="background: white;">A public survey is also currently available on the Roadmap's website. A second set of workshops will be offered in the late spring, with a final plan expected this fall.</span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 19px; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="line-height: 114%;"><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #222222;">“Our long-standing outdoor recreation expertise and new initiatives within the university and across the University of Maine System (UMS) create opportunity for a more sustainable, inclusive, and innovative outdoor recreation economy. We are a proud partner in this effort and are committed to finding new solutions to advance this vital industry and preserve the natural spaces on which we all rely,” said University of Maine President and UMS Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation, Joan Ferrini-Mundy.</span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right: 3px; margin-bottom: 2px; text-indent: -0.5pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="line-height: 111%;"><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Funding for the Roadmap initiative is being provided by the American Rescue Plan Act Travel,</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 19px; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="line-height: 122%;"><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Tourism, and Outdoor Recreation grant program administered by the U.S. Economic Development Administration. <span style="color: #0d0d0d;">This funding is specifically aimed at addressing the challenges posed by the pandemic on Maine’s travel, tourism, and outdoor recreation industries. As a result, the Roadmap is dedicated to enhancing the synergy between Maine’s unique natural resources and the state's long-term economic strength.</span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right: 3px; margin-bottom: 40px; text-indent: -0.5pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="line-height: 111%;"><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">To participate in the survey, register for upcoming workshops, or for further information, visit: <a href="http://trailblazerroadmap.com/get-involved"><span style="color: #467886;">trailblazerroadmap.com/get-involved</span></a>.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right: 3px; margin-bottom: 40px; text-indent: -0.5pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><a href="https://www.maine.gov/decd/about/news/maines-outdoor-recreation-economy-roadmap-igniting-growth-and-shaping-future-2024">https://www.maine.gov/decd/about/news/maines-outdoor-recreation-economy-roadmap-igniting-growth-and-shaping-future-2024</a></span></p>
<div class="elementor-element elementor-element-9df3758 blocksecondsectionresources__section e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent"><div class="e-con-inner"><div class="elementor-element elementor-element-a6c95d8 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child"><div class="elementor-element elementor-element-5db3cc0 blocksecondsection__h2 elementor-widget-mobile__width-initial elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading"><div class="elementor-widget-container"><h2 class="elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default">JOIN US FOR BUILD SESSIONS!</h2>
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<div class="elementor-element elementor-element-a6f8b6b elementor-widget__width-initial elementor-absolute elementor-hidden-mobile elementor-widget elementor-widget-image"><div class="elementor-widget-container"><img width="510" height="474" src="https://www.trailblazerroadmap.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Trees.png" class="attachment-full size-full wp-image-116" alt="Trees"/>https://www.trailblazerroadmap.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Trees-300x279.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 510px) 100vw, 510px" /></div>
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<div class="elementor-element elementor-element-8ca7969 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-parent"><div class="elementor-element elementor-element-0299b44 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child"><div class="e-con-inner"><div class="elementor-element elementor-element-1e04012 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor"><div class="elementor-widget-container"><p>Build Sessions are facilitated, action-oriented workshops that will help us build ideas into concrete strategies to support the Roadmap. We will host six, virtual build sessions on specific topic areas that have emerged through our data analysis and one-on-one interviews across the state. The build session dates and topics are below:</p>
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<div class="elementor-element elementor-element-f90b20c e-con-full e-flex e-con e-parent"><div class="elementor-element elementor-element-07360d0 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child"><div class="e-con-inner"><div class="elementor-element elementor-element-5310355 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child"><div class="elementor-element elementor-element-e3e4c16 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading"><div class="elementor-widget-container"><h2 class="elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default">Outdoor Recreation Participants — Inbound and Local | Feb. 26 | 12:30 - 2:00pm EST</h2>
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<div class="elementor-element elementor-element-2d829d3 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor"><div class="elementor-widget-container"><p>This Build Session is focused on the people who participate in Maine’s Outdoor Economy, with an emphasis on identity and brand, heritage and legacy, diversity and inclusivity, and the needs of tourists and residents alike.</p>
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<div class="elementor-element elementor-element-347b11f elementor-align-left blocksecondsection__h2 correct_corners_button blockfourthsection__section--button elementor-widget elementor-widget-button"><div class="elementor-widget-container"><div class="elementor-button-wrapper"><a class="elementor-button elementor-button-link elementor-size-sm" href="https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0lcuGvqD8iGNZz60lyeouwFA6fubIsXSdl%20" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span class="elementor-button-content-wrapper"><span class="elementor-button-text">Register</span></span></a></div>
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<div class="elementor-element elementor-element-127ab61 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child"><div class="elementor-element elementor-element-8341474 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading"><div class="elementor-widget-container"><h2 class="elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default">Sustainability and Climate Change | Feb. 27 | 10:30am - 12pm EST</h2>
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<div class="elementor-element elementor-element-c648aca elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor"><div class="elementor-widget-container"><p>An exploration of sustainable transportation for people and businesses, clean technology, climate adaptation and energy efficiency, business adaptation, and extreme weather resilience.</p>
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<div class="elementor-element elementor-element-12d4f35 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-parent"><div class="elementor-element elementor-element-fff53a2 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child"><div class="e-con-inner"><div class="elementor-element elementor-element-61018b1 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child"><div class="elementor-element elementor-element-c65aa0b elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading"><div class="elementor-widget-container"><h2 class="elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default">Outdoor Industry Workforce | Feb. 29 | 10:00 - 11:30am EST</h2>
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<div class="elementor-element elementor-element-05f04b4 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor"><div class="elementor-widget-container"><p>An exploration of the private, public, and non-profit sector workforce. Topics include career pathways (including wages, benefits, seasonality, and volunteerism), workforce development including education and training, and workforce housing.</p>
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<div class="elementor-element elementor-element-eb1e748 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child"><div class="elementor-element elementor-element-c3d8b90 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading"><div class="elementor-widget-container"><h2 class="elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default">Economic Development | Feb. 29 | 12:30 - 2:00pm EST</h2>
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<div class="elementor-element elementor-element-3f3a7c2 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor"><div class="elementor-widget-container"><p>A discussion on several aspects of economic development, including support for businesses (startup, growth, innovation, and technology), supply chain and cluster development, rural revitalization, and marketing for business and workforce attraction.</p>
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<div class="elementor-element elementor-element-19a07f2 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-parent"><div class="elementor-element elementor-element-33beb91 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child"><div class="e-con-inner"><div class="elementor-element elementor-element-fa747da e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child"><div class="elementor-element elementor-element-94553ab elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading"><div class="elementor-widget-container"><h2 class="elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default">Land Use/Water Use/Natural Resources | Feb. 28 | 10:00 - 11:30am EST</h2>
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<div class="elementor-element elementor-element-39e268a elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor"><div class="elementor-widget-container"><p>Topics include land and water stewardship and conservation, private land and water access, recreational connectivity, and educational opportunities related to the preservation of Maine’s natural resources.</p>
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<div class="elementor-element elementor-element-6c91902 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child"><div class="elementor-element elementor-element-d7ce35f elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading"><div class="elementor-widget-container"><h2 class="elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default">Outdoor Recreation Supporting-Infrastructure | Feb. 28 | 12:30 - 2:00pm EST</h2>
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<div class="elementor-element elementor-element-fc9ed88 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor"><div class="elementor-widget-container"><p>A look at the physical and informational infrastructure needed to enable the accessibility and connectivity of outdoor recreation assets, climate adaptation and natural resources management, and the quality and consistency of outdoor experiences.</p>
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<div class="elementor-element elementor-element-56c5b0f elementor-align-left blocksecondsection__h2 correct_corners_button blockfourthsection__section--button elementor-widget elementor-widget-button"><div class="elementor-widget-container"><div class="elementor-button-wrapper"><a class="elementor-button elementor-button-link elementor-size-sm" href="https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcvcuyuqj0sHdzfYR3_T9Nczmli20DOuY1-" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span class="elementor-button-content-wrapper"><span class="elementor-button-text">Register</span></span></a></div>
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<div class="elementor-element elementor-element-1459bcf e-con-full e-flex e-con e-parent"><div class="elementor-element elementor-element-d815a2c e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child"><div class="e-con-inner"><div class="elementor-element elementor-element-1b0f35a blocksecondsection__h2 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading"><div class="elementor-widget-container"><h2 class="elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default">acCommodations for roadmap planning</h2>
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<div class="elementor-element elementor-element-2fb877d elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor"><div class="elementor-widget-container"><p>The development of the Maine Outdoor Recreation Economy Roadmap must be equitable and inclusive. We recognize that some individuals may face financial barriers that will prevent them from sharing their voices and thoughts, which is why we’re offering need-based stipends. If you are interested in receiving compensation for your participation in a virtual build session, <span style="color: #dad027;"><a style="color: #dad027;" href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfhl-RxAt43iJnEv5HFnvj3F-Ql_hYYCqpCLcMY83JO8LAzXw/viewform" target="_blank" rel="noopener">please complete this form</a>.</span></p>
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<div class="elementor-element elementor-element-72b3ed6 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent"><div class="e-con-inner"><div class="elementor-element elementor-element-e0b9f8c elementor-absolute elementor-widget-tablet__width-initial elementor-widget__width-initial elementor-hidden-tablet elementor-hidden-mobile elementor-widget elementor-widget-image"><div class="elementor-widget-container"><img width="416" height="565" src="https://www.trailblazerroadmap.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Vector-2.png" class="attachment-full size-full wp-image-117" alt="Triangle"/>https://www.trailblazerroadmap.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Vector-2-221x300.png 221w" sizes="(max-width: 416px) 100vw, 416px" /></div>
