I  drove on  Route 17 , by the  Record  Hill turbines yeterday .

Not  yet  online, they stand idle looking like huge very  sharp needles disfiguring  eight miles  of magnificent  work of Nature and  piercing the  heart  of  all of  us driving by, bewildered  at a  reality  that  we  could  not  prevent .

Record  Hill , the second  project allowed  by  DEP under the expedited law .

As Angus  King keeps hopping  around the state telling  the  kind folks  of Maine that :"Maine  will become uninhabitable  if we  do  not  act  soon " or  that we  must stop  our dependency from  oil  from " Those  people  who  do not  like  us  too much ", I thought I  share  the  questions  we  wrote  for  Mister  King when  he  came  to  speak  in  Bethel a  month  ago at the Chamber of  Commerce.

CITIZENS’ TASK FORCE ON WIND POWER 

PO Box 345  Oquossoc, ME 04964  (windtaskforce.org)  

Monique Aniel, MD and Steve Thurston, co-chairs   (207) 864 5423   

Questions for Angus King:

1. 1.      Is it  true  that you will receive a 30%, or approximately $40 million ARRA grant “rebate” from the federal government when your Record Hill project  is completed instead of a 2.1 cents per kW production tax credit for 10 years?
2. 2.      Is it true that you did not have financing for the project until you received a US Dept of Energy taxpayer backed loan guarantee that protects the landowner Yale Endowment Fund’s investment in the project?
3. 3.      Is it true that Dept of Environmental Protection rules require evidence of financial ability prior to construction?
4. 4.      Is it true that the draft permit contained standard language requiring evidence of financial capacity prior to construction but that in the final permit, issued 5 days later, the word “construction” had been mysteriously changed to “operation”, allowing you to begin construction without having financing in place?
5. 5.      Is it true that, when questioned by the DEP about financial capacity after the wording change issue was raised by interested parties,  Rob Gardiner admitted that financing was not in place but that you were relying on this permit condition to begin construction? 
6. 6.      Is  it  true  that in 2002  you promoted  the Tumbledown Conservation effort while  maine  governor  and at  the  ceremony you said, “  "Western Maine's panoramic vistas in the Mt. Blue and Tumbledown region will be protected for future generations and I'm grateful for the many players who made today's exciting announcement possible.”
7. 7.       Is it true that all of the 22 Record Hill turbines will now be highly visible feature on the landscape when viewed from the peak of Tumbledown Mt?           

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1. 8.      Is it true that your decommissioning plan values the turbines at the end of 20 years at  less than $3 million?  
2. 9.   If the turbines will only be worth $3 million at the end of the project will the taxable value of the project also decline over the years as the turbines depreciate in value?  
3. 10.   Is  it true that on your original website Independence Wind LLC , which has  now  disappeared , said that you will not  impose your projects on communities who did not want them? 
4. 11.    Is it true that you enticed the voters of Roxbury with promises of 75% reductions in property taxes?
5. 12.   Is it true that shortly before the vote in Roxbury to change the zoning ordinance to allow turbines as a “non-industrial use”, you announced a “free electricity” deal, further enticing the voters with promises of benefits?
6. 13.   Is it true that Record Hill Wind is under no legal obligation to provide free electricity to Roxbury residents?
7. 14.   Is  it  true  that your DEP permit for Record Hill Wind has  been appealed  twice by  people in Roxbury  who  had  to spend more  than  $100,000  dollars to  try  to save the character of their area and the value of their  properties and prevent turbine noise from  affecting their  health ?
8. 15.   Is it true that you received a letter from  the Silver Lake Camp Owners Association  stating  their members voted nearly unanimous opposition  to  your  project ?
9. 16.   Is it  true  that  as reported in the Bangor Daily News http://bangordailynews.com/2011/10/04/business/international-develo...">http://bangordailynews.com/2011/10/04/business/international-development-group-meets-in-orono/  that Europeans eventually started turning against turbines, complaining that the aesthetic costs were too high because the landscape has a high value, which is why offshore wind is getting more attention?
10. 17.   Is  it  true  that  there are currently no laws requiring American consumers to  buy electric  cars  or  electric storage heaters and that massive government subsidies would be required to make these products affordable?  
11. 18.    Is it true that your past  and current justification for turbines is based on a hypothesis that electric cars and electric storage heaters will be affordable and desirable?
12. 19.   If excess capacity at night is consumed by electric storage heaters why would rates at night be any cheaper than daytime rates?