....................Mills’ order means that state agencies with the “legal authority to issue permits can once again do their work with Maine’s local communities and stakeholders to determine which projects should go forward,” according to a Friday prepared statement.

Groups with legal authority include the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, the state’s Land Use Planning Commission and the Public Utilities Commission.…

Crony capitalism hopes to get a boost here in Maine.

Perhaps someone needs to tell Jeremy Payne that on February 1, the U.S. Department of Energy issued a condemnation of the current approaches to floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs) and a decision to proceed by researching radically different design concepts. The DOE advised that  "the current state of the art for FOWT is too massive and expensive for practical deployment", also saying "Floating Offshore Wind Turbines…

Gov. Janet Mills seems to be warming up to Central Maine Power’s plan to build a major new power line through western Maine’s forests, now that CMP and Hydro-Quebec are offering a new benefits package to the state............................Mills said she wants to see a finalized package before passing final judgment. The companies and other stakeholders are negotiating the terms of that agreement as CMP seeks permits from state utility and environmental regulators.

More…

Excerpts from the governor's 2/11/19 address to the legislature:

The world is changing. We need to define Maine’s place in the new world.

We will work with the private sector and with groups like the Maine Development Foundation to identify our state’s many assets and build upon them to foster and attract:

• Sustainable farming, diversified fisheries and innovative forest products businesses
• Clean energy producers
• High tech…

Some of the more important articles in this issue are:

Bill Gates about the foolishness of renewables

New Huge Study: Wind Turbines Devalue nearby Homes

Short Anti-wind video by Ohio citizens

Study: The $2.5 trillion reason we can’t rely on batteries to clean up the grid

Evolution of Electricity Rates

Abstracts for upcoming 8th International Meeting on Wind Turbine Noise

PhD Letter re Turbine Health Impacts

German citizen anti-wind…

‘Bird nerd’ Judy Camuso achieves goal of leading Maine’s DIF&W

..................Then Maine Audubon called her with a job offer.

To say that Camuso was eager may be an understatement.

“When they called me to offer me the job they said, ‘When can you start?’ And I said, ‘Tomorrow,’” Camuso said. “They were like, ‘We’ve got to clean out your office. Can you give us…

This is a short video where a representative from EDPR (Energias de Portugal Renovaveis), Kellen Ingalls, is speaking to a softball pitching local Rhode Island reporter. This is likely part of an effort to convince the state of Rhode Island to select their project, Number Nine Wind "Farm" for Rhode Island's clean energy RFP.

Info on the RFP is here:

https://ricleanenergyrfp.com/

and…

Baker talks about "one failed experience" with onshore wind, conveniently ignoring all the harm that Maine and Mainers have experienced from numerous wind projects.

Charlie Baker defended wind power after a Republican congressman questioned him on Capitol Hill

Rep. Tom McClintock, a California Republican, said Baker had “waxed eloquently” about the Bay State’s offshore wind projects, but raised questions…

Cross Building, Room 211

A quick read of this announcement from the U.S. Department of Energy's ARPA-E agency may indicate a condemnation of current approaches to floating wind turbines and a decision to proceed by researching radically different design concepts.

Friday, February 1, 2019

Department of Energy Announces up to $28 Million for Offshore Wind Energy…

...............He said a top CMP official called him late Friday to say that a new offer was on the table that is aimed at appeasing stakeholders, including Public Advocate Barry Hobbins.

“Including education, community development, broadband,” he said. “Barry Hobbins is going to get his money for the low-income…

"More destructive than a major war on U.S. soil" is how Mr. Carlson describes what would be the effects of replacing fossil fuel and nuclear power with wind and solar in 12 years, as called for in the "Green New Deal", a plan being embraced these days by at least some of our supposed representatives on Capitol Hill.

Watch…

Hyper-localism and enviro-ideology have blocked construction of several needed natural gas pipelines into the region in the past decade, leaving it the only part of the country that has constrained supplies of natural gas.

There are some signs that New England’s governors are finally willing to do something about this. If so, voters should support their efforts to change, because the status quo means depending on perpetually mild winter weather.

While the winter so far…

Ultimately, the burden of proving that Maine needs the line falls on CMP, which is also responsible for making sure regulators have all the information they need to make a decision on the project, said former Maine Public Utilities Commission Chairman Kurt Adams..............Instead of asking Hydro-Quebec questions directly, participants in both Maine and Massachusetts regulatory proceedings have had to direct questions…

The plan by Rep. Seth Berry, D-Bowdoinham, would require Central Maine Power and Emera Maine to sell all of their transmission and distribution assets to the proposed Maine Power Delivery Authority. Bill supporters said the authority would use low-interest revenue bonds to make the multi-billion dollar purchase, allowing the new consumer-owned utility to provide electricity to most Maine residents at lower rates than those charged by the two investor-owned utilities.

Read the…

From Wikipedia. Note ownership by the government of China.

January 25, 2019

CTG launched a bid to take control of EDP, of which it already owns 23 percent, in May last year, but the transaction has moved at a slow pace.

Sources say CTG has yet to complete regulatory filings in Europe and the United States, although…

Cranston isn’t the only Rhode Island community concerned about the impacts of siting wind turbines close to neighborhoods. Some residents of Coventry have complained of shadow flicker and noise from the 10 414-foot-tall turbines in their rural village of Greene. They say the utility-scale facility isn’t consistent with the town’s comprehensive plan and has dramatically changed the village’s long-established characteristics.…

If the turbines had operated as planned, functioning 24 hours a day, they were projected to earn the town between an estimated $1 million and $2 million a year..............In addition to the $10 million that the town spent on building the turbines, they now have to pay as much as $2 million more to remove them.

“It’s a shame,” said Susan Moran, chair of the town’s board of selectmen, who initially supported the turbines but voted to take them down. “This is absolutely a financial…

Some of the more important articles in this issue are:

Schumer’s Green Energy Subsidies Cost Much More Than Trump’s Wall

This May Be the Greatest Renewables Story Ever Told

The carbon tax – a wolf in green clothing

Superior video: Infrasound caused by Industrial Wind Turbines

Study: Acoustics and Biological Structures

Report: Concerns about Wind Turbines and Human Health

US Supreme Court Decides Against Wind Developer

President Trump…