PPH - Gov. Mills proposes ambitious goals for renewable energy

The Mills administration bill would also set official goals of obtaining 80 percent of electricity consumed in Maine from renewable sources by 2030 and from 100 percent renewable sources by 2050......................................“These issues need to be addressed by everyone today for tomorrow,” said Woodsome, a retired teacher and former chairman of the Legislature’s Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee. “You can stand on the sidelines and be a Monday morning quarterback, or you can get involved and be at the table.”.............................

Hannah Pingree, who is playing a key role in Mills’ climate change agenda as the head of her Office of Policy and Management, said the council will use data and climate modeling to make its recommendations.

“This is obviously something that will start happening this fall, so it won’t impact current projects,” Pingree said. “But certainly, how we meet this goal requires pretty specific modeling about changes in the electricity sector, transportation sector, agriculture and everything we’re doing in Maine.”

Read the full article at:

https://www.pressherald.com/2019/04/30/mills-proposes-climate-counc...

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Maine Climate Council Would Lead State’s 100% Renewable Energy Efforts

The introduction of the legislation has also drawn praise from the Maine Conservation Voters, the Maine Renewable Energy Association, the Nature Conservancy in Maine, the Island Institute, the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center, the University of Maine’s Climate Change Institute, and the Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM).

“Governor Mills has spoken frequently and forcefully in recent months of the urgent need for ambitious climate action, and this bill is just what we need to set in motion many of the clean energy solutions that Maine should be pursuing,” states Lisa Pohlmann, CEO of NRCM.

https://nawindpower.com/maine-climate-council-would-lead-states-100...

 

Governor Mills Introduces Bill to Establish Maine Climate Council
April 30, 2019

Governor Janet Mills announced today that she has introduced bipartisan legislation to create the Maine Climate Council. The Climate Council will develop the action plan and timetable to meet the state’s greenhouse gas reduction goals, to promote jobs and economic benefits for Maine people in the transition to a lower carbon economy, and to support the climate resiliency of Maine’s communities.

“Evidence continues to mount that the impacts of climate change are harming our state and nation. Even the administration in Washington has joined the chorus of concerned scientists as the EPA last week warned,” said Governor Mills. “Today, we take another step in combating this threat, expanding our clean energy economy, and investing in our future by creating the Maine Climate Council and marshaling experts across the state to take urgent action. I look forward to working with the Legislature to pass this bill and ensure that the Climate Council can begin its work on building a better, brighter future for our state.”

The Federal Environmental Protection Agency published a 150-page document (PDF) last week issuing climate change preparedness guidance for communities nationwide already struggling with severe natural disasters. The report acknowledged that climate change “is expected to increase the frequency and intensity of some natural disasters.”

Governor Mills was joined for the announcement by Republican Senator David Woodsome, the lead sponsor of the bill, as well as Bill Mook, owner of Mook Sea Farms in Wallpole, and Melissa Law, owner of Bumbleroot Farmers in Windham, both of whom spoke about the impact that climate change is having on their businesses. Clean energy and environmental advocates, several key commissioners, and other lawmakers also flanked the governor during the press conference.

Governor Mills at the introduction of bill to Establish Maine Climate Council

“I am honored that the Governor has asked me help her with this effort. We may not agree on everything, but I think this something people across Maine and the country need to work on together,” said Senator David Woodsome (R-York), the primary sponsor of the legislation. “In my time in Augusta I’ve worked to encourage renewable energy jobs and I believe we need to do much more on weatherization. I believe this Council and its work can encourage the creation of new jobs for our state and help Maine homeowners.”

“Climate change threatens the future of Maine’s seafood industry and our coastal communities,” said Bill Mook, owner of Mook Sea Farm in Wallpole. “The governor’s bill is a crucial first step on a path that leads to dramatically lower carbon emissions, new economic opportunities, and avoids the worst of the forecasted climate scenarios for the sake of our children and their children.”

“Every industry of Maine’s economy will be impacted by climate change, and the state must develop strategies to prepare for its consequences,” said Melissa Law, owner of Bumbleroot Farms in Windham. “In the agricultural sector, sustainable farming practices can help sequester carbon while simultaneously creating strong local food systems. The future of Maine’s food systems depends on the adaptability and resilience of farms in the face of changing weather patterns and more extreme growing conditions.”

The introduction of the legislation drew praise from the Maine Conservation Voters, Maine Renewable Energy Association, the Nature Conservancy in Maine, the Island Institute, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center, and the University of Maine’s Climate Change Institute. To read their comments, see the attached document.

Governor Mills announced her intention to create the Maine Climate Council in February when Maine joined the U.S. Climate Alliance. LR2478, An Act to Create the Maine Climate Council to Assist Maine to Mitigate, Prepare for and Adapt to Climate Change would establish the Maine Climate Council in state statute.

The Climate Council will consist of several department commissioners, key state leaders, science and technical experts, business and non-profit leaders, municipal leaders, a tribal representative, and a representative of Maine youth. It will be charged with leading Maine’s efforts to reduce Maine’s Greenhouse Gas emissions by 45 percent by 2030 and at least 80 percent by 2050, and with achieving 80 percent renewable energy in Maine’s electricity sector – specifically energy consumed in Maine – by 2030 and 100 percent by 2050.

