June 18, 2010 - quick roundup

The town of Oxford, Maine, is looking at perhaps $25,000 in repairs needed at the dam at the former Robinson Mill. Last year, the town foreclosed on the mill property over $244,920 in back taxes from the last three years, and then voted to take possession of the mill property after the owner failed to make payments on his installment workout plan. The town expects repairs to include replacing the dam's log boom and grates, plus new decking and walkway supports. The dam maintains the water level in Thompson Lake.

The Lewiston Sun Journal reports that First Wind has canceled its presentation to the board of selectmen in Rumford, Maine. Rumford is considering a wind siting ordinance, and the Sun Journal reports that First Wind said it would be premature to present on the project before the ordinance comes out. First Wind had proposed a wind farm on Black Mountain and North and South Twin mountains, but has retooled the project after finding that the wind intensity didn't match the specified turbines.

The price of power from Cape Wind continues to make news. Now Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has intervened in the case before the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities over the proposed Cape Wind power purchase agreement with utility National Grid. Wal-Mart is reported as saying it supports the concept behind the project, but challenges the price it would have to pay for the wind-generated electricity.

3/16/10

Maine news in brief:
Governor Baldacci names a new LURC commissioner and reappoints 6 current members. LURC is Maine's Land Use Regulatory Commission, which rules on development plans in Maine's unorganized territory -- including the proposed Plum Creek development, and wind-power projects.

University of Maine names a new distance-learning director: Curt Madison, who has served at the University of Alaska - Fairbanks. Curious to see how this fits with the University's broadband plan.

Meanwhile Portland has applied to Google to be a test site for full-penetration super-fast internet.

Maple season is here, with Governor Baldacci tapping the ceremonial first tree.

Elsewhere:
29 governors "demand" a national renewable energy standard (or renewable portfolio standard). 10% by 2012? Many states, such as Maine, are already doing more.

Northern Maine Community College has decided to test its potential for wind generation. The College will install a meterological tower on the north end of campus to collect data on wind speed and direction. While it's unclear whether a tower at NMCC would cut the College's costs, it does dovetail nicely with NMCC's renewable and wind curriculum.

Meanwhile, President Obama has announced $8 billion in loan guarantees for nuclear power. The loan guarantees will help build two new nuclear reactors at an existing plant in Burke, Georgia. Statistics on the project include generation of power for 1.4 million people, 3,500 on-site construction jobs and approximately 800 permanent operations jobs.

2/3/10: wind in the news in Maine and Nova Scotia

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.