Augusta -- Instead of opening Maine state waters to windfarm leasing, the legislature's Committee on Utilities and Energy is redrafting controversial ocean windfarm bill LD 1810 to do the very opposite.

Under changes to be finalized today at the committee's 2nd worksession on the bill. the "An Act To Implement the Recommendations of the Governor's Ocean Energy Task Force" will focus Maine instead on constructing floating deepwater windmills on land, and then deploying them at locations ten miles offshore and further.

"We want to build like Bath Ironworks does: build it in a drydock, float the drydock, and tow the whole thing out to deep water." Dr. Habib Dagher told the committee at their Thursday work session.

Dagher leads the University of Maine's offshore wind energy project, and has gained more than 20 million dollars in federal funding to move ahead on the ambitious project to site windmills a minimum of... [continue via Web link]