AUGUSTA, Maine — Central Maine Power Co. on Monday announced the completion of a 39-mile transmission line between Moscow and Benton.
The 115,000-volt line provides a second transmission link to central Somerset County. The $33 million, which project began in October, includes the terminal with breakers and other improvements at the Wyman Hydro Substation in Moscow. It also involved the construction of 450 single-pole, wood structures in an existing corridor through nine towns in Kennebec and Somerset counties.
“This project is yet another example of the company’s investments for a stronger, smarter grid in Maine,” Sara Burns, CMP’s president and CEO, said in a statement. “Residential, commercial, and industrial customers will have more reliable service, and we’re providing better access to markets for the region’s renewable energy industry.”
The transmission line is part of more than $500 million in system improvements begun in 2011.
The project was approved by the Maine Public Utilities Commission last year through an agreement among multiple interested parties, including the Maine Office of the Public Advocate, the Conservation Law Foundation, Highland Wind LLC, the Penobscot Indian Nation, NextEra Energy and the Maine Renewable Energy Association.
On July 1, without a single mention in any of the state’s newspapers, electricity transmission rates went up for CMP customers by 19.6%. The MPUC is trying to imply this is due to the Feds, but in fact, it is due to the MPUC-approved CMP $1.5 billion upgrade (and other transmission projects) all approved by the MPUC in the name of ensuring reliability. Just as they are avoiding blame by blaming the Feds, they are avoiding the truth in that the sole reason for the need for reliability is that the old grid is being made unreliable due to the thermal overload on lines caused by these infernal remote sputtering wind factories.
GOOGLE: “What every Maine ratepayer needs to know”
Ratepayers unite already.
CMP is not kidding anyone. They built this 115kv 39 mile line at least in part to service the wind farm under development by Cianbro and others who bid on and bought the Moscow OTH radar site from the GSA. http://www.sunjournal.com/node/1185355/98407
So, the PUBLIC Utilities Commission approves a project involving an agreement with a wind industry lobbying group, an environmental lobbying group, and a couple of businesses and landowners that will benefit financially. Of course, no one seems to have given any consideration to the fact that much of the PUBLIC that lives in the area is vigorously opposed to the mountaintop wind projects that these $500,000,000 (billed to the PUBLIC) “improvements” are built to serve – or that most of the wind projects haven’t even been permitted yet, and may never be.
More recently, the PUC has approved deals that seem geared more to the service of industry than to service of the PUBLIC (CMP/smart meters and First Wind/Emera). What ever happened to the PUBLIC in the PUBLIC Utilities Commission?
The MPUC has done at least five major bad-bads in the last few years:
1. Kurt Adams PUC commisioner pushed for MPRP (CMP upgrade) and then took over $1million in First Wind stock options and went to work at First Wind as director of transmission.
2. Current PUC commissioner David Littell pushes wind for RGGI where he is Chairman which conflicts with his PUC role of ensuring fair and reasonable rates.
3. The PUC approved the First Wind-Emera deal against staff recommerndation even though it was illegal – citing “Jobs” as a reason, something that should be of no concern to them.
4. They ignored Smart Meter health complaints and were just nailed by the Maine Supreme Court for this.
5. They approved the CMP upgrade for $1.5 billion over staff recommendation that it could be done for $667,000 and it is wind projects like this across the grid that will send our transmission rates through the roof.
Moreover the PUC was anything but straightforward in connecting the dots for Mainers and in fact denies that the MPRP had anything to do with wind when the facts are that wherever wind is put in around the world, new transmission is needed. The PUC in its small notice buried on its site where nobody looks tried to lay the blame on the Feds, shirking responsibility. It was the PUC who approved this project. The PUC also disingenuously attempted to minimize the cost of the MPRP by saying Mainers would only pay 8% of the cost, being only 8% of ISO-NE. But they NEVER pointed out we will pay 8% of all wind-required transmission across the grid.
They seem to be doing everything they can to grease the skids for wind. It’s like someone has “gotten” to them.
Why are two of the PUC Commissioners guest speakers at the upcoming September meeting of the American Wind Energy Association?
We need a giant anti-PUC demonstration involving all wind fighters, transmission fighters and smart meter fighters who have seen their rights trampled by the PUC. We need a Maine citizens’ ratepayers association. We need the Governor to look into this and submit some wind bills and a bill to clean up the PUC. We need the Governor to use his bully pulpit to talk about the 19.6% transmission increase of July 1 as just the beginning. We frankly need him to declare the state wind law as inadequate and implore towns to create wind study groups and consider writing local wind ordinances.
Maine’s Public Utilities Commission released a report stating that Maine’s Renewable Portfolio Standard policies provide enormous economic benefits, much larger than costs.
http://www.nrcm.org/documents/MPUC.RPS%20report.final.pdf
Maine PUC Chairman David Littell is also Chairman of the Board of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. They’re the group that markets the wind industry’s Renewable Energy Credits (REC’s). He can’t possible serve the interests of Maine’s ratepayers while furthering his “green at all costs” agenda. Conflict of interest?? Apparently not in Maine!
DEP Commissioner Patricia Aho, now sole authority over all wind projects, is on the Board of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. They’re the group that markets the wind industry’s Renewable Energy Credits (REC’s). She can’t possible serve the interests of Maine’s citizens while furthering her “green at all costs” agenda. Conflict of interest?? Apparently not in Maine!
Governor LePage: PLEASE DO SOMETHING! These two wind shills have got to go!
Patty Aho was a lobbyist in 2011 for Horizon Wind Energy.
Just go to the following link and plug in 2011.
http://www.mainecampaignfinance.com/Public/entity_list.asp?TYPE=LCB
Didn’t Darryl Brown have to resign from the job Aho now holds because of a conflict of interest. I realize she no longer has the conflict, but there is something fundamentally wrong with a wind industry lobbyist heading up the agency that now decides on wind projects.
stronger smarter grid? get rid of Wind..we don’t need to send this out of the State while our rates accelerate.
I thought it was the PUC’s job to safeguard the ratepayer? This transmission line is bumping electricity rates an estimated 19.6%.
CMP’s quote should read: “Residential, commercial, and industrial customers will have much higher electric bills so we can provide better access to markets for the our Spanish owned parent company, Iberdrola, and their renewable energy projects here in Maine.”