These are the task force members. Publicover was an alternate.

R. Alec Giffen (Chair), Director, Maine Forest Service

Senator Phillip Bartlett

Juliet Browne, Verrill Dana LLP

Pete Didisheim, Director of Advocacy, Natural Resources Council of Maine

Judith A. Dorsey, Retired Lawyer

Representative Stacey Fitts

Senator Walter…

Here's the latest via an email at 2:10PM today, 12/29/17. This, despite the fact that this was announced as a meeting one could audio stream on the EUT website.

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12;56 PM Dec 29, 2017 status:

I was just notified by a wind warrior who was in Augusta that "I…

East Coast fishermen are turning a wary eye toward an emerging upstart: the offshore wind industry......For fishermen, the broader concern is that offshore wind farms will only lead to more stifling restrictions.

http://www.sunjournal.com/u-s-fishermen-fear-forests-of-wind-turbines/

Also:

Yarmouth delays decision on…

The criminals in the wind industry and Mass legislature leadership will want to look towards their Maine wind plantation more than ever. 

Voters in this tiny Berkshire County hilltown, population around 800, overwhelmingly banned all new wind turbine development at a special town meeting. Thursday night's vote was 101-22, far more than the two-thirds majority needed to amend the town's zoning code.…

One has to pay NOT to have these miserable meters.

CMP’s $200 million smart-grid communications network, designed to improve outage communications and storm recovery, failed the first full day into the storm.…

“The vast majority of the public have never been near the mountains so they have no real idea of the damage that wind farms can do the the landscape,” said Mr Gibson.....“There have already been too many windfarms constructed – or will be built – that have irrevocably damaged the landscape, or will do when they are constructed.”…

EXCERPTS:

Rather than divide communities, they said their projects improve the lives of all residents..........Landowners often overlook potential problems until it’s too late. Many who sign contracts can’t terminate the agreements, even if they later beg for relief from what they deem intolerable living conditions........Elected officials tasked with voting on these developments have, in many cases, signed their own contracts with the wind companies, raising…

Some of the more important articles in this issue are:

Six-Month Investigation: In the Shadow of Wind Projects

Peer-reviewed study: Why Wind Turbine Sounds are Annoying, and Why it Matters

Court Finds Wind Turbine Noise Exposure a ‘Pathway to Disease’

Are Big Wind Firms Actually “Subsidy Miners”?

Final US Tax Bill is favorable to Wind Energy

France: 1.2 to 3.3 million bats destroyed by wind turbines

Massachusetts Offshore Wind Project…

Presumably it will be valid if it is emailed by midnight and thus timestamped Dec 18.

Please take a few minutes and email any comments you have by tomorrow, Monday, December 18, 2017.

Maine Wind Energy Act Standards: Public Comment Deadline: Dec 18, 2017

Agency contact:…

"We remain concerned about the potential impacts of the new Base Erosion Anti-Abuse Tax on renewable energy finance," said Gregory Wetstone, president and CEO for the large umbrella group American Council on Renewable Energy.

The BEAT provision was included in the Senate’s tax bill, inserted to discourage large multinational companies from keeping money offshore. It would reduce the tax deductibility enjoyed by financial…

The Punta Lima wind farm was significantly damaged, losing approximately half the turbine blades and sustaining vertical post damage, the report said. The Santa Isabel wind farm was "seemingly intact."



Wind farm repair costs are estimated at $25 million and solar farm repairs at $40 million, which could take approximately nine to 12 months. The cost to deploy microgrids is estimated at a little more than $1 billion and solar installations are recommended for new…

The St. George Select Board voted Monday to oppose an offshore wind project taking shape about 12 miles away, standing with local fishermen who say the project and its transmission cable would harm their livelihoods.

The unanimous vote follows a recommendation made by an advisory committee created last month by the five-person Select Board to weigh the impact the Maine Aqua Ventus offshore wind project would have on the local community.…

The PUC will scrutinize the requests, and could dispute some costs. But by law, customers will pick up most of the tab, which is expected to run into the tens of millions of dollars.

CMP said it expects to submit its information later this week, or possibly next week. Emera Maine said its cost estimates…

“After 25-years of subsidy-driven financing of renewable energy, Main Street Americans are now taxed billions annually so the richest Wall Street bankers and corporations can avoid their tax burden by funneling money to big wind development.”

“We support the House provision to remove the PTC inflation adjustment. Retaining the 2.4¢/kwh subsidy in light of lower installation costs and increased production confers a bounty on big wind that far…

MAINE OUTDOOR BRANDS FORMED TO FUEL MAINE’S OUTDOOR RECREATION ECONOMY

December 11, 2017; Portland, ME –An alliance of like-minded business leaders and entrepreneurs representing Maine-based outdoor product and recreation interests, recently launched Maine Outdoor Brands (MOB) with the desire of working collaboratively to ignite Maine’s outdoor recreation economy.…

Said bluntly, Main Street Americans are coughing up billions annually to help the richest Wall Street bankers avoid paying their taxes. The Senate tax bill that passed this weekend could spell an end to this massive wealth-transfer program.

https://www.masterresource.org/production-tax-credit-ptc/hr-1-ptc-tax/

The Base Erosion Anti-Abuse Tax (BEAT) provision would subject tax credits given to companies with operations overseas to a new, 100 percent tax. ...........The Senate voted early Saturday to approve a major overhaul of the U.S. tax code that critics say would decimate clean energy investments ...............................Larger challenges for clean energy lie in the House of Representatives' tax proposal, which passed in mid-November. That version takes a whack at a bundle of clean…

Some of the more important articles in this issue are:

Wind and Solar Power Advance, but Carbon Refuses to Retreat

Wind & Solar are Less Efficient Decarbonizers than CC Gas Turbines

Maine DEP Issues Draft Wind Energy Rules (two VERY good parts)

Grid-Scale Storage of Renewable Energy: The Impossible Dream

Tesla battery production releases as much CO2 as 8 years of gasoline driving

Report by head of German Wildlife Foundation:…

12/3/17

In windstorm’s wake, CMP feels blows of critics

A post-mortem of the extensive power outages from the October storm focuses intense scrutiny on the response by Maine's utilities.

Issues bound to be scrutinized include inaccurate information on CMP’s Web-based outage tracker, the pros and cons of installing more coated “tree wire” that’s resistant to damage and the cost of moving vulnerable overhead…

Wind Energy is the biggest crony capitalism scam in our lifetime.......Mid-American Energy (Warren Buffet) received 249 million dollars in federal tax credits last year and $5.5 billion in tax credits and subsidies from wind energy to date.  Buffet is now building another 1000 turbines over the next couple years to add to his 2020 turbines he owns now. …