Long Islander's Blog (2,470)

Greed Energy Economics:

Are Existing Coal Plants Less Expensive Than New Gas, Wind or Solar?

Americans Finally Waking Up to the Nightmare Cost of Unreliable Wind and Solar

Net zero emissions? That will be $3000 from each of you, every year

Report: Philadelphia’s $24M Electric Bus Fleet in Complete Shambles

Renewable Energy Health and Ecosystem Consequences:

Retired Batteries May Bring ‘Explosive…

CMP parent Avangrid is locked in a bitter dispute with rival NextEra over the upgrading of equipment at the Seabrook nuclear station, without which the 145-mile corridor can’t connect to the New England grid.

By Colin Woodard Staff Writer

A heated dispute between Central Maine Power’s parent company and rival energy giant NextEra is threatening to delay the completion of CMP’s controversial 145-mile transmission corridor.…

The governor calls the performance of Maine's electric utilities 'abysmal' but says the bill to form a consumer-owned utility was 'hastily drafted' could create more problems than it solves.

EXCERPTS:

Supporters already have begun laying the groundwork for a separate, statewide referendum on whether to force Central Maine Power and Versant Power to sell their assets to a new Pine Tree Power Co.

The bill’s chief sponsor, Democratic Rep. Seth Berry of…

Maine Public | By Fred Bever

Updated July 13, 2021 at 12:42 PM EDT

Small sampling:

Wind energy in crisis as expansion stalls in Germany

Offshore wind support vessel forced to leave after fishermen protest

New Maine law prohibits offshore wind projects in state waters

Two Australian wind projects fined $1+ million for their role in blackout…

Three miles is nothing. But why is the setback on inland wind turbines only 1.5 times the height of the turbine, i.e., less than 1,000 feet?

Mills signs new law that prohibits offshore wind projects in state waters

Credit: By Fred Bever | Maine Public | July 7, 2021 |

Gov. Mills has signed compromise legislation to permanently bar future development of offshore wind projects in state waters.…

Unfortunately, when a wind turbine catches fire hundreds of feet above the ground, fire personnel often cannot reach the fire and simply wait for the fire to burn out. That might be adequate on the Great Plains, but what happens in remote and bone dry Maine forests?

Excerpts

Maine’s prolonged drought, now more than 16 months long and impacting the whole state, has exacerbated the threat of wildfires by creating an earlier…

EXCERPTS:

AUGUSTA, Maine — Former two-term Republican Gov. Paul LePage filed with the state to kick off his long-awaited 2022 run against Gov. Janet Mills, officially beginning the race between the two political archrivals. 

It is an expected step for LePage, who battled often with the Democratic governor during his tenure in the Blaine…

Bangor Daily News | June 30, 2021 | bangordailynews.com ~~

MADAWASKA, Maine – Gov. Janet Mills signed a bill to give Aroostook’s renewable energy industry a boost Tuesday afternoon.

LD 1710, which passed through the Legislature with bipartisan support, looks to connect the Northern Maine energy grid to the one powering the rest of New England. The hope is to facilitate renewable energy exports, which are costly right now as northern Maine’s power has to be wheeled through New…

EXCERPTS:

.......Six new solar projects and one existing wind farm were selected Tuesday by the Maine Public Utilities Commission as the best clean-energy choices to supply power for Central Maine Power and Versant Power customers.

.......The one existing project winner, for 50 percent of its 132-megawatt output, was Helix Maine Wind Development LLC. The wind farm is in the Boundary Mountains of Franklin County. (Kibby Mountain)

.......Interest groups that support clean…

Ellsworth American - Ethan Genter - June 23, 2021

AUGUSTA — A compromise has emerged in the state Legislature that would install a permanent ban on wind energy development in state waters and give the fishing industry a seat at the table on any federal projects that want to connect to land through the state’s jurisdiction.

The compromise came from the Committee on Energy, Utilities and Technology, which had been considering a pair of dueling bills on offshore wind. The first…

The writer, Marina Schauffler, before becoming a journalist served as a communications consultant to numerous environmental organizations and agencies. In the piece, excepted below, she talks about the threat of wind driven fires, suggesting that wind speeds are getting higher.

From the article:

"Historically, the state’s largest and most destructive fires have been wind-driven, Mints noted: “Here in Maine, wind is our…

Excerpts:

AUGUSTA — The Maine Senate on Thursday night voted down a bill to form a consumer-owned utility to buy the assets of Central Maine Power and Versant Power, reversing the results of initial Senate action and considerably dimming the bill’s chances of passing the Legislature this session.

The measure passed the Senate a day earlier on a preliminary vote of 19-16, but it failed by a single vote on final enactment, 17-18. There was no debate in the Senate chamber…

How much worse than acknowledged are the bird and bat kills by wind turbines?

EXCERPTS:

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- June 14, 2021

“Which source of mortality kills more or less birds is somewhat irrelevant…. the threat posed by wind turbines grows with each facility constructed in a high-risk area for birds.”

– Joel Merriman, American Bird Conservancy

The “avian mortality problem” has long been an issue for industrial wind turbines, as…

EXCERPTS:

By Maureen Milliken

Plans for a $235 million wind farm in Washington County, in the works since 2013, are before the Maine Land Use Planning Commission for review, a final step before construction can begin.

The state Department of Environmental Protection passed the Apex Clean Energy project on to the commission for review last month after DEP determined the wind farm is an allowed use under its guidelines. The LUPC is the planning authority for the…

EXCERPTS:

Maine could become the first state where lawmakers order 'divestment' from fossil fuels, although changes to the bill could slow the process.

Divestment advocates hailed the bill’s passage as a landmark moment that helps put Maine at the forefront (at least among state governments) of an international campaign that they say has solid ethical and financial footing. Youth climate activists, environmental groups and state retirees led the fight for the…

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- June 8, 2021

EXCERPT:

In a recent Wall Street Journal article, Mark Mills brought to light the fact that the International Energy Agency (IEA), generally regarded as the world’s most important source for energy information, recently released a 287-page report entitled, The Role of Critical Minerals in Clean Energy Transitions.  

Here are some highlights and lowlights from that IEA report. 

• Transitioning from…

As someone wrote to me about this:

"Berry is very progressive. He's been pushing this for a while and now it may go to a referendum vote. No one in their right mind would take over these unprofitable, capital intensive utilities. Versant would love to get their money back - they bought the damn company with a credit card. Avangrid would as well - CMP is a loser. They put the trans line in a separate LLC in prep for this move. The PUC is going to condemn these companies? How does…

Maine Public | By Fred Bever

Published May 14, 2021

Central Maine Power first proposed building a transmission line to Canada in 2017, and four years of controversy later, there are still hurdles ahead: legal challenges at the state and federal levels, a statewide ballot item set for November, unexpected technical issues to address.

But on Thursday, a federal court lifted an injunction that barred tree-clearing in one disputed segment.

And elsewhere on the…