Gas pipeline operators’ push for higher rates could spark increase in Maine electricity costs
Besides delivering gas to homes, the pipelines also supply power plants that generate electricity, meaning the requests before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will have a ripple effect on the cost of electricity.
November 1, 2024
Stephen Singer
Press Herald
EXCERPTS
........Three natural gas pipeline operators are looking to increase rates paid by Maine consumers who already face rising electricity prices.
Algonquin Gas Transmission and Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline have asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to authorize higher charges. And Granite State Gas Transmission has reached a settlement with regulators that will lead to higher bills for ratepayers.............
............Unitil’s settlement with state regulators and consumer advocates in Maine and New Hampshire would increase costs about 2.6% from what they were in the 2023-24 heating season, or about $4 a month – $24 for the season – for a residential heating customer, a spokesman said.
The other pipeline operators have proposed rate increases of about 30%......................
..............To help reach reduced greenhouse gas emissions targets, New England states are looking to phase out natural gas for uses other than industrial consumption and power generation. The Maine Legislature this year scaled back an ambitious proposal to limit natural gas expansion and instead required state studies about its use.
If natural gas prices rise, alternatives such as home heat pumps are more attractive, Price said.
“As people switch to these alternatives, natural gas usage falls and rates need to go up again per unit of energy to recover fixed asset costs across a declining unit volume, and the cycle accelerates,” he said.
https://www.pressherald.com/2024/11/01/gas-pipeline-operators-seek-...
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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
******** 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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