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<div class="elementor-element elementor-element-77b9437 e-con-full blockeighthsectioninvolved__section e-flex e-con e-parent"><div class="elementor-element elementor-element-6e7a95e e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child"><div class="e-con-inner"><div class="elementor-element elementor-element-6fa488e blocksecondsection__h2 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading"><div class="elementor-widget-container"><h2 class="elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default">complete our survey</h2>
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<div class="elementor-element elementor-element-68a4ced elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor"><div class="elementor-widget-container"><p>If you’re reading this, it’s because the Maine outdoors has left an indelible impact on you. Your perspective is a crucial component in developing the Roadmap. We want to hear your thoughts, your ideas, and your story.</p>
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<div class="elementor-element elementor-element-52b87a8 e-con-full blockseventhsectioninvolved__section e-flex e-con e-parent"><div class="elementor-element elementor-element-a461a1b e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child"><div class="e-con-inner"><div class="elementor-element elementor-element-7745370 blocksecondsection__h2 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading"><div class="elementor-widget-container"><h2 class="elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default">we want to hear from you</h2>
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<div class="elementor-element elementor-element-5ae5651 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor"><div class="elementor-widget-container"><div>You — yes, you — can help shape Maine’s Outdoor Recreation Economy. What’s your favorite outdoor experience in Maine? What current outdoor recreation programs or initiatives are working well? How do you think we can supercharge the outdoor sector in Maine?</div>
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<div>If you are a volunteer-led or limited-resourced organization and want to partner with us, please check the Plan Ambassador box below and we will reach out to discuss how we can work together.</div>
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<div>Fill out the form below to have your voice heard!</div>
<div><a href="https://www.trailblazerroadmap.com/get-involved/">https://www.trailblazerroadmap.com/get-involved/</a></div>
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<p style="margin-right: 3px; margin-bottom: 40px; text-indent: -0.5pt;"></p>Rural America Set to Be Transformed by up to 55 Million-Acre Federal Solar Plantag:www.windtaskforce.org,2024-02-28:4401701:BlogPost:2592432024-02-28T02:00:00.000ZLong Islanderhttps://www.windtaskforce.org/profile/LongIslander
<div class=""><div class="mx-auto max-w-[600px] mt-4 sm:mt-6 flex flex-col flex-wrap items-center justify-center gap-2 text-sm sm:flex-row"><div class="text-center font-bold">By <span><a class="text-center font-bold" href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/author/kevin-stocklin">Kevin Stocklin</a></span></div>
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<div class=""><div class="mx-auto max-w-[600px] mt-4 sm:mt-6 flex flex-col flex-wrap items-center justify-center gap-2 text-sm sm:flex-row"><div class="text-center font-bold">By <span><a class="text-center font-bold" href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/author/kevin-stocklin">Kevin Stocklin</a></span></div>
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<div class="mt-6 hidden justify-center gap-6 sm:flex"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>EXCERPTS</strong></span></div>
<div class="post_content !text-lg" id="post_content"><p>Solar energy’s appetite for vast amounts of land has prompted the Biden administration to propose designating as much as 55 million acres of public lands as potential sites for industrial-scale solar farms.</p>
<p>That’s an area larger than 36 states and similar in size to Idaho or Minnesota.</p>
<div class="my-5">An updated <a href="https://blmsolar.anl.gov" target="_blank" class="health-article-hover-class" rel="noopener">initiative</a> by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), called the Western Solar Plan, proposes six alternatives for solar development.</div>
<p>In the most aggressive of these scenarios, 55 million acres across 11 Western states would be made available for solar energy. The least aggressive alternative would designate 8 million acres for that purpose.</p>
<p>The BLM’s “preferred alternative” falls halfway between the two, setting aside 22 million acres for solar development.</p>
<p>In total, the BLM manages 162 million acres of public land designated as “multi-use.” These multiple uses include farming, ranching, hunting and fishing, hiking and camping, drilling, and mining—and more recently, wind and solar installations and transmission lines to connect them to the grid.</p>
<p>The BLM, a division of the Department of the Interior, states that, in order to carry out the Biden administration’s goal of generating 25 gigawatts (GW) of electricity from wind and solar on public lands by 2025—and generating 100 percent “renewable” electricity by 2035—solar panels would need to be sited on 700,000 acres of public land.</p>
<p>More than 3 million solar panels are required to produce 1 GW of electricity, according to the Department of Energy. One GW can power 500,000 to 750,000 homes on average, assuming a constant supply of energy generation and use.</p>
<div class="my-5">“The Interior Department’s work ... is crucial to achieving the Biden–Harris administration’s goal of a carbon pollution-free power sector by 2035,” Laura Daniel-Davis, acting deputy secretary of the Interior, said in a Jan. 17 <a href="https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/biden-harris-administration-announces-significant-progress-catalyze-solar-energy-0" target="_blank" class="health-article-hover-class" rel="noopener">statement</a>.</div>
<p>“And this updated solar roadmap will help us get there in more states and on more lands across the West,” she said.</p>
<p>“Our public lands are playing a critical role in the clean energy transition.”</p>
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<p>The states targeted for solar development include Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. This initiative is part of a wider effort to satiate the demand for land from solar companies.</p>
<p>The sheer scope of the BLM plan—designating tens of millions of acres for solar development when the agency says 700,000 acres would suffice to meet Biden administration goals—is a red flag for many communities.</p>
<p>Dylan Hoyt, the planning program manager in the Utah Public Lands policy coordinating office, calls it “bad optics.”</p>
<p>“When I say bad optics, I mean when you tell me that I have 17,000 acres in Utah that’s set aside for solar, and now we’re going to jump to 3.7 or 1.5 million,” he told The Epoch Times.</p>
<p>“That looks terrible.”</p>
<div class="my-5">Environmental groups and advocates for wind and solar energy applauded the plan. The Wilderness Society issued a <a href="https://www.wilderness.org/articles/press-release/tws-celebrates-progress-biden-admin-proposes-first-ever-update-public-lands-solar-plan" target="_blank" class="health-article-hover-class" rel="noopener">statement</a> that “in the face of climate pressure and the injustices of our current fossil fuel-based energy system, a rapid transition to a renewable energy economy is necessary.”</div>
<div class="my-5">The Los Angeles Times published a supportive <a href="https://www.latimes.com/environment/newsletter/2024-02-01/column-bidens-western-solar-plan-sounds-scary-but-its-better-than-climate-change-boiling-point" target="_blank" class="health-article-hover-class" rel="noopener">op-ed</a> that stated: “Biden’s Western solar plan sounds scary, but it’s better than climate change.”</div>
<p>The article mentions Robert Moses, New York’s mid-20th-century unelected Parks and Recreation Commissioner, who was responsible for enormous urban planning projects including parks, bridges, and highways that crisscrossed the state.</p>
<p>Among Mr. Moses’s more notorious mega-projects were highway systems such as the Cross Bronx Expressway that ran through urban communities and turned once-vibrant neighborhoods into slums.</p>
<div class="my-5"><h2>‘Destroying the Environment to Save It’</h2>
Some who are on the receiving end of the BLM’s solar plan say that, despite assurances from environmental groups, they remain concerned about the scale of this government development project and the amount of land that it would consume.</div>
<p>“They say we have to protect the environment, but they’re OK with destroying the environment to save it,” Gabriella Hoffman, policy analyst and host of the “District of Conservation” podcast, told The Epoch Times. “It makes no sense if you’re a conservationist.”</p>
<div class="my-5">A <a href="https://www.nature.org/content/dam/tnc/nature/en/documents/FINAL_TNC_Power_of_Place_National_Executive_Summary_5_2_2023.pdf" target="_blank" class="health-article-hover-class" rel="noopener">report</a> by The Nature Conservancy, published in May 2023, states that reaching the goal of net-zero carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 2050 by using wind and solar would require more than 250,000 square miles, or 160 million acres, of land, which is an area about the size of the state of Texas.</div>
<div class="my-5">Some communities that find themselves in the path of the wind and solar industries say this is too high a price to pay for an uncertain benefit. Energy analyst Robert Bryce keeps a <a href="https://robertbryce.com/renewable-rejection-database/" target="_blank" class="health-article-hover-class" rel="noopener">database</a> of more than 600 local communities that have opposed wind and solar installations across the United States to date.</div>
<p>“This idea that we can save the environment by carpeting the rural landscape with oceans of solar panels and forests of wind turbines—it boggles the mind how climate activists can justify this,” he told The Epoch Times.</p>
<div class="my-5">To subdue local resistance, some states, most recently Michigan, are <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/article/seizing-private-land-is-next-step-in-fight-against-climate-change-5544056" target="_blank" class="health-article-hover-class" rel="noopener">writing new laws</a> that prevent local communities from blocking wind and solar projects. However, some in the Western states say they still expect significant pushback to the BLM plan.</div>
<p>“It’s definitely going to impact wildlife,” Mr. Hoyt said. And not only an impact on species that live in the designated solar zones but also on those that migrate through them.</p>
<p>“There’s definitely going to be conflicts with ranchers, there could be conflicts with access to public lands depending on where it’s built, and there could be potential conflicts with the mining industry,” he said.</p>
<p>“States didn’t really have a say in the goals in the first place, which I think is disconcerting because the states represent the citizens.”</p>
<div class="my-5"><h2>From Multi-Use to Single-Use</h2>
One of the prime target states for solar development is Nevada, both because of the amount of sunlight it receives and because of its proximity to California and Las Vegas, with their ever-expanding demands for electricity.</div>
<p>The federal government owns 85 percent of Nevada’s land, most of which is desert, but residents dispute the notion that it is devoid of wildlife and say they are concerned about the sheer scale of BLM’s solar plan.</p>
<p>“Nevada is hard-rock mining country,” Andy Rieber, a public lands consultant residing in Nevada, told The Epoch Times, “but the average footprint in Nevada for mining disturbance is less than 1,000 acres.</p>
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<p>“They come in, they build on federal lands, and they pay a permit fee to the Bureau of Land Management, but the local economy gets nothing,” he said.</p>
<p>While the BLM initiative touts “environmental justice” among its guiding principles, people in targeted states worry that poorer rural communities will feel the impact of solar development, but that the electricity produced will be delivered to wealthier urban centers in states such as California.</p>
<p>“Yes, we need to be considerate of environmental impacts,” Mr. Hoyt said. “But at the same time, we’re coming in and we’re putting a huge transmission line and a solar field, and then when it’s done those people still have it there and have to look at it and live with it, but they get nothing from it.”</p>
<div class="my-5"><a href="https://img.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2024/02/26/id5594990-3.jpg" target="_blank" class="health-article-hover-class" rel="noopener"><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimg.theepochtimes.com%2Fassets%2Fuploads%2F2024%2F02%2F26%2Fid5594990-3.jpg&w=1200&q=75%20alt=" width="600" height="257"/></a></div>
<p>Another issue that many cite with using multi-use public lands for solar is that solar energy crowds out other uses on the land.</p>
<p>“One of the things that is unique about solar development is that it doesn’t really play well with others,” Mr. Rieber said.</p>
<p>“If you have a grazing allotment, a lot of things can go on in and around that, including recreation, even mining,” he said. “But a large solar installation is going to take a big chunk of land out of multiple-use circulation because you can’t do anything else with it; it’s a singular use.”</p>
<div class="my-5"><h2>Public Comment Period</h2>
The BLM reports that it has, as of December 2022, permitted more than 9 GW of solar energy development, 3 GW of wind energy development, and 1.6 GW of geothermal energy development on public lands. The BLM has also permitted 17 transmission lines, crossing BLM-administered lands, to connect these facilities into the electric grid.</div>
<div class="my-5">The public comment period for this latest initiative runs through April 18, and features a number of in-person and online hearings that are listed on the BLM <a href="https://www.blm.gov/press-release/blm-hosting-series-public-meetings-discuss-progress-catalyze-solar-energy-development" target="_blank" class="health-article-hover-class" rel="noopener">website</a>.</div>
