Massachusetts Expedited Wind Law Likely Dead
The co-chairman of the joint committee responsible for controversial wind energy siting legislation has announced he will seek to table the measure, spelling its likely demise and handing opponents of the bill a major victory.
In remarks made yesterday at an energy forum at the Berkshire South Community Center, state Sen. Benjamin Downing, D-Pittsfield, said he had heard concerns about local control, the process of developing siting standards and other problems with the legislation and wind energy that prompted him to call for a study of the bill - effectively ending chances it will be taken up by the full legislature in the current session.
“I believe that we ought to take the three wind energy siting reform acts and put them into a study group,” Downing said. “That will effectively end debate on those bills for this legislative session.”
Downing is co-chairman of the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy. State Rep. John Keenan, D-Salem, is the committee's other cochairman.
A representative from Keenan's office said he had no comment on Downing's remarks.
Downing's remarks follow on the heels of senate President Therese Murray, D-Plymouth, withdrawing her support for the bill, which has been a major initiative for Gov. Deval Patrick's administration in its drive to meet wind energy goals he set for the state.
The bill is meant to streamline permits and provide standards for large wind-energy projects. It would consolidate the permit process for turbines two megawatts or larger into a single, local board for municipalities in areas, such as Cape Cod, that the state designates as a "significant wind resource area."
Downing said he had heard from constituents during 15 hours of hearings on the bill held in Hancock and on Cape Cod.
“We heard from both and mainly I will tell you people who were opposed to those proposals and to some individuals mostly in the administration who supported those proposals,” Downing said.
The siting bill has been fought by those opposed to putting wind energy projects near residential areas. Opponents cite the health problems allegedly caused by the wind turbine at the Falmouth wastewater treatment facility.
More at:
http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20111215%...
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Comment
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Comment by Dan McKay on December 15, 2011 at 7:46pm
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Governor LePage made the point last night that these wind projects seem to only make money for a few and he is not overall pleased with them
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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