Citizens' Task Force on Wind Power - Maine

PPH - A completely green-powered island gives Mainers ideas

A 3,500 word shill piece for renewable energy from the same newspaper that didn't think a 19.6% overnight hike in wind power-caused transmission rates for its readers was newsworthy.

The Danish island of Samsø becomes a classroom and source of inspiration for a group of Maine students and residents

http://www.pressherald.com/2014/11/02/completely-green-powered-isla...

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With respect to Vinalhaven, which would like to be the Samso of Maine within Angus King's Saudi Arabia of Wind, a CTFWP member wrote awhile back:

Vinalhaven is following the blueprint of Samso Island. It is an agrarian community (114 square kilometers) off the coast of Denmark which maintains that it is 100% energy self sufficient. Island generated wood fuel and biofuels are also large components of their energy profile. Representatives of the Island made a presentation to VH citizens in 2008 on how to duplicate their experience. Samso has wind turbine capacity 10 times the power needed on their Island. All the excess power is sold back to the mainland via underwater cable. The construction, ownership and operation are all heavily subsidized by the government. For example, the average wholesale rate on the Nordpool Exchange is 5 cents per Kw/Hr. Samso has a ten year sales contract with the government with a floor price of 12 cents per Kw/Hr. Samso still needs to import 25% of its electricity when the turbines are idle. So its claim that it is 100% energy self-sufficient is a creative twist of the truth.

The cost of VH's wind turbines is recovered solely thru local electricity rates on an "as used" basis. Fox Island Electric, the local electric cooperative, has complete discretion as to the determination of rates. In large part, island ratepayers were given immediate discounts the first winter when the turbines became operational to "demonstrate" the legitimacy of their investment. Coincidentally, the winter months are also the most productive period for the turbines. Now that the summer is approaching, wind generation will drop precipitously while the population will increase three-fold. It remains to be seen if the rate discounts granted this winter were merited once summer generation drops off.

Traditional consumer electric rates are comprised of blended costs combining "peak" and "off-peak" generation. The thermal heating units being evaluated by VH are only economical if they can be run at "off-peak" rates. George Baker took the lead on VH's wind turbine development and is now driving the thermal heating units project following the Samso template. They are now evaluating reconstituting their electric rate structure to see if they can take advantage of the heating units with a bifurcated electric rate structure. Optimizing the rate structure to maximize use of wind generation is a prudent endeavor. However, it is becoming increasingly likely that "summer residents" will see little if any benefits from the wind turbine investments. All efforts to date are focused on getting the cost down for full-time residents. Keep in mind that CMP is effectively mandated by law to buy all of VH's excess unscheduled power production which is paid for by CMP's ratepayers.

Is there a disproportionate allocation of the wind turbine costs to summer versus full time residents? Yes. Are summer residents going to be in effect subsidizing the full time residents? Yes. There is an annualized unit cost of the turbines which should be allocated on a monthly basis. In the summertime, most power will continue to be purchased from CMP so summer residents will pay the historically high rate plus the turbine cost. Is this a good template for the rest of Maine? No. The VH wind project is dependent upon the revenue from the sale of its excess power to CMP (ipso facto subsidy). Wind power generators can only subsist if they get others to involuntarily pay for their power. If you get a significant wind power presence in the state of Maine who is left to pay for all the excess power?

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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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