Long Islander's Blog – February 2015 Archive (27)

n a statement attacking the proposals, Bournemouth Tourism Management Board also said it was furious that EDF Energy, one of the backers of the Navitus Bay project, was “completely disregarding the environmental and consequential economic impact on the local area and refusing to compensate for the multi-million pound damage local businesses face”.…

...the term of commissioner Littell, appointed by LePage’s Democratic predecessor John Baldacci, expires in March. “This proceeding has already had a lot of delay, and I think we should proceed with all due speed,” Littell said.…

U.S. court upholds Maine wind farm permit in bald eagle case

Ayesha Rascoe

(Reuters) - A federal court has ruled that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers did not violate environmental regulations when it granted a permit to a Maine wind farm, prompting an environmental attorney to remark that "the fix is in" for wind power projects.

Environmentalists sued the agency in 2013, arguing that construction of the wind energy facility in Oakfield, Maine would violate the…

Friends of Maine Mountains filed an appeal of the project permits to the BEP in October, arguing in part that the company did not have adequate financing to provide for the project’s decommissioning.

BEP staff wrote in the draft order that the company was right in its estimates of those costs and that its plan meets the requirement that project decommissioning be fully funded before construction begins.

First Wind has reached agreements to make for 20 years annual…

When Governor Baldacci handpicked a wind task force and told them to remove all obstacles for the wind developers, today's critics never said that was meddling. Or how about the 171 pages of emails between then Senate president Justin Alfond and the wind industry that…

Other windmill components also will be coming to Maine from Denmark by ship, he said. The first ship carrying windmill blades and generators is expected to dock at Mack Point on Wednesday night.

http://bangordailynews.com/2015/02/23/business/aroostook-county-windmill-parts-driven-100-miles-away-for-storage/

.....So, they get an agreement to sell the power in another state before they even have a permit in place to build the wind turbines, or even more significantly, before the Maine ratepayers of CMP and Emera (without knowing it) pay for the transmission lines to get the power to the grid out of state! 

..........Part 2 will delve into other aspects of Big Wind, including the contradiction of Maine environmental organizations taking donations from First Wind and other…

“Obviously the substance will be very complicated and very complex … but I think what I will bring is an understanding of the process, to make sure the integrity of the process is upheld transparently,”......…

Maine's reshaped Public Utilities Commission wants to reconsider two proposed wind projects it approved two months ago.........Payne said he believes LePage, who has long opposed wind power because of its high cost, is trying to interfere in the process.......…

Maybe the Bangor Daily News ought to have a reporter sit in an EUT meeting and see 12 citizen wind bills get killed before they write sentences like the one below in italics. The notion that fossil fuels have other costs is now starting to crop up elsewhere at this very time so it is patently obvious that the PR coordination from on high is in full swing and all good socket puppets are falling in line.

Renewable energy should be central to that…

Despite the decision, the Beckfords say the legal fight isn’t over. Earlier this year they filed a motion with the lower business and consumer court seeking to amend their original complaint against the town. That motion has yet to be ruled on.......

For Fuller and his partners, the next step in the process is to order to turbines and to select an investor.

“We have to choose between two investors. Both have experience in wind,” Fuller said. “We’re not…

While lawmakers, facilitated by the media and so called environmental groups (the latter ON THE TAKE), have wasted precious time and money pursuing fanciful and cronyistic wind power, they have unconscionably moved Mainers closer and closer to disaster.

EXCERPTS:

How did we get here? Over the past 15 years, New England has implemented shortsighted electricity policies that have led to a hodgepodge of mandates…

In an examiner’s report filed with the Maine Public Utilities Commission, the commission’s staff recommended against designating GridSolar LLC as the state’s smart grid coordinator but directed the commission to solicit proposals to fill the role of solving transmission and distribution problems with new technologies, dubbed nontransmission alternatives.…

Like wind power, hydropower produces “green” energy that involves no carbon emissions into the atmosphere. But while wind turbines operate only when the wind blows, the regularity of tidal movement and river currents gives hydropower the added advantage of predictability, making it a much more reliable source of energy.…

EXCERPTS:

ALEXANDRIA — Opponents of new large-scale “industrial” wind plants in New Hampshire are bringing back an expert who they credit with helping to deter new wind-power developers with his 2013 claim that the state would see little, if any, benefits from wind power generation.

“Dr. Luce’s last appearance drew rave reviews and it was the basis for a lot of what happened,” she said. “He makes a lot of…

Opponents of a 148-megawatt wind farm in the Aroostook County town of Oakfield that broke ground in September are asking a federal judge to withdraw the project’s permit and require additional review to see if it harms endangered Atlantic salmon.…

The federal court usually starts very promptly so you should be there by a bit before 11 am.

Please attend if you can and support our Oakfield/Island Falls friends in Federal Court .

Relaying a message on behalf of Donna Davidge:…

EXCERPTS:  Did anyone hear a peep from Mr. Lee and all those Big Wind cheerleading organizations two years ago when, without debate or even a single NO vote, the Legislature increased the speed limit on I-95?  

In the most recent year of EPA data (2012) Electricity Generation accounted for only 10.8% of Maine's CO2 emissions.  But Transportation CO2 was responsible for a whopping 50.1% of Maine CO2 output. 

Since 2007, Maine, for the noble cause of…