Maine towns start to halt solar panel construction
Excerpts:
Ellsworth is the latest municipality to temporarily ban solar panel arrays, citing concerns about overdevelopment. Dixmont voted to temporarily halt permitting for commercial installations earlier this month, after discovering that there was no policy in place for what to do when solar panel arrays reached the end of their useful lives. Augusta did so in August.
Because solar panels often change ownership several times during their lifetime, Dixmont officials said they were worried about the owner of the land left having to foot the bill for decommissioning them and not having the means to do so. In that case, they feared the town could be left with the bill......................
David Bright, a Dixmont selectman, said that the cost of transporting solar panels to a recycling plant factored into the town’s decision to vote for a temporary ban.
“Depending on how the panels are made, there’s all kinds of heavy metals and different things in there, so they may have to be treated as hazardous waste,” Bright said, which carries a higher financial burden............
Read the full article at: https://bangordailynews.com/2021/11/01/news/although-solar-panels-a...
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Comment
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Comment by Stephen Littlefield on November 5, 2021 at 9:02am
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Well said Arthur, Maine has been invaded by leftist carpetbaggers in their quest to destroy the country one state at a time. Right now the fight is to take back control of the school system that has been controlled by school boards that in many areas have been taken over by members directly supported by the teachers union(a direct conflict of interest). In fact those members should be evicted for that conflict, the school boards are in fact there to represent the citizens NOT the teachers. Communists have said over and over that they will conquer if they turn the minds of the children. And more and more we see that to be true!
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Increase Maine's delivered electricity cost to 35 cents a kilowatt hour and they all will be screamng for Hydro,or any power at costs that are not like Europe's at 36 cents a kilowatt hour. The trouble in Maine is that it is a anti-capitalist socialist leaning state now, with anti-capitaistas in control in Disgusta.
The Hydro vote was about as dumb (but expected) as is gets.
Just play the envy/ anti -capitialist referendum card in Maine every time and the non-energy educated left leaning Mainah will vote Yes to curtail the perceived rich energy bastard capitalists every time, even if it means cutting off their noses to spite their face.
Most notable is Maine , and perhaps the only economic growth noticeable there these days, are POT Stores everywhere.
Best to stay numb and dumb I guess to help blunt the rising energy costs there of their own making, as well as Brandon's great energy policy decisions.
Dense fuels rule no matter what happens there, with Hydro,Nuclear and Fossil fuels remaining in Maine's energy future no matter how the brain washed Maine greenie anti-capitalist votes.
Hope the CMP suit wins, for Maine's sake.
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This election victory in Virginia is an important FIRST step to END the Socialist-style, Globalist-style rampage perpetrated by SOCIALIST Dem/Progs in Washington, DC, during the past few months.
Dem/Progs are promoting open borders and government give-a-ways, for vote buying purposes
Dem/Progs are giving HUNDREDS of $BILLIONs to MILLIONS of NEW illiterates, unskilled, sickly, often criminal, illegals, from a multitude of countries, walking across the US border, for vote buying purposes.
Dem/Progs are maliciously fostering government DEPENDENCY, instead of promoting PRIVATE ENTERPRISE, for vote buying purposes.
The US people have a Constitutional right to hold such “Legislators” accountable.
Legislators, such as the Dem/Prog cabal of Pelosi, Schumer, Sanders, at al., are hell-bent to foist a $1.75 TRILLION SOCIALIST-STYLE SHAM onto the US People, regardless of what it does to:
1) US INFLATION and CONSUMER PRICES, and
2) The already outrageously high US NATIONAL DEBT, and3) The already outrageously high GOVERNMENT DEFICITS
4) The already outrageously high US TRADE DEFICITS5) The viability of US Social Security Trust Fund
6) The viability of the US Medicare and Medicaid Trust Funds
Sanders was sneaking in Eye care, Hearing care, and Dental care, and a host government gifting, which would further increase US government deficits and national debt, and burden various Trust Funds.
