Time for more paid wind education ads in Maine - it's been a year

Originally posted 9/6/12. Re-posting 8/29/13.

A half page 4 Color ad with the following headline appears in today's (9/6/12) Portland Press Herald:

The ad, funded entirely by Maine citizens, everyday people who are deeply concerned about how industrial wind power developers are changing our state, appears on page A11, the last right hand page in the highly read main news section of the paper. More specifically, it appears in the opinion/commentary section surrounded by and facing full editorial on the opposite page.  Its juxtaposition with the opinion/commentary edit heightens the chances it will be seen by a disproportionately high percentage of readers interested in opinion and issues of public interest.

There is no question that the ad is in the public interest and particularly so because the public often bases its opinions about wind power on wind industry PR and TV commercials which portray spinning turbines as a symbol of progress for humankind -- when in fact, they are little more than a taxpayer scam that takes advantage of the public's good intentions.

Advertising like this gets the facts out. And importantly, it gets the facts out beyond the areas in the state already directly affected by local wind complexes and accompanying transmission blight. In fact, the headline speaks to the many residents of southern Maine who may not have given wind much thought at all thinking they had little reason. The ad goes on to make the case as to why remote wind farms very much affect persons everywhere in the state.

The body copy may seem a tad crowded, but we made a conscious choice to err on the side of more information. Our thought was that those whom are particularly interested in and perhaps involved in issues of public concern may be sufficiently interested to read thoroughly. And even the more casual reader may be struck with some of the facts emphasized in boldface, which make wind power relevant to them. When something is costing people money, they tend to find it relevant and the ad certainly talks to the high cost of wind.

Tremendous thanks to the concerned everyday Maine people who reached into their own pockets (not the taxpayers' pockets!) and funded this ad. 

A single ad does not a campaign make - so hopefully there will be more ads in the future.

We hope you can get to see the ad in today's Press Herald.

A pdf copy of the ad can be downloaded at:

Affect%20You%20Half%20Page%20Final_9-6-12.pdf

A JPG copy of the ad can be downloaded at:

Wind_Ad_from_9-6-12_PPH_JPG.jpg

The more one learns about wind power, the worse it looks.

 

"The things people are educated about are a real deficit for us.”

 - Wind power consultant Justin Rolfe-Redding speaking in a webinar entitled
Speaking Out on Renewable Energy: Communications Strategies for the Renewable Energy Industry.

 

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Comment by freemont tibbetts on September 9, 2012 at 7:06am

  Governor,  Dan Mckay is showing you the True Facts right here on Citizens Task Force on Wind Power.  Wind Power in This Great State of Maine is all wrong. The True Facts it will and is costing to Much Money. The True Facts Governor as being an Old Logger of 81and been fighting the Windmills  sense 2009 if you need some help on kicking some ass"s on this one, I would be more then happy to lend you one of my boot"s                                                                                                         Freemont Tibbetts, 37 Bruce Tibbetts Dr, Dixfield Maine Tel-(207)-562-7168.                         

Comment by Dan McKay on September 8, 2012 at 10:54am

"Suspensions of scheduled increases in Maine's Class I RPS requirement can be ordered by the MPUC if by March 31st of the years 2010, 2012, 2014, and 2016, the MPUC determines that investment in new renewable resources over the preceding two years has not been sufficient and that the resulting use of RECs and/or the ACP has “burdened electricity customers without providing the benefits of new renewable resources.”20 A suspension in scheduled RPS increases could also occur if ACPs payments collectively comprise more than half of Maine‟s RPS obligation for three consecutive years.21 A suspension of the scheduled percentage increase is limited to one year unless the MPUC finds that a longer suspension is justified. After a suspension, the MPUC may resume RPS requirement increases, but these must be limited to no more than one percentage point per year over the previous year, after a minimum of one year."

Since when hasn't a bigger electric bill been a burden. If the PUC can see benefits in wind power, I wish they would state them. Another dysfunctional government agency. Revamp the Maine PUC, Governor.

Comment by Long Islander on September 7, 2012 at 10:44pm
Comment by Willem Post on September 7, 2012 at 6:38am

It is important to reveal leading people's ties to wind projects and equipment suppliers to show it is not about RE, but about old-fashioned income tax avoidance

Comment by Jim Lutz on September 6, 2012 at 11:35pm

Fantastic job to get this ad run.  The Facts & Fallacies section is probably the most valuable piece we have in our arsenal of information.  I have made many copies and handed them out to people who continue to believe Industrial Wind is a good thing and will save the seas from rising and all the rest of the cr** the Windies put out.  Stop them NOW!!!!!!!!

