Rural Aroostook wind power project takes big step forward
Note that Maine PUC chair Phil Bartlett was on Governor Baldacci's wind task force, which was created to begin the onslaught of Maine's countryside with feckless wind power and put money in the pockets of insiders. https://www.windtaskforce.org/page/the-expedited-wind-law
Longroad Energy is the gang from First Wind - Paul Gaynor, Michael Alvarez, Peter Keel and Charles Spiliotis.
The investors listed on their website include a couple of New Zealand concerns, one owned by the New Zealand government. https://www.longroadenergy.com/about-us/investors/ Who would have thought that New Zealand would have a say in the destruction of Maine?
The PUC chair said "the influx of renewable energy into the regional grid will also place downward pressure on electricity prices, benefiting consumers in Maine....". After all the grotesque wind projects already installed across Maine, I wonder whether the commissioner has looked at his electricity bill lately.
Note that the NECEC, the Canadian hydro line that could affect the fortunes of this Aroostook wind power disaster is currently on fast track for trial in April 2023 and prompt trial...
Emphasis in bold mine.
by Lori Valigra
Maine regulators named the winners Wednesday of bids on a renewable energy project that would bring electricity to underserved areas in the northern part of the state, but it still is not clear how much ratepayers will be asked to pay for it.
LS Power Base of New York won the transmission portion of the bid and Longroad Energy’s King Pine Wind of Massachusetts won the power generation bid. The two provided the lowest combined bids for the Northern Maine Renewable Energy Development Program that is planned for Aroostook County.
Maine Public Utilities Commission Chair Philip Bartlett said the project could develop significant amounts of renewable generation in northern Maine at a competitive cost. There also are economic benefits.
“Such projects would provide substantial economic development benefits, property taxes, construction jobs and many other benefits to a part of our state that could surely benefit from these investments,” Commissioner Patrick Scully said.
All three commissioners agreed on the bidders. However, they could not rule on whether the project is in the public interest until they get more information on who will pay for the project and how much Maine ratepayers might have to absorb. And that could depend on whether and how much Massachusetts is willing to kick into the project.
With the $1 billion Central Maine Power Co. hydropower corridor stalled and in legal jeopardy, the Massachusetts energy regulators who hold the keys to the project are preparing alternatives, including the Aroostook project, in the event of its potential defeat.
Maine Senate President Troy Jackson, D-Aroostook, the major backer behind the project, lauded the commission’s decision. He said renewable energy projects in northern Maine, which includes Aroostook County and part of Piscataquis County, face significant cost challenges due to the lack of connection to the New England power grid.
“We are on the cusp of making what sometimes seemed like a pipe dream, a reality,” he said.
The Aroostook project would carry output from a 1,000 megawatt wind power facility. Bartlett said the cost of the transmission line is about $2.8 billion, although the wind power project is expected to provide a savings of $1.08 billion. That would bring the project’s net cost to $1.8 billion over 20 years.
Bartlett said the combination of the projects is significantly less expensive than the other bids received. The projects will provide benefits to Maine and the region, including jobs during construction, property tax revenue for communities and environmental benefits from new renewable energy displacing fossil fuel.
“The influx of renewable energy into the regional grid will also place downward pressure on electricity prices, benefiting consumers in Maine and throughout New England,” he said.
Still, the project is costly and Maine is looking for partners to shoulder some of the burden. Massachusetts has statutory authority to consider procuring some or all of the Aroostook project. But that state is on a different timeline than Maine and has until the end of the year to decide if it wants to support the project.........................
See the following link for the full article and RFP document:
https://www.bangordailynews.com/2022/10/26/business/rural-aroostook...
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Request for Proposals for Renewable Energy Generation and Transmission Projects Pursuant to the Northern Maine Renewable Energy Development Program
https://www.maine.gov/mpuc/regulated-utilities/electricity/rfp-awar...
NOTE: Comments spill over on to second page.
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Comment
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Comment by Dan McKay on October 28, 2022 at 5:24am
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How is it possible for 3 men to even consider tagging Mainers with a 1.8-billion-dollar welfare program for wind when electricity prices are already crushing them?
Are they part of the rich elite? the WEF, the DAVOS Crowd, the AOC lovers, Greta Thunberg relatives or do they have a hidden agenda against Maine.
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guber_natorial candidates, do your job
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If we had a REAL Energy, Utility, Technology Legislative Committee in Augusta, they would haul the Commissioners in to answer questions.
If we had just one legislator who would defend Maine ratepayers from a 1,8 billion welfare program for wind developers and a few landowners in Aroostook County, it would be amazing.
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From PUC statement (10-26-2022) : Maine Public Utilities Commission Homepage | MPUC"The Commission did not make a final determination as to how much of the cost of the project Maine ratepayers can reasonably absorb but directed Commission staff to look to other states to assess if there are partnerships that could reduce the costs to Maine"From RFP (11-29-2022) BOLD and Capitalization by PUC Case Details (maine.gov)"NOTE REGARDING EVALUATION OF COST: The Commission’s evaluation will focus on the cost and benefits to Maine ratepayers rather than the overall costs and benefits of the project. All other factors being equal, the Commission will look favorably upon proposals that are designed to reduce costs to Maine ratepayers through some form of tariff treatment, cost recovery mechanism, cost-sharing with other states, or other means that would prevent the full cost of the Transmission and/or Generation Projects from being borne entirely by Maine ratepayers."WHY IS THE COMMISSION STAFF BEING DIRECTED TO DO WHAT THE APPLICANTS WERE SUPPOSED TO DO BEFORE PRESENTING THEIR PROPOSALS ? "cost-sharing with other states"THE COMMISSION FAILS TO DO THEIR JOB.
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Killing Maine, one wind plant at a time.
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And to think, our monthly electric payments pay for this commission. Maybe this commission should only be paid by a commission when they do something to lower the bills.
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"The Commission conducted the bidding process in accordance with The Northern Maine Renewable Energy Development Program (Program) established by P.L. 2021, Chapter 380, codified at 35-A M.R.S. 3210-I (Act). The Act establishes certain parameters and criteria for the Program and this process, including but not limited to factors that would indicate the technical and financial viability of proposed Projects; make use of existing rights-of-way and transmission corridors; and maximize benefits to Maine ratepayers."
SHOW US THE MONEY!!
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"The Commission did not make a final determination as to how much of the cost of the project Maine ratepayers can reasonably absorb "
Do you need an answer to that or are you just mocking the ratepayers of this state?
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The PUC Commissioners are ball-less, quivering cowards to a legislature that controls them like they are their slaves. Wake up, you three stooges and serve the ratepayers, like you are supposed to.
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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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