As Mainers use more electricity, plans for a new grid ramp up

Posted
January 22

Stephen Singer
Press Herald
Mainers are increasingly using heat pumps, driving electric vehicles and switching to electric equipment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and the growing demand will test the state’s power grid.

Planning to update Maine’s vast electrical infrastructure has begun – the Maine Public Utilities Commission held two work sessions last week after soliciting comments from utilities and other stakeholders – but the upgrades will take years.

Central Maine Power and Versant Power, the state’s main electricity providers, have 18 months to submit plans to meet the increased demands and provide other information, including forecasts of electricity load.

In the meantime, the PUC is accepting public comments and consulting with industry leaders, environmentalists and consumers to determine what will be required of the grid of the future.

So far, comments have focused on the need to build a grid that can handle significantly greater electricity use, ensure power is affordable for consumers and prioritize the transition to renewable energy.

Planning for a revamped grid is a “big, sweeping effort,” said Ian Burnes, director of strategic initiatives at Efficiency Maine, a quasi-state agency that develops energy efficiency programs. The PUC and industry participants, he said, are taking a “big picture look at it.”

Phelps Turner, a senior attorney at the Conservation Law Foundation, an environmental advocacy group, said environmentalists feel an urgency to meet Maine’s climate goals, but the industry and its many stakeholders need to take the time to get ample input in order to do their work well.

“Transparency and stakeholder input are foundational principles,” he said. “It’s better to hear complaints early than after.”

No one knows yet how much a grid upgrade will cost, but it will be substantial, and ratepayers can expect to pay for some of it.

The Legislature and Gov. Janet Mills enacted legislation in 2022 requiring utilities to submit to the Public Utilities Commission plans detailing the expected effect of climate change on their equipment that transmits and distributes electricity.

Tesla charging stations sit dormant at a parking lot in Windham on Feb. 24, 2023. Ben McCanna/Staff Photographer, file

The previous year, a report for the PUC said CMP had several elements “planned or in motion” to improve capabilities for increased electricity load and so-called distributed energy, from solar panels and battery storage. Versant had significant available capacity, the report said, for greater electrification loads and could provide a buffer against the impacts of extreme temperatures caused by climate change.

No one disputes the growing need for electricity or the importance of preparing to meet it. Power needed for electric vehicle use in Maine is expected to increase to 1,557 gigawatt hours annually by 2032, up from only 15 last year, according to a forecast by ISO-New England, the grid’s operator. Electrification for heating is forecast to be 1,352 GWh in eight years, an increase from 49 in 2023.

A GWh is equivalent to 1 million kilowatt hours, and a power plant with a capacity of 1 gigawatt can power 876,000 homes for one year, according to Carbon Collective, an energy investment adviser.

Chris Morin, director of integrated system planning at CMP, said as big an increase as that appears to be, a utility would not build a system on a forecast “eight to 10 years out.” Utilities and others will have “much more confidence” in forecasts as electricity demand plays out, he said.

RELATED
$30 million grant to bolster CMP grid a down payment on big projects
David W. Norman, manager of regulatory support at Versant, said the utility wants “feedback from everybody” as it plans.

“It will drive a lot of decisions over 10, 20, 30, 40 or 50 years,” he said.

Policymakers getting the utilities to focus on their key priorities to prepare for rising demand is the “next big step,” PUC Chairman Philip L. Bartlett II said in a recent interview. “How do we get from here to there?”

Regulators are already looking at “shorter-term priorities” to improve the grid’s reliability and trying to figure out if spending by utilities on such efforts is sufficient, he said. The PUC last June approved a two-year, $67 million rate plan for CMP that helps fund an upgrade of the grid to increase reliability, resist storm damage linked to climate change and invest in clean energy.

Increased demand for electrification is a response to the growing push to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Maine is already a leader in heat pump installation, and consumer interest is growing as heat pumps become more versatile and federal subsidies help defray upfront costs. The Biden administration recently announced a $15 million grant to install hundreds of electric vehicle chargers in Maine.

