To the editor:
Aroostook citizens are seeing all of these giant corporate wind farm projects going up at the same time their electric bills are skyrocketing, and we all need to work together to find out how such a thing is possible, and then do whatever it takes to rectify the problem. There is nothing wrong with corporations seeking a profit, but these wind farms are being built primarily to earn carbon credits or “renewable energy” credits. Helping local rate payers, or even getting more electricity onto the grid, is not why these projects are being built.
Not to bore you with the details, but the Mars Hill project did not put one Kilowatt hour of power into the grid here in Maine. Instead, it all went to New Brunswick. The project between Prentiss and Danforth will produce (we are told) about 165 million KwH annually, and yet there will be no reduction in electric bills for folks in either Washington County or southern Aroostook. That $100 million project is half built, and there is no current way to even move that power onto the grid! Again, it’s the credits — not the electricity — being generated that is the real prize for these corporations. In most cases, they use these credits (or sell them at a profit) so that they (or others) can pollute at will elsewhere.
A new wind project being planned for west of Bridgewater will be the largest on the East Coast when completed, and will generate an incredible 800 MW … or approximately 2,315,789,000 KwH annually. To put that into perspective, the state of Maine uses only slightly more than five times that amount for all residential, commercial and industrial applications annually. That is enough power to handle all the needs of Aroostook County three times over!
And, my understanding is, again, this will not reduce our electric bills here in the county at all.
Corporate wind projects are wonderful for the corporate investors and their officers and employees, and they (theoretically) will do a lot to help the national power grid remain strong. However, somebody needs to also start thinking about local communities and the folks on fixed incomes who could use some cheap electricity to keep from freezing to death this winter with heating oil capped at over $5.00 per gallon.
The problem is state law. Currently, a small community can not start its own energy coop—hoping to generate power to sell to utilities to help pay the note. It isn’t even permissible under current law for EMEC or Houlton Water, or Maine Public Service to go out and buy from new cheaper local generation coops. That has got to change. Also, the corporations have gobbled up most of the large wind turbine production for years into the future, and the manufacturers won’t even book orders for town-sized projects.
On the other hand, a small town (or group of towns) could easily produce its own electricity using steam-fired (wood burning) industrial generators. But no one is talking about that. Such systems would be far more reliable and would cost only a fraction of the necessary wind turbines for the same rated capacity. Umm … and we’ve got wood. We need legislators to encourage this type of Yankee ingenuity by removing barriers to all but a few pet “greenie” projects.
It’s time somebody spoke up for local citizens. Call your state legislators and urge them to get involved in pressuring for new laws that would allow small coops to buy their own wind turbines, or small steam plants, or biomass boilers, and then to be allowed to sell their excess power to the utilities. We must “get local” about reducing the ridiculous rates we are all being forced to pay here in Aroostook County.
Those giant windmills aren’t going to do most of us any good. Nobody is going to look out for us but ourselves.
Aroostook Republican Party
Amity