<div class="my-5"><a href="https://img.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2024/02/26/id5594993-5.jpg" target="_blank" class="health-article-hover-class" rel="noopener"><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimg.theepochtimes.com%2Fassets%2Fuploads%2F2024%2F02%2F26%2Fid5594993-5.jpg&w=1200&q=75%20alt=" width="600" height="224"/></a></div>
<p>“You too can weigh in; you don’t need to be a policy analyst, you can be a regular citizen,” Ms. Hoffman said. “This is what these comment periods are for; you can just write a sentence, simple as that.”</p>
<p>Meanwhile, public officials believe there’s a way to allow solar development that will be acceptable to local communities.</p>
<p>“The question on the table isn’t whether solar is good or bad; I think everyone ascertains that there is a place for it,” Mr. Rieber said. “The question on the table, rather, is let us proceed with this development in a way that we won’t regret in the future.”</p>
<p>Mr. Hoyt said that if the BLM proceeds with the Western Solar Plan as currently written, lawsuits will likely be the result.</p>
<p>“We don’t want to see litigation around solar development,” he said. “We have great relationships in Utah with our BLM employees, and we want to keep it that way.”</p>
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<p>The full article can be read at <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/article/rural-america-set-to-be-transformed-by-55-million-acre-federal-solar-plan-5594814">https://www.theepochtimes.com/article/rural-america-set-to-be-transformed-by-55-million-acre-federal-solar-plan-5594814</a></p>
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</div>The obscure law that complicates offshore wind developmenttag:www.windtaskforce.org,2024-02-25:4401701:BlogPost:2590292024-02-25T17:17:40.000ZLong Islanderhttps://www.windtaskforce.org/profile/LongIslander
<p></p>
<p>By Kate Cough<br></br> February 25, 2024</p>
<p></p>
<p>EXCERPTS</p>
<p></p>
<p>..............The Merchant Marine Act of 1920, better known as the Jones Act, requires goods shipped between U.S. ports to be transported on vessels that have been built in American shipyards, are registered in the U.S. and are crewed and owned by U.S. citizens.</p>
<p>Customs and Border Protection, which enforces the law, has said it applies to any device installed on the seafloor up to 200 nautical miles…</p>
<p></p>
<p>By Kate Cough<br/> February 25, 2024</p>
<p></p>
<p>EXCERPTS</p>
<p></p>
<p>..............The Merchant Marine Act of 1920, better known as the Jones Act, requires goods shipped between U.S. ports to be transported on vessels that have been built in American shipyards, are registered in the U.S. and are crewed and owned by U.S. citizens.</p>
<p>Customs and Border Protection, which enforces the law, has said it applies to any device installed on the seafloor up to 200 nautical miles offshore. That means an offshore wind turbine counts as a point, and foreign ships cannot bring materials or crew from a U.S. port to a wind turbine installation site.</p>
<p>As you might imagine, putting giant wind turbines together at sea requires a lot of highly specialized equipment, including “wind turbine installation vessels,” or WTIVs, to assemble the turbines and “heavy lift” vessels to install the foundations. (Big points for creativity to whoever came up with those names.)</p>
<p>There are only a handful of such ships worldwide, and none of them meet the Jones Act requirements. Overall, only 99 cargo ships qualify for deliveries between two points in the U.S., <a href="https://flight.beehiiv.net/v2/clicks/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.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.UkdBLHwHAsHgwqqdx_MjsDjOrMOzOxSDaXEhg2ZiTVs" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according to the Wall Street Journal.</a></p>
<p>That means developers installing offshore wind projects in U.S. waters have had to get creative to comply with the law — a company that put up test turbines off the coast of Virginia, for instance, had to <a href="https://flight.beehiiv.net/v2/clicks/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.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.IfNkH8TYmt08aNPBroje8eK77LseER86EDGD6IgJWFQ" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ferry parts back and forth</a> from Nova Scotia, more than 800 miles away.</p>
<p></p>
<p>....................That adds cost and time to projects that are already very, very expensive. Ørsted cited <a href="https://flight.beehiiv.net/v2/clicks/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.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.jhXpsXElzV1oUSh_ob-KwfmaJYnoVwVa1FAD7lhF_hI" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">vessel delays</a> as part of the reason for scrapping two planned wind farms off the coast of New Jersey that were expected to cost more than $3 billion.</p>
<p>The Department of Energy has estimated that the U.S. will need four to six Jones Act-compliant WTIVs and another four to six heavy lift ships to meet its offshore wind goals.</p>
<p>WTIVs cost hundreds of millions of dollars to build and are highly specialized, with a large crane to hoist the turbine pieces into place and “jack up legs” attached to the hull that can be extended all the way to the seafloor, making the vessel into a stable platform above the waves while construction is underway.</p>
<p>One is <a href="https://flight.beehiiv.net/v2/clicks/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJ1cmwiOiJodHRwczovL2Nyc3JlcG9ydHMuY29uZ3Jlc3MuZ292L3Byb2R1Y3QvcGRmL0lGL0lGMTI0OTE_dXRtX3NvdXJjZT1jbGltYXRlbW9uaXRvci5iZWVoaWl2LmNvbSZ1dG1fbWVkaXVtPXJlZmVycmFsJnV0bV9jYW1wYWlnbj1hbGwtYWJvdXQtdmVyeS1iaWctYm9hdHMiLCJwb3N0X2lkIjoiZDBiMTA0NzUtMzJkOC00NTRiLTg5ZWMtZDcwYTk2Yzc2Yjg4IiwicHVibGljYXRpb25faWQiOiJiM2QzNjc3NC1hMDJlLTRiYjgtOGQwYS0zMmRjNmExMjMzNDEiLCJ2aXNpdF90b2tlbiI6IjMyMDMyZTM2LTZhNjAtNDMxYy05NDc5LTZiMTkzM2Q1YzhlMSIsImlhdCI6MTcwODY5OTY2NywiaXNzIjoib3JjaGlkIn0.Gl91hkxKINy7SZ6NAos_Y_ntcnKclXKRbNGx-LknXCc" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">being built in Texas</a> (for $625 million) but there don’t appear to be any more in the pipeline. A recent <a href="https://flight.beehiiv.net/v2/clicks/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJ1cmwiOiJodHRwczovL3d3dy5tYWluZS5nb3YvZW5lcmd5L3NpdGVzL21haW5lLmdvdi5lbmVyZ3kvZmlsZXMvaW5saW5lLWZpbGVzL01haW5lJTIwT2Zmc2hvcmUlMjBXaW5kJTIwU3VwcGx5JTIwQ2hhaW4lMjBBc3Nlc3NtZW50JTIwMjAyMi5wZGY_dXRtX3NvdXJjZT1jbGltYXRlbW9uaXRvci5iZWVoaWl2LmNvbSZ1dG1fbWVkaXVtPXJlZmVycmFsJnV0bV9jYW1wYWlnbj1hbGwtYWJvdXQtdmVyeS1iaWctYm9hdHMiLCJwb3N0X2lkIjoiZDBiMTA0NzUtMzJkOC00NTRiLTg5ZWMtZDcwYTk2Yzc2Yjg4IiwicHVibGljYXRpb25faWQiOiJiM2QzNjc3NC1hMDJlLTRiYjgtOGQwYS0zMmRjNmExMjMzNDEiLCJ2aXNpdF90b2tlbiI6IjMyMDMyZTM2LTZhNjAtNDMxYy05NDc5LTZiMTkzM2Q1YzhlMSIsImlhdCI6MTcwODY5OTY2NywiaXNzIjoib3JjaGlkIn0._oPiWJ9SJMEz5fcEmeRp0sgrvagkDtZdEEFvvAFLbLw" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">assessment</a> of the industry’s supply chain as it relates to Maine pointed out that it might be possible to repurpose existing ships to handle installation by adding leg extensions and upgrading cranes.</p>
<p><a href="https://flight.beehiiv.net/v2/clicks/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJ1cmwiOiJodHRwczovL3d3dy5wcmVzc2hlcmFsZC5jb20vMjAxOS8wOC8yOS9tYWluZS12b2ljZXMtaW5qdXJlZC1tYXJpdGltZS13b3JrZXJzLWFyZS1lbnRpdGxlZC10by1ncmVhdGVyLWNvbXBlbnNhdGlvbi10aGFuLW1hbnktcmVhbGl6ZS8_dXRtX3NvdXJjZT1jbGltYXRlbW9uaXRvci5iZWVoaWl2LmNvbSZ1dG1fbWVkaXVtPXJlZmVycmFsJnV0bV9jYW1wYWlnbj1hbGwtYWJvdXQtdmVyeS1iaWctYm9hdHMiLCJwb3N0X2lkIjoiZDBiMTA0NzUtMzJkOC00NTRiLTg5ZWMtZDcwYTk2Yzc2Yjg4IiwicHVibGljYXRpb25faWQiOiJiM2QzNjc3NC1hMDJlLTRiYjgtOGQwYS0zMmRjNmExMjMzNDEiLCJ2aXNpdF90b2tlbiI6IjMyMDMyZTM2LTZhNjAtNDMxYy05NDc5LTZiMTkzM2Q1YzhlMSIsImlhdCI6MTcwODY5OTY2NywiaXNzIjoib3JjaGlkIn0.qFaLe2gyEoQ33gLtYJVP71vtF5Dqgf1h_EA1l4jqd5Y" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Supporters</a> of the Jones Act say the law protects the country’s shipbuilding industry and maritime labor force, and that it would keep America from being reliant on foreign vessels for deliveries in times of war. </p>
<p><a href="https://flight.beehiiv.net/v2/clicks/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJ1cmwiOiJodHRwczovL3d3dy5wcmVzc2hlcmFsZC5jb20vMjAxNi8wOS8xMy9tYWluZS12b2ljZXMtb2xkLXNoaXBidWlsZGluZy1sYXctY291bGQtZnJlZXplLXRoZS11LXMtb3V0LW9mLWFyY3RpYy1zaGlwcGluZy1sYW5lcy8_dXRtX3NvdXJjZT1jbGltYXRlbW9uaXRvci5iZWVoaWl2LmNvbSZ1dG1fbWVkaXVtPXJlZmVycmFsJnV0bV9jYW1wYWlnbj1hbGwtYWJvdXQtdmVyeS1iaWctYm9hdHMiLCJwb3N0X2lkIjoiZDBiMTA0NzUtMzJkOC00NTRiLTg5ZWMtZDcwYTk2Yzc2Yjg4IiwicHVibGljYXRpb25faWQiOiJiM2QzNjc3NC1hMDJlLTRiYjgtOGQwYS0zMmRjNmExMjMzNDEiLCJ2aXNpdF90b2tlbiI6IjMyMDMyZTM2LTZhNjAtNDMxYy05NDc5LTZiMTkzM2Q1YzhlMSIsImlhdCI6MTcwODY5OTY2NywiaXNzIjoib3JjaGlkIn0.LxHwb078xrKjLWopzF5KWHiVIEm-i7-V4hej2n7z5QA" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Detractors</a> say it costs more jobs than it protects, increases the price of goods in places like Hawaii and Alaska, and makes transportation clunkier................</p>
<p></p>
<p><a href="https://themainemonitor.org/offshore-wind-law/">https://themainemonitor.org/offshore-wind-law/</a></p>
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<p><br/> <span style="font-size: 8pt;">Fair Use Notice: This website may reproduce or have links to copyrighted material the use of which has not been expressly authorized by the copyright owner. We make such material available, without profit, as part of our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, economic, scientific, and related issues. It is our understanding that this constitutes a "fair use" of any such copyrighted material as provided by law. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes that go beyond "fair use," you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.</span></p>
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<p></p>The Maine Golden Eagle Study, a citizen-science project, is hoping to learn more about the presence of an endangered species in Mainetag:www.windtaskforce.org,2024-02-25:4401701:BlogPost:2590272024-02-25T15:25:34.000ZLong Islanderhttps://www.windtaskforce.org/profile/LongIslander
<p>February 25, 2024</p>
<p>HERB WILSON</p>
<p></p>
<p>EXCERPTS</p>
<p>..............We can characterize the abundance of golden eagles in Maine as rare year-round. Perhaps the best time of year see one is in March in the western mountains, when the Labrador and Newfoundland breeders are migrating back to their nesting grounds.</p>
<p>Fall migrants are more common in the western mountains as well, beginning in late September, peaking in late October to November, trailing off in…</p>
<p>February 25, 2024</p>
<p>HERB WILSON</p>
<p></p>
<p>EXCERPTS</p>
<p>..............We can characterize the abundance of golden eagles in Maine as rare year-round. Perhaps the best time of year see one is in March in the western mountains, when the Labrador and Newfoundland breeders are migrating back to their nesting grounds.</p>
<p>Fall migrants are more common in the western mountains as well, beginning in late September, peaking in late October to November, trailing off in December.</p>
<p>Winter birds occasionally appear but are mostly transient. Sometimes, these eagles are seen in summer, but these days are also transient. We do know that golden eagles once nested in Maine in small numbers. From 1850 to 1950, nesting was reported in Oxford, Piscataquis, Franklin and Somerset counties at higher elevations. The last successful nesting in Maine was in 1984 and the last attempted but failed nesting was in 1996.................</p>
<p>.......................The propensity of golden eagles to come to carrion provides a tool for an exciting new program to learn more about golden eagles in Maine. Erynn Call, a wildlife biologist at the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, is directing the Maine Golden Eagle Study in collaboration with the Eastern Golden Eagle Working Group and Conservation Science Global.</p>
<p>The program is a citizen-science project so you can help in several ways. The most important tool of the study is to use trail cameras to monitor food sources. If a golden eagle finds and feeds on the carrion put out by researchers, the trail camera will snap shots of the eagle and we have a solid record of occurrence.................</p>
<p>...........You can volunteer in several capacities. You can monitor and maintain one or more trail cameras. You can make your land available for others to set up a trail camera. You can provide carrion for other volunteers. You can devote time to looking for golden eagles.</p>
<p><span style="color: #008dde; font-family: Lusitana, serif; font-size: 20px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;">IFW’s web page on the Maine Golden Eagle Study</span> has a very useful link with many photos on how to separate golden eagles from bald eagles. Distinguishing immature birds can be tricky.</p>
<p><span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Open sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: nowrap; background-color: #ffffff; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;"> </span></p>
<p>Herb Wilson taught ornithology and other biology courses at Colby College.</p>
<p></p>
<p><a href="https://www.pressherald.com/2024/02/25/birding-golden-eagles-come-to-maine-but-they-are-not-easy-to-find/">https://www.pressherald.com/2024/02/25/birding-golden-eagles-come-to-maine-but-they-are-not-easy-to-find/</a></p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 8pt;">************************************* </span></p>
<p><br/> <span style="font-size: 8pt;">Fair Use Notice: This website may reproduce or have links to copyrighted material the use of which has not been expressly authorized by the copyright owner. We make such material available, without profit, as part of our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, economic, scientific, and related issues. It is our understanding that this constitutes a "fair use" of any such copyrighted material as provided by law. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes that go beyond "fair use," you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 8pt;"> </span></p>
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<p></p>Unpopular “Aroostook Renewable Gateway” May Face More Roadblockstag:www.windtaskforce.org,2024-02-22:4401701:BlogPost:2587982024-02-22T18:30:00.000ZLong Islanderhttps://www.windtaskforce.org/profile/LongIslander
<p>By Seamus Othot<br></br> February 21, 2024</p>
<p></p>
<p><strong>EXCERPTS</strong></p>
