First Wind is considering developing another wind site in Maine, this time on Bowers Mountain in Carroll Plantation. First Wind is already Maine's largest wind operator, with 42 MW at Mars Hill and 57 MW online at Stetson Mountain sites -- plus 26 more MW at Stetson II coming online this spring, and DEP approval secured for a proposed 51 MW project in Oakfield. Next steps include compiling the data from the three test towers on the site, and engaging in a dialogue with the people living in the area. If you look at the map of Bowers Mountain, you can see that it's north of the Grand Lakes system, just south of Route 6, about halfway between Lincoln and the Canadian border at Vanceboro. From satellite photos, the area seems to have been mostly cut over relatively recently.
Wind's the thing today in Atlantic Canada, with reports that Bangor Hydro's parent Emera (also owner of Nova Scotia Power) has gobbled up the remaining shares of the Digby, NS wind project -- 20 turbines, with a 20-year power purchase agreement with Nova Scotia Power. Emera projects that the generators will be online by the end of 2010 and will produce enough energy to serve 10,000 homes. Nova Scotia Power also has a stake in two other wind projects being developed in Nova Scotia: a 49% interest in the Point Tupper project on the southwest tip of Cape Breton Island, and the entire Nuttby Mountain project in the Cobequid Mountains.
Maine's Governor Baldacci has traveled to Washington, DC to meet with President Obama and ten other governors on energy issues. His stated priorities include deepwater offshore wind and other ocean energy technologies, residential weatherization, and the potential for a federal climate change bill. Meanwhile, state representative Alexander Cornell du Houx, a young military veteran, has made his own trip to DC to work on energy issues.
Energy powers society; society's choices shape energy policy. A blog about our energy resources and the choices they present for society.
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