Richard Silkman: Maine must not go from Vacationland to Generationland
This of course starts off with the assumption that decarbonization makes sense. Silkman also states "Maine is where the winds are". A look at a wind map shows that statement to be untrue. It also treats Maine's climate goals as worthy which is ludicrous. Inherent in the writer's piece is the idea that wind power makes economic sense when in fact it makes none. Check your assumptions Mr. Silkman.
Richard Silkman: Maine must not go from Vacationland to Generationland
February 15, 2026
Excerpt:
The electricity generation numbers are staggering, and because they are based on physics and not politics, they do not lie. Assuming that every single building in New England that is suitable for solar (over 4 million units) installs the maximum amount of solar generation on its roof, New England will still require roughly 2,000 on-shore wind turbines, 900 off-shore fixed wind turbines off Cape Cod, 1,500 off-shore floating wind turbines in the Gulf of Maine and 2,000 utility-scale solar developments comparable to the largest one in New England, now in Farmington.
While the Cape Cod wind and certainly some of the solar projects will take place in
Southern New England, the vast majority of the wind and solar will be sited in Maine — because that is where the lands and the winds are. Everyone knows this.
For New England to become carbon-free, either it must become “Nuclearland” or Maine must become “Generationland.” Having been involved in the Seabrook protests, the DOE’s efforts to consider a high-level nuclear waste repository in Maine and the closings of Vermont and Maine Yankee and the Pilgrim Nuclear plant, my money is on the latter.
In fact, this process has already begun. The governor of Connecticut has encouraged its utilities to look to Maine for solar projects to reduce fossil fuel dependence, signaling to solar developers that it and the other New England states will look to Maine to meet their needs.
At the same time, the regional grid operator (ISO-NE) is looking to develop massive transmission lines the length of Maine to bring that energy to Massachusetts. The key question is what does Maine get out of this?.....................................................
....................................Until such policies and structures are in place, no energy procurements should be undertaken in Maine. A good first step would be for the PUC to rescind its Aroostook Wind RFP, which will give away the best and least expensive source of renewable energy in New England today.
Article continues at https://www.pressherald.com/2026/02/15/maine-must-not-go-from-vacat...
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Comment
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Comment by Dan McKay 4 hours ago
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Source: ISO-NE Generator Interconnection Queue (January 2026); FERC Jurisdictional Proposals; Nameplate Capacity Ratings
Notice the chart tagged: Proposed Resources by State.
Silman says Maine must become Generationland" Doesn't look like Connecticut, New Hampshire or Vermont are lining up to be "Generationland" What do they know that Silkman doesn"t. They know there is no escape from the costs of renewables for any state in New England wherever in New England they are built. Regional costs like RECs and RGGI and agreements made by New England Governors to not step on any other state with their own policies vacates any benefits for Maine. His idea will not work. Maine will be left holding the bag.
Everyone in Maine knows the cost of decommissioning these projects will fall to Maine taxpers/ratepayers.
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New Hampshire is fed up with the launch of the misguided belief that New England can go 100% renewable energy to produce electricity. They capped their renewable portfolio at 15% and are very disappointed to see their electricity rates soar higher due to the other states in the New England, ISO-NE Network pushing ahead with solar, wind and batteries.
New Hampshire has paid for a study to determine how to get out of ISO-NE and bring down electricity costs. I wouldn't be surprised if they stage a protest against the ISO-NE proposed transmission line to connect wind power from an area of Maine that is not even in the ISO-NE territory. New Hampshire would be on the hook for 10% of 70% of the cost to construct this line.If the people of Maine actually believe Silkman's idea that Maine can charge the rest of New England and become "GENERATIONLAND", why not sell all of Maine back to Massachusetts. I think Maine people find this proposal as a sellout of Maine and as New Hampshire has come to realize, just because you want to back out paying for this renewable nonsense doesn't mean you can escape the costs of it.
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How can anyone from Maine want to have more wind, solar and battery junk spewed across our state? The nuclear revival age is upon us and will grow and overtake renewables because it is the ultimate renewable.
Now that the C02 rule that had underwritten these renewables and has cost everyone tons of money, we can all look forward to an energy prosperity future. That's if we can vote out the Democrats from government who will fight against common sense even when the truth is staring straight at them.
Silkman is a grifter. MONEY,MONEY,MONEY. He wants to replace the Joni Micthell "Cut down the trees and put up a parking lot" with " Cut down the trees and put up acre-grabbing solar panels, towering ,bird-killing wind turbines and leaky, unproductive batteries and super, wide, obnoxious transmission highways to move insignificant and sure to be curtailed minimus power towards Southern New England.
It would be justice if this man was deported from Maine to Massachusetts where like-minded fools like him reside.
Long live carbon dioxide, the ultimate tree food.
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/
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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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