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Environmentalists say Maine utilities’ grid planning must follow a 2019 state law that charged the Maine Climate Council with developing a plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 45% by 2030 and 80% by 2050 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2045. The state Public Advocate told regulators reliability at an affordable cost needs to be a top priority in a grid upgrade.

“The financial burden of meeting electrification goals must not fall disproportionately on those who are least able to bear the costs,” the agency said.

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Comment by Willem Post on January 26, 2024 at 11:03am

Doubling down on Offshore to lose more money on projects, and to increase household electric rates to astronomical levels during an election year, and achieve NO reduction in CO2 or in atmospheric temperature?

These offshore wind projects benefit only the large wind conglomerates in Europe.

These wind turbines and supporting electrical systems are made in Europe, then shipped to the US, and are financed by European pension funds.

Eastern States get all the ugliness, and a higher cost of electricity, and the taxpayers have to pay for 50% subsidies, and the workers in Eastern states have to be soooo grateful to do some of the maintenance, with very expensive replacement parts coming from Europe

Biden and Mill of Maine and Murphy of New Jersey are royally screwing the US people for the benefit of Europeans.

Vote Trump in with a landslide, so he can wipe out all the Biden idiocy off the map

WORLD’s LARGEST OFFSHORE WIND SYSTEM DEVELOPER ABANDONS TWO MAJOR US PROJECTS AS WIND BUST CONTINUES  

https://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/world-s-largest-offsho...

EXCTRACT:

New York State had signed contracts with EU big wind companies for four offshore wind projects

Sometime later, the companies were trying to coerce an additional $25.35 billion (per Wind Watch) from New York ratepayers and taxpayers over at least 20 years, because they had bid at lower prices than they should have.

New York State denied the request on October 12, 2023; “a deal is a deal”, said the Commissioner 

 

Owners want a return on investment of at least 10%/y, if bank loans for risky projects are 6.5%/y, and project cost inflation and uncertainties are high 

The about 3.5% is a minimum for all the years of hassles of designing, building, erecting, and paperwork of a project

The project prices, with no subsidies, would be about two times the agreed contract price, paid by Utilities to owners.

The reduction is due to US subsidies provided, per various US laws

All contractors had bid too low. When they realized there would be huge losses, they asked for higher contract prices.

It looks like the contract prices will need to be at least $150/MWh, for contractors to make money. Those contract prices would be at least 60% higher than in 2021

Oersted, Denmark, Sunrise wind, contract price $110.37/MWh, contractor needs $139.99/MWh, a 27% increase

Equinor, Norway, Empire 1 wind, contract price $118.38/MWh, contractor needs $159.64/MWh, a 35% increase

Equinor, Norway, Empire 2 wind, contract price $107.50/MWh, contractor needs $177.84/MWh, a 66% increase

Equinor, Norway, Beacon Wind, contract price $118.00/MWh, contractor needs $190.82/MWh, a 62% increase

https://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/liars-lies-exposed-as-...

NOTE: Empire Wind 2, 1260 MW, near Long- Island, was cancelled.

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/equinor-bp-cancel-contract-...

Comment by Dan McKay on January 26, 2024 at 5:51am

This whole effort is due to the subsidies that is driving massive, grid corrupting solar directly into the distribution system. This is because the Maine Government has no idea what operating an efficient electric network is all about.

Comment by Dan McKay on January 26, 2024 at 5:45am

"Maine is expected to increase to 1,557 gigawatt hours annually by 2032, up from only 15 last year, according to a forecast by ISO-New England, the grid’s operator. Electrification for heating is forecast to be 1,352 GWh in eight years, an increase from 49 in 2023."

PHONY NUMBERS

Comment by Dan McKay on January 26, 2024 at 5:43am

A grid full of wind (requires 3.3 times the capacity loading) and solar (requires 7 times the capacity loading) certainly means a built-up grid to accommodate the inefficiencies of wind and solar. It also means grid blackouts and people installing their own generation units, so the whole thing is a wasteful, useless endeavor designed to make everyone poorer.

Comment by Dan McKay on January 26, 2024 at 5:33am

Oxymoron Alert: "ensure power is affordable for consumers and prioritize the transition to renewable energy."

 

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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