Long Islander's Blog (3,023)

He has decried the development of wind-driven power generation for its drop-in-the-bucket inadequacy.

“At age 97, I am free to say it,” he wrote in an unusually acerbic style. “Maine people are stupid when it comes to electric energy options.”…

In a televised interview before a live audience in Milwaukee recently, Republican presidential candidate

Donald Trump said the following about wind to interviewer Sean Hannity:

Talking about solar: “It’s not working, it’s just not…

Wakefield-based Anbaric Transmission and National Grid, one of the region’s largest utilities, are pursuing a pair of projects that would link onshore wind farms in Maine and Vermont, along with Canadian hydropower, to provide electricity in Southern New England.

Lawmakers are discussing plans to force utilities to enter long-term contracts with clean energy providers to replace the energy created by retiring nuclear and coal-fired power plants, while cutting carbon emissions…

Wind turbine collisions represent the most prevalent cause of mass mortality events since 1790, with the majority of these events taking place after the year 2000. Bats depend on echolocation while navigating, and can mistake turbines for trees, especially when wind farms are located near forests where bats roost.…

The timeline for the southern New England Clean Energy RFP's moved into a new phase last week - the selection of bidders began on 4/26/16 and is slated to wrap up in July. This is a process where Mass, Ct and RI want to buy feelgood wind power (because their bribed legislators mandate their ratepayers buy it) and guess where they expect most of it to come from? HINT: Not in their backyards.…

Part of Angus King's Record Hill wind "farm". Shown are only seven of this monster's 22 forty story tall bird and animal killing wind turbines.

With special thanks to U.S. Rep Chellie Pingree for getting King his $102 million loan guarantee from Obama's Department of…

Cianbro Development Corp. has told state regulators that a $26 million Pittsfield solar project and the offshore wind farm it is developing with the University of Maine “are at serious financial risk” because of charges Central Maine Power Co. proposed to connect the projects to the grid.…

Wind Turbines are the Most Visible Symbols of the quest for renewable electricity generation. And yet, although they exploit the wind, which is as free and as green as energy can be, the machines themselves are pure embodiments of fossil fuels.• Large trucks bring steel and other raw materials to the site, earth-moving equipment beats a path to otherwise inaccessible high ground, large cranes erect the structures, and all these machines burn diesel fuel. So do the freight trains and…

Governor Baldacci's darling company subsumed by a house of cards that has now collapsed.

Let's see how the Maine wind cartel, including all their handmaidens in the "environmental" groups spin this disaster. Meanwhile, the 500'+ tall turbines are all over our landscape and the process of decay is now formally underway. Thank…

The bill would boost renewables such as solar and wind power, as well as hydropower, geothermal energy and even...........Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington state, the senior Democrat on the energy panel, called energy “the lifeblood of our economy” and said the Senate bill would push the nation toward “cleaner, more efficient, more cost-effective and renewable energy sources.”......The conservative Heritage Foundation denounced the bill as a “continuation of government meddling in the energy…

One of Maine’s largest private land owners has cited the “uncertainty” of wind power development in Maine as one of the primary reasons it has withdrawn its request to challenge Molunkus Township’s petition to remove itselffrom the state’s “expedited permitting area.”

Attorney Dean Beaupain, representing Lakeville Shores, Inc., notified the Maine Land Use Planning Commission of the change of heart in a letter dated April 19th. Lakeville Shores is owned by H.C. Haynes, Inc.

The…

“Folks feel really strongly about these location.  They often grew up going to these beaches and now take their children.” “If you build turbines that are close to shore and you lose those loyal customers, you have to find the new ones." Attracting an entirely new customer base to replace current renters could be a lengthy and difficult process.…

The word "need" in the title is bogus. What it really should say is government mandates. Just as the wind industry has "gotten to" key legislators in Maine to put in the fix, they have done the same with key legislators in southern New England with regard to mandating ratepayers buy wind.

Excerpt:

O'Neil counters: "Utilities are thrilled to build new transmission and get their guaranteed 12% return on equity. When you add it all up, building wind is essentially an…

Such a move would represent a fall from grace for the former darling of Wall Street and the renewable energy sector, whose rapid, debt-fueled expansion with solar and wind energy plants around the world proved unsustainable. 

In January 2015, SunEdison acquired First Wind, which built multiple projects in Maine. In December, the company sold its Oakfield and Bingham wind projects in order to have cash on hand.

It also is part of a joint proposal with Emera Maine and Central…

Beware every single transmission proposal folks.

With the most developed wind energy supply chain in Canada and the northeastern United States, Quebec's wind industry is in a good position to meet our continent's energy challenges," said Jean-Francois Nolet, vice president of the Canadian Wind Energy Association.…

The PUC voted Tuesday to include a review of Emera Maine’s management of its transmission and distribution system in the audit.

https://bangordailynews.com/2016/04/12/business/regulators-ok-audit-of-emera-maine-billing-upgrades/?ref=moreInstate

The group also claims that citizens and town leaders have endorsed dozens of bills at the Statehouse to improve renewable energy siting, but that those efforts were blocked by elected representatives and state agencies captured by green corporate interests.........According to the Swanton-based group, cozy connections between government officials and renewable-energy companies have resulted in regulatory capture, a form of corruption that occurs when state regulators advance the…

The fate is less clear for other projects in its pipeline, such as the massive 600-megawatt King Pine project proposed for land in the Unorganized Territory northwest of Houlton on the border of Aroostook and Penobscot counties.

http://bangordailynews.com/2016/04/10/the-point/what-a-sunedison-bankruptcy-would-mean-for-maine/

The mill and others in New England have struggled to procure reliable electricity at affordable prices to the point that it has been a factor in temporary layoffs and shutdowns.

http://www.pressherald.com/2016/04/10/energy-costs-seen-as-nail-in-madison-mills-coffin/

"According to the A.G., these disclosure requirements deter improper relationships between wind development companies and local government officials, such as improperly sought land-use agreements with citizens and public officials, and improper benefits being given to public officials to influence their official actions relating to wind farm development."..........

The New NY Code of Conduct:

• Bans wind companies from hiring municipal employees or their relatives,…