All three funds are on a glide path to bankruptcy in a few years.
Manchin said, it would not be prudent to further increase US national debt and further burden these Funds.
BTW, that sham would greatly increase Dem/Prog CENTRALIZED COMMAND/CONTROL of the federal government, and, by extension, the SOVEREIGN US PEOPLE, because all of the SHAM bill government programs would be set up and run by career Dem/Progs.
Remember, the SOVEREIGN states created the federal government, not the other way around.
The cost of the SHAM bill would be MORE THAN TWO TIMES the $1.75 TRILLION, if all its provisions would be financed the full ten years, says Senator Manchin.
Manchin has been consistent for MONTHS, saying the $1.75 TRILLION had to be fully paid for with revenues from NEW taxes, and savings from existing government programs.
However, the Wharton School of Business, the best business school in the US, claims the tax revenues and savings assumed by the SHAM bill writers are $400 BILLION short of the $1.75 TRILLION COST.
Such chicanery by LEGISLATORS, perpetrated behind closed doors, as part of “the process”, is intolerable, and should be impeachable, as determined by the STILL-FREE, UNCOWED, SOVEREIGN US PEOPLE.
Senator Manchin calls the $1.75 TRILLION SHAM bill a “shell game” and “smoke and mirrors”.
Legislators should be held to ACCOUNT, and not be allowed to hide behind MASKS, PR releases, scare-mongering, and SMOKE AND MIRRORS.
BTW, that also applies to Vermont’s unconstitutional, GWSA sham, perpetrated by Dem/Progs, using “Fighting Global Warming” as a foil, to benefit the politically-well-connected, heavily subsidized, Vermont renewable energy sector, and, by extension, financially screw all other Vermonters FORE DECADES.
The GWSA sham would have NO, ZERO, NADA EFFECT on the climate
The GWSA sham is merely “feel-good” and political payoff.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH
Watch the Manchin video regarding the SHAM bill, aka RECONCILIATION bill. See URL
Manchin states, the cost will be almost DOUBLE the $1.75 TRILLION.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/joe-manchin-biden-spending-plan-shell-...
See URL
https://www.yahoo.com/news/manchin-trashes-social-spending-package-...
Efforts to pressure Manchin to support the massive SOCIALISTIC safety net expansion, aka, the SHAM bill, prompted him to make his two dramatic declarations:
1) Don't rush the package
2) Don't link it to the separate, BI-PARTISAN infrastructure bill.
Why it matters:
Manchin's surprise press statement Monday, November 1, 2021, didn't just disrupt the glide path to a vote envisioned by House leaders; it created a major PR nightmare for the White House.
Manchin said the $1.75 TRILLION SHAM bill was financed by "shell games"
Manchin believes it will cost closer to $3.9 TRILLION, if all its provisions would be financed for ten years.
That estimate comes from the Penn Wharton Budget model, which has been helping Manchin sort through how much each program costs. It includes easily digestible tables, showing the costs per year, and over the usual 10-year window.
The same Wharton experts estimated last week, the revenue increases the Dem/Prog cabal proposes to finance the spending — which the White House put at $1.9 TRILLION — may only generate closer to $1.5 TRILLIION.
BTW, why is the White House using $1.9 TRILLION, and others are using $1.75 TRILLION. Which is more correct?
Manchin has been consulting with Penn Wharton experts throughout the process and trusts the model.
By the numbers:
The Dem/Prog cabal puts the cost of day-care subsidies and universal-pre-school subsidies at $400 billion
Wharton estimates the cost at $700 BILLION over 10 years.
The Dem/Prog cabal wants to spend $200 BILLION to extend the existing child tax credit for one year, but at the ENHANCED $3,600-per-year level, and “make it fully refundable for its duration” (what the hell does that mean?).
Wharton estimates the cost at $1.8 TRILLION over 10 years.
The Dem/Prog cabal has been playing games by using different program durations, to make the total spending number appear much smaller than in reality, and thus more “digestible” for wavering Dem/Progs, who are looking for good CYA to get re-elected.
