Orneville Petition Concerning Expedited Easements for Industrial Grid-Scale Wind Power

UPDATE: Conversation with Rep. Norman Higgins EUT committee member, Oct. 20th at

a Friends of Piscataquis Valley meeting.

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Orneville Petition Concerning Expedited Easements

for Industrial Grid-Scale Wind Power


Carly reports that she has received the petitions from the LUPC and will be at the polls to collect signatures in Milo on Nov. 3rd.

(At this moment, Rep. Norm Higgins comes in and joins the discussion.)

Norm says there are 84 registered voters on the list he has.  He will come by the polls in Milo on Nov. 3rd.

Norm says 'For me, this is a very important issue.  No voter in Maine should have fewer rights than any other voter.  Neighbors should have the same rights.'

Mitch asks Norm if it was ever discussed on the energy committee as to why the federal stimulus package money was not at first  applied to the provision to each town having its own windmill?

Norm--The wind energy industry in Maine is a very backdoor arrangement that tells you something is wrong.  It involves huge amounts of money and is fully supported by the Democrats in Augusta.  Of course, you know my particular interest in alternative energy is solar.

Paul asks what is the option that the petition is asking for?

Norm--The law passed in the last session, spearheaded by Representative Dunphy.  He is on the Energy Committee with me.  Politics in Maine made it so that all the grid-scale windmills are built in the Unorganized Territories (UTs).   This bill went through and was signed by the governor.  

Carly --Between Jan. 1 and June 30th, registered voters in the UTs can sign the petition that requests the UT is removed from the expedited easement language for industrial-scale wind power (which is all imported to Connecticut and Massachusetts for green energy credits in those states)...

Norm--The petition goes to the LUPC and is held for 45 days.  If no one challenges it (a landowner or wind power company), Orneville will be taken out.  Anyone challenging the petition is required to pay a fee and a public hearing is also required.  Then, the zoning concern would have to be addressed.  But the major point is that the people have a voice in this.

Mitch--The counties receive $300,000 annually from these corporations.  We went to the Piscataquis County commissioners to ask what happens to those funds and, at that time (January 2013), they claimed to have not known about it.  

Norm--The funds are being used...for instance, Kingsbury is rebuilding their dam with some of those funds provided by First Wind.  The county decides what happens to the money.

Norm asks Carly if Orneville residents are opposed to expedited easements for wind power in their township?

Carly says 'We like it the way it is."

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Maine Center For Public Interest Reporting – Three Part Series: A CRITICAL LOOK AT MAINE’S WIND ACT

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(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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