<p>Maine’s Committee on Energy Utilities and Technology (EUT) held a public hearing on Tuesday on a bill which could strike another blow against the controversial Aroostook Renewable Energy Gateway.</p>
<p>[RELATED: The Heavily Criticized “Aroostook Renewable Gateway” Suffers Another Setback…]</p>
<p>“The opposition of this transmission line was not specific to any political party. It is a bipartisan issue,…</p>
<p>By Seamus Othot<br/> February 21, 2024</p>
<p></p>
<p><strong>EXCERPTS</strong></p>
<p>Maine’s Committee on Energy Utilities and Technology (EUT) held a public hearing on Tuesday on a bill which could strike another blow against the controversial Aroostook Renewable Energy Gateway.</p>
<p>[RELATED: The Heavily Criticized “Aroostook Renewable Gateway” Suffers Another Setback…]</p>
<p>“The opposition of this transmission line was not specific to any political party. It is a bipartisan issue, when it comes to threatening someone’s livelihood, it does not matter how they vote at the ballot box,” said Rep. Scott Cyrway (R-Albion)</p>
<p>LD 2205, proposed by Rep. Cyrway, would require a detailed feasibility study to be performed by an independent contractor to examine the proposed Aroostook Renewable Gateway energy transmission line.</p>
<p>“The purpose of a feasibility study is simple, to explore the most effective ways to reach our energy goals, while also preserving the natural beauty of Maine, and the livelihood of its people,” said Cyrway</p>
<p>The transmission line was originally supposed to be owned and operated by LS Power; however, the company abandoned the project last year due to cost increases. The transmission line, if it’s ever built, is intended to connect New England’s broader powergrid with a massive proposed wind power facility planned for Aroostook County under the management of the Boston-based Longroad Energy.</p>
<p>The transmission line has been heavily criticized for its potential impact on Northern Mainers, some of whom would be forced to surrender their land to eminent domain for the 160-mile-long,150-foot-wide corridor.</p>
<p>[RELATED: Rural Mainers Urge Ban on Seizing Private Land Via Eminent Domain for Wind Project Backed by Foreign Asset Funds…]</p>
<p>Cyrway’s bill would require the feasibility study to be conducted before the state can begin its search for a new contractor to construct the transmission line, after LS Power was unable to undertake the project for the agreed upon price.</p>
<p>The study would determine whether the transmission line would actually further the state’s clean energy goals, and assess the environmental and economic impact of the construction project.</p>
<p>It would collect input from the communities affected by the line, and would assess the impact of on the local residents, including the possible diminishment of the scenic beauty of the land, and the effect on recreational land among numerous other factors.</p>
<p>[RELATED: The Heavily Criticized “Aroostook Renewable Gateway” Suffers Another Setback…]</p>
<p>The study would examine the possibility of using existing infrastructure, such as existing corridors, which could allow the construction without the need to seize land from rural Mainers.....................................</p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p>...............Tom Bolen, chair of the Albion Maine Transmission Line Committee, also spoke in favor of Cyrway’s bill, calling the state rash for its attempts to proceed with the project without the feasibility study.</p>
<p>“You have an opportunity as engineers, as scientists, to look at this, and step back, and really do the right thing. Just don’t let political expediency drive the agenda,” said Bolen “We can be better, I know we can.”</p>
<p>Eliza Donoghue, spoke against the bill, representing the Maine Renewable Energy Association.</p>
<p>“We believe that this resolve is not a productive use of state resources, and we have strong concerns that this bill will unnecessarily delay the program,” said Donoghue.</p>
<p>She argued that the state already has sufficient standards to determine the feasibility of the project.</p>
<p>[RELATED: Foreign Investors Will Reap 92 Percent of Profits from Aroostook County’s King Pine Wind Power Scheme…]</p>
<p>Other opponents agreed with Donoghue, and cited concerns that the study would unnecessarily delay the project.</p>
<p>Cyrway’s bill sets a deadline of January 2026 for the conclusion of the study, potentially delaying the start of construction for years, if the study concludes favorably for the project.</p>
<p>The so-called King Pine Wind Power project that transmission line would connect to would be the largest wind power installation east of the Mississippi River.</p>
<p>Longroad Energy, the company behind King Pine, is 92 percent owned by foreign investors, including the New Zealand sovereign wealth fund.</p>
<p></p>
<p><a href="https://www.themainewire.com/2024/02/unpopular-aroostook-renewable-gateway-may-face-more-roadblocks/">https://www.themainewire.com/2024/02/unpopular-aroostook-renewable-gateway-may-face-more-roadblocks/</a></p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 8pt;">************************************* </span></p>
<p><br/> <span style="font-size: 8pt;">Fair Use Notice: This website may reproduce or have links to copyrighted material the use of which has not been expressly authorized by the copyright owner. We make such material available, without profit, as part of our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, economic, scientific, and related issues. It is our understanding that this constitutes a "fair use" of any such copyrighted material as provided by law. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes that go beyond "fair use," you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 8pt;"> </span></p>
<p></p>Organizers stand against building offshore wind port at Sears Islandtag:www.windtaskforce.org,2024-02-22:4401701:BlogPost:2589832024-02-22T17:30:00.000ZLong Islanderhttps://www.windtaskforce.org/profile/LongIslander
<p>By Marleigha Clipston<br></br> Published: Feb. 21, 2024 at 8:33 PM EST</p>
<p></p>
<p>BANGOR, Maine (WABI) - The Alliance for Sears Island and their allies gathered in Belfast today to stand against the decision to build an offshore wind port at Sears Island</p>
<p>Governor Mills announced the location Tuesday.</p>
<p>The Alliance believes the state should have offshore wind power, but the port should be at a different location</p>
<p>They say Mack Point would be a better site and just as many…</p>
<p>By Marleigha Clipston<br/> Published: Feb. 21, 2024 at 8:33 PM EST</p>
<p></p>
<p>BANGOR, Maine (WABI) - The Alliance for Sears Island and their allies gathered in Belfast today to stand against the decision to build an offshore wind port at Sears Island</p>
<p>Governor Mills announced the location Tuesday.</p>
<p>The Alliance believes the state should have offshore wind power, but the port should be at a different location</p>
<p>They say Mack Point would be a better site and just as many jobs would be available there.</p>
<p>Organizers believe the biodiversity of Sears Island needs to be preserved and building a wind port there will destroy it.</p>
<p>Becky Barovick a member of the Alliance for Sears Island said ”We want to see the economics. We want to see what they provided and we’ll, you know, we’ll go from there. But for right now, we think that they’ve left out a number of things in terms of the infrastructure costs to building on Sears island that tilts it towards building on Sears Island rather than Mack Point. We’d like to see them really do their due diligence in a way that we can understand why we have to sacrifice the best birding place in the state of Maine for instance”......................................</p>
<p></p>
<p>Continue reading at <a href="https://www.wabi.tv/2024/02/22/organizers-stand-against-building-offshore-wind-port-sears-island/">https://www.wabi.tv/2024/02/22/organizers-stand-against-building-offshore-wind-port-sears-island/</a></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p>Mainebiz:</p>
<h1>Sears Island selected as site of $500M Maine offshore wind-power port</h1>
<p>Patrick Woodcock, president and CEO of the Maine State Chamber of Commerce, said development of port infrastructure is a cornerstone in realizing the potential economic dividends of an offshore wind industry and further expanding the state’s international trade.</p>
<p>“Much like creating a shipyard, this port will usher in a new era of energy independence enabling us to more affordably heat our homes, stabilize our energy costs, and create good-paying Maine jobs,” said Dagher.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.mainebiz.biz/article/sears-island-selected-as-site-of-500m-maine-offshore-wind-power-port">https://www.mainebiz.biz/article/sears-island-selected-as-site-of-500m-maine-offshore-wind-power-port</a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 8pt;">************************************* </span></p>
<p><br/> <span style="font-size: 8pt;">Fair Use Notice: This website may reproduce or have links to copyrighted material the use of which has not been expressly authorized by the copyright owner. We make such material available, without profit, as part of our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, economic, scientific, and related issues. It is our understanding that this constitutes a "fair use" of any such copyrighted material as provided by law. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes that go beyond "fair use," you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.</span></p>
<p></p>Sears Island selected as preferred site for offshore wind power porttag:www.windtaskforce.org,2024-02-20:4401701:BlogPost:2586952024-02-20T21:00:00.000ZLong Islanderhttps://www.windtaskforce.org/profile/LongIslander
<p>Maine Public | By Susan Sharon<br></br> Published February 20, 2024 at 1:26 PM EST</p>
<p></p>
<div class="ArtP-lead"><img alt="Gov. Janet Mills at a press conference announcing Sears Island as the preferred site for an offshore wind port on Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024." class="Image" height="587" src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/f330dc4/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3546x2367+0+0/resize/880x587!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F4c%2F09%2Fdd152e784b90b0a50b9cb6e77777%2Fimg-6671.jpg" width="880"></img><div class="Figure-content"><div class="Figure-content"><div class="Figure-credit-container"><div class="Figure-credit">Nicole Ogrysko/Maine Public file</div>
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Members of a state working group tasked with finding a suitable port to serve the offshore wind industry toured Sears Island in Nov. 2022. Later, they toured the port of Mack Point, visible in…</div>
<p>Maine Public | By Susan Sharon<br/> Published February 20, 2024 at 1:26 PM EST</p>
<p></p>
<div class="ArtP-lead"><img class="Image" alt="Gov. Janet Mills at a press conference announcing Sears Island as the preferred site for an offshore wind port on Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024." width="880" height="587" src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/f330dc4/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3546x2367+0+0/resize/880x587!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F4c%2F09%2Fdd152e784b90b0a50b9cb6e77777%2Fimg-6671.jpg"/><div class="Figure-content"><div class="Figure-content"><div class="Figure-credit-container"><div class="Figure-credit">Nicole Ogrysko/Maine Public file</div>
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Members of a state working group tasked with finding a suitable port to serve the offshore wind industry toured Sears Island in Nov. 2022. Later, they toured the port of Mack Point, visible in the background.<br/> <br/></div>
<div class="ArtP-articleContainer"><div class="ArtP-articleBody"><p><strong><i>This story will be updated.</i></strong></p>
<p>Gov. Janet Mills announced Tuesday that her administration has selected Sears Island in Searsport as the preferred site for development of a large, offshore wind port designed to jumpstart the clean energy economy in Maine and the transition away from fossil fuels.</p>
<div class="Enh"></div>
<p>Selection of the site follows a public stakeholder process led by the Maine Department of Transportation and the Maine Port Authority to consider several potential options in the Port of Searsport, the Port of Eastport and the Port of Portland.</p>
<p>Nearly four years ago, Gov. Mills identified the Port of Searsport as the leading site in Maine to "support the transportation, assembly and fabrication of offshore wind turbines." She also called for further study of the port's assets and future needs. <a href="https://www.maine.gov/mdot/ofps/docs/port/MaineDOT%20OSW%20Port%20Infrastructure%20Feasibility%20Study-Concept%20Design%20Report%2011-17-2021.pdf" class="Link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">That study was completed in 2021</a>.</p>
<p>And today, Mills said, based on input from port and offshore wind stakeholders, including the University of Maine and on technical and engineering analyses, the state has concluded that the Sears Island parcel is the most feasible port development site. It's expected to be 100 acres of development in total.</p>
<div class="Enh"><img class="Image" alt="The site of a proposed offshore wind port on Sears Island." width="880" height="1138" src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/96c03fd/2147483647/strip/true/crop/773x1000+0+0/resize/880x1138!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fb9%2F3d%2F1148ad6a4debaece10eba8de5921%2Fport-of-searsport-visual.jpg"/><div class="Figure-content"><div class="Figure-content"><div class="Figure-credit-container"><div class="Figure-source">MaineDOT</div>
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The site of a proposed offshore wind port on Sears Island.<br/></div>
<p>"This was not an easy decision, nor is it one that I made lightly," Mills said. "For more than two years, my Administration has evaluated Sears Island and Mack Point thoroughly and with an open mind, recognizing that each site has its own set of benefits and its own set of drawbacks. In carefully considering all of these, I believe that, on balance, Sears Island is the best choice for an offshore wind port because it is already owned by the state, designated for the purpose of port development, will cost less in the short-term and long-term, and is expected to result in less environmental harm."</p>
