Please take a look at the wind resource map at:

http://www.windpoweringamerica.gov/wind_maps_none.asp

If you click on Maine, it becomes immediately evident that the only viable sites are offshore and in the western mountains.

Then why are places like Mars Hill and Stetson being chosen? Two reasons:

1. The government subsidy which comes out of taxpayers' pockets

2. The wind corporations figure they will not get adequate public resistance from these places

Maine is already a net exporter of power and produces a very large amount via renewable sources - hydro.

The wind farms create electrical surges that the grid cannot presently handle and this is why CMP's owner, the Spanish company Iberdrola wants a $1.4 BILLION addition to the state's powerlines. This is for one purpose - to pump electricity to Mass and Ct.

The wind turbines only work if wind speed is in a relatively narrow window. If the wind blows strong, they can't handle it and shut down.

The technology solution is to build offshore. Invest in this and then sell the technology the world over. That would be the real opportunity for Maine.

Everything else in the meantime is a taxpayer ripoff.

Follow the money and see how many more public officials end up hired by the wind companies.

Great news! Now let's build some more!

I LOVE the windmills...I want a small one for our back yard, we get a ton of wind year round from the wide open spaces and mountain winds. I think using natural resources is great, and Danforth is a great place for this project. :)

LincolnMOM

If your interested in a small wind turbine, take a look at the one from SouthWest Wind Power.

The company is from Arizona, the unit is called a Skystream 3.7, US made. Hoorah

If you search on the net just type in Skystream.

I live in Ontario Canada and have recently installed one in my back yard on a 50ft tower, the system is grid connected.

Rob

are they cheap noisy' ones???? made with Ford's leftovers??? soon to break down and need much maintenance money?????

The protesters should look beyond their little selfish, self-serving bubble and look at what is right for the state, the country, and the environment. It's too bad they can't channel their energies in a positive direction.

About time Maine. Now start building wind farms all over the state where there is ample wind. I am so tired of importing nuclear produced electricity from Canada.

I strongly believe in Wind Power and the resource that it provides. The idea of building wind turbines in my backyard only to sell to Ma & Ct and not for the region in which these windmills are based is kind of like RAPING the land(air in this case).

We the people of Maine need this resource to help us lower our eletricity rates, not in other more populated states.

UPC/First Wind couldn't care less about the environment. There concern is the subsidies and tax credits this scam will generate. The link to saving 331,00 barrels of oil is a total lie as almost no electricity is generated with oil. Too bad there were only ten protestors, there should have been thousands to protest this boondoggle.

In a few years the turbines will be rusting monuments to the greed, corruption and stupidity of the proponents of this rip off.

Thanks Rob we have looked into them and will be investing in one hopefully in the near future :) when they become a little more affordable.

Sorry to all the rest of the readers but.

mariahstorm

Your comment does not assist anyone, rude as you are and uncalled for.

Your comment sounds like you are a non patriot? If so leave the country and go some where else.

"Friends of Lincoln Lakes" I'd like to say give it up already but you guys are too entertaining. Except for the one guy that keeps posting letters to the editor in the Lincoln News that seems to have some kind of sexual problem. You guys should get rid of him before he gets arrested and your group goes down with him.

10 protesters? LMAO!!!! That's all they could muster is 10 people? Man o man, THAT is funny, funny stuff!!!

The wind maps need to be revised to indicate that the top wind spots are not just in the western mountains and 20 miles offshore, but anywhere near Alexander_Hunt.

It will take 6000 turbines to achieve 3000 MW of capacity contribution to the grid. That will require 1500 miles of ridge line.

Wind turbines are to birds, bats and raptors as egg beaters are to a goldfish bowl.

Wind turbine noise syndrome is nothing to joke about. Just ask the folks who are the victims of it.

The wind industry is steamrolling over the state, abusing the planning and zoning process and trampling people's right to peaceful enjoyment of their property.

If people would only take a few minutes to educate themselves about wind power.......

See SaveRoxbury.org for another point of view.

