Power bills to rise for CMP customers after decision in controversial rate case

Excerpt:

Eric Bryant, senior counsel for the Office of the Public Advocate, said the case was the result of various compromises, but that his office was pleased that CMP was willing to settle for $24 million per year compared with their original request for about $40 million.

“We knew that there was…

Please write via the link or to the address below. This is important. Please rally everyone.

I recently read, in this newspaper, yet another lament about Mainers not supporting economic growth and being against everything. It is true that Maine people have opposed a lot of things that might have added jobs. The list is long and stretches everywhere from the Dickey-Lincoln Dam to nuclear power, casinos, road widenings, wind turbines, tar sands and public squares.

Some people, particularly those who think the economy trumps…

Editorial disparages, dismisses well-founded criticism of wind power

Wind developers’ dependence on subsidies should stir skepticism both in Maine and nationwide.

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Wind developers resort to name-calling because…

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The company had put the project on hold in May, when it became evident that the price of upgrading the transmission lines connecting to the grid from the remote location could be as high as $86 million.

http://digital.vpr.net/post/seneca-kills-wind-project

SIMILAR READING IN…

State utility regulators approve giant wind deal — again

By: NAOMI SCHALIT, SENIOR REPORTER ©MAINE CENTER FOR PUBLIC INTEREST REPORTING…

A post from Gary Campbell:

Why doesn't the legislature just enact a "Cell Tower Act" they way the Baldacci administration did with the Wind Energy Act in 2008? They could rush it through as "emergency Legislation" even though it doesn't qualify as such, just like the Wind Energy Act.



The new "Cell Tower Act" could follow the general format of the WEA and incorporate current practice as present in Maine wind power…

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Wind power has been smeared by conspiracy theorists and climate change deniers as nothing more than a means to bleed subsidy money from the taxpayers to line the pockets of a wealthy few.

http://www.pressherald.com/2014/07/20/our-view-maine-lost-opportunity-by-rejecting-statoil/

Note that…

Excerpts:

Neighbors, meanwhile, say energy rates are up 128 percent since 2009, and they dispute the co-op’s math.

It’s also noteworthy that none of Maine’s 14 other year-round island communities has followed Vinalhaven’s lead. Despite some interest, none has built a wind farm or is expected to do so in the near future.…

"Almost daily the newspapers are filled with stories about how the region is “going green” and about to enter the delightful world of “clean energy.” It’s sheer fantasy. No one has the slightest notion of what it would entail". 

http://spectator.org/articles/60007/get-ready-new-england-power-shortage

Attorney Mark E. Beliveau, a partner at Pierce Atwood LLP in Portsmouth, told the selectmen he had brought evidence of a $34,000 decomissioning bond....

(EDP Renewables is the company that wants to mount a turbine wherever it can in Aroostook County).

http://www.unionleader.com/article/20140716/NEWS05/140719204/-1/newshampshire03

Wind turbine fire risk: Number that catch alight each year is ten times higher than the industry admits

• Nearly 120 turbines catch fire each year - the reported industry figure is 12
• Fire is second-largest cause of accidents after blade failure, research shows
• Figures compiled by Imperial College and University of Edinburgh engineers…

Infrasound emitted by wind turbines can cause deformities and stillbirths

"One can’t ignore the facts that infrasound travels as far as 40 km, and that peer-reviewed studies have shown that chronic exposure at shorter distances can cause Vibro-Acoustic Disease."

"With respect to deformities and stillbirths, it stands to reason that humans can be affected…

Being Aboveboard About Underwriters

Maine Public Broadcasting Network’s policies on disclosure generate criticism

by Al Diamon

EXCERPTS:

As MPBN’s annual report for last year shows, First Wind is one of the network’s largest underwriters, having contributed over $25,000. …

Ways to deal with natural gas price spikes in Maine, New England under advisement

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In Maine, regulators are still considering whether and to what extent they should use the authority to purchase up to $1.5 billion in pipeline capacity over 20 years. That authority was granted in the so-called …

7/15/14

Subsidy Seekers Whining on Wind...and playing politics in an article where nary a citizen wind opponent was interviewed.

http://www.pressherald.com/2014/07/15/energy-company-that-pulled-out-of-maine-last-year-invests-2-5-billion-in-scotland-offshore-wind-farm/

Nice hatchet job on Governor…

Excerpt: "...the sharpest barbs came from the Natural Resources Council’s Clean Energy Director Dylan Voorhees and Environment Maine’s Director Emily Figdor. Figdor criticized Gov. Paul LePage for “obstructing the development of wind power” 

 …

Excerpt:

The companies cited more than 2,100 megawatts of proposed wind power capacity in Northern Maine as the impetus for the project.

Excerpt from Reader Comments:

So, just to be clear, CMP and Emera which operate the distribution system for just Maine electric consumers are going to coordinate their efforts to build new transmission lines in the state to ship power to southern New England. Since CMP and…