-FIRST  WIND  WILLING  TO  TRASH MAINE-

BY  JONATHAN  CARTER   , SUNJOURNAL  

 

 

 "First Wind of Boston is proposing the largest industrial wind project to date for Maine's western mountains. It will stretch more than 25 miles, from Bingham to Parkman. The 64 500-foot turbines First Wind plans for that remote stretch of the Maine Woods will be highly intrusive and visibl... 

READ  THE WHOLE  COLUMN AT  THE FOLLOWIG LINK     

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Comment by Martha thacker on August 12, 2013 at 7:17pm

Funny thing about all these power line hook ups..they lead to nowhere. There is  a bottleneck in Orrington. Pinetreewatchdog has the document proving this  important point. As First Wind's SEC report states , not having adequate transmission lines to send power anywhere is now a good thing for them. To me, they look foolish to have built so many wind farms when the grid is at capacity. Do you suppose they get more money for lack access to the grid? Or more lies? The amount of power needed to keep the turbine blades moving is enormous. And of course, actual power produced by the wind farms already in ME is very small. ..if any. 

First Wind wanted transmission lines to lead to Mass. when they first invaded ME. NY's Cohocton wind farmbuilt by First Wind  sits idle for lack of transmission lines..using power.Locals found that fact out by themselves..just like the people in Mars Hill found out their power was going to Canada. They were led to believe that the wind farm was for them. None of the states between ME and Mass . have installed the massive power lines necessary for the spurts of power wind farms produce. There was talk of building them underwater but Maine's PUC decided wisely that ME ratepayers would be unwilling to bear the burden of building them. That boondoggle was to start at Wicassett. Promises of jobs was the carrot for us poor Mainers.

First Wind must think Mainers are stupid for the amount of time that this scam has been allowed to exist. Justice surely can be slow.

 

Comment by Brad Blake on August 12, 2013 at 12:23am

The direct link for this piece by Jonathan Carter is:  http://www.sunjournal.com/news/columns-analysis/2013/08/11/jonathan...

 

My response: 

The Molunkus proposal is only the beginning of the ravaging of ridges on the doorstep of Baxter State Park & highly visible terrain from Mt. Katahdin. The 57 mile long transmission line from Oakfield to Mattawamkeag will be the catalyst for projects developed around existing met towers in Stacyville, Island Falls and Sherman that we know of, and likely more. This follows the pattern of adding Stetson II, Rollins, and the twice denied Bowers Mt. projects to the transmission line running from Stetson Mt. to Mattawamkeag.

First Wind convinced Emera to rescue it from bankruptcy by promising the development of seemingly wind turbines on every ridge in northeastern Maine and now these thieves have moved into the upper Kennebec region, as noted by Jonathan Carter. Now, action by the Connecticut Legislature to start implementing the "Renewable Portfolio Stanrd" of forcing expensive renewable-derived electricity on CT ratepayers has opened the opportunity for First Wind and others to put in large outlandishly lucrative Purchase Power Agreements, which in turn open the floodgates for financing what is essentially a scam.

We must do everything we can to take action to defeat these projects before Maine is turned into a wind turbine plantation, ruining our vaunted quality of place and the tourism industry it attracts.

Comment by Martha thacker on August 11, 2013 at 5:58pm

monique

Interesting.

Comment by Monique Aniel Thurston on August 11, 2013 at 4:32pm

Martha

The reason towns  received less  revenues  after a  project is  installed is  because the  town  valuation  increases with  the  new  construction , state  revenue  sharing are  distributed  in  an  inverse  relationship  with  the town  valuation   .

As the state gets  into a  worse fiscal turmoil  , state revenue sharing  will  decrease even  more ( tree growth, property tax  rebates )  and the  practical financial  value of the  tangible  benefits  from wind  turbines will diminish even more  as  local  budgets  go  up  to  fulfill the ever increasing   municipal and  educational mandates   .    

when John  Baldacci  ran for  office in 2003 , he  knew  that the state  could  no  longer  fulfill its  education  and  social benefits  obligations  (  he  had  inherited  a huge deficit  from Angus  King  who  had  paved the way to wind  power  by  signing The RPS law in 1999, the first  one  in the nation !!!!) and  he  knew that Mainers main  concern were  property taxes .

He  even  promised  in his campaign    a property tax  reform loosely similar  to proposition 13  in California , requiring to cap house  valuations  for older  Mainers so as  to allow  them  to stay  in  their  houses.

When  he got elected , he  declared  that Maine should  be  a leader  in  fighting global warming , setting up  the stage  for  the most despicable stratagem to find new  sources  of  money  for education  and  town  services : LD 2283 !!!

The law  was  based  on  the premise of : tangible benefits , emissions  reduction and  maintain Maine  Quality of place.

the selling  point  to our poor  rural communities ,on  their knees  with  the cost  of  unfunded  mandates for  decades , was  : let  us build  turbines on  the only treasure  you have  ( your ridges ) and we  will give  you the crumbs  you need .

It worked .  

Monique Aniel         

Comment by Martha thacker on August 11, 2013 at 3:37pm

christian

We were going to have transmission lines from Stetson Mt wind farm on our road but there were several strong voices in opposition. The new transmission lines are enormous and  would have taken out entire yards. Land can be taken by eminant domain for them. First Wind does not like bad publicity or push back from the community however. So that saved us.  I have a lots of road frontage and put up a lot of  signs that stayed there for over a year.

As far as money to townships from First Wind, Mars Hill and Danforth found that they got less revenue from the state for some reason after they got wind farms. ..something to do with the schools. Lincoln has had shortfalls in revenue which is suspicious at best. A town in Vt. has had the same experience. Lisa Linowes at windaction might be a resource if you are interested in researching that aspect. My experience with First Wind is that they are pathological liars.

Comment by christian mcginn on August 11, 2013 at 10:17am

The transmission lines are going through the town that I live in.  Parkman Maine.  I have been trying to explain both side pro and con of wind power to the locals.  All they see is 20 thousand a year in gifts from First Wind to the town for 20 years, and not their power bills or other taxes funding this project.  So, I have been saving all newspaper articles and studies done on this project and will present them to the planning board and the selectmen rather than hearing me speak.  David Fowler a spokesperson for the company has sent me maps when I was on the planning board pertaining to the transmission lines if anybody would like to see them.  I have since been voted of the planning board and a man who has signed a 20 year lease with first wind was voted on by a vote of 18-16.  If he does not abstain from the permit vote then the process is invalid. 

Comment by Darren Lord on August 11, 2013 at 9:29am
Carter nails it in his article......I couldn't agree more with his take on First Wind.
Comment by Allen Barrette on August 11, 2013 at 8:32am

If we had a Governor with a conscience we the people would not have to stand up for the citizens of Maine instead he would. who's running this country? Are they all Idiots?

 

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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