"just" to "promote the delivery of lower cost energy to......host towns". ??? Danforth is TINY. Just how much would "residents" of Danforth actually save.? Washington State in its abillity to generate electricity statewide shares those savings significantly with ALL of its "residents". How about the rest of us HERE in MAINE and WASHINGTON COUNTY?

6000 turbines at 5 million each is 30 billion dollars. For 3000 MW of grid capacity.

A 560 MW natural gas plant can be built for about 300 million dollars. That plant would have 85% grid capacity, or 476 MW of grid capacity.

That would leave you with 29 billion, 700 million dollars to buy natural gas on forward hedged contracts at todays prices. That would get you well into the next century.

Get the picture you turbine loving idiots?

build a boat launch in dexter

Fearful of full anarchy and destruction of the dedication of their Wind Toy Castle of Folly on Stetson Mountain, the citizen rabble were refused entrance to speak to the Wind Czars. Chief Czar of Firstwind , fearful of a full fledged insurrection and takeover by the rabble and mob of ten, would refuse their entry to their castle built from the work of the masses. This could be most embarrassing with the Kremliesque leader visiting for the play.

Asked to remove themselves to within 30 feet of centerline of the public way, they still feared the weapons of First Amendment Truth .As the privileged entered and exited the Castle of Folly, some eyes became curious and asked the hearty peons the meaning of the waved weapons of wood and words. Such an airing might prove most destructive to their new found Blow Toy Kingdom, they would say. Words of Scam, Tax Folly, and most importantly, the exercising of peon legal rights, Will prove Most Costly to the Czars, who rarely see such things of danger utilized by the mindless masses.Tis better to Lie and Keep them dumb, so other Castles of Folly can be built for their future entertainment.

Imagine what might have happened if there had been eleven there!

Please someone (preferably the BDN) answer the following questions for me:

How much steel is used to build a turbine? How much power is used to make the steel and transport it? How much power is used to build the powerlines from the turbines to the grid? How much air pollution comes from all of this? How much does all the demand for steel drive up the price of steel and all things made from steel? Is it as much as the old folly du jour called Ethanol drove up the price of corn and other foods?

CRFWF.PK, at $1, going down.

WNDY , to follow the same trend line, if it ever sees the light of day.

Poor wind Czars!

Sorry, CRPWF.PK at $1 , it is ashame those turbines don't work ,and you had to buy them.!!!

;->

The common line from the wind companies is that "...it will generate enough power to run 23,000 homes for a year..." what they don't say is that it is 23,000 Massachusetts or Canadian homes. The power generated by these monstricities does not benefit the State of Maine, nor does it stay here in the State. Why do we want out-of-state companies destroying our landscapes to generate power that they take out of Maine? Let them put those industrial tubines in their own neighborhoods. Maine already generates more power, mostly by hydro-electric (renewable resource), than it needs and it ships the excess to the grid. These industrial wind sites don't benefit the State of Maine.

First, test the premise of 23,000 homes. That is not true of course . Do some math, utilizing DEP, or ISO houshold consumption for New England homes. Utilize a .24 wind factor, which is generous..the figure is much lower , more like 11,000 homes on a good day, unstored. That figure of 23, 000 (outrageously generous by any figure) only occurs when the wind blows at peak as well. So, you can wait around the kitchen table waiting for it to happen. Then, add to that the baseline power needed to come online on wind dropoff, and the benefit reduces more, as baseline pull-up power must be used to feed the same homes.

Ask a Bangor daily News reporter to try his hand at the above statements please. That is our problem, it takes some INVESTIGATION. Beyond the scope of most reporters in Maine it seems.