BTW, after MAGA Virginians vote, en masse, and have a Republican for Governor, on November 2, 2021, no amount of CYA will ever be enough to save the tail-ends of wavering Dem/Progs.
Between the lines:
Manchin said he will continue to negotiate over substantive concerns — from climate provisions to total costs.
"I'm open to supporting a final bill that helps move our country forward,” he said Monday. “But I'm equally open to voting against a bill that hurts our country."
The big picture
Manchin and Sinema (D-Ariz.) have been at the center of talks for passing the two massive bills, because they've challenged the Dem/Prog cabal over their cost and scope.
Senate and House progressives have targeted the two senators with slime-ball shenanigans; Sanders writing a scathing OP-ED in West Virginia newspapers, and Dem/Prog weirdo operatives entering a ladies room to harass Simena!!
The US House Caucus of Progressives, and Pelosi, threatened/blackmailed the US Senate, by saying they wouldn't vote to pass the infrastructure bill, until after the US Senate passes the SHAM bill.
The Dem/Prog cabal pressed Manchin over the weekend to publicly declare his support for the SHAM bill, hoping that would convince progressives to vote for the infrastructure bill.
That approach backfired. "Holding this (infrastructure) bill hostage is not going to work in getting my support," Manchin told reporters.
The senator said he was concerned he couldn't accurately determine the SCOPE AND COST of the SHAM bill, without the final legislative language, which is being withheld, as “part of the process”.
BTW, Sanders is likely wishing he had never written that OP-ED.
Manchin said, "As more of the real details of the basic framework for the SHAM bill are released, what I see are shell games — budget gimmicks, that make the real cost of the so-called $1.75 trillion bill estimated to be almost twice that amount ... if you extended it permanently,", i.e., extend all provisions for the full ten years.
BTW, Simena had similar concerns about how much each program would cost over 10 years.
She is carrying her own spreadsheets to keep track of the price tag.
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I wonder if the town of Topsham considered this when they okayed aces of treed land be absolutely stripped for NEXAMP to put in their next solar scam paid for with profits by taxpayers and producing electricity at four times the standard rate!
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Good for the towns that are wising up. Ridiculous to carpet farm fields with these inefficient things. If you want solar, put the panels on your roof or south facing wall. Nothing is more annoying than seeing beaming, virtuous solar supporters standing in front of an array that's dappled with shade from trees. The ignorance is appalling. I have a solar panel out near my truck that I pulled out of my array, it was hit by lightning and the safety glass is crumbled. No longer producing the 123 watts. I'm going to bring it to the transfer station and ask what he wants me to do with it. This'll be a test.
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THE VAGARIES OF SOLAR AND WIND IN NEW ENGLAND
https://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/the-vagaries-of-solar-...
VAGARIES OF SOLAR
In summer, expensive, weather and season-dependent, highly subsidized, variable, intermittent solar dozes off in late afternoon/early evening, during peak electricity demands, sleeps all night, and does not wake up until about mid-morning the next day, becomes very active around midday creating DUCK curves, especially on sunny days, then dozes off again in late afternoon/early evening, during peak electricity demands.
In winter, solar dozes off in late afternoon, sleeps all night, and does not wake up until about mid-morning the next day, becomes very active around midday creating DUCK curves, especially on sunny days, then dozes off again in late afternoon.
Variable Cloudiness: In New England, the output of solar systems varies up and down with variable cloudiness, throughout the year. That creates disturbances on distribution grids, which become more severe with increased deployment of solar systems.
Those disturbances can be mitigated/attenuated, if owners of larger solar systems (the major disturbers) would be required to install battery systems. Politically, this may not be feasible, because it would increase the already-high price of solar electricity. See image.
http://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/cost-shifting-is-the-na...
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HAVING FUN WATCHING WIND AND SOLAR FAILING TO STEP UP TO POWER THE WORLD ECONOMY
https://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/having-fun-watching-wi...
