Please check out the URL below.

2 Companies that are searching for “environmentally friendly” sources of energy should…

February 2012

Learning from Others’ Mistakes: What Europe’s Experience with Renewable Mandates and Subsidies can Teach Texas

http://www.texaspolicy.com/pdf/2012-02-PP03-LearningFromOthersMistakes-ACEE-JosiahNeeley.pdf…

The $2 million University of Maine wind turbine experiment, the state's only wind experiment that actually measures electricity, continues to fail the data test, not to mention the viability test.

When this grossly wasteful and expensive experiment began, great promises were made by the University about openly sharing data on electricity production and how much in supposed cost savings (ha!) could be truthfully attributed to the turbine.

It's been about a YEAR…

If you go to the MPUC website and click on the link to "Online filing...", then go to "virtual case file".  When you get to the search function, type the case number, 2011170 and hit search.  Then you can look at 34 pages or so of filings -  several thousand pages.  You can pick which briefs, motions, procedural orders, etc. that you want.  The excerpts in a previous post were from the latest transcripts.

It sounds like First Wind just doesn't beleive that procedural rules…

ERIC BRYANT, Office of the Public Advocate:

"...The rules broken by Petitioners and their counterparties to the pending transactions are not about missing a deadline or failing to three-hole punch data responses. They're rules of substance, integrity, and ethics."

Tony Buxton for Industrial Energy Consumer Group:

"...It makes this kind of proceeding into something other than a legal proceeding. And that's wrong. We realize there's a lot at stake for some people here, but…

http://www.texaspolicy.com/pdf/2012-02-PP03-LearningFromOthersMistakes-ACEE-JosiahNeeley.pdf

"The toll makes the Pine Tree site in the Tehachapi Mountains among the deadliest in California's wind farm industry. Activists say birds' behavior should be studied before erecting more sites.…

Hello friends - The home page has a series of titles at the top where you can click and get various things - probably the most valuable is "CONTACT PUBLIC OFFICIALS".  It includes telephone numbers, e-mails, mail address etc. for the Governor, US Senators and Representatives, etc., including their local offices.  Many thanks to whoever prepared that list for us.  Harry Roper

Sunjournal Article / www.sunjournal.com

by Julie Webnau; Chicago Tribune

CHICAGO - The wind industry is predicting massive layoffs and stalled or abandoned projects after a deal to renew a tax credit for wind production failed Thursday in Washington.

The move is expected to have major ramifications in states such as Illinois, where 13,892 megawatts of wind projects-enough to power 3.3 million homes per year-wait to be…

Calls $27 billion wind subsidy “a waste of money that could be used for energy research or to reduce the debt”; says, “I’m ready to reduce the subsidies for ‘Big Oil’ as long as we reduce the subsidies for ‘Big Wind’”

It's official -- The PTC was omitted from the payroll tax bill!   

This was a major battle! And we won!

Citizens Task Force submitted 170 names and addresses to our email appeal over this past weekend.  We were part of a national effort that yielded over 2700 signers. Our collective effort to keep the pressure on Congress influenced this process.  

But the war continues. Today, Sen. Mike Bennett (D-CO) filed legislation to append a one-year extension of the PTC…

For Immediate Release

The Citizen’s Task Force on Wind Power (CTFWP) applauds the Environment and Natural Resources Committee for its “unanimous ought to pass” vote today on new regulations governing noise from wind…

Technology, not Politics: Meet LePage’s Energy Team

by Terrilyn Simpson

They’re self taught. They’ve traveled the world solving energy and engineering problems. They learned practical applications of complicated theories during World War II and studied at Harvard and Brown and Princeton. All Maine residents now, they…

February 14, 2012

The Penalties of Feel-Good Energy Policies

By Marita Noon

Because I make revisions to my articles as a result of comments, etc., I am listing the URL instead of the article.

You go to the URL and will see the latest version.

http://theenergycollective.com/willem-post/61309/lowell-mountain-wind-turbine-facility-vermont

http://www.milforddailynews.com/opinions/letters_to_the_editor/x1085186913/Durkin-State-green-energy-firms-success-questioned

Dept of Environmental Protection

Augusta, ME

This is my first ever blog post, actually more of a mass question to the group so bare with me.  One subject I can't seem to find info on is how could we go about getting the Pleasant and Mattawamkeag areas listed at a higher level of scenic value?  There must be a process and a list of locations somewhere.  I can't imagine that every place on the list is more scenic than certain spots on either lake or from land surrounding that will be impacted.  If we had the right arguement and maybe…