Building sprawling industrial wind sites doesn't mean that we all are going "green" now! Most of you have to come a long way! 1): this electricity is all going further south and not to Maine. And I'm not really sure that you want that because of 2): Alternative energy is sold to the provider with up to 80 % surcharge! And 3): how much more nature do we have to destroy for the sake of energy? Did you already forget what brought us here, why our planet is in such a peril? It's the energy-stupid! And if anybody is really concerned about carbon dioxide, what a paradox to clearcut one of our most important sources of cleaning the air. It's the trees!!! Then there is the blasting away of miles of ridgelines, fragmenting wildlife habitat, noise, vibro-acoustic impacts on humans and wildlife, visual blight, etc. There are far more negative aspects of industrial wind than any benefits!

mountainman et al,

Let's talk about numbers, briefly. This facility is rated at 57 MW. It will generate electricity at about a 30% capacity factor (this is not too different from a typical hydro facility in Maine). Annually, this wind farm will then produce 57 MW * 8760 hours * 30% = 150,000 MWh of electricity, or 150 million kWh of electricity per year. A typical home in New England uses something like 8,000 kWh/year, while the typical home in Maine uses 6,500 kWh/year. They got the 23,500 homes by dividing the annual production by the typical consumption of a Maine home. They nailed it, as a matter of fact. A more intellectually honest number might be more like 18,000 homes, which is the number of typical New England homes powered, and the juice flows into the whole New England grid.

Check out:

http://arjournals.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev.energy.28.050302.105630?cookieSet=1&journalCode=energy

if anybody wants to read a scientific paper comparing the true costs (including health problems caused by pollution) of different forms of energy production.

Now let's talk about steel and embodied energy:

Believe it or not, turbine blades don't use much steel -- it's much too heavy. Instead, they use wood and fiberglass. Steel is used in the construction of the towers and the turbines themselves, but it's not very much. The amount of energy required to construct the wind turbines is produced by the wind turbine in a couple of months -- the embodied energy per lifetime production of electricity is about the same for coal or nuclear or high efficiency natural gas power plants.

Every kilowatt-hour of energy produced by these wind turbines will reduce the amount of coal and gas burned for power in Southern New England. This reduces the amount of air pollution coming into Maine and makes Maine healthier.

I think the neighbors of these things have legitimate concerns over the way we site societally-beneficial facilities, but these facilities do benefit the rest of us. We just need to find a way to compensate those who are adversely affected.

Those DEMOSCROTES in Disgusta provide enough hot air and wind energy to (if harnessed and sold) eliminate the national debt!

"A more intellectually honest number might be more like 18,000 homes"

One could also argue that another number would zero homes. You cannot power a single home for a year with wind. This is because when the wind drops below about 7 miles per hour, it produces no electricity.

Now , please comment on the accuracy of your computer generated noise figures when comared to the actual numbers of db at Mars Hill when at full capacity production, and whether you meet DEP guidelines for that project please. If you dont, what would be the logical action for the state to take?Please explain how those figures also correlate to those reported in NY state for another one of your projects.

You played into it, so please read this. Until this occurs, citizens should not believe a thing concerning what a company like Firstwind claims.

January 21, 2009 by John Droz jr. in Watertown Daily Times

Imagine this scenario: pharmaceutical companies selling any drug they feel like, having no scientific testing to support their drug's efficacy, making any claim that's in their financial interest, and having no federal or state oversight (e.g. Food and Drug Adminsitration) regarding any of these matters.

Would that make any sense at all? Would we be healthier under that setup? Would you be surprised that bogus products would proliferate? Well, that is exactly the absurd situation we currently have with electrical energy.

The FDA exists because health is a top priority — but energy and health now significantly overlap. For instance some energy pollutants (e.g. from coal facilities) are known carcinogens. More importantly, many believe that the sum effect of energy contaminants will result in the human species demise. What trumps that?

Currently electrical energy profiteers can sell essentially any "alternative" source of energy they feel like, have no independent scientific testing to support its efficacy, and make almost any assertion that's in their financial interest. Wind power is an example.

Since this fiasco exists due to the lack of adequate oversight, the best solution is to create an Electrical Energy Administration, which would be given Food and Drug Administration-like responsibilities.

In short, companies wanting to sell an alternative that garnered financial incentives (or counted toward a Renewable Portfolio Standard), would be required to submit extensive, independent, objective scientific testing to verify that their alternative was at least equal to conventional electrical power sources.

