Citizens' Task Force on Wind Power - Maine

NextEra Petition To Intervene In PUC Proceedings On NECEC Project

Now comes NextEra Energy Resources, LLC (“NextEra”), pursuant to Chapter 110, §

8(B) of the Rules of Practice and Procedure (the “Commission Rules”) of the Maine Public

Utilities Commission, and moves to intervene in this proceeding. In support of its Petition,

NextEra states that:

1. On October 3, 2017, the Commission issued a Notice of Proceeding concerning

Central Maine Power’s (“CMP”) request for a Certificate of Public Convenience and

Necessity (“CPCN”) for the New England Clean Energy Connect consisting of the

construction of a 1,200 MW high voltage direct current (“HVDC”) transmission line

from the Québec-Maine border to Lewiston (“NECEC”) and related network

upgrades (“CPCN Petition”).

2. On January 31, 2018, the Hearing Examiners in this proceeding issued a Procedural

Order that, among other things, requested comments from the parties on the schedule

in this case and suspended the then-current schedule pending a consideration of the

requested comments.

3. On February 22, 2018, the Hearing Examiners issued a Procedural Order that lifted

the suspension of the schedule in this proceeding.

4. On March 6, 2018, the Hearing Examiners issued a procedural order that adopted a

schedule for the remainder of the proceeding.

5. NextEra is a Delaware limited liability company, and is the indirect owner of the 36

megawatt (“MW”) Cape Energy Station; the 827 MW W.F. Wyman Station (100%

owner of Units 1, 2, and 3 and majority owner of Unit 4); and the 16.2 MW Casco

Bay Storage Project (collectively the “NEER Operating Assets”), as well as a number

of wind, solar, and storage projects under development in Maine, including Penobscot

Wind, LLC and Moose Wind, LLC.

6. NextEra’s Operating Assets are substantially and directly affected by CMP’s HVDC

line because Maine’s bulk transmission grid is interconnected, and a HVDC line of

this voltage and length may impact economics and the reliability of the transmission

grid, and, therefore NEER’s operating assets on that grid. Under Section 3132 of

Title 35-A, the Commission consideration of public need must take into account the

impact of CMP’s proposal on Maine’s economics and the reliability of the

transmission grid.

7. A number of NextEra’s wind, solar, and storage projects under development were

intended to interconnect to CMP Alternating Current (“AC”) transmission line that

was to be partially sited on a similar route as is proposed for the CMP HVDC line.

Therefore, it is unclear whether NextEra’s development projects will be able to

interconnect as proposed, which, in turn would result in these projects being

substantially and directly affected by CMP’s proposal. Further, under Section 3132

of Title 35-A, the Commission’s consideration of public need must take into account

the impact of CMP’s proposal to Maine’s renewable energy goals. The direct impact

of CMP’s proposal on NextEra’s development projects ability to interconnect

implicates whether the CMP’s proposal is consistent with these renewable energy

goals.

8. NextEra is entitled to mandatory intervention according to Section 8 (B) (1) of the

Commission’s Rules because it is a person that is or may be substantially and directly

affected by the proceeding as explained in paragraphs 6 and 7.

9. In the alternative, NextEra is entitled to discretionary intervention according to

Section 8 (B) (2).

10. NextEra intends to participate as an active party to this proceeding, including

attendance at conferences and hearings, and submit written or oral testimony and

briefs.

Comment

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Comment by Dan McKay on March 29, 2018 at 10:08am: To make comment/question to the PUC about the NECEC project :

From the PUC website, locate and click on " Online Filing, Docketed Cases, Forms & RFPs " from the left hand column.

Click " Public " in the "Online Filing " Box

Click " Submit a comment in a case/docket "

Enter 2017-00232 for the case number and Click " go "

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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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