Long Islander's Blog – April 2015 Archive (33)

What’s the True Cost of Wind Power?

Wind gobbles up the largest share of subsidies yet produces little power.

But policymakers at the federal and state level, unfortunately, have decided that the American people will have renewable energy, no matter how high the costs. As a result, taxpayers will be stuck paying the cost of subsidies to wealthy wind producers.

Meanwhile, electricity consumers will be forced to purchase the more expensive power that results from state-level mandates for renewable energy…

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Added by Long Islander on April 14, 2015 at 2:51pm — No Comments

Put Your Speakers Up and Tune in on the Web in 30 Minutes (Starts 1PM)

Please tune in on the Web at the following link to listen to today's public hearing on LD 791 and LD 828 described below. One bill is from the wind industry, the other from citizens. If they start late or take a break, there will be dead air.

http://legislature.maine.gov/committee/#Audio/214

After clicking the above link, turn up your speakers and use the audio buttons immediately to the right of…

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Added by Long Islander on April 14, 2015 at 9:30am — No Comments

EOLIAN: Orland Planning Board trying to clarify goals of wind ordinance review

Last month, the selectmen warned the Planning Board that they aren’t obligated to bring any proposed changes to local voters. They also advised the board to honor any rules in the current ordinance if a wind power application arrives......A citizens group calling itself the Friends of Dodge Hill has opposed the town’s current wind ordinance on the grounds that it won’t protect, among other things, home values or the scenic beauty in mountainous North Orland.…

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Added by Long Islander on April 14, 2015 at 8:59am — No Comments

Maine Supreme Court - What makes scenery worth protecting from industrial wind factories? (BDN)

The project was initiated by First Wind, which SunEdison bought earlier this year.....Peggy Bensinger, an assistant attorney general representing the Department of Environmental Protection and the Board of Environmental Protection, argued that state site law for wind projects does allow those boards to consider the collective effects of a project on scenic resources.…

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Added by Long Islander on April 8, 2015 at 9:00pm — 1 Comment

BDN - Developer proposes Maine's Largest Grid-Connected $olar Project; $uccess Requires Mandated Purchase

Rep Sara Gideon's bill would require state utilities to contract for a certain amount of power supply from solar energy projects....To ensure their economic viability, long-term contracts are almost required for developers to pursue grid-scale solar projects....“We need to get this bill enacted,” Kenway said.…

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Added by Long Islander on April 8, 2015 at 10:30am — 5 Comments

Maine governor: Wind power is too expensive

While many of LePage's past energy efforts have fallen flat, he will have an opportunity to strengthen his influence this spring when he replaces the last remaining Democratic appointee to the agency that regulates the state's utilities......

"His energy policy in no way reflects the truth that we have to make a clear transition away from fossil fuels — including natural gas — toward a 100 percent clean energy economy," said Glen Brand, director of the Sierra Club…

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Added by Long Islander on April 6, 2015 at 1:00am — 2 Comments

Lisa Linowes: DOE Wind Fantasies (same assumptions, same results)

The Department of Energy, has once again buddied up with its friends in the wind industry to release an updated vision of how the United wind energy can achieve a 20% market share of the electricity (not total energy) market by 2030. This time, DOE went a step further to claim we could get to 10% wind by 2020 and a whopping 35% wind by 2050 (wind’s current electric-market share is 4.5%).…

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Added by Long Islander on April 6, 2015 at 12:30am — 1 Comment

"Winter Is Coming" to Solar Energy

4/15/2015 @ 11:28AM 1,075 views

"Winter Is Coming" -- Preparing For A Possible Reduction Of The Solar Investment Tax Credit

Those just adding headcount will face the daunting task of getting resources lined up and will then be faced with high cost structures in 2017. …

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Added by Long Islander on April 3, 2015 at 4:00pm — No Comments

Washington County: Tidal energy bill rejected by committee

The testimony of a number of Washington County residents and organizational leaders in Augusta on March 19 resulted in LD 295, An Act to Promote Tidal Energy Projects, to be killed by the legislature's Committee on Energy, Utilities and Technology. At a workshop held on March 25, the committee voted unanimously to give the bill an ought not to pass recommendation.…

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Added by Long Islander on April 2, 2015 at 2:30pm — No Comments

Legislative Update from Friends of Maine's Mountains

This latest update from Friends of Maine's Mountains (FMM) covers bills related to various topics - Citizens Rights, 100 MW Hydro, Scenic Impact and the Cost of Electricity. It can also be accessed at the following link:

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Legislative-Update.html?soid=1103684772079&aid=8t7IRSQ5ZFM…

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Added by Long Islander on April 2, 2015 at 2:00pm — No Comments

New England Bat Added To Federal 'Threatened' List - Wind Projects Not Exempted

Listing a species as threatened means that any trafficking, injuring or killing of that animal becomes prohibited, but unlike endangered species, some exemptions can be carved out.