<p>Included in those considerations are the expected need for dredging at Mack Point and avoided impacts on commercial activities in the Port of Searsport.</p>
<p>While the governor's decision is not a surprise, it is likely to spark strong opposition from a coalition of conservation and fishing groups who do not think the largescale development plans are compatible with fishing in the area or with Sears Island, the largest undeveloped island in Penobscot Bay.</p>
<p>In fact, even before the governor called a press conference to make the announcement, the Alliance for Sears Island and other opponents were planning a rally on Wednesday afternoon. They and others have argued that nearby Mack Point is a more suitable alternative because it is developed and already contains a cargo port.</p>
<p>Steven Miller, executive director of the Islesboro Island Trust and the Alliance for Sears Island, says the state's decision to choose Sears Island is a violation of <a href="https://www.maine.gov/mdot/ofps/docs/port/Steering%20Comm%20final%20rep.pdf" class="Link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a pact made in 2007 to choose Mack Point as the preferred location</a> for future marine transportation development.</p>
<p>"The Alliance is profoundly disappointed," Miller said. "Mack Point consolidates industry in one location. It economizes existing infrastructure like rail and road access.</p>
<div class="Enh"><img class="Image" alt="The Offshore Wind Port Advisory Group toured Sears Island in November." width="880" height="587" src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/d237913/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1024x683+0+0/resize/880x587!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F17%2Fcb%2Fd0988d3f48f99d4bf1f24d269e5e%2Fsears-island-2.jpg"/><div class="Figure-content"><div class="Figure-content"><div class="Figure-credit-container"><div class="Figure-credit">Murray Carpenter</div>
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The Offshore Wind Port Advisory Group toured Sears Island in Nov. 2022.<br/></div>
<p>“This is not NIMBY. We’re YIMBY, we’re saying yes, build it in our background. But build it at Mack Point, not at Sears Island.”</p>
<p>The 940-acre Sears Island, which is owned by the state, has a rich history. For thousands of years, it was stewarded by the Wabanaki who used it as a summer gathering place for hunting and fishing. Later, farmers cleared the land and grazed livestock on it. Since the 1970's, it has been targeted for several development projects, including a nuclear power plant, a coal-fired power plant and in 1996, a deepwater cargo port, supported by then-Gov. Angus King. None of them ever came to fruition. And Gov. King was deeply dismayed when federal regulators rejected the cargo port because they said it would harm the bay's ecosystem.</p>
<p>"Do you know what one of the issues was? One of the major environmental issues raised in connection with this project?" King said at the time. "Eelgrass. Not only eelgrass, shade on eelgrass."</p>
<p>More than a decade later, in 2009, Gov. John Baldacci issued an executive order reserving the right for the Department of Transportation to develop 330 acres in the island's northwest corner for a port and preserving the rest through a conservation easement that is managed by Maine Coast Heritage Trust.</p>
<p>Over the years, Sears Island, with its trails and beaches has become a popular place for family outings, dog walkers and hikers.</p>
<div class="Enh"><img class="Image" alt="Rolf Olsen, of Friends of Sears Island, on one of the trails the group maintains on the island." width="880" height="587" src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/6c80448/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1024x683+0+0/resize/880x587!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fa5%2Fc3%2F7a9a5ba64acf954659bdcab482b3%2Fsears-island-trails.jpg"/><div class="Figure-content"><div class="Figure-content"><div class="Figure-credit-container"><div class="Figure-credit">Murray Carpenter</div>
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Rolf Olsen, of Friends of Sears Island, on one of the trails the group maintains on the island in Nov. 2022.<br/></div>
<p>Mills says she recognizes that the construction of a port is not insubstantial, and it will be a change to an area that is enjoyed by many people. But she says the Sears Island parcel......................</p>
<p><i>Maine Public reporter Murray Carpenter contributed to this story.</i></p>
<p></p>
<p><a href="https://www.mainepublic.org/2024-02-20/janet-mills-announces-sears-island-as-preferred-site-for-offshore-wind-power-port">https://www.mainepublic.org/2024-02-20/janet-mills-announces-sears-island-as-preferred-site-for-offshore-wind-power-port</a></p>
<p><em> </em></p>
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<p><br/> <span style="font-size: 8pt;">Fair Use Notice: This website may reproduce or have links to copyrighted material the use of which has not been expressly authorized by the copyright owner. We make such material available, without profit, as part of our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, economic, scientific, and related issues. It is our understanding that this constitutes a "fair use" of any such copyrighted material as provided by law. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes that go beyond "fair use," you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.</span></p>
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</div>A new report says more investment in New England's grid is needed for a clean energy futuretag:www.windtaskforce.org,2024-02-20:4401701:BlogPost:2587842024-02-20T17:00:21.000ZLong Islanderhttps://www.windtaskforce.org/profile/LongIslander
<p>Maine Public | By Robbie Feinberg<br></br> Published February 20, 2024 at 6:45 AM EST</p>
<p></p>
<div class="ArtP-articleContainer"><div class="ArtP-articleBody"><p>A new report says that the region will need to make substantial investment in its electrical grid, as Maine and New England embrace wind, solar and technologies such as EV's and heat pumps.</p>
<p>The study,…</p>
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<p>Maine Public | By Robbie Feinberg<br/> Published February 20, 2024 at 6:45 AM EST</p>
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<div class="ArtP-articleContainer"><div class="ArtP-articleBody"><p>A new report says that the region will need to make substantial investment in its electrical grid, as Maine and New England embrace wind, solar and technologies such as EV's and heat pumps.</p>
<p>The study, <a href="https://www.iso-ne.com/system-planning/transmission-planning/longer-term-transmission-studies" class="Link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">from grid operator ISO New England</a>, concludes that New England may need to invest close to $1 billion in in its electric transmission infrastructure each year, through 2050, in order to handle the increased electrical demands.</p>
<div class="Enh"></div>
<p>Under one scenario outlined in the report, the electrical demand on the grid could peak at 57 gigawatts in the winter of 2050, which is more than double the highest peak load ever recorded. In order to create a grid that can reliably handle such a large demand, the report says it would cost up to $26 billion through 2050.</p>
<p>Bob Ethier, ISO's vice president of system planning, said wind power from northern Maine could be needed to help meet that energy demand — and that will require more infrastructure to connect to southern New England.</p>
<p>"If there's going to be more of that, then we clearly need more transmission capability from northern Maine, down to the load centers in the rest of New England," Ethier said.</p>
<p>The study also finds that if the region can reduce its peak energy needs, it could potentially lower the cost of needed grid investments by billions of dollars.</p>
<p>State and regional officials say that could potentially be achieved through energy efficiency measures, battery storage and electric rates and technology that encourage consumers to use less energy during times of peak demand.</p>
<p>Dan Burgess, who heads the governor's energy office, said the report is an important step in regional planning efforts, and said Maine is already working on its own grid plans, including efforts to make it more resilient to extreme weather.</p>
<p>"And I think looking at the opportunities to increase Maine's resilience and preparedness for climate and climate change are important," Burgess said.</p>
<p>Maine has set a goal to move to 100% renewable energy by 2050.</p>
<p></p>
<p><a href="https://www.mainepublic.org/business-and-economy/2024-02-20/a-new-report-says-more-investment-in-new-englands-grid-is-needed-for-a-clean-energy-future">https://www.mainepublic.org/business-and-economy/2024-02-20/a-new-report-says-more-investment-in-new-englands-grid-is-needed-for-a-clean-energy-future</a></p>
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<p><br/> <span style="font-size: 8pt;">Fair Use Notice: This website may reproduce or have links to copyrighted material the use of which has not been expressly authorized by the copyright owner. We make such material available, without profit, as part of our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, economic, scientific, and related issues. It is our understanding that this constitutes a "fair use" of any such copyrighted material as provided by law. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes that go beyond "fair use," you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.</span></p>
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</div>New Robert Bryce Documentary: "This Is A Date With Disaster": Pulling The Plug on America’s Electrical 'Life Support System'tag:www.windtaskforce.org,2024-02-13:4401701:BlogPost:2588512024-02-13T15:30:00.000ZLong Islanderhttps://www.windtaskforce.org/profile/LongIslander
<p>Tuesday, Feb 13, 2024 - 06:30 AM</p>
<p>Authored by Kevin Stocklin via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),</p>
<p>Electricity is among the most essential sources of America’s unparalleled prosperity and productivity; it is also the greatest vulnerability.</p>
<p></p>
<p><strong>EXCERPTS</strong></p>
<p><img alt="" height="333" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/image%281577%29.jpg?itok=gmcTBwkJ" width="500"></img> <br></br> <em>Giant wind turbines are powered by strong winds in front of solar panels in Palm Springs, Calif., on March 27, 2013. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)</em></p>
<p>The United…</p>
<p>Tuesday, Feb 13, 2024 - 06:30 AM</p>
<p>Authored by Kevin Stocklin via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),</p>
<p>Electricity is among the most essential sources of America’s unparalleled prosperity and productivity; it is also the greatest vulnerability.</p>
<p></p>
<p><strong>EXCERPTS</strong></p>
<p><img alt="" height="333" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/image%281577%29.jpg?itok=gmcTBwkJ" width="500"/><br/> <em>Giant wind turbines are powered by strong winds in front of solar panels in Palm Springs, Calif., on March 27, 2013. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)</em></p>
<p>The United States has become so utterly dependent upon an uninterrupted supply of affordable electricity that, as our grid becomes ever more fragile American society has become fragile along with it.</p>
<p></p>
<p>........if America’s electric grid were to go down for an extended period, such as one year, “there are essentially two estimates on how many people would die from hunger, from starvation, from lack of water, and from social disruption.</p>
<p>“<strong>One estimate is that within a year or so, two-thirds of the United States population would die,</strong>” Mr. Woolsey <a href="https://www.powermag.com/expect-death-if-pulse-event-hits-power-grid/">said</a>. “The other estimate is that within a year or so, 90 percent of the U.S. population would die.”.............................</p>
<p></p>
<p>................The North American electric grid is rapidly being transitioned from one in which coal had once dominated to one that is seeing an ever increasing share of wind, solar, and natural gas. In the process, America’s electric grid is changing from something that was once so reliable that consumers rarely thought about it, to one that increasingly features rolling blackouts and may, one day soon, be on the brink of long-term failure.</p>
<p>The destabilization of the power grid is the result of what analyst and author Meredith Angwin deems the “fatal trifecta.”</p>
<p>“The Texas grid almost collapsed because of what I call the fatal trifecta,” Ms. Angwin states. “<strong>The first part of the fatal trifecta is over reliance on renewables, which go on and off when they want to</strong>................................</p>
<p></p>
<p>.................<strong>At the same time, the drive to achieve net-zero CO2 emissions has led to political and corporate campaigns to shift ever more products onto the electric grid</strong>. This includes such essentials as home heating, transportation, and cooking.</p>
<p>Laws and regulations in Europe and the United States have sought to ban or phase out oil and gas heating in homes, along with gasoline-powered cars, trucks, and buses. The effect of this will be to make people more dependent on electricity while pushing up demand to levels that many say the grid cannot meet.</p>
<p>“The grid is already cracking under existing demand,” Mr. Bryce said. “We’re seeing the grid’s reliability, resilience, and affordability all declining, while these pressure groups are trying to put yet more demand on it.</p>
<p>“This is a date with disaster.”.............................</p>
<p></p>
<p>..................Many energy experts and environmentalists are coming to the conclusion that nuclear energy is the best choice to generate reliable, affordable energy, while cutting CO2 emissions. Despite headline nuclear catastrophes at plants in Chernobyl, Three Mile Island, and Fukushima, many countries are building new plants or delaying closures of existing nuclear plants, considering it the cleanest and least environmentally harmful source of electricity.</p>
<p>According to a <a href="https://www.nei.org/news/2015/land-needs-for-wind-solar-dwarf-nuclear-plants">report</a> by the Nuclear Energy Institute, wind farms require up to 360 times as much land area to produce the same amount of electricity as a nuclear energy facility, and solar facilities require up to 75 times the land area. Compared to coal and natural gas plants, wind and solar consume <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/renewables-land-use-and-local-opposition-in-the-united-states/#:~:text=Wind%20and%20solar%20generation%20require,and%20transport%20the%20fossil%20fuels.">at least 10 times</a> as much land, according to the left-leaning Brookings Institution.</p>
