Citizens' Task Force on Wind Power - Maine

Maine Public Utilities Commission nixes Aroostook powerline

The central Maine opposition, including anyone working on ordinances, would be wise not to drop their guard. Like rust, Paul Gaynor & Co never sleeps.

Maine Public Utilities Commission nixes Aroostook powerline

Maine Public | By Murray Carpenter
Published December 21, 2023 at 1:09 PM EST

The Maine Public Utilities Commission on Thursday terminated its deal with LS Power, which had won a contract to build a billion-dollar powerline from southern Aroostook County to central Maine.

The powerline was planned to run from Glenwood Plantation to Coopers Mills, connecting the proposed 1,000-megawatt King Pine wind farm to the central Maine electrical grid. Proponents said it would help Maine meet its renewable energy goals.

The PUC awarded the contract to LS Power in October 2022, and Massachusetts committed to funding 40 percent of the project two months later. It also received Maine lawmakers' approval. But when LS Power published maps of its proposed route in July, opposition quickly emerged, especially among farmers and other affected landowners along the route.

Now, the PUC says it's been unable to negotiate terms of the contract with LS Power, including the actual cost of the project. On Thursday, commissioners announced they were severing the deal and putting the project out to bid once again.

The PUC awarded the contract to LS Power last October, and Massachusetts committed to funding 40% of the project two months later. It also received Maine lawmakers' approval. But when LS Power published maps of its proposed route in July, opposition quickly emerged, especially among farmers and other affected landowners along the route.

https://www.mainepublic.org/environment-and-outdoors/2023-12-21/mai...

BDN: Maine regulators kill developer’s plans for Aroostook wind line

"Numerous municipalities along the potential route have also passed moratoriums and ordinances formally opposing the project."

https://www.bangordailynews.com/2023/12/21/politics/maine-puc-ls-po...

PPH: Regulators kill deal for wind power line from northern Maine to New England grid

“We’re disappointed that this project has hit a roadblock,” said Elizabeth Mahony, commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources. “The Healey-Driscoll administration will continue to pursue additional regional transmission solutions to support the development of clean and renewable energy. Increasing the region’s supply and ability to deliver clean, reliable, and affordable energy will lower energy costs for residents and businesses, help address New England’s winter energy challenges and reduce our dependence on expensive, imported natural gas.”

https://www.pressherald.com/2023/12/21/state-regulators-kill-transm...

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Comment by Willem Post on December 22, 2023 at 8:29am: With enough subsidies even pigs can be made to fly

This is nothing but an sneaky shakedown scheme, perpetrated by a cabal of well -connected wealthy insiders, to get subsidies to make money on projects that would never be built without the subsidies

The WOKE legislators are in cahoots

The WOKE media are in cahoots

The Maine people are being screwed AGAIN AND AGAIN

Next time you vote, do not vote for ANY DEMOCRAT

Democrats want control over big government to perpetuate their power over people

Vote Republican and Independent to save Maine and your livelihood

ALL IS DONE TO ACHIEVE THE LATEST HOLY GRAIL OF THE LATEST MANTRA, SO CALLED GLOBAL WARMING

MAINERS ARE FREEZING IN THE DARK AND GOING HUNGRY

Comment by Dan McKay on December 22, 2023 at 5:54am: The question now is what will Massachusetts do? Will they offer to pick up the whole tab? Will they drop out? Will they retaliate by refusing to pay the additional half billion dollars to keep the NECEC project going? There is opportunity for Maine who now has the leverage over any action by Massachusetts.

The NMREDP is still in the early stages with many permitting hurdles awaiting the project. Maine people are learning what a disastrous project this is and now have a dollar figure that can not be exceeded for this project to succeed. Massachusetts, even given they may offer a greater than 40% of the cost, would come to regret such a move as this project will never survive environmental permits, not to mention rejection by the many localities within the path of this monstrous power corridor.

If they decide to target NECEC and refuse to pay the additional half billion, the numbers already show that a half billion paid by Maine for a third of the output from NECEC is a far better option to allowing the NMREDP to proceed and imperil Maine's possibility of ever reverting back to the states' sovereignty over its own power supply and delivery, as Maine was before the electric market restructuring act of 1999, which enrolled us into ISO-NE, a market which we as a state have little to no influence upon due to our relative size compared to Mass., and Connecticut.

Comment by Long Islander on December 22, 2023 at 12:15am: How to fight the power line
Ban the damn thing outright with ordinances. It's all for a useless BS wind project that is built on pure lies, designed solely to enrich the same crew who ran First Wind and destroyed many a Maine resident's paradise.

Forget about arguing for a different route. Stop it cold altogether. Study "green energy" seriously and you will soon understand that it is the largest crock of total Bsh_t that has come along in our lifetimes. Those in favor of renewable energy need to take a closer look and trade political correctness for common sense and careful study. Power line opponents who praise wind power or simply object to the power line's particular route might want to read up on Stockholm Syndrome. The goal of 100% renewable energy is delusional and a road back to the stone age. You are being played. The window for being naive is closing. Do not believe a single word of any promises made to you by the power line pushers. DON'T DROP YOUR GUARD. Please click on the following link:
https://www.windtaskforce.org/page/how-to-fight-by-clm

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U.S. Sen Angus King

THE UNTOLD STORY OF RECORD HILL WIND

The Untold Story of Record Hill Wind, continued

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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