Long Islander's Blog (3,071)

Whether data centers drive up electricity prices or not, the fact is that Maine starts off with very high prices due to costly "renewable" energy and its requisite new transmission, as well as being choked off from badly needed new gas pipelines. Therefore if data centers (and any jobs they might provide) can't be built in Maine due to their potential effect on electricity prices, or the fact that electricity is too expensive here to begin with, those persons, politicians and groups pushing…

By Steve Goreham -- December 17, 2025

“Environmental groups fear the AI tidal wave will wash away the net zero energy transition…. The end result will be a victory for AI and common sense, and the failure of renewable energy and the ideology of Climatism, the fear of human-caused global warming.”

Environmental groups seek to halt data center construction in the…

Maine Public | By Peter McGuire

Published December 18, 2025 at 5:08 PM EST

Maine regulators have agreed to contract with new solar farms to deliver 51 megawatts of electricity to customers in the state.

The Maine Public Utilities Commission said the new generation could power about 13,000 homes.

Maine…

December 17, 2025

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By Tina Fischer

A proposal by MillCompute LLC to develop an artificial intelligence data and technology center in Bates Mill No. 3 in downtown Lewiston was unanimously voted down by City Council Tuesday night.

The proposal called for using 85,000 square feet of the vacant property at 140 Mill St. and creating up to 30 jobs.

City Council rejected the proposal by a vote of…

Maine Public | By Peter McGuire

Published December 16, 2025

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Changes include permanently increasing eligibility to people whose incomes are 150% of the federal poverty level, increasing funding to $33 million a year..................

The commission estimates that could add 20,000 new customers to benefits, increasing the total to almost 68,000............................

"Thus, it is quite possible that the…

By Julia Tilton

Published on: December 12, 2025

Federal clean energy incentives are expiring on Dec. 31. But homeowners will still have access to Efficiency Maine rebates, and the state is part of a $450 million effort to increase heat pump adoption across New England.

Federal tax incentives for clean energy upgrades are going away at the end of this year, cutting into potential savings on rooftop solar, heat pumps and more.

In 2026, homeowners who…

No blame for the brutal cost effects of renewable energy and transmission?

Rising electric bills lead to state scrutiny but little relief for residents

by Kevin Hardy, Stateline

December 12, 2025

By: AnnMarie Hilton - December 9, 2025

In a statement Tuesday, Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey said he was grateful the court agreed that…

Maine Public | By Peter McGuire

Published December 9, 2025 at 5:45 PM EST

Central Maine Power wants to overhaul outdated electrical transmission and distribution systems around greater Portland.

The utility has proposed spending nearly $547 million in the first phase of upgrades that would include replacing and expanding poles, wires and electrical substations according to documents filed with the Maine Public Utilities Commission.

CMP spokesperson Dustin Wlodkowski…

So natural gas prices are the problem NRCM? Any comment on the fact that the so called environmental groups have succeeded at blocking badly needed new pipelines into Maine.* Taking a big step back, Maine sits next to the largest natural gas produciing area in the nation and it is a crying shame that liberal run states and their enviroshills have choked off the much needed supply, sending Maine energy costs through the roof.

But wait.....the people who caused the high prices…

Got to wonder who funds them. As for the states fighting to lower energy bills, do these include the ones blocking natural gas pipelines, pushing for expensive wind and solar, pushing for costly transmission, sucking taxpayers for subsidies, etc.?

The Best Good Climate News of 2025: States Lead the Way on Clean Energy and Lower Bills

Dec 3, 2025

This year states defended clean energy progress,…

Please share this video broadly. In under two minutes, it spells out much of what's wrong with industrial wind.

Lawrence suggested Maine can expand its renewable energy sectors to export more power and boost economic growth. But their Republican colleagues see it differently."

Published on: November 28, 2025

......................The policy outlook panel hosted by the chamber featured…

Todd Abrajano tells The Epoch Times that first-generation small modular reactors will be ‘online by the end of the decade or early 2030s.’

John Haughey

11/27/2025

Projects in Texas and Tennessee are on the cusp of delivering first-generation small modular reactor (SMR) prototypes designed to eventually be mass-produced and make nuclear power the “energy of the future,” an industry insider told The Epoch Times.

“We’re going to start seeing SMRs…

November 25, 2025

A group of 11 companies claim a monthly charge that could start in January violates their constitutional rights.

Communities:

11/24/25

Daniel Kool

Staff Writer

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Community solar companies across Maine sued the Public Utilities Commission Monday, attempting to block the implementation of a new law designed to reduce the impact of solar development subsidies on the state’s electricity…

11/24/25

Story by Abha Bhattarai

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Misty Pellew’s family lived in the dark for several days this month.

Pellew’s power was shut off Nov. 13 because of $602 in unpaid bills, the latest in a string of financial humiliations that began six months ago after her husband lost his $20-an-hour excavation job in northeastern Pennsylvania. The recent government shutdown dealt another blow, delaying federal…

Maine Public | By Peter McGuire

Published November 19, 2025 at 4:09 PM EST

Mainers' power bills will go up again in 2026 after the Maine Public Utilities Commission approves new annual contracts to supply electricity to the state's investor-owned transmission and distribution utilities.

Commissioners said increasing costs were linked to rising prices of natural gas across the country. About half of the power used in New England is generated by power plants that burn…