<p>In addition to a smaller footprint, nuclear power stations also typically do not require the construction of thousands of miles of new transmission lines to reach remote locations, where wind and solar facilities are typically built.</p>
<p><strong>With nuclear, Mr. Bryce said, “we don’t need to expand the grid; we can use the grid we have.”</strong>...............................</p>
<p></p>
<p>.............................“With the Inflation Reduction Act and the investment tax credits, production tax credits, all of the financial incentives in the power-gen sector are to build more wind and solar,” he said. “To me, that is just absolute crazy town.”</p>
<p>The documentary is available to watch for free on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCHTTtpTKqw">YouTube</a> or at <a href="http://juicetheseries.com">juicetheseries.com</a>.</p>
<p></p>
<p><a href="https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/date-disaster-net-zero-pulling-plug-americas-electrical-life-support-system-new-documentary">https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/date-disaster-net-zero-pulling-plug-americas-electrical-life-support-system-new-documentary</a></p>
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<p> </p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 8pt;">************************************* </span></p>
<p><br/> <span style="font-size: 8pt;">Fair Use Notice: This website may reproduce or have links to copyrighted material the use of which has not been expressly authorized by the copyright owner. We make such material available, without profit, as part of our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, economic, scientific, and related issues. It is our understanding that this constitutes a "fair use" of any such copyrighted material as provided by law. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes that go beyond "fair use," you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 8pt;"> </span></p>
<p></p>Press Herald headline zeroes in on anti-EV sentiment among Mainerstag:www.windtaskforce.org,2024-02-13:4401701:BlogPost:2586562024-02-13T03:30:00.000ZLong Islanderhttps://www.windtaskforce.org/profile/LongIslander
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12378172290?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12378172290?profile=RESIZE_710x"></img></a></p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12378172300?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-full" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12378172300?profile=RESIZE_710x"></img></a></p>
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<p>The above headline was published on February 5th. But shortly thereafter, I was unable to find the article. Then it reappeared…</p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12378172290?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12378172290?profile=RESIZE_710x" class="align-center"/></a></p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12378172300?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12378172300?profile=RESIZE_710x" class="align-full"/></a></p>
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<p></p>
<p>The above headline was published on February 5th. But shortly thereafter, I was unable to find the article. Then it reappeared but with a very different headline: <strong>"State regulators asked for opinions on proposal to expand electric vehicle sales. They got 1,700 comments."</strong></p>
<p><a href="https://www.pressherald.com/2024/02/05/state-regulators-receive-more-than-1700-comments-on-proposal-to-expand-electric-vehicle-sales/">https://www.pressherald.com/2024/02/05/state-regulators-receive-more-than-1700-comments-on-proposal-to-expand-electric-vehicle-sales/</a></p>
<p></p>
<p>Note that the new version of the article does not reference the 4:1 trouncing of the EV mandate proposal.</p>
<p></p>
<p>One can only wonder why the factual headline, which shed light on Mainers' anti-EV sentiment, was changed to a completely neutral headline.</p>
<p></p>
<p>If this post feels like Deja Vu, it is, sort of. What's new in this post is the above screenshot of the old headline which we found via The Wayback Machine, which allows one to search for Web postings at different points in time. The link to The Wayback Machine, <a href="https://web.archive.org/">https://web.archive.org/</a>, was provided by Gary Campbell.</p>
<p></p>
<p>The new and current neutral headline:</p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12378856285?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12378856285?profile=RESIZE_710x" class="align-full"/></a></p>
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<p>This is the state's biggest newspaper writing about a plan to take you out of your vehicles. Are we being too trivial here? You decide. </p>
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<p><br/> <span style="font-size: 8pt;">Fair Use Notice: This website may reproduce or have links to copyrighted material the use of which has not been expressly authorized by the copyright owner. We make such material available, without profit, as part of our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, economic, scientific, and related issues. It is our understanding that this constitutes a "fair use" of any such copyrighted material as provided by law. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes that go beyond "fair use," you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: 8pt;"> </span></p>
<p></p>Vermont: Pro–wind energy lawyer decries NIMBYs, backs Senate bill; Ridgeline wind opponent Annette Smith says bill threatens fundamental rightstag:www.windtaskforce.org,2024-02-13:4401701:BlogPost:2588472024-02-13T03:20:48.000ZLong Islanderhttps://www.windtaskforce.org/profile/LongIslander
<p class="sans-serif sizeminus2" style="padding-left: 10px; border-left: solid 1px;"><span>By Guy Page on February 6, 2024 • <a href="https://vermontdailychronicle.com/pro-wind-energy-lawyer-decries-nimbys-backs-senate-bill/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">vermontdailychronicle.com</a></span> ~~</p>
<p class="nav" id="translate"><b>Translate: <a><i>FROM</i> English</a> | <a><i>TO</i> English</a></b></p>
<div><p>Vermont’s renewable power industry is promoting a Senate bill, now under committee…</p>
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<p class="sans-serif sizeminus2" style="padding-left: 10px; border-left: solid 1px;"><span>By Guy Page on February 6, 2024 • <a target="_blank" href="https://vermontdailychronicle.com/pro-wind-energy-lawyer-decries-nimbys-backs-senate-bill/" rel="noopener">vermontdailychronicle.com</a></span> ~~</p>
<p class="nav" id="translate"><b>Translate: <a><i>FROM</i> English</a> | <a><i>TO</i> English</a></b></p>
<div><p>Vermont’s renewable power industry is promoting a Senate bill, now under committee review, that would weaken local communities’ say during the state approval process for renewable power projects.</p>
<p><a href="https://legislature.vermont.gov/bill/status/2024/S.236">S.236</a> would “limit adjoining landowner participation in 30 V.S.A. § 248 [Public Utilities Commission energy project licensing] cases to public health and safety and traffic and to remove the aesthetics criteria.” The PUC is the state’s ‘energy court,’ resolving all questions dealing with energy projects, including licensing.</p>
<p>State law currently requires that “with respect to a facility located in the State, in response to a request from one or more members of the public or a party, the Public Utility Commission shall hold a nonevidentiary public hearing.” S.236 would add this ‘yes, but’ condition:</p>
<p>“If an adjoining landowner or other person who claims an interest in any proceeding held under this section as a result of owning or occupying property in proximity to the facility under review seek permission to intervene as a party in any proceedings held under this section, their participation is limited to whether the facility will have an undue adverse impact on public health and safety or traffic, and “they must prove that they have a particularized interest protected by this section that may be affected by an act or decision of the Public Utility Commission and that no other party adequately represents their interests.”</p>
<p>The renewable power industry is clearly rankled by its failure to consistently receive PUC approval for project sitings. Under former PUC chair Anthony Roisman, wind turbine projects in particular were held to the letter of Vermont law. But many ‘community solar’ projects also foundered amid neighbors’ objections.</p>
<p>With longtime PUC staff attorney Ed McNamara named to succeed Roisman, the renewable power industry may hope for a more receptive energy court. But the industry also badly wants to see the law changed. And its case for reducing local influence over energy siting was made <a href="https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2024/WorkGroups/Senate%20Finance/Bills/S.236/Witness%20Documents/S.236~Joslyn%20Wilschek~Wilschek%20Testimony~1-24-2024.pdf">January 24</a> by utility lawyer Joslyn Wilschek.</p>
<p>The husband and wife partners of Wilschek Iarrapino Law Office in Montpelier, Wilschek and Anthony Iarrapino, first practiced law together as students at Vermont Law School’s South Royalton Legal Clinic. When Wilschek testified on January 24 to Senate Finance about S.236 the longtime utility lawyer noted that “these are my opinions and I speak for myself rather than any client.” However, much of her testimony first was presented, at times verbatim, to a sympathetic audience in an <a href="https://ljfo.vermont.gov/assets/Meetings/Renewable-Energy-Standard-Reform-Working-Group/2023-11-15/c441ce08f9/2023-J.-Wilschek-REV-Presentation.pdf">October 2023 speech</a> to the Renewable Energy Vermont (REV), the renewable power industry trade association.</p>
<p>In both testimony and speech, Wilschek shows her frustration with “NIMBYs” (Not In My Backyard) who have “captured” the energy siting regulatory process with their “self-interested and occasionally irrational opposition.”</p>
<p>“Despite the solid proof that global overheating is happening at a frighteningly fast and increasingly lethal pace and the transition to a renewable energy system is happening at a distressingly slow place, the Vermont legislature, executive branch, regional planning commissions and municipalities captured by small factions of NIMBYs have made it more difficult over the years to build renewable energy projects,” Wilschek said. “It is so bad in Vermont that Vermont’s opposition to renewable energy projects has been discussed in the national media. This from a New York Times opinion article by Ezra Klein in 2022: “The Sierra Club published a revealing report on how Vermonters were organizing against renewable power. The Sierra Club reported: ‘In 2012, Vermont had at least a dozen wind projects in development. Today, there are none.’ The article had to awkwardly note that the Vermont chapter of the Sierra Club had helped kill several of those projects.”</p>
<p>Whatever role ‘NIMBYism” played in stopping ridgeline wind turbine projects, it should also be noted that federal wind power project tax incentives were set to expire in 2012. Although eventually continued, the uncertainty of the federal incentives, coupled with local and statewide opposition, combined to discourage further wind turbine development. The last major wind power project in Vermont was built in Deerfield in 2017.</p>
<p><a href="https://vce.org/">Vermonters for a Clean Environment (VCE)</a> executive director Annette Smith told Senate Finance January 16 that her opposition “is about the fundamental right of Vermonters to participate in energy generation development proposals that affect their particularized interests as neighbors, and it proposes to eliminate aesthetics entirely from review of all types of energy generation development projects.</p>
<p>“This legislation is part of a national trend to strip local control for siting wind and solar energy, based on the premise that we must build out as much renewable energy as possible quickly in response to the climate crisis. With state level PUC permitting, Vermont already has state level control. Most states have been siting solar and wind through local zoning. This legislation presumes that neighbor objections are slowing renewable energy development in Vermont, and that solar panels and wind turbines everywhere are good and necessary and should be accepted regardless of the aesthetic impact.”</p>
<p>But that’s true because Vermont’s particular topography and competing values limit development, Smith said.</p>
<p>“Because of our terrain and topography and competing land use needs, Vermont has limitations on development. Lots of rock, water, steep slopes, an agricultural economy, forests especially valuable to address climate change, housing development, tourism, commercial and industrial uses compete for limited available buildable land. This is a fact we all need to recognize.”</p>
<p></p>
<p>The article continues at <a href="https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2024/02/12/pro-wind-energy-lawyer-decries-nimbys-backs-senate-bill-ridgeline-wind-opponent-annette-smith-says-bill-threatens-fundamental-rights/">https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2024/02/12/pro-wind-energy-lawyer-decries-nimbys-backs-senate-bill-ridgeline-wind-opponent-annette-smith-says-bill-threatens-fundamental-rights/</a></p>
<p></p>
<p>or</p>
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<p><a href="https://vermontdailychronicle.com/pro-wind-energy-lawyer-decries-nimbys-backs-senate-bill/">https://vermontdailychronicle.com/pro-wind-energy-lawyer-decries-nimbys-backs-senate-bill/</a></p>
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<p><br/> <span style="font-size: 8pt;">Fair Use Notice: This website may reproduce or have links to copyrighted material the use of which has not been expressly authorized by the copyright owner. We make such material available, without profit, as part of our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, economic, scientific, and related issues. It is our understanding that this constitutes a "fair use" of any such copyrighted material as provided by law. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes that go beyond "fair use," you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.</span></p>
