Will Public Advocate nominee Harwood please analyze Sen. Troy Jackson's Aroostook boondogle?
If you compare Capacity Factors for full year-to-year the total sector has been consistently just short of 30.0%. However, month-to-month totals are volatile and all over the map. Weaver Wind has been strong in 2021 so that may push the industry over the full year Totals hump.
Harwood would bring decades of utility regulatory experience to leading the state consumer representative office
Governor Janet Mills today nominated William Harwood as Public Advocate for the State of Maine. Harwood, one of Maine’s most experienced energy and utility attorneys, currently serves as Senior Advisor for Regulatory Affairs within the Governor’s Energy Office, a position he has held since September of 2021.
“When it comes to utilities in Maine, few people are more experienced or knowledgeable than Bill Harwood – and no one is better positioned than Bill to stand up for Maine people and hold our utilities accountable to them,” said Governor Janet Mills. “Bill’s deep expertise, built over his decades long career, will serve Maine well and will advance our efforts to hold our utilities accountable and deliver reliable service for Maine people.”
“I am honored to be nominated as Maine’s Public Advocate. If confirmed, I will work hard every day to defend the interests of Maine people,” said Bill Harwood. “The bottom-line is that Maine ratepayers deserve reliable service at just and reasonable rates, and I will fight every day to make sure that’s what they are getting.”
The Office of the Public Advocate's primary responsibility is to represent the interests of Maine utility consumers, primarily in proceedings before the Maine Public Utilities Commission (PUC) and in cases before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
Prior to joining the Governor’s Energy Office, Harwood served as Senior Counsel at Verrill Dana in Portland. Over his four-decade legal career, he represented a wide range of entities, such as utility customers, public utilities, renewable energy companies, technology companies, paper mills, and colleges and universities, in matters before state and federal regulatory agencies. He has also helped landowners, from blueberry growers to nursing homes, in their negotiations with renewable energy developers regarding the siting and benefits of new solar projects.
Harwood has also been involved in many water utility issues in Maine, including representing customers in disputes over water charges, disputes with owners of land adjacent to sources of supply and disputes over access to water supplies. He has also served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Maine School of Law, where he taught utility regulation and administrative law.
Harwood has served on the Board of the Maine Bar Foundation and Legal Services for the Elderly, including as its Chair. He has also served on the governing boards of Hearthstone Inc., Katahdin Institute, The Jackson Laboratory, Yarmouth Historical Society, Waynflete School and Maine Justice Foundation, and the Hurricane Island Foundation. He is a past recipient of the Muskie Access to Justice Award, the American Bar Association Pro Bono Publico Award, and the Howard Dana Award for Outstanding Service for his work to promote free legal services for the poor.
Harwood is a graduate of Harvard University and Fordham University. He lives in Yarmouth with his wife, Ellen, and has five grown children.
Harwood’s nomination is subject to confirmation by the Legislature’s Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee, as well as the Maine State Senate. If confirmed, Harwood would replace former Public Advocate Barry Hobbins, who retired from the position in June 2021. Andrew Landry, Deputy Public Advocate, has served as Acting Public Advocate in the interim.
Governor Mills today also formally nominated Andrew Butcher to serve as President of the newly-created Maine Connectivity Authority. Governor Mills announced her intent to nominate Butcher earlier this year.
https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/MEGOV/bulletins/3011286
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Comment by Willem Post on December 23, 2021 at 6:32am
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“BUILD BACK BETTER” WOULD COST $4.490 TRILLION OVER THE NEXT DECADE, IF PROVISIONS WERE MADE TO LAST 10 YEARS
https://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/build-back-better-woul...
Distrust in Government
I am not surprised at the lack of public trust in Washington, DC, and elsewhere. The games of smoke and mirrors played in Washington are off-the-charts outrageous.
Never, ever, has there been such a level of deceit, as Democrats have inflicted on the US People, since January 2021, after using a fraudulent election in 2020 (see Appendix), to achieve a coup d’etat, to relentlessly push for a major increase of:
1) The size and intrusiveness of government, and
2) Democrat command/control over the federal government and the American people.
Here is a most egregious example:
Build Back Better' Would Cost $4.490 Trillion Over the Next Decade, if Provisions Were Made to Last 10 Years
https://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/build-back-better-woul...
