BDN - EUT questions electricity program staff (Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting)

The center’s report in January revealed that a single supplier, Constellation and its corporate predecessors, had won every bid to be the program’s energy supplier since its inception. As part of its agreement with Maine PowerOptions, Constellation, a subsidiary of energy behemoth Chicago-based Exelon, pays all of the program’s operating expenses, including the salaries of the quasi-state electricity consortium’s staff.

http://bangordailynews.com/2017/02/03/news/state/maine-legislative-...

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting: Value of quasi-state electricity program called into question

An investigation of Maine Power Option’s electricity program by the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting found there is virtually no proof that up to $500 million in taxpayer money that MPO has directed to a single electricity supplier over the past 16 years has been well spent.


Partial list of where to read story: (to be updated as appropriate)

Original: http://pinetreewatchdog.org/value-of-quasi-state-electricity-progra...

Bangor Daily News: http://bangordailynews.com/2017/01/11/news/state/maine-group-that-b...

Portland Press Herald: http://www.pressherald.com/2017/01/11/did-state-sponsored-energy-co...

FROM THE MAINE POWER OPTIONS WEBSITE:
Wind farms, solar arrays and offshore wind development has taken place and continues to be developed in Maine. Maine PowerOptions members have been leaders in the State of Maine through their purchase of Green Power.
http://mainepoweroptions.org/GreenPower.aspx

Listed at MPUC website under Renewable Energy / Green Power:

http://maine.gov/mpuc/consumer/archive/renew_energy.html

Where was the so called Public Advocate all these years?

Views: 307

Comment

You need to be a member of Citizens' Task Force on Wind Power - Maine to add comments!

Join Citizens' Task Force on Wind Power - Maine

Comment by alice mckay barnett on February 5, 2017 at 8:44am

What are the DeepCwind Consortium and its spawn Maine Aqua Ventus (MAV) doing, now they've gotten the bucks to move forward? The windpower wannabees are once again doing their best to keep the process invisible to the public.

What we've found out :
1. The US Dept of Energy (DOE) is requiring Maine AquaVentus to prepare either an environmental assessment (EA) or an environmental impact statement (EIS) An EIS is better as it requires a much more thorough review than a...n Environmental Assessment.

2. DOE is holding three public meetings on the EA or EIS. A double feature on the mainland and one on Monhegan.

* February 28, 2017 Town of St. George Office Fire dept meeting room 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm and 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm. Location: , 3 School Street, Tenants Harbor, Maine 04860.

March 1, 2017 from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm. Location: Monhegan Island School, 1 Monhegan Avenue, Maine 04852.

DOE "will be seeking public comments to help define the scope of environmental impacts and issues to be addressed in the EA" [ or the EIS]. What is at risk? What will be bettered? What will change among birds, fish, marine mammals, if the floating turbines are installed in state waters two-three miles off Monhegan?

Think of it thusly: If you ask it on the record, they have to answer it on the record.

For that reason it is important to not only ask questions and get verbal answers, but also to put your thoughts and issues on paper and be sure they get them in person and by postal mail.

As the Dept of Energy puts it: "Public scoping is a key component of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process and is used to provide an opportunity for the public to help define the scope of environmental impacts and issues to be addressed in depth in the EA."

Last time it took a lawsuit to get "the record" of letters, emails and other communications swirling around in the background between the Department of Conservation, and MDEP, the governor's office and the DeepCwind Consortium. It it illuminated a great deal, as did the agency's response to the questions I raised in Superior Court.

Updates as they arise but for now - mark it on your calendars:
* February 28, 2017 Town of St. George Office Fire dept meeting room 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm and 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm. Location: , 3 School Street, Tenants Harbor, Maine 04860.

March 1, 2017 from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm. Location: Monhegan Island School, 1 Monhegan Avenue, Maine 04852.

See More
No automatic alt text available.

Comment by Dudley G. Gray on February 3, 2017 at 5:36pm

Had  Bangor Hydro and Central Maine Power NOT  been forced to  sell their generating assets by the Legislature and the infinite wisdom of our Governor at the time, this rip-off of the public never would have happened.

 

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/

Not yet a member?

Sign up today and lend your voice and presence to the steadily rising tide that will soon sweep the scourge of useless and wretched turbines from our beloved Maine countryside. For many of us, our little pieces of paradise have been hard won. Did the carpetbaggers think they could simply steal them from us?

We have the facts on our side. We have the truth on our side. All we need now is YOU.

“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”

 -- Mahatma Gandhi

"It's not whether you get knocked down: it's whether you get up."
Vince Lombardi 

Task Force membership is free. Please sign up today!

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/

© 2024   Created by Webmaster.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service