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</div>PPH - State regulators asked for opinions on proposal to expand electric vehicle sales. They got 1,700 comments.tag:www.windtaskforce.org,2024-02-07:4401701:BlogPost:2586242024-02-07T04:30:00.000ZLong Islanderhttps://www.windtaskforce.org/profile/LongIslander
<p>Yesterday, 2/5/24, at the very same link where the following article now resides, the Press Herald ran the following headline: <span style="font-size: 12pt;"><strong>"In comments to state regulators, opposition to Maine electric vehicle rule outpaces support 4-1"</strong></span> The article which is now at the same link makes no mention of the 4 to 1 opposition against this asinine mandate. Yesterday's headline, seemingly hastily retracted, spoke to the people's ire. The headline below gives…</p>
<p>Yesterday, 2/5/24, at the very same link where the following article now resides, the Press Herald ran the following headline: <span style="font-size: 12pt;"><strong>"In comments to state regulators, opposition to Maine electric vehicle rule outpaces support 4-1"</strong></span> The article which is now at the same link makes no mention of the 4 to 1 opposition against this asinine mandate. Yesterday's headline, seemingly hastily retracted, spoke to the people's ire. The headline below gives zero indication of the public's disgust. Why this happened - I have no idea.</p>
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<p>2/6/24<br/> <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>The Board of Environmental Protection will consider the proposal next month after postponing its meeting in December.</strong></span></p>
<p>Posted<br/> Yesterday at 5:34 PM<br/> Updated<br/> at<br/> 8:25 PM</p>
<p>Stephen Singer<br/></p>
<p><strong>Excerpts</strong></p>
<p>Maine environmental officials have received more than 1,700 comments from the public – just since December – about a state proposal to limit the sale of new gas-powered cars and expand sales of electric vehicles.</p>
<p>The comments will be posted online in the next week or two after they are reviewed for content and sorted for relevance, Jeff Crawford, director of the Bureau of Air Quality at the Department of Environmental Protection, said in an email.</p>
<p>The department had previously posted hundreds of comments – most opposed to the rule change – that were submitted last year before a Dec. 21 meeting of the Board of Environmental Protection was rescheduled following a destructive storm.</p>
<p>Because of that delay, the effective date of the proposed vehicle rules was pushed back one year, from 2027 to the 2028 vehicle model year, a move that drew criticism from environmentalists who say climate change demands quick action....................</p>
<p>........................</p>
<p>The more recent comments focused on the revised proposal, Crawford said.<br/> The seven-member BEP will consider the plan March 20 at the Augusta Civic Center. The “Advanced Clean Cars II” plan would require zero-emission vehicles to make up 43% of new car sales for 2028 models and 82% of new sales by model year 2032. Those include electric and fuel-cell vehicles, along with a partial credit for plug-in hybrids.<br/> Advertisement<br/> Advocates say gradually eliminating gas-powered cars – a major source of air pollution – is essential if Maine is to reach its zero-carbon goals. The policy has won acceptance in a dozen states, but has met resistance in Connecticut.</p>
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<p>The full article can be read at</p>
<p><a href="https://www.pressherald.com/2024/02/05/state-regulators-receive-more-than-1700-comments-on-proposal-to-expand-electric-vehicle-sales/">https://www.pressherald.com/2024/02/05/state-regulators-receive-more-than-1700-comments-on-proposal-to-expand-electric-vehicle-sales/</a></p>
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<p>Note that this is the identical link which on Monday, 2/5/24, ever so briefly, carried the headline:</p>
<p><a href="https://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/pph-in-comments-to-state-regulators-opposition-to-maine-electric-" target="_blank" rel="noopener">In comments to state regulators, opposition to Maine electric vehicle rule outpaces support 4-1</a></p>
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<p><br/> <span style="font-size: 8pt;">Fair Use Notice: This website may reproduce or have links to copyrighted material the use of which has not been expressly authorized by the copyright owner. We make such material available, without profit, as part of our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, economic, scientific, and related issues. It is our understanding that this constitutes a "fair use" of any such copyrighted material as provided by law. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes that go beyond "fair use," you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.</span></p>
<p></p>PPH - In comments to state regulators, opposition to Maine electric vehicle rule outpaces support 4-1tag:www.windtaskforce.org,2024-02-06:4401701:BlogPost:2586122024-02-06T04:30:00.000ZLong Islanderhttps://www.windtaskforce.org/profile/LongIslander
<p>Unfortunately, at the time of this post (late Monday night), I could not find the original article that I saw earlier this evening in the Press Herald.…</p>
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<p>Unfortunately, at the time of this post (late Monday night), I could not find the original article that I saw earlier this evening in the Press Herald.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.pressherald.com/2024/02/05/in-comments-to-state-regulators-opposition-to-maine-electric-vehicle-rule-outpaces-support-4-1/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.pressherald.com/2024/02/05/in-comments-to-state-regulators-opposition-to-maine-electric-vehicle-rule-outpaces-support-4-1/</a></p>
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<p>If the article somehow reappears, I will try and update this post.</p>
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<p>The original article's headline can be seen by Googling "In comments to state regulators, opposition to Maine electric vehicle rule outpaces support 4-1" as follows:</p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12374103495?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12374103495?profile=RESIZE_710x" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p>I believe I found some of the actual public comments here:</p>
<p><a href="https://www.maine.gov/dep/ftp/rulemaking/127A/public-comment/">https://www.maine.gov/dep/ftp/rulemaking/127A/public-comment/</a></p>
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<p>Despite the fact that I was not able to locate the article, I did do a count of the comments, both for and against the Maine EV mandate, and counted 350 opposed and 82 in support of mandating EV's. That is 4.3 to 1, i.e., opposition to support. The screenshot below shows the count of the comments:</p>
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<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12374105892?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12374105892?profile=RESIZE_710x" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 24pt;"><strong>NOBODY WANTS THESE DAMN THINGS.</strong></span></p>
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<p>Note that some of those commenting in support are the "usual suspect" enviros such as Acadia Center, American Lung Association, Center for an Ecology Based Economy, ChargePoint, Citizens' Climate Lobby, City of South Portland, CLF Joint Comment Letter, Conservation Law Foundation, Maine Conservation Voters comment,NRCM, Revision Energy, Rivian, Sierra Club, The Nature Conservancy, Union of Concerned Scientists and Zero Emission Transportation Association. Several legislators are also among those voicing support for the mandate.</p>
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<p></p>Electric Vehicle Mandate Slated for March Hearing as Mills Touts EV Charger Investmentstag:www.windtaskforce.org,2024-02-06:4401701:BlogPost:2586142024-02-06T04:00:00.000ZLong Islanderhttps://www.windtaskforce.org/profile/LongIslander
<p>By Libby Palanza</p>
<p>February 5, 2024</p>
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<p>Nearly six months after the Maine Board of Environmental Protection (BEP) held its first public hearing on the proposed California-style vehicle emissions standards, a second opportunity for public comment is set to come to a close on Monday, February 5.</p>
<p>The controversial policy will advance through the rulemaking process on the heels of a “State of the State” speech in which Gov. Janet Mills touted taxpayer-funded investments in…</p>
<p>By Libby Palanza</p>
<p>February 5, 2024</p>
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<p>Nearly six months after the Maine Board of Environmental Protection (BEP) held its first public hearing on the proposed California-style vehicle emissions standards, a second opportunity for public comment is set to come to a close on Monday, February 5.</p>
<p>The controversial policy will advance through the rulemaking process on the heels of a “State of the State” speech in which Gov. Janet Mills touted taxpayer-funded investments in Electric Vehicles (EVs) as a key tool in her fight to lower the planet’s temperatures.</p>
<p>According to a BEP spokesperson, the rule will once again receive a public hearing in March.</p>
<p>Last year, a citizen petition initiated by the <a href="https://www.nrcm.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Natural Resources Council of Maine</a> (NRCM) was submitted to Maine BEP asking for “the requirements of the California Advanced Clean Cars II” to be incorporated into Maine’s existing regulatory code.</p>
<p>Although only 150 people Maine residents signed the petition, it nonetheless set in motion a bureaucratic process that may allow the Mills Administration to impose sweeping controls on what kinds of vehicles can be sold in Maine — all without the approval of Maine’s elected lawmakers.</p>
<p>Adoption of these new regulations would essentially result in the state phasing out the sale of traditional gas-powered cars and trucks in favor of EVs over the course of the next few years.</p>
<p>In the current form, this mandate would require that 51 percent of new car sales in Maine be comprised of EVs by model year 2028 and 82 percent by model year 2032. The rule would force auto dealers to forgo sales on gas-powered vehicles unless sales for EVs increased substantially over the level of demand seen in recent years.</p>
<p>[RELATED: <a href="https://www.themainewire.com/2023/08/maine-likely-to-adopt-california-style-rules-to-limit-sales-of-gas-powered-cars-and-trucks/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Maine Considering California-style Rules to Limit Sales of Gas-Powered Cars and Trucks</a>]</p>
<p>While those in support of the mandate have pointed out the alleged environmental benefits associated with a transition toward EVs such as improved air quality, opponents of the rule emphasize the practical challenges associated with a rapid and artificial increase in EV usage, particularly in Maine’s cold and largely rural landscape.</p>
<p>Opponents have also pointed out that arguments in favor of EVs’ environmental benefits typically ignore that the electricity that charges their batteries often derives from fossil fuels, while the manufacturing process required to make the batteries is hardly friendly to the environment — or human rights.</p>
<p>Charging an EV in Maine, for example, still relies mostly on natural gas imported from New Brunswick. According to <a href="https://www.iso-ne.com/isoexpress/web/charts">ISO New England</a>, the nonprofit that manages New England’s power grid, Maine’s reliance on natural gas also surges during the evening and at night, meaning the peak EV charging periods will be heavily reliant on CO2-producing natural gas.</p>
<p>Most EVs use massive lithium-ion batteries that require — in addition to lithium — cobalt, a large share of which is mined by child laborers in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to a <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/afr62/3183/2016/en/">report</a> from Amnesty International.</p>
<p>Closer to home, Republican policymakers, auto dealers, and activists have also taken issue with the rulemaking process itself.</p>
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<p>Please continue reading at <a href="https://www.themainewire.com/2024/02/electric-vehicle-mandate-slated-for-march-hearing-as-mills-touts-ev-charger-investments/">https://www.themainewire.com/2024/02/electric-vehicle-mandate-slated-for-march-hearing-as-mills-touts-ev-charger-investments/</a></p>
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<p><br/> <span style="font-size: 8pt;">Fair Use Notice: This website may reproduce or have links to copyrighted material the use of which has not been expressly authorized by the copyright owner. We make such material available, without profit, as part of our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, economic, scientific, and related issues. It is our understanding that this constitutes a "fair use" of any such copyrighted material as provided by law. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes that go beyond "fair use," you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.</span></p>
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<p></p>John Droz, Jr: Media Balance Newsletter: February 5, 2024tag:www.windtaskforce.org,2024-02-06:4401701:BlogPost:2585872024-02-06T03:00:00.000ZLong Islanderhttps://www.windtaskforce.org/profile/LongIslander
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<p>Please click on the following link to read the following stories and much, much more:</p>
<p><a href="https://election-integrity.info/Newsletter/2024/Media_Balance_Newsletter-2-5-24.pdf">https://election-integrity.info/Newsletter/2024/Media_Balance_Newsletter-2-5-24.pdf</a></p>
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<p>Renewables: an expensive nightmare to nowhere</p>
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<p>Experts: Trillions Spent on ‘Climate Change’ Based on Faulty Temperature Data</p>
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<p>New study warns of soaring energy…</p>
