Nothing is more important in today’s world than a reliable electric power system. That applies as much to Maine as to any other state in the union. If a state suffers frequent power failures, it will likely have trouble attracting new business and new jobs, or even retaining old ones. Without a reliable power system, Maine could find itself at a considerable disadvantage in competition with other states.
Power blackouts have economic consequences. Productive capacity is lost, and businesses lose sales. The 2003 blackout may have cost as much as $10 billion in the Midwest and Northeast.
Blackouts take a human toll, too. Automobile accidents occur because traffic and highway lights aren’t working. Criminal elements take advantage of darkness, fear and confusion. Police and fire departments are often stretched beyond their limits.
I have been involved in electric reliability for the past 47 years. I’ve served as executive director of the regional organization which establishes and monitors conformance with reliability standards in the northeastern U.S. and eastern Canada, and I continue my efforts today as a consultant, writer and teacher. At the request of Central Maine Power, I recently reviewed the technical studies conducted for the Maine Power Reliability Project in the overall context of national and regional reliability standards.
The concept of reliability as applied to the electric power transmission system in Maine is not an arbitrary matter or one of corporate preference. All electric companies throughout the nation are required by law to meet a rigorous set of national and regional reliability standards. These were developed after the 2003 blackout and have now been made mandatory by the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Failure to comply is a violation of U.S. law, punishable by fines up to $1 million per day.
Despite the claims of some, CMP has scrupulously followed the mandatory federal and regional standards and criteria and has neither over-stated the need for the Maine Power Reliability Project nor attempted to “gold-plate” the bulk power system in Maine. The recommended enhancements to CMP’s 40-year-old system satisfy national and regional reliability standards, but do not go beyond them.
It has been argued that the needs of the transmission system should be addressed in smaller steps rather than include so many proposed system additions, that the Maine Power Reliability Project should have been done one element at a time. This is wrong. An integrated, long-term analysis will always produce an enhanced sys-tem with fewer elements at a lower cost and with less impact on the environment. A “piecemeal” approach, on the other hand, would be more expensive and would result in more transmission lines than necessary to satisfy reliability standards. It would be like building a sailing ship one plank at a time without a set of plans or at least an idea.
A comprehensive, long-range planning process will always result in a better solution — one that meets all applicable reliability requirements at the lowest cost, while minimizing how it affects the environment and people in general. After reviewing CMP’s studies, I can say with the confidence borne of 47 years experience that the Maine Power Reliability Project has done just that.
Some have suggested that the need for new transmission can be avoided or delayed by increasing conservation or by relying on renewable resources like wind or solar. All of these may be worthwhile pursuits. In fact, in proposing the Maine Power Reliability Project, CMP also supported increasing Maine’s conservation efforts. But none of these alternatives will alleviate the need for building new transmission. The Maine Power Reliability Project is about the transmission system, not load and generation. Even with increased conservation and renewables, the transmission system needs to be upgraded to meet mandatory reliability standards. Whatever mix of resources — wind, wave, tidal, conservation or whatever — the state will rely on in the future, it must have a reliable bulk power transmission system.
The transmission system truly is the backbone of power supply — the framework into which generating resources feed and from which cities, towns and rural areas derive their vital electric service. The citizens of Maine deserve an electric power system as reliable as the rest of North America, and in my view the Maine Power Reliability Project will provide it.
George Loehr is the former executive director of the Northeast Power Coordinating Council.