The EEA wouldn't do testing themselves, but rather would be a panel of independent scientific experts who would evaluate the evidence presented, and approve or reject proposed alternatives based on its technical, economic and environmental merits. Additionally, the EEA would have the authority to subsequently see that there wasn't false advertising, and would be able to pull an alternative power source if new adverse information was revealed. Such an agency would be a perfect watchdog over economic-stimulus electrical energy dollars.

If done correctly (learning from FDA experiences), the economic and environmental benefits to consumers, taxpayers, ratepayers, and the country as a whole would be profound.

The alternative is to continue down a senseless street: essentially a completely unregulated Wild West bonanza, where smooth-talking lobbyists and their shills are peddling snake oil, where no claim is too outrageous, and over a trillion dollars will be sucked out of the pockets of us unsuspecting marks — with miniscule merits.

Web link: http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/article/2009012...

il this occurs, no more Wind Industrial lies to the public please.

A few more figures and questions to consider: 1) The 30 % number is generous, 22-25% is more realistic. 2) Has any consideration been given to power lost in the transmission process? 3) The unreliability and variation in wind speeds requires that it be backed up by more conventional production - this comes with a high price tag. 4) Has anyone seen a KWH price delivered to a home, with and without tax breaks and subsidies? 5) Our health, welfare, standard of living and freedom is tied into our ability to produce and use energy. Are the decisions we are making today going to benefit the next generation? 6) Can anyone visualize 6000 windmills over the Maine landscape?

jspenser, where did you get the figure of 30% production for a Maine hydro facility. I've never seen anything approaching so low a figure for hydro-electric?

Great! The Stetson project, if all turbines are operational at full efficiency is going to power 23,500 homes--if and when the wind blows! Ten percent of Maines energy usage is electricity and 46% of the electricity is generated by renewable sources. We already produce more electricity than Maine uses. The problem with Maine's energy usage is dependence on fuel oil for heating and gasoline/diesel for transportation. Utility scale wind power will not address that part of the energy dilemma. How can we make use of all this electricity created by wind-turbines? Is everybody going to receive a free or subsidized electric heater and a plug-in electric car? Shouldn't there first be a business-plan before we're destroying what makes Maine unique?

I don't know if its been mentioned yet... but Danforth is about east of bumFFF nowhere maine.... is it powering Danforth?

YOU CANT FIX STUPID . STUPID IS FOREVER AND EVER

On 1/23/09 at 08:57 PM, piscataquis_riot wrote:

I don't know if its been mentioned yet... but Danforth is about east of bumFFF nowhere maine.... is it powering Danforth?

This was a quiet peaceful part of Maine, with lots of Lakes and woods. I don't think people who live in the city have a clue to what they are missing. Too bad Industrial wind came to town, and changed our way of life. It is something we can never get back now. If Baldacci gets his way, Maine will be a skeleton of what it once was, before he took office. Of course he thinks it's great for our area, he is a city boy who never enjoyed quiet country living. Maybe then he MIGHT understand where we are coming from..Also, What would make anyone think Danforth is getting any power from this wind site? It has been said over and over its being shipped to Mass. Wonder how much of that small amount of power produced is lost getting there?

I would also like to mention, we had a new artesian well dug 10 years ago with the best tasting water! This winter I am finding it has a funny smell, and is cloudy. Just coincidence? I don't think so, I live 3 miles from the Stetson project..

Hey, all us folks from Lincoln and Danforth. let's think of the upside. No more friends getting lost attempting to visit us in our once peaceful corner of the world. From now on - Just follow the the turbines.

On 1/24/09 at 11:53 AM, thopki2 wrote:

Hey, all us folks from Lincoln and Danforth. let's think of the upside. No more friends getting lost attempting to visit us in our once peaceful corner of the world. From now on - Just follow the the turbines.