INTRODUCTION
Europe is seeing major increases in the SPOT prices of gas/1000 m3, coal/metric ton, and oil/barrel.
This will have an adverse effect on prices at the pump, etc.
The EU SPOT price surge was entirely the fault of EU bureaucrats in Brussels, which have urged EU countries NOT to sign long-term gas supply contracts with Russia, because it would send a “the wrong signal regarding the seriousness of EU fighting climate change”.
Serbia, Hungary and Turkey had recently signed long-term contracts with Russia at about $3/million Btu.
Those countries were vilified by EU bureaucrats and the handmaiden Media.
Subsequently, SPOT prices of gas started to increase, and the three countries are smiling.
EU SPOT prices of gas briefly increased to about $40/million Btu
US SPOT prices increased to about $5/million Btu, much less than Europe, due to an abundance of domestic gas. See below image.
https://www.eia.gov/naturalgas/weekly/
Gazprom expects to export between 175 and 183 bcm of gas to Europe, in 2021, at an average price of about $200/1000 m3, a mix of old and new long-term contracts.
Newer contracts have prices of $3 to $6 per 1000 m3
A below-ground gas storage reservoir has to a total gas volume and a working gas volume, WGV; as gas is withdrawn, the gas pressure decreases.
European gas storage was at 95.65% of WGV, on October 1, 2020, and at 74.14% on October 1, 2021, i.e., significantly below normal in 2021.
If Europe were to have a long and cold winter, economies would stagnate, prices would increase, and people would be suffering.
EU solar electricity would be minimal in winter.
EU wind electricity would not be something to rely on.
https://www.euronews.com/2021/10/25/europe-s-energy-crisis-five-cha...
NOTE:
In Europe, gas prices are stated as Euro/1000 m3
1 Euro = $1.16
1000 m3 contains 1000 x 35.315 ft3/m3 x 1000 Btu/ft3 = 35,315,000 Btu
US
EU
EU
$/million Btu
$/1000m3
Euro/1000m3
3
106
91
4
141
122
5
177
153
6
212
183
7
247
213
8
283
244
9
318
274
10
353
304
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HIGH COSTS OF WIND, SOLAR, AND BATTERY SYSTEMS IN US NORTHEAST
https://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/high-costs-of-wind-sol...
Comments on table 1
- Vermont legacy SO solar systems had greater subsidies, up to 30 c/kWh paid to owner, than newer systems, about 11 c/kWh
- Wind prices paid to owner did not have the drastic reductions as solar prices.
- Vermont utilities are paid about 3.5 c/kWh for various costs they incur regarding net-metered solar systems
- "Added to the rate base" is the cost wind and solar are added to the utility rate base, used to set electric rates.
- “Total cost”, including subsidies to owner and grid support, is the cost at which wind/solar are added to the utility rate base
- “NE utility cost” is the annual average cost of purchased electricity, about 6 c/kWh, plus NE grid operator charges, about 1.6 c/kWh
for a total of 7.6 c/kWh.
- “Grid support costs” would increase with increased use of battery systems to counteract the variability and intermittency of increased build-outs of wind and solar systems.
NOTES:
1) NE wholesale grid price averaged about 5 c/kWh or less, starting in 2009, due to low-cost CCGT and nuclear plants providing at least 65% of all electricity loaded onto the NE grid, in 2019.
- Wind, solar, landfill gas, and methane power plants provided about 4.8%
- Pre-existing refuse and wood power plants provided about 4.6%
- Pre-existing hydro power plants provided about 7.4%
- The rest was mostly hydro imports from the very-low-CO2 Canada grid, and from the much-higher-CO2 New York State grid
https://www.iso-ne.com/about/key-stats/resource-mix/
https://nepool.com/uploads/NPC_20200305_Composite4.pdf
2) There are Owning and Operating costs of the NE grid, in addition to utility wholesale prices.ISO-NE pro-rates these O&O costs to utilities, at about 1.6 c/kWh.
