Monhegan island electricity grid updates

Residents of the Maine island of Monhegan will soon benefit from upgraded electricity infrastructure, thanks to a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Supplying electricity and other forms of energy on remote islands offers a unique set of challenges.  For islands too far from the mainland grid to be connected by undersea transmission cables, island utilities must both produce the power and distribute it to homes and businesses.  On small, remote islands, the lack of economies of scale can lead to very high electricity costs.  About 12 miles offshore, Monhegan one of those islands.  In recent years, customers served by the Monhegan Plantation Power District have paid electricity prices about 5 times higher than those on the mainland.

Propane tanks sit by the dock on Monhegan Island, Maine.

Yesterday the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that the Monhegan Plantation Power District has won $420,154 from the USDA's High Energy Cost Grant Program.  That program provides competitively-awarded grants to improve and provide energy generation, transmission and distribution facilities serving communities with average home energy costs exceeding 275% of the national average. Grant funds may be used for on-grid and off-grid renewable energy projects, energy efficiency and energy conservation projects serving eligible communities.

On Monhegan, the grant will be used to replace the current switchgear, add a smaller, 40 kW generator to the power station's fleet, and add a 13 kW solar photovoltaic array to the power station's roof.  Currently, electricity is provided to about 100 accounts on Monhegan from a 300 kW diesel generator.  Demand for electricity on Monhegan varies seasonally, with many fewer consumers on the island during the winter months.  The new 40 kW generator and solar array are expected to be able to cover the winter load more efficiently than using the existing larger generator.

While Monhegan typifies the remote, inhabited small island, other islands face similar energy challenges.  Will Monhegan serve as an example for other island communities?

Maine lighthouses and offshore wind

The federal government is trying to give away two historic lighthouses on offshore Maine islands, one of which lies near a designated offshore wind testing site.  The two lighthouses - Halfway Rock Light Station and Boon Island Light Station - are located on islands offshore of southern Maine.  To qualify to take either lighthouse for free, applicants must commit to preserving the structures' historical integrity and promoting public access to their islands.

Cuckolds Fog Signal and Light Station off Boothbay Harbor, Maine.  This lighthouse was privatized in 2006 through the same program now seeking to convey two other Maine lighthouses.

Halfway Rock is a 2-acre rock ledge about 10 miles east of Portland Head Light on a 2-acre rock ledge.  The rock is named for its position half way between the two ends of Casco Bay, formed by Cape Elizabeth and Cape Small.

Boon Island Light lies 6 miles off the coast of York.  It is the tallest lighthouse on the Maine coast, standing 123 feet tall.  The waters off Boon Island were designated as an offshore wind energy test site in December 2009, along with sites near Damariscove Island and Monhegan.  To date, no commercial developer has publicly announced plans to develop the Boon Island offshore wind site.

If no entities qualify for a free transfer of the lighthouses, the U.S. General Services Administration will auction them off.  (In 2010, Ram Island Ledge Light near Cape Elizabeth was sold at auction for $190,000.)  The government's plans to sell or give away the lighthouses may not directly affect the proposed offshore wind plans, but whoever gets the Boon Island site would have a commanding view of any wind turbines sited nearby.