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<p>Please click on the following link to read the following stories and much, much more:</p>
<p><a href="https://election-integrity.info/Newsletter/2024/Media_Balance_Newsletter-2-5-24.pdf">https://election-integrity.info/Newsletter/2024/Media_Balance_Newsletter-2-5-24.pdf</a></p>
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<p>Renewables: an expensive nightmare to nowhere</p>
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<p>Experts: Trillions Spent on ‘Climate Change’ Based on Faulty Temperature Data</p>
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<p>New study warns of soaring energy bills</p>
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<p>Taking the Wind Out of Climate Change (referencing 60± studies)</p>
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<p>:Electric Vehicles Enter the 'Total Failure' Phase of Their Existence</p>
<p><br/>Electric Vehicles Have A Weight Problem</p>
<p><br/>The West’s humiliating electric car climbdown has begun</p>
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<p></p>Energy storage is growing in Maine, and utilities want to own it. Opponents are pushing back.tag:www.windtaskforce.org,2024-01-29:4401701:BlogPost:2584692024-01-29T15:30:00.000ZLong Islanderhttps://www.windtaskforce.org/profile/LongIslander
<p><em>Energy storage at grid scale is a complete joke and pick pocketing of taxpayers and ratepayers. Concocting feckless grid scale storage in a futile attempt to compensate for wind's intermittency and unreliability is nothing more than having to tell a second lie to cover the first lie.<br></br></em></p>
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<p><em>This bogus storage is brought to you by the same type of rent seeking huckster guilting you on carbon for drinking coffee or exhaling - all for the sake of "the planet". But they…</em></p>
<p><em>Energy storage at grid scale is a complete joke and pick pocketing of taxpayers and ratepayers. Concocting feckless grid scale storage in a futile attempt to compensate for wind's intermittency and unreliability is nothing more than having to tell a second lie to cover the first lie.<br/></em></p>
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<p><em>This bogus storage is brought to you by the same type of rent seeking huckster guilting you on carbon for drinking coffee or exhaling - all for the sake of "the planet". But they don't like to talk about the myriad of problems caused by the production and disposal of batteries.</em></p>
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<p>January 29, 2024</p>
<p>Stephen Singer Press Herald</p>
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<p><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><strong>EXCERPTS</strong></span></p>
<p>Battery storage that holds and releases solar and wind power when the sun won’t shine and a breeze doesn’t stir is drawing increased investment from developers as Maine tries to reach its clean energy goals.<br/> The question of who can own energy storage is now before state regulators.<br/> Central Maine Power and Versant Power have asked the Public Utilities Commission for permission to own battery storage, something that hasn’t been possible since the Legislature deregulated the utilities more than 25 years ago.<br/> Critics are pushing back and urging regulators to reject the requests by the state’s two main utilities, which operate the transmission and distribution of electricity, and allow competitive energy storage markets to function undisturbed.<br/> “Competition will be critical to fully leveraging the benefits and continued advances of energy storage technology for Maine ratepayers in the coming decades,” Competitive Energy Services, a Portland consulting business, told the PUC.<br/> CMP’s request to the PUC is broad.<br/> <br/> “Utilities should be permitted to own, have a financial interest in or otherwise control energy storage systems in order to perform its obligations as a transmission and distribution utility in an effective, prudent and efficient manner,” it said.<br/> Utility investment in energy storage improves reliability and resiliency for customers and the grid, advances state policy goals and benefits customers with lower project costs due to CMP’s size and reach, it said.<br/> Versant said utility ownership and operation of storage will be the “best and most cost-effective” way to operate the grid and benefit customers. It said it does not produce its own storage systems and in most cases would work with third parties, often competitively.<br/> Legislation enacted last year directs the PUC to solicit comments on whether investor-owned utilities may own or have a financial interest in energy storage and if so........................................<br/> ..........................“Energy storage has capabilities and benefits that are different than, and far more flexible, than generation,” Versant said.<br/> Critics disagree. The local Sierra Club chapter said in its filing with regulators that “energy storage systems of the type addressed by the PUC … are energy generation systems when needed for additional grid power, subject to recharge when not needed for that purpose.”.........................<br/> <br/> <br/> .................Competitive Energy Services said it would be “prudent for the utility to directly control and operate” energy storage systems in “carefully prescribed” cases.<br/> However, CES said energy storage is not needed to meet Maine’s renewable energy goals or ensure reliable operation of the state’s electricity supply mix. Instead, smart grid technology and targeted expansions of transmission will hit those targets, it said.<br/> The energy storage market is drawing private investment, and state-sponsored development of energy storage systems is a waste of ratepayer money, CES said. In the meantime, it said, regulators should tell utilities that “further meddling and nonsense in this area will not be tolerated.”</p>
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<p><a href="https://www.pressherald.com/2024/01/29/energy-storage-is-growing-and-utilities-want-to-own-it-opponents-are-pushing-back/">https://www.pressherald.com/2024/01/29/energy-storage-is-growing-and-utilities-want-to-own-it-opponents-are-pushing-back/</a></p>
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<p><br/> <span style="font-size: 8pt;">Fair Use Notice: This website may reproduce or have links to copyrighted material the use of which has not been expressly authorized by the copyright owner. We make such material available, without profit, as part of our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, economic, scientific, and related issues. It is our understanding that this constitutes a "fair use" of any such copyrighted material as provided by law. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes that go beyond "fair use," you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.</span></p>
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<p></p>As Mainers use more electricity, plans for a new grid ramp uptag:www.windtaskforce.org,2024-01-26:4401701:BlogPost:2585412024-01-26T04:08:44.000ZLong Islanderhttps://www.windtaskforce.org/profile/LongIslander
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<p>Posted<br></br> January 22</p>
<p>Stephen Singer<br></br> Press Herald<br></br> Mainers are increasingly using heat pumps, driving electric vehicles and switching to electric equipment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and the growing demand will test the state’s power grid.</p>
<p>Planning to update Maine’s vast electrical infrastructure has begun – the Maine Public Utilities Commission held two work sessions last week after soliciting comments from utilities and other stakeholders –…</p>
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<p>Posted<br/> January 22</p>
<p>Stephen Singer<br/> Press Herald<br/> Mainers are increasingly using heat pumps, driving electric vehicles and switching to electric equipment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and the growing demand will test the state’s power grid.</p>
<p>Planning to update Maine’s vast electrical infrastructure has begun – the Maine Public Utilities Commission held two work sessions last week after soliciting comments from utilities and other stakeholders – but the upgrades will take years.</p>
<p>Central Maine Power and Versant Power, the state’s main electricity providers, have 18 months to submit plans to meet the increased demands and provide other information, including forecasts of electricity load.</p>
<p>In the meantime, the PUC is accepting public comments and consulting with industry leaders, environmentalists and consumers to determine what will be required of the grid of the future.</p>
<p>So far, comments have focused on the need to build a grid that can handle significantly greater electricity use, ensure power is affordable for consumers and prioritize the transition to renewable energy.</p>
<p>Planning for a revamped grid is a “big, sweeping effort,” said Ian Burnes, director of strategic initiatives at Efficiency Maine, a quasi-state agency that develops energy efficiency programs. The PUC and industry participants, he said, are taking a “big picture look at it.”</p>
<p>Phelps Turner, a senior attorney at the Conservation Law Foundation, an environmental advocacy group, said environmentalists feel an urgency to meet Maine’s climate goals, but the industry and its many stakeholders need to take the time to get ample input in order to do their work well.</p>
<p>“Transparency and stakeholder input are foundational principles,” he said. “It’s better to hear complaints early than after.”</p>
<p>No one knows yet how much a grid upgrade will cost, but it will be substantial, and ratepayers can expect to pay for some of it.</p>
<p>The Legislature and Gov. Janet Mills enacted legislation in 2022 requiring utilities to submit to the Public Utilities Commission plans detailing the expected effect of climate change on their equipment that transmits and distributes electricity.</p>
<p>Tesla charging stations sit dormant at a parking lot in Windham on Feb. 24, 2023. Ben McCanna/Staff Photographer, file</p>
<p>The previous year, a report for the PUC said CMP had several elements “planned or in motion” to improve capabilities for increased electricity load and so-called distributed energy, from solar panels and battery storage. Versant had significant available capacity, the report said, for greater electrification loads and could provide a buffer against the impacts of extreme temperatures caused by climate change.</p>
<p>No one disputes the growing need for electricity or the importance of preparing to meet it. Power needed for electric vehicle use in Maine is expected to increase to 1,557 gigawatt hours annually by 2032, up from only 15 last year, according to a forecast by ISO-New England, the grid’s operator. Electrification for heating is forecast to be 1,352 GWh in eight years, an increase from 49 in 2023.</p>
<p>A GWh is equivalent to 1 million kilowatt hours, and a power plant with a capacity of 1 gigawatt can power 876,000 homes for one year, according to Carbon Collective, an energy investment adviser.</p>
<p>Chris Morin, director of integrated system planning at CMP, said as big an increase as that appears to be, a utility would not build a system on a forecast “eight to 10 years out.” Utilities and others will have “much more confidence” in forecasts as electricity demand plays out, he said.</p>
<p>RELATED<br/> $30 million grant to bolster CMP grid a down payment on big projects<br/> David W. Norman, manager of regulatory support at Versant, said the utility wants “feedback from everybody” as it plans.</p>
<p>“It will drive a lot of decisions over 10, 20, 30, 40 or 50 years,” he said.</p>
<p>Policymakers getting the utilities to focus on their key priorities to prepare for rising demand is the “next big step,” PUC Chairman Philip L. Bartlett II said in a recent interview. “How do we get from here to there?”</p>
<p>Regulators are already looking at “shorter-term priorities” to improve the grid’s reliability and trying to figure out if spending by utilities on such efforts is sufficient, he said. The PUC last June approved a two-year, $67 million rate plan for CMP that helps fund an upgrade of the grid to increase reliability, resist storm damage linked to climate change and invest in clean energy.</p>
<p>Increased demand for electrification is a response to the growing push to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Maine is already a leader in heat pump installation, and consumer interest is growing as heat pumps become more versatile and federal subsidies help defray upfront costs. The Biden administration recently announced a $15 million grant to install hundreds of electric vehicle chargers in Maine.</p>
<p>RELATED<br/> Maine receives $15 million federal grant to install nearly 600 electric vehicle chargers<br/> Environmentalists say Maine utilities’ grid planning must follow a 2019 state law that charged the Maine Climate Council with developing a plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 45% by 2030 and 80% by 2050 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2045. The state Public Advocate told regulators reliability at an affordable cost needs to be a top priority in a grid upgrade.</p>
<p>“The financial burden of meeting electrification goals must not fall disproportionately on those who are least able to bear the costs,” the agency said.</p>
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<p>Continue at:</p>
<p><a href="https://www.pressherald.com/2024/01/22/as-mainers-use-more-electricity-plans-for-a-new-grid-ramp-up/">https://www.pressherald.com/2024/01/22/as-mainers-use-more-electricity-plans-for-a-new-grid-ramp-up/</a></p>
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<p><br/> <span style="font-size: 8pt;">Fair Use Notice: This website may reproduce or have links to copyrighted material the use of which has not been expressly authorized by the copyright owner. We make such material available, without profit, as part of our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, economic, scientific, and related issues. It is our understanding that this constitutes a "fair use" of any such copyrighted material as provided by law. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes that go beyond "fair use," you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.</span></p>
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