3) NE charges are for:
Regional network services, RNS, based on the utility peak demand occurring during a monthForward capacity market, FCM, based on the utility peak demand occurring during a year.
Table 1/Vermont & NE sources
Paid to
Subsidies
Grid*
GMP
Added to
Total
Utility
Times
owner
to owner
support cost
adder
rate base
cost
cost
c/kWh
c/kWh
c/kWh
c/kWh
c/kWh
c/kWh
c/kWh
Solar, resident roof, net-metered, new
17.4
5.2
2.1
3.5
20.9
28.2
7.60
3.7
Solar, resident roof, net-metered, legacy
18.2
5.4
2.1
3.5
21.7
29.2
7.60
3.8
Solar, com’l/ind’l, SO, combo
11.0
6.74
2.1
11.0
19.84
7.60
2.6
Solar, com’l/ind’l, SO, legacy
21.7
10.5
2.1
21.7
34.3
7.60
4.5
Wind, ridge line, new
9.0
4.1
2.4
9.0
15.5
7.60
2.0
Wind, offshore, new
12.1
5.4
2.8
12.1
20.3
7.60
2.7
*
Excludes costs for battery and floating offshore wind systems
“Added to rate base” is for recent 20-y electricity supply contracts awarded by competitive bidding in NE.
“Added to rate base” would be much higher without subsidies and cost shifting.
Areas with better wind and solar conditions, and lower construction costs/MW have lower c/MWh, than NE
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WIND AND SOLAR TO PROVIDE 30 PERCENT OF FUTURE NEW ENGLAND ELECTRICITY CONSUMPTION
https://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/wind-and-solar-provide...
Energy systems analysts of Denmark, Ireland, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, etc., have known for decades, that if you have a significant percentage of (wind + solar) on your grid, you better have available:
- An adequate capacity, MW, of other power plants to counteract any variations of (wind + solar), 24/7/365, year after year.
- High-capacity connections to nearby grids
- An adequate capacity of energy storage, such as:
1) Pumped hydro storage
2) Hydro plants with reservoir storage
3) Grid-scale battery systems
RE folks often advocate:
1) Electricity must be 100% renewable by 2050
2) Getting rid of the remaining nuclear plants as soon as their licenses expire, or sooner
3) Getting rid of natural gas, coal, oil, propane to reduce CO2 to fight climate change
4) Adding biomass power plants (burning trees), because the combustion CO2 of biomass is “renewable”.
World Fossil Fuels Supply is 84 Percent of World Primary Energy
Primary energy is used for all purposes by users, such as power plants, industrial/commercial entities, processing plants, farming, buildings, transport, etc., to produce goods and services, including for electricity.
The percentage of fossil fuels of primary energy has remained about the same for several decades, even though wind and solar percentages have increased.
In 2020, the percentages of the primary energy mix were:
Coal, 27%; Natural Gas, 24%; Oil, 33%, a total of 84%, plus Nuclear, 4%; Hydro, 6%; Renewables, 5%, after more than 20 years of subsidies.
Some of the primary energy, about 10%, is used for exploration, extraction, processing and transport of primary energy to users. That 10% is often called “upstream energy”.
For example, to produce ethanol from corn requires a very significant quantity of primary energy to produce a gallon of ethanol for blending with gasoline; the combustion CO2 of ethanol is not counted, as is the CO2 of burning biomass, because they are “renewable”, per international agreement.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rrapier/2020/06/20/bp-review-new-highs...
World Electricity Production, by source.
Fed to grids by electricity producers = net production = gross production - self-use
Other renewables includes electricity from biomass power plants
https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/electricity-prod-source-stacked
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Comment by Thinklike A. Mountain on November 1, 2021 at 12:24pm
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NYT Reporter Asks for Raising Gas Prices on Middle Class to Cut Fossil Fuel Consumption
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/10/31/nyt-reporter-asks-rai...
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.
“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”
-- Mahatma Gandhi
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Vince Lombardi
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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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