3/22/10

A small fire broke out inside a trash shredder at the Biddeford, Maine waste-to-energy plant Maine Energy Recovery Company (MERC). Perhaps the energy content of the fuel was just bursting to be set free.

Remember the battle over whether the Fort Halifax dam and its associated hydroelectric generating capacity on the Sebasticook River in Winslow, Maine should be removed? The 100-year-old dam was breached in July 2008 after lengthy debate and legal proceedings. , In essence, dam owner FPL Energy Maine Hydro (formerly Florida Power & Light, now NextEra) found itself burdened by a fish passage requirement imposed during the Edwards Dam removal proceedings. Under the Kennebec Hydro Developers Group Agreement (or the KHDG Agreement), FPL found itself either required to breach the dam or install a particular fish passage technology. FPL elected to breach the dam. Many people, including state representative Ken Fletcher of Winslow, opposed this decision, arguing that FPL's choice would have dire environmental and cost consequences, and that it was bad policy in light of the overall push for more renewable capacity. Representative Fletcher has now filed a document with the Maine DEP demonstrating costs to taxpayers of between $950,000 and $1.6 million. Key cost components include: $114,997 for the town's share of replacing a sewer line exposed after breach, $30,375 in costs for title and survey work over and above the value the town recovered by selling formerly submerged lands, $800,000 more than previously estimated to replace the Mile Brook Bridge on Garland Road due to erosion, , and $725,396 to demolish six homes on an unstable riverside slope on Dallaire Street.

The "energy corridor" bill in Maine was voted Ought to Pass as Amended by the Joint Standing Committee on Utilities and Energy. Among the issues are how Maine should regulate high-impact transmission lines connecting the massive hydroelectric capacity of Hydro-Quebec to southern New England markets, given that these lines will affect Maine's costs and strategic energy position.

The AP is covering a story about a California water district's proposed use of 47 square miles of poorly-managed farmland -- land that due to bad water use is now very salty -- for a solar photovoltaic farm of up to one gigawatt.

Who wants free money? $1.3 million in energy grants through Efficiency Maine to Northern Maine Community College in Presque Isle, Eastern Maine Community College in Bangor, Kennebec Community College in Augusta and Southern Maine Community College in South Portland. $2 million in grants for water projects too.

Wind siting: Thorndike voters approved the siting ordinance. Fort Kent votes tonight.

3/19/10

The board of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power approved the Energy Cost Adjustment Factor, a multicomponent rate hike that includes Mayor Villaraigosa's carbon tax. This will add $30 per year to residentials' electric bills, and will increase business rates by 20%. Proceeds will be spent on energy efficiency.


What's new in federal energy/climate legislation? Kerry-Graham-Lieberman grows more detailed, allegedly through leaks after the closed-door session with industry (read: energy) leaders. Here's a good summary from ClimateProgress.org.


Maine energy efficiency programs in the news: a good Kennebec Journal article on how Efficiency Maine is using the $9 million in federal stimulus money that it received to award performance-based rebates of up to $3,000 for residential weatherization and efficiency measures.



A well-written Bangor Daily News article on the proposed Thorndike wind siting ordinance that goes before the annual town meeting this weekend. Other towns are also considering what they should do to regulate towers.

3/18/10

As Maine considers its energy future, there are many concerns about Hydro-Quebec, and what will happen if we allow our powerful northern neighbor to build transmission lines connecting their nearly limitless hydropower with New England markets.




Thorndike voters will pass judgment on a proposed wind turbine siting ordinance, including a one-mile setback and noise regulations. Two companies have proposed projects on a ridge extending through Thorndike and into Dixmont and Jackson.



The Dallas (TX) Morning News reports that China is enacting protectionist measures to ensure that China, not the US, will manufacture the components needed for the massive anticipated build-out of wind generation in Asia and worldwide.



Los Angeles mayor Villaraigosa has proposed a significant new tax on electricity, with the proceeds going to a newly-created Renewable Energy and Efficiency Trust Fund, to pay for new conservation programs and a solar feed-in tariff. Everyone's bill will go up by 9% to 28%, with the brunt of the tax falling on business and industrial energy consumers. LA has set a 20% RPS by the end of 2010.




What's going on with federal energy and climate change legislation? Lots of talk. Yesterday Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) met with major industry groups to present an 8-page concept outline. Supposedly this draft calls for greenhouse gas curbs across the board, reducing emissions 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020 and 80 percent by 2050. The draft starts by regulating power plant emissions in 2012, with other major industrial sources emitting over 25,000 tons per year of GHGs phased in starting in 2016. Notably, this draft preempts U.S. EPA climate regulations under the Clean Air Act and supplants dozens of state climate laws.