Tom Saviello, "How's This For Ruining Maine "
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Comment by Willem Post on June 27, 2021 at 11:38am
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HIGH COSTS OF WIND, SOLAR, AND BATTERY SYSTEMS IN NEW ENGLAND
https://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/high-costs-of-wind-sol...
ALWAYS FOLLOW THE MONEY
Warren Buffett Riding the Subsidy Gravy Train
Quote: "I will do anything that is basically covered by the law to reduce Berkshire's tax rate, for example, on wind energy, we get a tax credit if we build a lot of wind farms. That's the only reason to build them. They don't make sense without the tax credit."
Green Mountain Power, GMP, Riding the Subsidy Gravy Train
Vermont utilities buy about 1.4 million MWh/y of hydro power, at 5.7 c/kWh, under a 20-y contract, from Hydro Quebec. The HQ electricity is not variable, not intermittent and does not cause midday solar bulges
GMP, a Canadian company, refuses to buy more hydro electricity from HQ, because that electricity would just be a “pass-through”, on which GMP would make minimal profit. HQ has plenty of electricity and is eager to sell it. This approach requires no subsidies!!
GMP rakes in millions of our hard-earned money, by investing in: 1) utility-scale solar/battery combos, 2) leasing heat pumps and 3) wall-hung Tesla batteries for playing “catch the peak games”.
GMP rides the subsidy gravy train, a la Warren Buffett, and plays the “green, forward-looking utility” role.
Per standard Wall Street practice for tax-shelters, the cash value of the subsidies is about 45% of the project turnkey cost, which includes the costs of: 1) financing, 2) subsidies, 3) owner’s return on investment.
The subsidies are “front-loaded”, i.e., about 40% is recovered by GMP in the first 5 years, the other 5% in the remaining years, i.e., skimming the fat off the milk for GMP in the early years, and long-term increased costs for ratepayers and taxpayers.
https://solarplusllc.com/macrs-and-bonus-depreciation/
https://norwichsolar.com/vermont-commercial-and-industrial-solar-incentives/
https://vermontbiz.com/news/2019/october/22/owner-gmp-and-vermont-gas-will-get-new-ceo
Maine Offshore Wind Turbine Systems are Dead
The ocean waters near Maine are deep. Almost all offshore wind turbines would need to be floating units, anchored at the seafloor with at least 3 long cables.
The 700-ft tall wind turbines would need to be located at least 25 miles from any inhabited islands, to reduce the visuals, especially with strobe lights, 24/7/365
The wind turbines would be far from major electricity demand centers, such as Montreal and Boston.
Transmission systems would be required to connect the wind turbines to demand centers
All that would make the cost of electricity produced by these wind turbines more expensive than those south of MVI.
http://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/deep-water-floating-offshore-wind-turbines-in-maine
Maine is Desperate to Stay in the Wind Turbine Business
Maine wind/solar bureaucrats likely are in active discussions with stakeholders to add 751 MW of onshore wind turbines.
Maine wind/solar bureaucrats are not in active discussions with stakeholders to add offshore wind turbines, as shown by the interconnection proposals on page 13 of URL
https://nepool.com/uploads/NPC_20200305_Composite4.pdf
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Comment by Long Islander on June 27, 2021 at 11:02am
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We can read off to the right side of this page that at the time of the expedited wind energy bill, way back when, Hannah Pingree felt the legislators probably didn't bother figuring out how many turbines they were approving. Malpractice. So nobody has stopped to assess the damage wrought due to this reckless lawmaking and in fact have just continued the reckless lawmaking?
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Comment by Dan McKay on June 27, 2021 at 10:58am
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The fact that the government records the purchase of renewable generation( from within and beyond the state's borders) as the only method of measuring government compliance with government climate goals should make one ask why don't they measure compliance by the actual generation that occurs within the State borders. Isn't it an accepted responsibility to keep one's own home clean first ?BTW, Within Maine's borders, electric generation is 81% classified renewable and growing every year without cost to ratepayers. Your government is screwing you.
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FROM THE BILL LD 1710:"Encourage the rapid development of renewable resources in northern Maine .....""Develop the transmission infrastructure necessary for the State to expeditiously meet its renewable energy ....""Promote energy equity....""Favor use, where practicable, of existing utility and other rights-of-way and other existing transmission corridors in the construction of the line or lines ....."
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I bet this proposed "Act" doesn't stir up ANY of the environmental protest that the Quebec hydro proposal has gotten. Why is that? Unreliables can't hold a candle to hydropower, they require massive amounts of subsidies and land, and destroy massive amounts of birds and bats. "Renewables" brainwashing has been going on for a while now and it's been very effective, but the cost benefit analysis cannot be avoided. This WILL ruin all of Maine.
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Based upon a CMP/Emera/Number Nine/Horse Mountain RFP proposal to MA for renewables in 2016, the Maine Renewable Energy Interconnect (MREI) was estimated to cost $500MM. The bid was rejected, but the planning and engineering has been done. CMP/Versant will dust off the 2016 bid, update costs and submit a bid. With rising material (copper, etc,) and labor costs, it could potentially exceed that estimate. Remember, CMP and Versant are guaranteed a rate of return or around 12% for all infrastructure build-out. In the early 2000's, Maine ratepayers were handed a bill for $1.3 billion for grid upgrades to support industrial wind output, MREI would be a financial lifeline for these marginally profitable utilities.
In addition, the MREI presents no long-term benefit to Maine ratepayers, but that's not the goal. Lining the pockets of marginal utilities, renewable developers, Cianbro and Reed & Reed comes first.
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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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