Bill to halt natural gas expansion in Maine prompts energy and climate debate
Maine Public | By Kevin Miller
Published January 23, 2024 at 8:45 PM EST
A bill that seeks to slow down expansion of natural gas infrastructure in Maine has sparked a robust debate over the energy and climate policy within the State House.
Environmentalists insist the bill is a critical step toward a cleaner future but that the measure would not affect existing natural gas customers. But in the latest example of partisan divides over energy policy, Republicans dismiss the bill as government overreach that will only harm Maine residents and businesses.
"This bill is about limiting choice," Sen. Matt Harrington, R-Sanford, said during a press conference before Tuesday's committee hearing. "This bill seeks to limit the cheapest form of heat, according to the Governor's Energy Office. And it's deplorable to me that Democrats in this state would seek to do that."
For years, natural gas was touted as a cleaner and oftentimes cheaper alternative to oil when it came to generating electricity, heating homes and even powering public transit buses. The process of fracking, which involves fracturing underground bedrock to enable the extraction of natural gas, opened up vast domestic sources. And a handful of natural gas companies responded by building new pipelines in southern and central Maine.
But natural gas is still a fossil fuel that pumps carbon dioxide into the atmosphere when burned.
Bill Harwood, who heads Maine's Office of the Public Advocate, told members of the Legislature's Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee that it's time to start looking beyond natural gas as Maine tries meet ambitious targets for reducing carbon dioxide emissions..................................
The rest of the article is at https://www.mainepublic.org/politics/2024-01-23/bill-to-halt-natura...
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Comment
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Comment by Willem Post on January 26, 2024 at 11:03am
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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-...
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Comment by Dan McKay on January 26, 2024 at 5:54am
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Democrat lawmakers be warned, you are "poking the bear"
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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