Comment by Whetstone_Willy on September 6, 2012 at 11:20pm

Regarding Monique Aniel's reference to the wind boosting of 2/3's of our PUC Commissioners at the AWEA wind conference, who now thinks that the Maine PUBLIC Utilities Commission is looking out for the public? Their official duty is to ensure fair and reasonable electricity rates. Wind is anything but reasonable.

Is there anyone who believes this to be the case?

They have repeatedly ignored their own staff's recommendations, e.g., the approval of a First Wind merger with Emera after staff said NO and the approval of a $1.4 billion CMP upgrade, which staff said could be done for HALF that cost.

Former Governor Baldacci's former Chief of Staff Kurt Adams took over $ 1million in stock options from his then future employer First Wind while Chairman of the PUC. While there, Adams helped grease the skids for the $1.5 billion CMP transmission upgrade. It was needed solely for Baldacci's wind friends who without it would be dead in the water with their big plans to fleece us. 

Baldacci and company said it was needed for reliability because our transmission lines were old. PATENTLY FALSE. The lines were and are fine. Moreover, population growth is forecasted to be nil.

Of course when Kurt Adams, who had been interviewing with First Wind months before while running the PUC was hired by First Wind, he became their Director of Transmission. Is there no shame?

Should there be laws in place to stop this sort of thing? Or to stop wind industry beneficiaries from sitting on the Energy and Utilities Committee squashing EVERY citizens-proposed protection against wind factories in their tranquil locations? 

Meanwhile, Baldacci told us not to worry for we only will pay our 8% share of the ISO-NE grid on the $1.5 billion. But he neglected to tell us that we will also pay the same 8% on the $30 billion of similar wind-required transmission across the New England grid. That is an extra $4,500 per Maine ratepayer!

A Maine PUC whose former Chairman jumped to a wind company to head transmission after taking over $ 1 million in stock options. A Maine Attorney General in the form of Janet Mills who looked at this upon citizen complaints and ruled everything was perfectly fine with Mr. Adams. A Maine CDC Director, Dora Mills (Janet's sister), who denied that 400' tall wind turbines on top of homes could cause health problems? State environmental officials who are now on tour across the U.S. shilling for wind power.  Maine at the bottom of the states in the U.S. with its recent "F" for transparency.

Read all about this Kurt Adams tale at the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting. It is truly must reading.

PUC chairman took equity stake in wind company

http://pinetreewatchdog.org/20...


and

First Wind SEC filing change questioned

http://pinetreewatchdog.org/20...

and

Group asks AG to probe official of First Wind

http://pinetreewatchdog.org/20...

The blatant conflicts are now a mile long. The deep filth needs to be cleaned up. All of these people work for us, not the other way around.

Next steps?

Comment by Monique Aniel Thurston on September 6, 2012 at 10:35pm

.

Here are the presentations of the two Maine PUC commissioners who addressed the AWEA convention: ( please  click  on  the two  following links  to read  their  presentations ) 

David Littell

Thomas Welch

As  we  understand that both individuals  do  represent themselves, we  feel, as ratepayers,  disturbed  by  the fact  that  two out of  Maine' s  three  PUC  commissioners  show  so  much enthusiasm for  wind  power  as well as  interest in assessing  how  to  improve Maine  wind permitting  process  and  regulatory climate.

In  the  still  ongoing  case  of Emera -First  Wind financial  dealing,  the  Maine  Public Advocate recommended a  dismissal of  the deal but  the PUC  commissioners judged to  accept  it .

The  presence  of  Welch  and Littell  and  the  subject  matter  of  their  presentation  at  the AWEA  regional meeting brings  to  me  the  following  question " Is  it  right for those who judge to advocate for the parties they are judging?

I WOULD  URGE  ANYONE  INTERESTED IN THE  FUTURE  OF  WIND  POWER  DEVELOPMENT IN MAINE  TO  READ  LITTELL AND  WELCH'S  PRESENTATIONS  . 

Monique Aniel

Comment by Willem Post on September 6, 2012 at 4:35pm
Comment by Len Price on September 6, 2012 at 3:48pm

Great effort, good strategy to bring the southern Maine folks into the loop of wind power fallacies.  Would like to send $'s to support a rerun of ad in Sunday's paper--please provide details for mailing a check.  Thanks!

Comment by freemont tibbetts on September 6, 2012 at 1:56pm

The Facts,  The more one learns about wind power, the worse it looks.  The Facts!!!                          Freemont Tibbetts 37, Bruce Tibbetts Dr , Dixfield Maine.

 

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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We have the facts on our side. We have the truth on our side. All we need now is YOU.

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 -- Mahatma Gandhi

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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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