Maine needs new natural gas capacity to control our energy costs

"Environmental" groups' direct attack on Maine's poor and middle class

A handful of extremists are holding up Maine’s economic and energy future. They are blocking New England’s access to affordable, clean burning natural gas, keeping us captive to high energy prices during the recent bone-chilling weather.

Enbridge’s Atlantic Bridge, which would move more natural gas into our state, is being held up so Massachusetts can appease a small group of national and local activists — even though the federal government approved the project and deemed it necessary and having minimal impacts.

In June 2016, its executive director, Gordon van Welie, wrote to then-Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz that “Constraints on the region’s natural gas pipelines, particularly in combination with severe weather and/or contingencies that reduce/eliminate the output from non-gas generators, could endanger reliability and will continue to increase wholesale energy prices.”

The region did not heed these warnings, and they came true in recent weeks.

During our freezing cold snap, natural gas-fired power plants competed for limited supplies with utilities delivering natural gas to heat homes and businesses. There simply was not enough natural gas for both because of a lack of pipeline capacity. As a result, natural gas prices were higher in New England than anywhere else in the entire world............................

Read the whole piece here:

http://bangordailynews.com/2018/03/13/opinion/contributors/maine-ne...

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Comment by Thinklike A. Mountain on March 14, 2018 at 12:17am

Don't buy into all the propaganda about fracking being bad.

"We were even up against phony environmental groups, and I’m a big environmentalist, but these were funded by the Russians to stand against any effort, ‘Oh that pipeline, that fracking, that whatever will be a problem for you,’ and a lot of the money supporting that message was coming from Russia.”

  - Hillary Clinton

http://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/media-ignoring-data-on-...

Comment by Eskutassis on March 14, 2018 at 12:04am

Deborah, We have several choices. Probably none of them you will like.

We could reopen our coal plants, which we have enough coal for centuries. Those plants could be upgraded and burn coal almost as clean as oil and gas. We could open oil plants again but that would only drive up oil prices . . . remember the old Economics 101 and "Supply and Demand"? We could commission new nukes which would ultimately be the least expensive way to do long term power, but the public has been poisoned with the thought of that. Or we can frack natural gas, a supply of wich is almost unending and to date has NEVER been found to do any pollution to water tables or aquifers. It is the same scare tactic that they have used to promote wind and solar.

Wind and solar are NOT the answer and have drained our economic resources for the last 30 years and driven up the price of energy so many of the poorest of us have to make decisions whether to eat or heat. Subsidies for fuel oil and propane are as insidious as paying wind developers to build useless turbines. The last thing we need is to have our taxes raised also to pay for subsidies that come from the government. That only hurts to already cash strapped lower income people.

Lets try and get government out of our lives and let markets balance themselves. 

Comment by Thinklike A. Mountain on March 13, 2018 at 9:23pm

Deborah - CO2 is not deadly. Maybe you are thinking of CO?

Comment by Deborah Andrew on March 13, 2018 at 9:18pm

As someone living on a very limited income, I understand the need to find sources of heat, electricity that are affordable.

However, 'natural' gas is obtained via hydrofracking.  This process uses thousands and thousands of gallons of pure water that is laced with chemicals, then pollutes the ground around and aquifer below each well.  Additionally, the process releases methane into the atmosphere ... far more deadly than CO2. 

Our tasks are many.  Among them state supported conservation and the retrofitting of all buildings/homes.  In MA, where I live, there are fuel subsidies for which one may apply.  Depending upon income, awards are made that fund part of the cost of propane/oil.  Also, if one qualifies, there is a significant reduction in the rate at which electricity is charged.  If ME does not have such programs, this might be something to consider.  There is also a free energy audit program through Eversource.

Conservation, I would suggest, must become a priority of government, municipalities, business, and individuals. 

 

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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