Will Massachusetts Play into Maine's PUC's Game?
- The PUC has said before the Aroostook County Wind Project and after the bids came in that there is no way they will accept any proposal that raises the electric costs on Mainers.
- Even if Massachusetts offers to buy all the generation AND pay for the entire construction of the 2.78 billion dollar transmission line from hell, Maine ratepayers are in for a world of hurt.
- The PUC's gamble that the combined project will save 1.08 billion dollars from the 2.78 billion dollar transmission project is just that, A GAMBLE. They are counting on the ISO-NE market prices to remain high or go even higher when, in fact, market prices historically fluctuate dramatically.
- It's a safe bet that Massachusetts will cover themselves from any attempt to entice them into buying into this project by gambling on the ISO-NE market whose future hinges on the many power interrupting blackouts that projects like this project from hell will cause.
- The ISO-NE has testified over and over that wind energy disrupts the grid and is responsible for early retirements to conventional, reliable plants. The ingredients for widespread blackouts.
- Placing a wind project at the tip of Maine means the grid disruptions will reverberate throughout the entire length of Maine affecting all generation along the way. Natural Gas plants in Maine will rejoice as their output will rise to power New England South during low wind and no wind periods.
- Arguments against NECEC included the proposition that Maine is eroding into a plantation state for Massachusetts. Never has one project been a truer example of feeding the beastly overlord as this project would be.
- The PUC must keep their word, NO HARM to Maine from paying even one cent to advance this project from hell and not one cent towards an uncertain future plagued with blackouts and more pricey renewables bringing in more pricey natural gas and associated carbon payments.
Views: 113
Comment
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Comment by Dan McKay on December 13, 2022 at 6:06pm
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Thanks, Richard.. I had forgotten that this project had already been proposed. But, whereas the previous proposals were direct bids into a RFP from Southern New England utilities, this project which was initiated by Troy Jackson puts the full faith of Maine citizens in play to pay for this fiasco. Now the PUC is begging Massachusetts to put the full faith of their citizens in peril. Massachusetts already has an offer to pay over a billion dollars for a 1045 megawatt project through Maine and it is still pending. Why would they pull the trigger on another $2.78 billion to be paid by their ratepayers? Even if Massachusetts bought into this mess and the Maine PUC agreed to the terms. it would only prolong the agony to achieving carbon zero electricity.in Maine. Every kilowatt from this project would require a kilowatt match from Maine's fossil fuel plants as Massachusetts would further pressure fossil fuel plants within their state to shut down, We are already seeing a rapid escalation in Maine's natural gas and oil plant production to replace retiring plants in Southern New England. Catch 22 for Maine.policy makers. Energy poverty for Maine citizens.
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Comment by Richard McDonald/Saving Maine on December 13, 2022 at 5:26pm
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This project is not new. It was originally proposed by CMP/EMERA/EDP as part of aa RFP from Mass back in 2015 when things were running hot for the wind industry in Maine. It was presented as the Maine Renewable Energy Interconnect -MREI.
Obviously, Mass passed on it. There were other bidders offering wind power project from Southern Aroostook including ConEdison. They proposed laying the transmission lines underground within the abandoned jet fuel pipeline corridor from Loring to Sears Island then by undersea cable to Plymouth, MA. I understand ConEdison bid into this RFP.
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Excellent analysis Dan. The $2.78 billion is an estimate. This will be a black hole that no one wants to pay for. The only beneficiary will be Long Road when they receive their check from the Feds for the Investment Tax Credit on this scam. I wonder how much Sen. Troy Jackson is going make on this? 10% for the Big Guy stuff?
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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