Citizens' Task Force on Wind Power - Maine

Testimony to LD 1489

Chair Lawrence, Chair Zeigler and Honorable Persons of the EUT Committee

One thing I love about "wood to heat" and "wood to steam" and "wood to electricity" is that it is an abundant resource in Maine.

Another thing I love about biomass electricity, it is only recognized as a renewable resource in the New England state of Maine. Biomass supplies 64.52% of the Class I renewable energy certificate purchases of the 128,942 certificates required by a law that is an unnecessary burden to Maine ratepayers. MAINE IS THE ONLY STATE IN THE REC PROGRAM THAT RECOGNIZES BIOMASS AS RENEWABLE. WE ARE PAYING EXTRA FOR SOMETHING THAT ONLY WE BUY. IS THERE NO COMMON SENSE IN THIS GOVERNMENTAL BODY?

From The Maine PUC: "Report on Renewable Resource Portfolio Requirements (2023) Report of 2021 Activity

" The cost to ratepayers of Maine’s Class I resource portfolio requirement is estimated by the cost of compliance reported by suppliers, primarily through their purchase of RECs. During 2021, the cost of RECs used for compliance ranged from $0.0014 per MWh to approximately $41.75 per MWh, with a weighted average cost of $13.52 per MWh and a total cost of approximately $18.8 million. Additionally, there was a total of $77,100 paid in as Alternative Compliance Payments (ACP), which brings the total cost of compliance to approximately $18.9 million. This is equivalent to about 82 cents per month for a typical residential customer who uses 500 kwh per month; about $81.80 per month for a medium commercial customer that uses 50,000 kWh per month; and about $817.99 per month for a large commercial/industrial customer that uses 500,000 kWh per month."

Now, compare 2020 activity to 2021 activity:

. Of the 1,042,500 RECs purchased to meet the 2020 portfolio requirement, approximately 99% came from facilities located in Maine

Biomass accounted for 94.82% of purchases of certificates

Masine PUC "Report on Renewable Resource Portfolio Requirements(2022) Report of 2020 activity

" The cost to ratepayers of Maine’s Class I resource portfolio requirement is estimated by the cost of compliance reported by suppliers, primarily through their purchase of RECs. During 2020, the cost of RECs used for compliance ranged from approximately $0.0015 per MWh to $20.50 per MWh, with a weighted average cost of $5.97 per MWh and a total cost of $6,969,077. This is equivalent to about 30 cents per month for a typical residential customer who uses 500 kwh per month; about $30.30 per month for a medium commercial customer that uses 50,000 kWh per month; and about $303.00 per month for a large commercial/industrial customer that uses 500,000 kWh per month

The first indisputable truth derived from these two reports is that more demand means higher prices (82 cents versus 30 cents) ( 1,461,546 certificates versus 1,136,418 certificates) due to the introduction of Class IA Resources in 2020.(93,918 in 2020) (413,234 in 2021) Correlating the increase in certificates to the average price per certificate, 2020 = $5.97 per certificate versus 2021 = $13.52 per certificate.

The second indisputable truth is that biomass derived class I certificate purchases could not keep up with the increase in certificates required to comply with the new laws.

The market for certificates will hurt Maine ratepayers so much more than other New England states as biomass becomes less of a price buffer without the ability to keep up with the rapidly increasing compliance requirements.

Maine must consider an exit from the Certificate Market, sooner than later. The prices in this market are about to skyrocket with so many competing states outbidding each other to comply with their inflated goals which far exceed any planned projects. This will lead to suppliers purchasing compliance through the ACP which will trigger the PUC requirement to postpone the Resource Renewable Portfolio Program.

You have sabotaged your enacted programs by your zeal to outdo other states. The nonsense of Chasing Carbon Zero is about to end in spectacular fashion, congratulations for another unintended consequence.

Chasing Carbon Zero is Futile. Carbon is Lifeblood of Civilization.

Clayton Dan McKay Dixfield

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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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We have the facts on our side. We have the truth on our side. All we need now is YOU.

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-- Mahatma Gandhi

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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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