For them it’s their best opportunity to drive back the spread of industrial-scale wind power that’s plowing through quiet communities and destroying families. On November 4th, they will be checking the box next to those candidates who promise to permanently end the wind production tax credit (PTC).

http://www.windaction.org/posts/41543-vote-no-on-big-wind

It would be an understatement to say that the outcome of the 2014 elections is important for wind energy producers. In an effort to see PTC friendly Harry Reid as Majority Leader, the wind industry has essentially turned the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) into their own personal Trojan horse.

Much of the LCV leadership has deep ties to the wind energy:

• Tom Kiernan, CEO of the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) serves as the Treasure of the LCV.
• Peter…

In the Legislature, Cray served on two committees: Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry and Energy, Utilities and Technology. He sees wind energy as an important issue in Somerset County and said that if elected, he would like to further explore the impact of the newly approved Bingham Wind Project on the county.

“I think it’s a really important issue,” said Cray. “I’m not a big proponent of wind power. I think it’s a cost that I just don’t see the benefit of.”…

A Facebook page titled the “Town of Frankfort, Maine, Community Page,” which is not run by the town, has become a venue for residents to share their thoughts about the wind project. Many of the comments written there are vehemently opposed to Eolian.

“Promises are short-lived, damage to the environment is permanent,” one man wrote last week.…

A spokesman for First Wind declined comment.

http://www.pressherald.com/2014/10/29/foes-renew-challenge-of-joint-wind-power-venture/

BDN: First Wind - Houlton Water to appeal investment from Emera

Houlton Water said that it plans to challenge the PUC decision on six different points, including…

The recent Sun Edison $2.75 million deal where environmental groups look the other way as First Wind (Sun Edison) kills Maine with the Bingham project is at least the third in a series of large wind industry mitigation payments in Maine. Moreover, it would appear the earliest deal (1996) involved at least one person who today is with Sun Edison. Finally, there are documented references from the mid 1990's to ENRON Wind in Maine and there also may have been some interference on behalf of the…

“We are not sure if there will be any public hearings on these proposals,” said a PUC spokesman.

Keep in mind the PUC is the crew that overruled their staff and authorized the $1.5 billion CMP upgrade, an exclusive GIFT to the wind companies such as First Wind, with the bill footed by unwitting rate payers.…

The project was the first to be denied a permit by the Department of Environmental Protection. The Board of Environmental Protection’s reversal of the department’s decision elicited a response from Gov. Paul LePage at the time, who said the decision was disappointing.…

From 2008-2013 electricity prices rose an average of 20.7 percent in the top 10 wind power states, seven-fold higher than the national electricity price increase of merely 2.8 percent according to U.S. Energy Information Administration data. ...higher electricity prices caused by wind power kill jobs throughout the entire state and national economy. Any way you…

16 OCT 2014: REPORT

Electric Power Rights of Way: 

A New Frontier for Conservation

Often mowed and doused with herbicides, power transmission lines have long been a bane for environmentalists. But that’s changing, as some utilities are starting to manage these areas as potentially valuable corridors for threatened wildlife.

by richard conniff…

EXCERPTS: ...favored by Democrats, including U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud, would revive Maine’s push for energy from wind...MICHAUD is taking a more cautious and nuanced approach to natural gas. He appears to be straddling the issue, torn between the effect that natural gas supply has on electric rates and the preference of many of his supporters for a strong shift to renewable energy. …

"We need to support wind, solar and tidal power so that we can keep our energy dollars right here in Maine".

Phil Bartlett served three terms on the Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee.…

LePage has no truck with the environmental left or the crony capitalists. He has repeatedly argued for less expensive energy and a market-based approach that eschews tax credits, subsidies and regulatory mandates favoring particular “green” sources.…

Finances are also at the core of the Friends of Maine’s Mountains appeal. O’Neil said he believes that the group’s strongest argument is about the adequacy of the fund set up for the ultimate decommissioning of the 62 turbines that would be built. A decommissioning fund would pay for restoring the scenic vistas if the wind project ultimately is abandoned. O’Neil claims First Wind has underestimated the cost of removing the turbines, which would soar up to 492 feet in height, while restoring…

Going from coal and oil to natural gas has cut carbon infinitely more than the 500+ foot tall "climate change scarecrows" which are in the process of maiming our state. But you'll never hear that from the Maine environmental groups so long as they keep taking money from the the Enronesque wind…

EXCERPTS:

...two appeals of the $398 million project, one from Friends of Maine’s Mountains and another from Alice Barnett, a longstanding critic of the project who has raised complaints about noise from the turbines.

John Lamontagne, a spokesman for First Wind, said the company is disappointed by the appeal.…

“My feeling on wind is this: If it is economically feasible, if it lowers the energy costs in the state of Maine, if it’s not doing environmental damage and if it’s not hindering people’s use or enjoyment of their land, then I’m OK with wind,” Dunphy said.…

The Bristol Board of Selectmen has warned, however, that the vote, the result of a petition, is likely nonbinding

EXCERPTS:

The vast majority of some 300 Bristol residents at a special town meeting Wednesday, Oct. 1, voted against allowing an offshore wind project to…

Boy, sure would have been nice had Maine electricity ratepayers not been charged for the MRRP (CMP Upgrade), i.e., the transmission lines built solely for the wind industry so they could get their Maine-destroying product to Mass and Ct.…