That still might be a problem, you can see the Stetson Mountain turbines in Prentiss, out as far away as Lee! They show up in all directions for miles away. What a view :(

All wind turbines should be placed in a few large windfarms (preferably in some desolate place in flyover country, not along America's limited amount of ocean land).

.

Instead of putting a few here, and a few there, and a few more over there--at that rate, you'll be able to see and hear them from anyplace.

.

I thought Stetson Mtn. is where they make the cologne

Are there any anemometers installed at the wind farm?

Blowhards! see WSJ Jan.24-25, 2009

Markets should shape energy policy, not feel good fads.

Tufts economist Gilbert Metcalf ran the numbers, and found that the effective tax rate for wind industrial power is -163.8% !

In other words, that is to the tune of .64 cents from govt subsidy,directly.

Energy Information Administration estimates wind receives $23.37 per megawatt hour, VERSUS .44 cents for coal!

Despite these government crutches, wind only provides 1% od US NET electric generation.

Energy policy should be generated by the markets, not subsidization at these levels. Not only will this nonsense ruin environment, it ruins

our check books .Rep. Mr.Delahunt in 2005 of Mass. was calling for a Apollo project in Alternative energy . In reality, such projects are only

possible because of political patronage, not economic or scientific logic.

And our enlightened representatives in Maine, from the governor on down, to a Task Forces on Energy, fall into the same scam. Why ,one might ask? THE SCAM CONTINUES----

First Wind’s Web site also indicates the company has two more projects totaling 230 megawatts in early development for undisclosed Maine locations.

Wonder why all the secrecy on where the two newest projects will be in Maine? I guess its the old ,Take em by surprise routine, First Wind loves so much! Doesn't give the locals time to fight them off. Get ready folks, it could be your town next. If this is such a wonderful thing for Maine, why not let Mainers know what is going on?

Follow the money. It is not about a PR campaign to atempt to discredit legitimate facts and discussion for corporate benefit. It is about You seeing the facts on the ridiuclous fallacy of Energy Policy Scamming.(unless you are part of it , and have vested interest in it)...TAX DOLLARs are being wasted wth industrial Blow Toys.

Suggestion....Repeal of Expedited Process in Maine. Return to local control on issues affecting all regions of the state. Economic evaluation of energy production by independent sources. Residential energy tax credits for consumer utilization, and decentralization of energy production for local utilization.

Lets see the real influence and interrelationships of Big Wind in our state reported on , and have a Citizen Task Force for Energy Policy, with citizen input, that effects the only entity of rule in this state, the citizen.

Lets look at Clean coal, Oil, gas,(and , oh my gard, Nuclear) and other sources in Maine, which has a wealth of good options. There are places for wind and solar, but Industrial wind is a farce. $23.37 per MW subsidized at over 64 percent, v .44 cents for coal., for 1 percent production of Electricity, which we have a wealth of. Lets get real here.

. Also, the markets are seeing this. Industrial wind onshore is doomed. Offshore, maybe in the near future.

The corporate policy makers love to scream NIMBY, "visual thing".THe PR departments are at work to discreidit You , the Citizen. But they want to stick their hands in your pockets, which they need to exist and perpetuate The Scam.. That is their PR modus operandi, to discredit.

It is about taxpayers being scammed financially, physically , environmentally. You want an immediate suggestion,

1. STATE WIND MORATORIUM on this issue for Independatnt fact review , NOW.!

2.Elimination of Expedited Process(for the corporations benefit) for CONSTITUTIONAL PROCESS (for the only entity in our Constitution, the Citizen), NOW!

Start with those two, my friends.

And a very important Third component to wind Policy needed in Maine. Immediately We should:

ESTABLISH A MAINE ETHICS CODE, intitiated by the new AG, for wind power companies trying to do business in this state . A major component being a full transparent process and disclosure of money transfers made by Wind Power companies to all private, municipal and state entities as it relates to the siting process in the State of Maine

Oh, you don't think we need an ethics code as part of overall policy? Read on.

