Letter: CT’s energy plans will impact Maine

Are you aware that these are not yet built or functional, that the wind companies -- some foreign owned -- solicited Connecticut to list these sources of power to bring political pressure on Maine to consider their applications to built?
Think about the impact it will have on the environment and the residents of Maine. I wonder if you’ll visit us if these massive turbines cover the sky lines. They want to take the tops off about 360 miles of our mountains and ridge lines to build these. Will hundreds of these be appealing to you as you look at our fall foliage?
The impact on our tourism, cold water sources, wildlife, threatened and endangered species, will be great. The well being and health of our residents is also of concern. The affects on humans include wind turbine noise and shadow flicker, which can be checked out by goggling these subjects.
DAVID MILLER
Lexington, ME
(formerly of Sprague)


http://www.norwichbulletin.com/Opinion/x1465131732/Letter-CT-s-ener...

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Comment by Martha thacker on August 27, 2013 at 4:11pm

From WCSH6.com 12/28/06

A Massachusetts company wants to build and undrwater electric cable from Wiscasset to Boston. The "Green Line" project is just starting its way through the federal and state regulatory system. The proposed 140-mile underwater cable would provide more electricity to the Boston area, while avoiding the difficulty of building new high tension, above ground lines. ...

Steve Conant of the New England Independent Transmisssion Company says Maine can become a major source of renewable energy in the coming years, and the cable would provide a way to send that power to the people who need it.

"We're not generating any power.We're not tied up with any particular fuel source. But if you look at what's happening here in Maine, with the governor's encouragement of renewable energy sources, whether its wind, whether it's biomass, tidal energy that they're looking at in Washington County comes to pass, to support that you need more transmission to make that happen." said Project Vice President Steve Conant....

The head of Maine's Public Utilities Commission says he has real concerns about the project, because current New England utility rules would force Maine consumers to help pay for the cable.

Instead rate payers have been paying 19% more for electricity for this boondoggle...for some time. I read that Bangor Hydro owned by Emera out of Canada and Central Maine Power were going to pay most of the cost. Forgot where I read it..could have been from the First Wind SEC report.At any rate, it looks like they still want Mainers to bear the cost of power in Mass.

Comment by Kathy Sherman on August 27, 2013 at 9:20am
Are the upgrades and new transmission for Quebec hydro the same or different? I ask because CT wants that too.
Comment by Penny Gray on August 27, 2013 at 8:05am

Wow.  Thanks for posting, Martha.

Comment by Martha thacker on August 27, 2013 at 4:10am

Gov. Blumenthal, now senator of  Conn. stated that he would not allow transmission lines built through his state for a few wind farms in Maine. Here is the proof, I finally found the document after cleaning out my desk. From the US govt. vs. FERC hearing , prior to Stetson I being built. It proves that unless the transmission lines we are already paying for are built, the power can't even reach Conn. And since the the turbines have even less than a 20 year life span, the entire scam is laughable.

"...the process requires refinement to avoid discouraging renewable resources from locating in Northern New England. On this case , a transmission constraint at Orrington , Maine, prevents the capacity from the Stetson Wind farrm from being delivered in all hours to the part of the Maine Zone south of Orrington, without a redispatch of an existing unit. Although this capacity can be delivered north of Orrington, this unit will not be approved to participate in the first FCM because of the Orrington South transmission constraint."

Keep in mind that Maine's "upgrades" begin in Orrington. There are also other "upgrades" that have to be built before power could even reach Conn. The other states involved aren't too keen on this idea either. Power plants were closed for some very iffy reasons to make room for Stetson. That is how they got around the law. Brookfield in East Millinocket hired a team of lawyers and concentrated on transmission line capacity according to Lisa Linowes at windaction. I could not understand the reasoning back then. Now I do. They did not have to close down like two others..one was Fort Kent because they were not paid agreed on price for power. None of this is legal, but somehow it continued. Iso New England and FERC were never made accountable for wind farms and their pitiful power outputs .

Don't try to google this document ...it has been scrubbed. That is why I was so pleased that the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting kept a copy. I did try to google it one time and came up with the fact that the MPUC was not even invited to this hearing. 

Carpetbaggers

Comment by Kathy Sherman on August 26, 2013 at 11:33pm
Yankee Magazine might be another venue for the well-stated thoughts expressed. Poor Connecticut doesn't even have a good wind resource off their shoreline, but it would be a good time to emphasize that just because Maine has a lot of land area compared to other New England states, it is no Saudi Arabia of Wind -- it is 25th!! The CT Clean Energy Council with Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust paid for TWS mapping the wind resource in Maine about 10 years ago-- but it is only theoretically available land with sufficient wind resource for minimum economic viability. It did not take into account how ignorant we are about large industrial wind turbines in forested areas or on ridgelines. They did not read Danish guidance that recommends placing turbines where they will harmonize with the landscape such as industrial areas with a lot of cranes, not hilltops or ridgelines, or coastlined. The regional greenhouse gas initiative, & the latest move of regional requests for proposals, the requirement that the generation be in the ISO-NE service area or contiguous, all have very unfortunate consequences for Maine, and northern VT and NH. CT and MA have no clue what an adequate setback or noise level is, even for the size turbines at the beginning of the century. They need to dim those city lights, not count on experiencing nature by energy-consuming virtual reality. Continue to fight for the cure for nature deficit disorder"!!--Turbine-free vistas and natural soundscape, uninterrupted diurnal rhythms for wildlife and humans.
Comment by Art Brigades on August 26, 2013 at 4:31pm
Here is an easy list of Connecticut newspapers. You might consider letters to editors voicing your Don't Tread on ME message. http://www.usnpl.com/ctnews.php

 

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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