Study Confirms Action Needed to Reduce Maine's High Electricity Prices

Gee, I guess wind power is just not in the cards when it comes to reducing energy prices. Great for reducing property values and those pesky tourists though.

An article on this in the Portland Press-Herald can be read at:

http://www.pressherald.com/news/Adding_natural_gas_capacity_could_c...

Study Confirms Action Needed to Reduce Maine's High Electricity Prices


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For Immediate Release: Monday, March 3, 2014

Contact: Patrick Woodcock, Energy Office Director (207) 624-7405

Contact: Harry Lanphear, Maine PUC (207) 287-3831

 

Study Indicates Economic Imperative for Natural Gas Infrastructure to Lower Maine’s High Electricity Prices


AUGUSTA – The Governor’s Energy Office, the Public Utilities Commission, and the Office of Public Advocate released a study today confirming the urgent need for additional natural gas pipeline capacity into New England, in order to lower Maine’s, and the region’s, escalating electricity prices.

“A Review of Natural Gas Capacity Options” was commissioned pursuant to the Omnibus Energy Act passed last year. The omnibus bill directed the Maine PUC to evaluate the costs and benefits of additional natural gas pipeline capacity into New England.  The study’s release is very timely, particularly in light of the extraordinarily high prices for natural gas delivered to New England (including Maine) this winter, prices which continue to drive high electricity prices throughout the region.  Patrick Woodcock, Director of the Governor's Energy Office, commented on the study: “This report highlights the imperative to move forward with basic infrastructure to access the domestic and world-class natural gas supplies in our backyard.  It is critical that we cost-effectively manage New England’s reliance on natural gas by expanding our infrastructure to improve our employers’ competitiveness, reduce the use of petroleum for electricity generation, and finally lower Mainers’ electric bills.” 

In the report, consultant Sussex Economic Advisors describes the dramatic impact that New England’s inadequate pipeline capacity has on electricity prices, and concludes that “incremental natural gas pipeline capacity into the New England region would place downward pressure on the regional natural gas price indices and, therefore, benefit customers who use those price signals in transactions (e.g., electricity generators).”  In particular, the study shows that a reduction of the “basis differential” by 75% (i.e., the price difference between the Marcellus shale, where gas is produced, and gas delivered to New England) would save New England electricity customers more than $1.5 billion a year, and would save Maine electricity customers more than $120 million a year.  The study also observes that, in areas where new pipeline has been built or proposed to alleviate congestion, the projected basis differential has fallen substantially.

Maine PUC chairman Tom Welch provided the following comments regarding the report's conclusions: “The Sussex report shows the regional and Maine-specific cost – in the form of higher electricity prices – of the current shortage of natural gas pipeline capacity into New England, and shows that substantial net savings can be achieved by increasing that capacity.  The report reinforces the need for Maine, and the region, to act quickly to address this vital infrastructure issue.” Maine Public Advocate Timothy Schneider agrees. “The Sussex report shows that the dramatic spikes in New England natural gas and electricity prices we have seen this winter and last will only get worse, and the costs to electricity customers will be enormous, unless the underlying pipeline capacity issues are addressed. The analysis in the report should give renewed urgency to regional efforts to address the problem.”

The Governor’s Energy Office, the Public Advocate, and the Public Utilities Commission continue to work towards reducing the cost of natural gas delivered into New England and Maine, in order to avoid prolonging the current price impacts on electricity.  The Sussex study will help inform those involved in the regional initiative announced by the New England governors in December 2013, and in evaluating actions that Maine might take under the Omnibus Energy Act.

The report may be found on the Maine PUC's home page: http://www.maine.gov/mpuc/

http://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/MEGOV/bulletins/a830ae

The report may also be downloaded here:

Maine PUC Final Report.pdf

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Comment by Sherwin Start on March 10, 2014 at 8:43pm

NAtural Gas Is Extremely Economical and Much More Dependable than Electrical power- I have Lived With Both Over the Last 50 Years! If I had A choice I would Switch to NATURAL Gas in the BLINK Of an Eye!!

 

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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