ELECTRIC RATES IN VINALHAVEN HIGHER THAN ANTICIPATED !!

January 17. 2012 Art Lindgren

Mr. Kenneth Fletcher, Director

Governor’s Office of Energy Independence and Security 62 State House Station Augusta, Maine 04333-0062

Subject: Fox Islands Wind Electric Energy Rates Double in the Last Two Years

Mr. Fletcher,

The Fox Islands Wind turbines have been operating since November 2009, and after two years it is important to take stock of how this has affected electric rates on the island.

The attached chart and table show electric rates on Vinalhaven and North Haven over the 24 months since start-up. The graph shows the rates charged to Fox Islands Electric Co-op ratepayers as compared to CMP’s Historical Standard Offer prices

1.

While there is much information supporting a correlation of dropping natural gas prices and falling electricity prices

2, the trend is a concern in Maine for projects like Fox Islands Wind whose consumer rates tend to rise as a result.

Vinalhaven’s consumer energy rates have doubled from 6

to over 13₵/KWh, while many other wholesale market rates have gone down. As a direct comparison, CMP Standard Offer rates have remained consistently low at about 7½ ₵/KWh.

It should be noted that FIEC’s energy rates include a special 1

₵/KWh surcharge, applied to all bills to recover $365k in legal and consulting costs spent by FIW in defense of their compliance exceedances with the DEP3. The surcharge generally represents less than 4% of a ratepayer’s overall bill, including the T&D which has remained roughly the same for several years at about 13₵/KWh. So at just 1₵/KWh, the legal costs are not a major contributor to the doubling of the energy rate.

This chart and data are for your edification and review. If you would like to further discuss any of this information or its sources, I can be reached at the address and phone number below, or by email.

Thank you,

Art Lindgren on Vinalhaven…

7 West Road 941 North haven Road

Belgrade, ME 04917 Vinalhaven, ME 04863

(207) 495-4063

artlindgren@gmail.com

cc:

Governor Paul LePage Jeffrey Marks, OIES Deputy Director of Policy and Planning Steven Ward

Richard Davies, Public Advocate

William C. Black, Deputy Public Advocate

Christopher P. O’Neil, O’Neil Policy Consulting, Inc

PLEASE CONSULT THE FOX ISLAND WEBSITE TO ACCESS  THE RATE CHART AT  FIWN.WORDPRESS.COM  

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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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