In the case of the Northern Long-Eared Bat, logging and expansion of rights of way for transportation or utility construction got an exemption, as long as the activities avoided any known caves or trees occupied by the bats. Wind farms did not receive an exemption.…

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Added by Long Islander on April 2, 2015 at 9:38am — 4 Comments

Call in Alert IN FIFTEEN MINUTES: Katahdin Woods National Park Town Hall Teleconference at 7PM

If you are interested in the Katahdin Woods National Park concept that is brewing, there is a teleconference at 7PM tonight (4/1/15). There is a possibility that industrial wind power could come up as a topic as First Wind's plans are getting closer and closer to Katahdin, e.g., Molunkus.

You may be able to ask questions if you call in. Or you might at least be able to raise the issue of 600' tall flashing and thrashing industrial wind turbines potentially despoiling the…

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Added by Long Islander on April 1, 2015 at 6:30pm — 2 Comments

ON RIGHT NOW (4:00PM) First Wind/MPBN Bill - Listen Live to Judiciary Committee Hearing on Web Today at 1:00PM

Hearing begins today (Wednesday, Apr 1, 2015) at 1:00PM. The exact time for this particular bill is TBD.

SP0090, LD 252 An Act To Increase Transparency of Entities Receiving Substantial Amounts of Public Funding -- Room 438 State House

Listen live on the Web at: http://legislature.maine.gov/committee/#Committees/JUD

After…

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Added by Long Islander on April 1, 2015 at 8:00am — 4 Comments

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Maine as Third World Country:

CMP Transmission Rate Skyrockets 19.6% Due to Wind Power

 

Click here to read how the Maine ratepayer has been sold down the river by the Angus King cabal.

Maine Center For Public Interest Reporting – Three Part Series: A CRITICAL LOOK AT MAINE’S WIND ACT

******** IF LINKS BELOW DON'T WORK, GOOGLE THEM*********

(excerpts) From Part 1 – On Maine’s Wind Law “Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine if the law’s goals were met." . – Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, August 2010 https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/From Part 2 – On Wind and Oil Yet using wind energy doesn’t lower dependence on imported foreign oil. That’s because the majority of imported oil in Maine is used for heating and transportation. And switching our dependence from foreign oil to Maine-produced electricity isn’t likely to happen very soon, says Bartlett. “Right now, people can’t switch to electric cars and heating – if they did, we’d be in trouble.” So was one of the fundamental premises of the task force false, or at least misleading?" https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-swept-task-force-set-the-rules/From Part 3 – On Wind-Required New Transmission Lines Finally, the building of enormous, high-voltage transmission lines that the regional electricity system operator says are required to move substantial amounts of wind power to markets south of Maine was never even discussed by the task force – an omission that Mills said will come to haunt the state.“If you try to put 2,500 or 3,000 megawatts in northern or eastern Maine – oh, my god, try to build the transmission!” said Mills. “It’s not just the towers, it’s the lines – that’s when I begin to think that the goal is a little farfetched.” https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/flaws-in-bill-like-skating-with-dull-skates/

Not yet a member?

Sign up today and lend your voice and presence to the steadily rising tide that will soon sweep the scourge of useless and wretched turbines from our beloved Maine countryside. For many of us, our little pieces of paradise have been hard won. Did the carpetbaggers think they could simply steal them from us?

We have the facts on our side. We have the truth on our side. All we need now is YOU.

“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”

 -- Mahatma Gandhi

"It's not whether you get knocked down: it's whether you get up."
Vince Lombardi 

Task Force membership is free. Please sign up today!

Hannah Pingree on the Maine expedited wind law

Hannah Pingree - Director of Maine's Office of Innovation and the Future

"Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine."

https://pinetreewatch.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/

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