"SCIDA's action marks the first upbeat note for First Wind after a year of controversy, which still include lawsuits challenging eminent domain proceedings brought by the town board, and charges of improper, unethical action by town Supervisor Harold Mc- Connell.

In addition, First Wind also is one of two wind farm developers currently under investigation by the state Attorney General. "

Web link: http://www.steubencourier.com/news/2009/0125/news/...

Sigh. Same old story. The wind supporters are the ones who sold out to FirstWind and signed waivers that they accept any health problems in the future. They have no legal recourse if their families have health problems. Funny how MONEY skews common sense. TEN protesters way up in the woods? That is the equivalent of 10,000in Augusta. How come the TV cameras turned away? Did John Baldacci and his wind nazis pull their influence? I watched the news and was disappointed to get a one sided PR story. The Washington County Commissioner must be ignoring Mars Hill's problems if he thinks Giant Pinwheels are good for Wash. County. Baldacci's Blow Buddies are all for the ruination of rural Maine. Not surprising as they are from "the other Maine".

Well, sounds like if the land owners had to sign a waiver to accept any health problems in the future, that theres going to be health problems and First Wind knows it, and so does our govornment. Thanks for posting that happycamper1! We have all heard of Nina pierpoints talks about health problems related to wind towers, but all the people that want the towers, don't want us to believe it. I would love to see the papers that First Wind has people sign before they give up there land to First Wind for years and years!

Maine’s "wind rush" an abuse of the public trust (from windaction.org)

Last week, First Wind (formerly UPC Wind) hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony at its newest wind farm in New England, the Stetson wind energy facility located in Danforth, Maine. The event celebrated completion of the 38-turbine (57-megawatt) facility and was attended by 100 state and local officials including Maine's Governor Baldacci, construction company representatives, and local business owners.

The Governor addressed the crowd by praising his administration's proactive agenda on wind power development and the State's willingness "...to change for the future while safeguarding its natural resources."

Washington County Commissioner Chris Gardner thanked First Wind for its investment and called the company "tremendous stewards of our environmental resources and, most importantly, the public trust."

The public fawning by Maine's officials is typical of what we've come to expect from Baldacci and other politicos in Maine and its neighboring States of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, but in this case one needn't dig too deep to realize the "feel-good" messages belie the harsh realities surrounding Stetson.

The Stetson wind project involved two separate permit applications submitted to two different State regulatory bodies. The primary application covering the wind farm itself was submitted to and approved by Maine's Land Use Regulatory Commission (LURC). The second, known as the "Line 56 Project", detailed construction of a 38-mile, 115 kV (Line 56) transmission line from Stetson Wind to the Keene Road substation in Chester, Maine and was approved by the State's Department of Environmental Protection (ME-DEP).

According to the "Line 56 Project" application, the 38-mile line involved impacts to 81.1 acres of wetlands including crossing the Penobscot River, the Mattagodus Stream Wildlife Management Area1, and the Mattawamkeag River twice! Windaction.org wonders whether Governor Baldacci was even aware of what his ME-DEP approved when he praised Maine for "safeguarding its natural resources". Impacts to the natural environment notwithstanding, First Wind described the aesthetic impact of building Line 56 as ‘Low' despite the fact that 173 dwellings were located within 300-feet of the line.

But the situation surrounding Stetson is more dire.

In June 2007, three months prior to First Wind submitting its application for permission to construct Line 56, the final draft copy of the Interconnection System Impact Study was released detailing the local- and grid- wide impacts to the New England power grid should Stetson feed 57 MW to the grid. The findings of study were clear.

The System Impact Study asserted Stetson would have "no significant system impact to the stability, reliability, and operating characteristics" of the New England transmission system but that conclusion tells only part of the story. The study also showed that the existing transmission Line 64, into which Line 56 would feed, was at full capacity (151 MW) servicing Brookfield Power's 126 MW hydroelectric system and Indeck's 25 MW biomass power plant - both base load renewable generators. With the introduction of Stetson energy into Line 64, energy output from Brookfield and/or Indeck would have to be significantly curtailed resulting in a 0 MW net gain in renewable generation for the region. Put another way, Stetson Wind, an intermittent unpredictable generator, could displace existing reliable base load renewables.

