Study Claiming Aroostook Wind Corridor Will Save Mainers Money Authored by Maine PUC Commissioner’s Former Employer
By Steve Robinson
September 18, 2023 Updated:September 19, 2023
The sole study purporting to show that a massive $4.9 billion Aroostook County wind power project will benefit Maine ratepayers was paid for by the developers of that project and conducted by the former employer of Maine Public Utilities Commissioner Carolyn “Carrie” Gilbert.
In June, Daymark Energy Advisors, a Worcester, Mass.-based consulting firm, released a 22-page document claiming that the 1,000 megawatt King Pine Wind project and the Aroostook Corridor transmission line would, together, reduce electricity costs in Maine over the projects’ 25-30 year lifespans.
Boston-based Longroad Energy, the wind tower developer, and New York-based LS Power, the developer of the transmission line, funded that Daymark study.
Until May 2023, Commissioner Gilbert had worked at Daymark for 15 years, including a stint on its board of directors that ended in January. According to her LinkedIn profile, she worked as a Managing Consultant for the firm until May.
Gov. Janet Mills nominated Gilbert to serve on the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) on March 28.
A press release from Gov. Mills office announcing the nomination touted Gilbert’s experience at Daymark.
“For the past 15 years, Gilbert has worked at Daymark Energy Advisors, a leading national energy consulting firm,” the statement said. “In her position as Managing Consultant, Gilbert provides expert advice to policymakers, regulators, developers, and commercial and industry energy users on renewable project development and economics, policy design, and competitive energy procurement models.”
The Maine Senate unanimously confirmed Gilbert’s nomination on May 2.
As a result of Gilbert’s nomination, some Maine residents who oppose the projects have raised questions about the close ties between two Daymark clients and a member of the PUC, which regulates wind power and electricity transmission in Maine.
In a written statement, Gilbert told the Maine Wire she has recused herself from PUC matters related to Daymark’s former clients, Longroad and LS Power.
“I have recused myself from this docket and any involvement with the Northern Maine project,” said Gilbert.
Gilbert’s connection to King Pine and LS Power through her former employer has not been previously reported, nor has her decision to recuse herself from PUC’s regulatory oversight of the controversial projects.
Gilbert also said in her statement that she stopped discussing the LS Power- and Longroad-funded study of King Pine and the Aroostook Corridor with her Daymark colleagues once she learned she was up for one of three commissioner spots at Maine PUC.
“I had no involvement at all in the June 2023 study and as soon as I knew about the possibility of this position, I pulled myself from all discussions at Daymark regarding Northern Maine, LS Power, or Longroad,” said Gilbert.
Gilbert said she has never “personally” received compensation from LS Power or Longroad.
Daymark has declined to comment on the study it prepared for LS Power and Longroad, stating that the document is the property of their clients.
Although LS Power and Longroad have no official relationship, their Maine projects are co-dependent.
That is, the wind farm isn’t viable without a transmission line and the transmission line isn’t needed without the wind farm.
If LS Power’s transmission line and Longroad’s wind farm move ahead as planned, then LS Power will receive compensation through a Transmission Agreement (TA) and Longroad will receive compensation through a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA).
All of that money will come from Maine electricity rate payers via their electricity bills.
The PUC has yet to make the draft TA and PPA public, which means Maine lawmakers and residents have no way of knowing how much the project will really cost.
Apart from MPUC, Longroad, and LS Power, Daymark is the only entity privy to those agreements.
Despite the secrecy around the financial agreements that comprise the foundation of the two projects, lawmakers voted earlier this year to give the transmission line their blessing.
Susan Faloon, PUC’s media liaison, couldn’t say when those agreements might be available to ratepayers.
“Regarding a timeline on when the Power Purchase Agreement with King Pine and the Transmission Agreement with LS Power will be available to the public, a timeline has not yet been set as a final contract has not been executed or approved by the Commission,” said Faloon.
Executive employees and nominees, like Gilbert, are required to submit financial disclosures to the Maine Ethics Commission. As of Monday, Gilbert’s disclosure is not available on the Commission’s website.
Faloon said Gilbert’s last day of work with Daymark was April 27 and she last receive compensation on May 5.
However, Gilbert continues to receive payments from Daymark as it is an an employee-owned firm with an Employee Stock Ownership Plan.
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Comment
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Comment by Stephen Littlefield on September 20, 2023 at 8:12pm
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So, just a rough estimate of the cost per every citizen, not every family, it would be $3,800 just for the wind farm not the cost of the devastating corridor through the middle of the state. That has nothing to do with the cost of electricity which by today's standards would be 2-3 times standard cost. Yeah, this is a bargain! By the time this is over we'll be back to candles and black market wood stoves to live! While the elitists stuff millions in their pockets.
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Why is the study, including assumptions and spreadsheets not shown on the PUC , etc., website, so Maine people can analyze it “savings”
If Massachusetts were paying for all of it, it likely would still not benefit Maine people.
The only beneficiaries are the multi-millionaires with high incomes who have tax shelters by buying a share of the projects. But they likely live out of state in the poshest of places where those folks flock together counting their fortunes
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Comment by Dan McKay on September 20, 2023 at 6:00am
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The current wholesale electricity price is 4.234 cents per kilowatt hour
The price of the LS Power transmission line and the King Pine price must be below this price to lower ratepayer costs.
The PUC and the OPA are withholding pricing information from the very people funding their operations, The Ratepayer.
Senator Jackson has concocted a crime against the Maine people and the legislators that approved this project are accessories to this crime. The PUC and OPA are beholden to these criminals. Their nondisclosures are appalling and a slap in the face to ratepayers.
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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