PHASE 1; All BBB programs have carefully chosen expiration dates
Some BBB Bill History
The cost of the original BBB bill was $6.0 trillion, as crafted by left-leaning Sanders. When that proved to be a non-starter, he “whittled it down” to an alleged $3.5 trillion, which, he declared, was the “absolute minimum”. Whittled down means, he shortened the duration of some programs from 10 years to 1 year, or 2 years, etc., as explained in next sections. See table 1
Manchin, a moderate US Senator from West Virginia, who knows how to co-operate with moderate Republicans, had stated, he would consider a BBB bill costing about $1.5 trillion.
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/11/10/joe-manchin-dc-can-no...
Frustrated Sanders and White House staff further whittled down the cost of the BBB bill from $3.5 to $1.75 trillion, to placate Manchin, mainly by shortening program durations. See table 1
https://rules.house.gov/sites/democrats.rules.house.gov/files/Secti...
Manchin and Sanders had frequent shouting matches about:
1) BBB budgeting smoke-and-mirror shenanigans, such as short program durations to reduce costs
2) BBB causing a major increase in the size, bureaucrat headcount, and intrusiveness of the federal government
3) BBB worsening high inflation rates in 2022, and beyond
4) BBB worsening multi-billion US budget deficits in 2022, and beyond
5) BBB worsening the rapidly-growing US national debt
6) BBB worsening US trade competitiveness and US trade deficits
7) BBB worsening the precarious financial condition of the Social Security and Medicare Systems. See Note
The BBB bill is a Green New Deal cornucopia for boosting Democrat constituencies. See table 1
The BBB bill, aka “budget reconciliation bill,” has morphed into a vast expansion and increase of:
1) The socialistic welfare state for individuals, and
2) The decades-long bonanza for multi-millionaire subsidy-seekers in the renewable energy sector.
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The EU is facing an energy crisis, because:
1) Brussels’ RE idiots refused to sign long-term contract for gas from Russia
2) NATO and the US are stupidly trying to contain and pressure Russia.
3 There is minimal wind, minimal solar, and some nuclear plants are down with “issues”
4) Russia retaliated by merely limiting gas flow to the EU to CONTRACTED amounts, plus 5%, to ensure TOTAL compliance with SIGNED contracts.
5) Owners are diverting LNG carriers to the EU to rake in on the bonanza.
6)
US spot price $7/million Btu
EU spot price $65/million Btu7) The 5% is sold by Gazprom on the spot market at very high prices.
EXCERPT from:
WIND AND SOLAR TO PROVIDE 30 PERCENT OF NEW ENGLAND ELECTRICITY CONSUMPTION BY 2050
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, 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 (W+S), 24/7/365
– High-capacity, MW, 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 systemsThe more presence of variable (W+S) on the NE grid, the more the other generators have to vary their outputs, which causes these other generators to be less efficient (more wear and tear, more Btu/kWh, more CO2/kWh).
Owners in European countries with much wind and solar on the grids get compensated for their losses.
Those compensations are charged to the general public, not to the Owners of wind and solar systems, as part of the political (subsidy + cost shifting) regimen, to make wind and solar appear price-competitive versus fossil fuels.
RE folks often advocate:
1) Electricity must be 100% renewable, or zero carbon, or carbon-neutral by 2050
2) Getting rid of the remaining nuclear plants
3) Getting rid of natural gas, coal, and oil plants
4) More biomass burning
About This ArticleThis article has four parts and an Appendix
Part 1 provides an introduction to miscellaneous energy topics, and consumption of world energy quantities
Part 2 provides an introduction to existing NE grid conditions
Part 3 provides an introduction to daily NE grid load shaping, to deal with heat pumps and EVs in 2030
Part 4 provides the future NE grid conditions with 20% wind and 10% solar in 2050The Appendix shows various energy topics, such as Turnkey Capital Costs of Grid-scale Battery Systems; Grid-scale Battery System Operating Cost in New England; Energy Losses of Battery Systems; “All-in” Electricity Cost of Wind and Solar in New England
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Comment by Donna Amrita Davidge on December 22, 2021 at 5:46am
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I am so disappointed & devastated for the prospect of ruining one of the most pristine parts of Maine .. I fought Oakfield & lost & any of these things in aroostook are beyond evil for our wildlife and growing tourist economy.. plus they don’t truly perform. … or anywhere for that matter.
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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