In its March 13, 2008 letter to the ME-DEP, Brookfield Power New England LLC correctly stated through its attorney Matthew D. Manahan that "It is not in the public interest for new intermittent renewable generation to be constructed and to pass over Line 56 if it simply displaces existing renewable generation - that can provide capacity to Maine - on another transmission line, Line 64."

Regardless the environmental, visual and transmission impacts of Line 56, ME-DEP granted First Wind the permit.

It's not certain how much, if any of Stetson's 57 MWs of wind energy will ever reach the New England power grid, but according to a recent article in the Bangor Daily News, the ISO-New England and Maine state officials assured Brookfield and Indeck that the established power generators' needs would come first when the Stetson Mountain project goes active. Brookfield Renewable Power Inc.'s general manager told the paper "In layman's terms, they [First Wind] were going to have to take a back seat to our transmission needs." That may be true, but Windaction.org wonders whether First Wind's bankers, HSH Nordbank, who wrote a letter endorsing First Wind and the Stetson proposal to ME DEP is aware of this fact. And did Governor Baldacci know this last week when he bowed before the massive towers.

Still, none of these issues have dampened First Wind's plans to build Stetson II, a 17-turbine 25.5 MW facility. According to published documents submitted to LURC in November 2008, Stetson II will connect to the same substation as Stetson I and has no need for additional transmission. (The same holds for First Wind's proposed 60 MW Rollins Wind project.)

First Wind's Stetson II (and Rollins Wind) will further exacerbate the congestion on Line 64, and its energy may never get to the New England grid.

But apparently, First Wind is confident it will still get Maine's permission to build Stetson II.

Windaction.org has learned First Wind has already taken delivery of Stetson II's seventeen turbines. These photos (photo1, photo2) dated December 20, 2008 show the turbine components on the Stetson Mountain leased property and at the old staging area for Stetson I.

With powerful wind proponents like Governor Baldacci and First Wind's Chief Development Officer Kurt Adams (former chairman of Maine's Public Utilities Commission, Maine's primary regulator of transmission infrastructure), First Wind has no reason to sweat the hard questions. But to be safe, Bill LD 199 was introduced in the legislature to squash all possible local obstacles. The summary of LD 199 states:

"The bill grants the state-level wind power siting authority, which is the Department of Environmental Protection or the Maine Land Use Regulation Commission depending on the location of a given wind power development, sole jurisdiction for approving the construction and initial operation of a wind energy development. Specifically, the bill prohibits any other state or local governmental entity from requiring any approval, permit or other condition for the construction or initial operation of a wind energy development that has been certified or permitted by the wind power siting authority."

Contrary to Washington County Commissioner Chris Gardner praise of First Wind as "tremendous stewards ...of the public trust", in fact, First Wind, and those Maine officials entrusted to protect the environment and the health, safety, and welfare of the residents have shown nothing but contempt for the public trust.

Unfortunately, it will be Maine's citizens and the greater New England region who pay the price for Baldacci's ignorance, Kurt Adams audacity, and First Wind's arrogance.

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1The Mattagodus wetland system includes one of New England’s most ecologically significant fens (groundwater-fed wetlands), at least ten endangered and threatened species including the Clayton’s copper butterfly (which only occurs at ten sites in the world), and a rare mayfly species whose only known occurrence is in Maine.

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News

The deer yard First Wind went through is across the road from my house. This year we have had more deer in our yard then ever before in the winter. Seems they have nowhere to go. Washington County commissioner Chris Gardner called the company "tremendous stewards of our environmental resources and, most importantly, the public trust." Who is he trying to kid??????

Friends of Lincoln lakes, one of your group tried to burn down the town of Lincoln back in 2002. I hope that you dont plan on letting her loose on this town again. We are still trying to clean up her mess from before. Thank you.