The Climate Council will also convene several working groups from within its membership – including a Scientific and Technical Working Group, a Transportation Working Group, a Coastal and Marine Working Group, and others – to focus on how the state can tackle challenges within these specific areas. In addition to recommending new policy and innovative strategies to reach these emission and energy goals, the Council will update the Maine State Climate Plan every four years, and will solicit input from the public and report out progress on its goals every two years to the people of Maine. The first Climate Action Plan is due to be submitted to the legislature by December 1, 2020.

A copy of the legislation, which will be considered by the Legislat....

Or download here:

LR%202478%20An%20Act%20to%20Create%20the%20Maine%20Climate%20Counci...

https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/MEGOV/bulletins/241fab5

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Comment by Willem Post on May 8, 2019 at 11:28am

Germany and Denmark Household Electricity Prices: The above comment correlates well with this graphic, based on Eurostat data. Denmark and Germany have advanced the most along the wind and solar installation path. They have the highest household electric rates in Europe. See graphic and Appendix.

 

Comment by Willem Post on May 8, 2019 at 11:24am

Here is what happens to electric rates in California, after it went all out for RE, wind, solar , batteries.

ELECTRIC RATES WENT THROUGH THE ROOF COMPARED TO THE REST OF THE US.

California, US and Vermont Electricity Prices, All Sectors:The weighted average US prices includes high California prices and quantities, a major component of the weighted average. Table 1 shows the weighted average US price including California. See URLs

 

http://www.neo.ne.gov/statshtml/204/204_2017.htm

https://www.eia.gov/electricity/state/California/

 

If California were removed, it would lower the US average. A comparison of California versus that lower US average shows California rates, all sectors, increased 24.06% and US rates (wo/California) only 5.45% during the 2010 - 2017 period.

 

California’s RE efforts are demonstrating, the more highly subsidized RE, the higher the electric rates. But that is only a part of the cost picture, as shown in section 1.

 

NOTE: The Vermont rates do not include the Efficiency Vermont surcharge tacked onto electric bills, which has been increasing from about 6% in 2010 to 9.5% in 2017 for most households. If EV rates were added, Vermont rates increased 13.68% and US rates (w/tiny Vermont) only 7.22% during the 2010 - 2017 period.

http://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/efficiency-vermont

Year

CA

US, w/CA

US wo/CA

VT wo/EV

VT w/EV

c/kWh

c/kWh

c/kWh

c/kWh

c/kWh

2010

13.01

9.83

9.58

13.24

14.03

2011

13.05

9.90

9.66

13.80

14.70

2012

13.53

9.84

9.55

14.42

15.43

2013

14.29

10.07

9.74

14.62

15.72

2014

15.23

10.45

10.08

14.58

15.75

2015

15.50

10.42

10.03

14.36

15.58

2016

15.23

10.27

9.89

14.46

15.76

2017

16.14

10.54

10.11

14.57

15.95

Increase, %

24.06

7.22

5.45

10.05

13.68

Comment by Richard McDonald/Saving Maine on May 1, 2019 at 9:41pm

Just a reminder and a reference to Paul's comment on resources "giddy" about off shore wind development. Cianbro won the bid to produce and install all of the transformers/electrical junction structures for the failed Cape Wind project off of Martha's Vineyard. I would assume they are eager to put that expertise to work for Maine -$$$$$$. 

Comment by Paul Ackerman on May 1, 2019 at 7:55pm

Just FYI -- maybe others also read this newsletter "RTO Insider" , but to give one a sense of how much they are intertwined with the greenies in Augusta and other state capitols -- just take a look at this copy and paste from today's listing

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Now, regardless of the device you are on and how you obtained it (we won’t ask questions), check out this news from today’s RTO Insider:

  • The California Public Utilities Commission hosted a forum on the fate of PG&E, where some experts urged it to break up the utility. Hudson Sangree has the proceedings.
  • Pennsylvania joined the U.S. Climate Alliance after releasing its own action plan to achieve a 26% reduction in statewide greenhouse gas emissions by 2025. Christen Smith has the news.
  • MISO is accepting proposals for projects designed to relieve its increasingly costly North-South transmission constraint, but it is still zeroing in on an approach to evaluate submissions. Amanda Durish Cook has the story.
  • FERC accepted settlements with Duquesne Light Co. and an unnamed municipal utility in the Western Electricity Coordinating Council for violations of NERC reliability standards. Rich Heidorn Jr. has the details.

Then we have stories from MISO, PJM and ERCOT:

Lastly, we have news from other sources:

  • “Is compromise on the way in marathon debate over Santee Cooper’s post-nuclear fate?” The State
  • “Ford Motor Co. under criminal investigation by government over emissions certification,” Detroit Free Press
  • “How Linda Garcia risked everything to keep Big Oil out of her community,” HuffPost

From everyone at RTO Insider, thanks for reading and enjoy the rest of your day!

