What's All the Fuss About Population Growth in the Northeast?

Download Excel analysis at:

Population_Projections_10-7-11.xls

 

We keep hearing that unless the Maine Power Reliability Program (CMP upgrade) is built out, our grid may fail at some point in the future.

 

Population growth is always cited as one of the reasons.

 

But a quick look at U.S. Census data reveals that between 2010 and 2030, Maine's population is forecasted to grow by only 4.0%, (that's TOTAL, not annually) which is only one 22% of the 17.7% population forecasted for the nation. In other words, we are about 78% below average.

 

New England as a region, as well as the Mid-Atlantic region are similar to Maine:

Where the growth is:

 

 

Source of census data:

http://www.census.gov/population/www/projections/projectionsagesex....

 

Excel analysis attachment:

Population_Projections_10-7-11.xls

 

If it's not population growth, and if our appliances, light bulbs, etc. are getting increasingly efficient, how about we get full disclosure that this upgrade is driven in large part to accommodate the 2,700 nameplate MW of wind factory called for by Maine's expedited wind law?

 

How convenient that Governor Baldacci was able to blame this all on "aging lines" and population. How convenient that the wind companies, who could not build their wind factories without this transmission, get the ratepayer to pick up the tab for them.

 

This is not just Maine, it's all across ISO-NE and the total tab for the ISO-NE could be $30 billion. Maine ratepayers make up 8% of the grid and will be asked to pick up 8% of the $30 billion tab.

 

Any cost/benefit analysis of wind power in Maine must take into account the lion's share of these new transmission expenses.

 

 

 

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Maine as Third World Country:

CMP Transmission Rate Skyrockets 19.6% Due to Wind Power

 

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Maine Center For Public Interest Reporting – Three Part Series: A CRITICAL LOOK AT MAINE’S WIND ACT

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(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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