BDN - The cost of more renewable power to taxpayers and employers is staggering
The cost of requiring more renewable power
By Carol Weston, Special to the BDN
It’s important to note that the standards are not equivalent to renewable energy. Renewable sources of energy have existed long before the state law was implemented in 1999. Maine’s lakes and rivers feed hydroelectric power, and our plentiful woods fuel biomass electricity production. Thanks to these sources, the state was already meeting the original demand for utilities to produce at least 30 percent of power by renewable sources. In other words, more than a third of Maine’s power comes from renewable sources. However, that wasn’t enough for some.
In 2006, legislation was passed to require that plants increase the amount of new renewable power by 10 percent by 2017. Will Maine reach these higher goals? At this point, the Pine Tree State is not on track, and the trends don’t look good for success. Of the 35 other states with RPS mandates, only 14 are meeting or on track to meeting their goals. While the jury is out on the environmental benefits, the cost to taxpayers and employers is staggering.
Proponents of RPS mandates like to talk about the green jobs “created,” but they fail to account for the private-sector losses that pay for these jobs. Regulations requiring that companies use higher-cost sources for electricity mean less money can be spent expanding business and employing talented workers.
Please read the entire piece here:
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Comment
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Comment by Martha thacker on June 19, 2013 at 7:49am
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BDN finally printed an honest assessment of wind power. Suppose I should feel gratitude, but after touting useless turbines all over ME for years , it is just hard. USA Today is saying the same thing , coincidence? Where is Maine independance from corporate rule? And does BDN and ME state govt. just say whoops? I miss the old BDN which had excellent journalism , writing and creative ideas.
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
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(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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