Maine Bans New Wind Farms First, Seeks Supporting Data Later
Maine Bans New Wind Farms First, |
When Maine Governor Paul LePage issued a moratorium on new wind farms, he cited a need to protect the state’s tourism industry. It may be a solution in search of a problem.
The Republican’s order, issued Wednesday, slams the brakes on an industry that’s generated thousands of jobs as Maine has become New England’s top wind generator. Yet even LePage’s top energy adviser said it’s unclear whether turbines have had any impact on tourism.
“I don’t know that there’s any hard evidence,” Steven McGrath, director of the Governor’s Energy Office, said in an interview. “We’ve got the folks in western Maine saying that it would.”
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LePage’s freeze on new projects adds to the list of challenges clean-energy developers are facing across the U.S. They include the 30 percent tariffs on imported solar panels President Donald Trump announced Tuesday and his decision last year to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement, a move that may lift fossil fuels at the expense of renewables.
Wind energy has boomed in Maine as developers have added enough turbines over the last two years to double the state’s capacity to 900 megawatts, according to the American Wind Energy Association. That’s more than all other New England states combined and enough to rival a nuclear reactor.
Maine tourism, meanwhile, grew for the fifth consecutive year in 2017, according to LePage and a report from the state’s tourism office. The industry pulled in almost $6 billion in 2016, the most recent year for which numbers are available.
Wind developers and environmental groups denounced LePage’s decision, saying it threatens billions of dollars in new investment and hampers efforts to fight global warming. The American Wind Energy Association, a Washington-based trade group, called the move “an affront to private property rights and Mainers seeking good jobs.”
The governor, however, said Maine should consider the impact of wind farms before building more. His order -- which excludes offshore projects and certain inland areas -- established a commission to study the issue. LePage didn’t set a deadline for the commission to make recommendations.
“We cannot afford to damage our natural assets in ways that would deter visitors from returning to Maine,” LePage said in a statement. “While out-of-state interests are eager to exploit our western mountains in order to serve their political agendas, we must act judiciously to protect our natural beauty.”
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Comment
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Comment by Eric A. Tuttle on January 31, 2018 at 12:34pm
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Popular Mechanics Article added.
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Comment by Paula D Kelso on January 27, 2018 at 5:07pm
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The American Wind Energy Association, a Washington-based trade group, called the move “an affront to private property rights and Mainers seeking good jobs.”
We all know about affronts to private property rights now don't we. In the debacle here in Clifton, a citizen came to the Planning Board and said, "A man should be able to do what he wants on his own property." No PB member spoke up to remind the citizen that there are already numerous restrictions on what a man can do on his own property and that he himself would probably argue strenuously to maintain those protections. If regulators don't remind themselves and the public that it's all a 2-way street out there, there's no rhyme or reason to regulations and their enforcement.
Good jobs - hmm, only for the construction phase. And some of that may come from out=of-state. No manufacturing jobs or long term career opportunities here folks.
Fact checking, especially, from elsewhere in the source article:
While some of Maine’s wind power is exported, about 20 percent of the state’s electricity came from wind during 2017, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
I went to the website and the most recent data I could find was for 2016 and even with the probability of increasing wind, there's no way this 20% is accurate.
https://www.eia.gov/electricity/state/Maine/
900 Mwh generated out of a total of roughly 11,550,000 Mwh total generation, don't make 20% wind.
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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