January 2016 Blog Posts (103)

SunEdison will be restructuring old loans at a much higher rate and issuing a bunch of stock. Investors' worst fear about the stock is real. SunEdison is cash poor.

If it wasn't, the company wouldn't have to raise money on terms that sounds like this (emphasis ours):

The Second Lien Facilities will be comprised of $500 million of A1 loans, and $225 million of A2 loans, each of which will bear interest at a rate of LIBOR + 10.0% per…

Whether one likes or doesn't like the idea of a national park in the Katahdin region, one thing is clear - many folks living in the areas near the proposed park are vehemently opposed to the idea. Yesterday the Sierra Club weighed in with its endorsement of creating a national monument as a step to a park. As a result, they have likely overnight gotten a very bad name for themselves in the area and lost all credibility with many of the residents. Hopefully this will undermine their efforts…

As the subsidies drop each year from 2016 to 2020, this will be the big push year for wind.  With the new UT bill, we have to close as many mountaintops and wilderness areas as possible to throw a monkeywrench into the plans of the wind industry.  The more fights they have to respond to, the fewer sites will be approved until we can get this whole "Renewable" Energy scam thrown out.…

"The turbine is expected to produce about 1 million kilowatt-hours of electricity per year and save the institution more than $100,000 annually in electricity charges. It is expected to save an estimated 572 tons of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere each year, or the equivalent of removing 123 cars from the road". - Bangor Daily News, 11/18/09…

You're probably aware that Maine's wind law created a large area that is "pre-zoned" as suitable for wind development. This means a wind developer can apply for a permit to build a project in that area without having to have the site re-zoned (the way every other industry would have to). The area is known as the expedited wind permitting area (EWPA). It was the wind developers themselves who decided what townships, etc. would become "expedited" (see proof…

The Bangor Daily news, among others, is reporting the results of the first day off filings of the UT's to opt out of the expedited wind zone..

http://bangordailynews.com/2016/01/04/politics/state-receives-20-petitions-seeking-to-delay-wind-power-permits/?ref=latest…

The UT's officially started filing today with LUPC.  Congratulations to all of the UT's who filed today. They include:

Lexington

Highland Mountains

Molunkus

Carroll Plantation 

In the past Altamont has averaged about 5000 installed turbines in service with total installed capacity for this wind resource area said to be 580 MW. As anyone can see  from the information presented below, the 580 MW rating is completely meaningless. The industry is using this vague and arbitrary "installed capacity" rating to greatly expand the Altamont Wind Resource Area without telling the public.  The industry is also using these bogus numbers to boost the reported rated…

Please read and SHARE this post previously published on "Lexington and Concord Townships-Help Protect Rural Maine" on November 25th.

Tomorrow, January 4, 2016, is the first day LUPC will begin accepting petitions from UT residents requesting removal from the Expedited Permitting Area for wind. Please take advantage of this opportunity to regain your voice in matters of zoning and development within your communities.…

“I don’t think Commissioner Littell’s suggestion that we’re using one set of analyses for wind contracts and another for natural gas contracts has been borne out,” he said......Glen Brand, director of the Sierra Club’s Maine chapter, called on the PUC to release the data…

Citizens  in the Moosehead Lake region have taken the lead to opt out of the expedited wind area.  Moosehead Lake, known as the "crown jewel" of Maine is the most majestic, pristine lake in the Northeast US, if not the entire US. The Moosehead region enjoys a year 'round recreational economy.  It should be off limits to Industrial wind!…

Another UT joins in to opt out of the expedited wind zone. Allen and Mary Straub have spearheaded the effort for  Molunkus Township to opt out of the zone.  And according to Nicholas Livesay, around 30 other UT's have already inquired.  Rep. Larry Dunphy, sponsor of the bill,  and other Maine Legislators who represent the UT's have been at the forefront of alerting constitutents of this opporunity and assisting them with proper filing.…

Selectman Eugene Skibitsky made the motion to table the vote to Jan. 11, 2016, saying he wanted to give the board and residents the chance to review the proposed amendments made by Kristin Collins, a Belfast lawyer.

http://www.sunjournal.com/news/river-valley/2015/12/28/dixfield-selectmen-table-wind-ordinance-vote-until-jan-11/1843820

At a special town meeting Oct. 1, 2014, a majority of the 300 Bristol residents present voted against allowing the offshore-wind project to connect to the power grid in town, although what authority the vote carries remains unclear.…

“Brownie” Carson, the 26-year director of the Natural Resources Council of Maine, has filed paperwork to run for the Maine Senate district representing Brunswick, Harpswell, Freeport and Pownal.…