ISO-NE: Significant dispatchable resources are a must in a decarbonized grid

https://www.iso-ne.com/static-assets/documents/2022/07/2021_economic_study_future_grid_reliability_study_phase_1_report.pdf

Key takeaways

ISO New England worked with the New England states and regional stakeholders to develop…

With 1200 to 2000 MW planned, Number Nine Wind “Farm” will be bigger than Baxter State “Park” and far and away bigger than any “farm” in New England. Number Nine was huge when first proposed many years ago, but it has since...

...acquired the rights that First Wind had at the King Pine and Horse Mountain project proposals, which are planned for just north of Baxter. 

All of these proposed projects have been held in abeyance…

Anyone truly interested in the environment should read this excellent article.

And ask, "when all those non-recyclable turbine blades disintegrate, get replaced and decommissioned, where will the battleship-sized fiberglass-composite corpses be laid to rest?…

Love the photo here.

Grimly concerned Legislators at a press conference/photo op.

Responding to the proverbial fire alarm, wailing "The people need to think we're DOING something!"

Best thing they could do is stay out of energy policy.…

Robert Bryce again succinctly identifies an energy malfunction in America. 

The grid is failing because of public policy choices.

If you aren't rich, you probably don't have a generator.

If you don't have a generator, you're stuck.…

Maine's Public Advocate (PA) has one mission: fight like hell for electric ratepayers.

The ratepayer watchdog is appointed by the governor and approved by the legislature, but he (or she) has a term that does not run concurrent with the governor. The PA is intended to have one master: us.

Bill Harwood was sworn in last week as the latest PA. Based on this…

Gotta love nuclear power. But NextEra also owns gas and oil generation in addition to Seabrook. They all hate Canadian Hydropower. 

https://www.eenews.net/articles/war-between-energy-titans-could-shape-new-england-climate/

....For five years, two of the world’s largest power companies have been locked in an all-out battle over the future of New England’s electric grid. The…

Wind Warriors will remember the circus that was Eolian Renewables. 

Eolian was a zero-experience fly by night barnstorming rent seeking outfit, led by ringleader and chief snake oil salesman Jack Kenworthy. 

The tenacious towns of Orland and Frankfort finally sent the would-be wind developer scurrying away, but it took several divisive…

They affirmatively tell Massachusetts that they'd rather have a power line as big as NECEC, PLUS a thousand 50-story wind turbines in "pristine Maine Wilderness" that only work 2 days out of 7. 

Sorry to use such a harsh term as "idiots" but that's the only word that fits. …

And this one is a double-wammy!

Links provided within this post

Wind developers are high-fiving today. An RFP was issued this morning by the Maine Public Utilities Commission (PUC) for a legislature-mandated transmission corridor that seeks to bridge the gap between Aroostook and the New England grid. While this is momentous, it’s not merely another transmission corridor case. This 12 month RFP…

While offshore wind has been working (part time) for many years, Maine continues to overthink how to make it work.

https://www.maine.gov/governor/mills/news/governors-energy-office-submits-federal-lease-application-small-scale-floating-offshore-wind

Readers Digest version: erect your turbines and wait for the wind to…

Governor Mills has signed a bill that should have been included in the Expedited Wind Act over a decade ago.

An Act To Require Consideration of Climate Impacts by the Public Utilities Commission and To Incorporate Equity Considerations in Decision Making by State Agencies

The new law is intended to balance the power between energy developers and regular citizens who are essentially defenseless.  "Equity" is a popular word these days, but it hasn't…

250 times more tax credit than nuclear gets, although nuclear produces five times more clean energy.

Funny how Congress called it the "Investment" tax credit.  Anyone who puts (our) money in an "investment" that has such a backward ROI isn't a very good investor. …

Bill Gates continues to advocate for clean energy.

https://energycentral.com/c/ec/bill-gates-nuclear-option?utm_medium=eNL&utm_campaign=TEC&utm_content=&utm_source=2020_10_23

Deadline today.  Take the survey.

Well-informed, empirical, non-unicorn comments are needed:

September 11, 2020

The Governor’s Energy Office (GEO) and Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future (GOPIF) are required to develop a plan to identify pathways and strategies for advancing Maine’s clean energy economy (ie: education, training, workforce, etc). The GEO and GOPIF want to hear directly…

The Maine Climate Council is taking suggestions.

Take their survey before end of the day Saturday, August 22.

They actually are allowing written replies to questions. They need a good dose of reality (the kind of thoughtful, fact-based info found right here on the Citizens Task Force Blog) before they start making their policy recommendations to the governor and legislature. Without our critical thinking, they…

Here they go again. Just when you thought Big Wind had thrown in the towel (in Maine). 

Just when you thought they can no longer compete.

Just when everybody and his uncle is making more sensible energy decisions. 

Big Wind is Back in Maine.

Despite their insidious lobbying efforts, Big Wind's PTC got left out of the…

NECECkiller.pdf

As legislators got to their desks an hour ago, they received a piece of legislation which would order the PUC to reverse its decision that granted a “certificate” to the NECEC. 

This is even more brazen than the Wind Act.

We were taught in grade school (and we laughed at) how primitive people thought the earth was flat until a bold Italian sailor proved otherwise. Today's primitive thinkers want a rapidly developing world to reach carbon neutrality using tools the equivalent of the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria...

This report is a stunner. If the EIA is even close to correct in this prognostication, and if fossil fuels are somehow off the table, how can civilization advance?  

Lots of…

When you click on the below link you'll see in the top picture a gathering of interested parties at the RPS/Climate change bill-signing.

That's Beth O'Hearn (teal dress) from League of Conservation Voters, which is the overarching organization for the Airhead Enviro Cabal (LCV, NRCM, Sierra, Audubon, Environment Maine, et al).  Over her shoulder in Maroon/white is Katelyn Bernard, the lobbyist for the Appalachian Mountain Club, which for a few years had…