Shawn.McFarland@RTOInsider.com

 

Events We Think You'll Appreciate:

http://bit.ly/2LbYT18http://i2.cmail20.com/ei/j/4C/11E/322/082250/csfinal/Infocast-2019-Storage-Week-Plus-Compressed-990000079e01453c.jpg" class="CToWUd a6T"/>

Comment by Paul Ackerman on May 1, 2019 at 7:50pm

If you do not follow the power industry newsletters online you wouldn't know how giddy they are at the prospect of BIG Offshore Wind projects. My personal opinion is that the economics of this version of "wind" is even more unlikely to ever produce anything close to a break-even factor than the fraud of industrial wind on land.

However,if you are a marine engineer, a power transmission engineer,a composites fabricator,or large scale steel fabrication company used to doing things like floating drill rig platforms,well then this is nirvana in terms of an income stream for decades to come. The usual suspects from land based wind will be (and are) weaseling their way into government subsidies for any aspect of this they can pull in with judicious political grease.

I;m continually horrified when I scan thru the daily newsletter outlining the latest conferences and get-togethers of industry mavens with government bureaucrats. They are very well coordinated and ,of course,they are very assured that they "know better" what is good for America than any of us.

Comment by Richard McDonald/Saving Maine on May 1, 2019 at 5:32pm

I've read local press from New London, CT, Bridgeport, CT. New Bedford. MA and it's very evident that these regions/communities are forcing the hand of state govs to go all in on off shore wind. The community benefits, large scale infrastructure (port facilities. etc.), jobs, new taxes are being touted as the economic dev. solution to these depressed areas. MA/RI has changed its' RFP language to require larger quantities from developers for community benefits. Buying wind from ME is not attractive.  We'll see what happens with RI bid selection - #Nine was a major bidder.   

Comment by John F. Hussey on May 1, 2019 at 4:42pm

She's completely out of her mind! 

Comment by Richard McDonald/Saving Maine on May 1, 2019 at 2:01pm

The Gov. Council will be similar to the Soviet style show trials - verdict was never in doubt. This is a typical pol ploy to justify what's not needed - more wind turbines, etc. The results will include revisions to the RPS and issuance of RFP's for new Maine based renewable sources to meet the new goals. SNE is no longer in the market for big wind bids from ME- they are going off shore, solar and yes, nuclear. Mills will use her council to keep Jack Parker and Cianbro busy and profitable. 

Comment by Penny Gray on May 1, 2019 at 11:58am

It does seem hypocritical that the politicians pushing this agenda don't embrace the lifestyle they so enthusiastically promote.  All these politicians and policy makers should be required to live off grid for one year on a very modest income, utilizing only solar and wind energy, the same size system the average Mainer would be able to install, and storing that energy in a battery bank in order to power their homes at night and on cloudy and windless days, and using that same battery bank to recharge their EVs as well as heat their homes. That's a 100% renewable lifestyle, and it would be an extremely valuable and humbling lesson for them all.

Comment by Art Brigades on May 1, 2019 at 11:48am

Is that world renowned climate scientist Stephen King center-rear?  Think he has a clue that all of Maine's electricity generation combined is responsible for 4/1000ths of one percent global CO2? 

76% of Maine generation last year was renewable. So people think Mills target of 80% in ten years is easy, right?  

Doable. But not easy, because Maine imports more electricity than it exports, and RPS doesn't count what a state generates, but why it uses. Maine's RPS has supposedly reached both its "renewable" goal (30%) and its "new renewable" goal (+10% over 10 years).

Yet the electricity delivered by CMP last year was more than 20% oil & coal - generated.

Yes, that's right, in a state that barely uses any oil & coal to generate electricity. CMP's portfolio was 53% natural gas, despite gas accounting for only 19% of Maine's generation. In a state that boasts the highest RPS in the nation and 3rd cleanest electricity generation fleet, CMP's portfolio last year was only 15.7% renewable. Emera was at over 80% renewable, but still 12.5% coal (thank you, New Brunswick).

If Mills follows the Connecticut model of "zero carbon" (or even low carbon) generation instead of "renewable" and especially not "new renewable" then maybe the 80% clean electricity goal is doable.

We could get there without too much pain if we add a few more big transmission lines from HQ, some offshore wind procurement, some nuke, and if we re-start our modern natural gas fleet that is now ridiculously idle, yet loving the millions in capacity payments that we keep sending them (per the attached spread sheet). 

Mills could improve the hash of an energy policy Maine has been slogging in for over two decades, or she could exacerbate it. Sure, shoot for clean energy - not just renewable - and not just electricity (heating and transport emit ten times more CO2). But please know that Maine isn't going to stand by for another decade of wind marauders ruining Maine's quality of place in exchange for a grain of sand on the beach of climate change.

Q1-Emera-MPD-Disclosure-Label-January-2019-1.pdf

Q1-CMP-Disclosure-Label-January-2019-1.pdf

Capacity%20Payments.pdf

 

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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Sign up today and lend your voice and presence to the steadily rising tide that will soon sweep the scourge of useless and wretched turbines from our beloved Maine countryside. For many of us, our little pieces of paradise have been hard won. Did the carpetbaggers think they could simply steal them from us?

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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