Maine PUC: "Aroostook costs would be offset by the projects’ economic and environmental advantages" (PROVE IT!!!!)

September 26, 2023

BY STEPHEN SINGER STAFF WRITER

EXCERPTS

.....A land-based wind project bringing power from northern Maine to ISO-New England, the region’s grid operator, has been moving ahead of offshore floating wind projects in the regulatory process.

The planned Aroostook Renewable Gateway project will consist of single-circuit and double-circuit 345 kV transmission lines and substations that will deliver 1,200 megawatts from Aroostook County to the grid, its supporters say.................

.........Permit applications have not been submitted, though six public meetings have drawn 700 people, he said in a recent interview. The developers hope to submit proposals in the fall...............

The Public Utilities Commission ruled in January that Mainers should pick up part of the cost of a pair of wind-power and transmission projects bringing power from Aroostook County. Massachusetts officials had earlier directed their electric distribution companies to enter into long-term contracts for up to 40% of the transmission project’s service payments for up to 20 years. That cost sharing was crucial to the PUC’s calculus that the projects would save Maine customers money over time.

The financing required is not known, but Mulvey said it would be less than $1 billion.

Grid Strategies, a power sector consulting firm, said in a recent report that the Aroostook project is among 36 in the U.S. that, if built, would improve system resilience and reliability by increasing transmission capacity. The expansion from 22 projects in a 2021 report “reflects expanded market interest in transmission,” said the report, which was done for Americans for a Clean Energy Grid. Much of the growth is from new transmission projects to interconnect offshore wind projects in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, it said.

Mulvey said the project will have “immense benefits” and will save Maine ratepayers more than $3 billion during a 30-year contract.

Critics say LS Power Grid’s proposed path through Unity would affect what the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife has designated as an area of special ecological importance.

Aroostook County lacks a connection to New England’s electric grid and building a transmission line to bring wind power from northern Maine has been too expensive. In January, the Public Utilities Commission estimated a pair of wind-power and transmission projects would cost ratepayers $1 billion for a 60% share of the electricity output from a large wind farm.

The cost would be offset by the projects’ economic and environmental advantages, the commission said.

https://www.pressherald.com/2023/09/26/wind-power-in-maine-is-no-br...

************************************* 

Fair Use Notice: This website may reproduce or have links to copyrighted material the use of which has not been expressly authorized by the copyright owner. We make such material available, without profit, as part of our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, economic, scientific, and related issues. It is our understanding that this constitutes a "fair use" of any such copyrighted material as provided by law. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes that go beyond "fair use," you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.