Gov. Paul LePage wants to eliminate Maine’s fast-tracked permitting process for commercial wind power projects throughout the state except specific locations within Aroostook County.

Energy Policy Zoning/Planning Maine

The town ordinance limits decibel levels from routine operation of wind turbines to 55 in the daytime and 42 at night at non-participating property lines ...The Ordinance Review Committee has recommended decibel limits of 35 maximum for daytime and 25 maximum at night. The panel also voted to limit tower heights to 250 feet and establish setbacks of 1 mile per 100 feet of tower height.

Zoning/Planning Maine

Gov. Paul LePage on Wednesday placed a moratorium on permits for most new wind turbines in Maine, a move that could reverberate regionally a day before Massachusetts is set to announce winners in a massive clean power procurement plan.

Impact on Views Tourism Maine

Gov. Paul LePage on Wednesday placed a moratorium on permits for new wind energy generation facilities. He also said he will submit legislation this year that would eliminate an expedited permitting process that is currently in law.

Tourism Maine

Maine Aqua Ventus has identified 11 other possible routes, and the top two options are being evaluated, Ward said. However, details of those top routes are not yet ready to be disclosed, he said. “We continue to work with fishermen, communities and regulators to find an optimum cable route,” Ward said.

General Maine

Long-running efforts to secure a power contract for the first floating wind farm in the United States suffered a setback Tuesday when the Public Utilities Commission decided to delay its approval. Without a long-term power contract, the experimental project off Maine’s coast near Monhegan Island is in danger of losing future federal funding, making it extremely difficult to finance the project.

General Maine

The Land Use Planning Commission voted against adding approximately 25,000 acres to the expedited permitting area for wind power in northern Franklin and Somerset County at its meeting Tuesday. The expansion would have helped facilitate the development of a 130-plus turbine project proposed by a renewable energy company.

General Maine

A Maine planning commission will consider a rule-making petition Wednesday that requests expansion of the expedited permitting area for wind energy development by nearly 25,000 acres in northern Franklin and Somerset counties.

General Maine

Any future offshore wind development ― including the possible 500-megawatt Maine Aqua Ventus project ― will likely take place in federal waters. But before that can happen, Maine’s biggest investment in offshore wind power must navigate the straits of small-town government in the communities of St. George.

Impact on Landscape Offshore Wind Maine

Three state representatives and a senator join local officials in fighting new turbines and transmission lines.

Impact on Landscape Tourism Maine

Four area members of the Legislature have joined county commissioners in Somerset and Piscataquis counties in opposition to proposed industrial wind projects in the Moosehead Lake region as a threat to the area’s tourism-dependent economy.

Tourism Maine

Wyman & Simpson, Inc., a Richmond-based construction company, submitted the only bid to the public works department for $30,000 to remove the turbine. Public Works Director Patrick Fox said the bid was much higher than expected and city officials will speak to Wyman & Simpson about lowering the cost of the project.

General Maine

"A couple of months ago there was a meeting held right here where I'd say over 200 fishermen came and voiced their concerns about this project overall and there was not a single voice of support."

Impact on Landscape Offshore Wind Maine

Residents of the town of St. George, which includes the villages of Tenants Harbor and Port Clyde, submitted a petition with more than 300 signatures at the town office and voice their opposition to plans by Maine Aqua Ventus to build a wind farm near Monhegan Island and bring the cable from the turbines onto shore in St. George.

Impact on Wildlife Offshore Wind Maine

"Putting an industrial plant a few miles off shore and then bringing the cable for the transmission of power into this tiny village and bringing it straight up the peninsula would really disrupt both of those activities - tourism especially, and lobstering and fishermen, absolutely," Blum says.

General Maine

Opponents of an offshore wind project slated for development off Monhegan Island will take their fight to a new level Tuesday, when they plan to file a petition designed to prevent cables delivering electricity from the project to the mainland from passing through St. George.

General Maine

The wind turbine never came close to generating the amount of energy promised, and Entegrity Wind went bankrupt in 2009, thus making the guarantee invalid. The wind turbine, in need of repair, was shut down last year due to safety concerns, according to City Administrator Kevin Sutherland.

General Maine

Representatives of five transmission projects proposed in July in response to the Massachusetts solicitation for 9.45 TWh/year of hydro and Class I renewables (wind, solar or energy storage) tried to explain why their projects should be among those selected in January. Contracts awarded under the MA 83D request for proposals are to be submitted in late April.

Energy Policy Transmission Canada Maine Massachusetts New Hampshire New York Vermont

After discussing the idea of following their counterparts in Somerset County by drafting a letter in formal opposition to additional industrial-scale wind development for customers in Massachusetts overlooking Moosehead Lake, the Piscataquis County Commissioners signed a document of their own during an Oct. 3 meeting.

General Maine

The local Ordinance Review Committee reached a tentative agreement last week on a proposal to lessen key restrictions in the town’s new commercial wind power ordinance. Don Bennett suggested a setback of 4,000 feet from the property line, and Smerczynski and Brown agreed. ...Most members agreed to stay with the current level of 35 decibels during the day and 25 at night.

Zoning/Planning Maine