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POLL QUESTION

LePage wants heating oil use cut in half by 2014

By Mal Leary, Capitol News Service
Posted Nov. 13, 2011, at 3:10 p.m.
Last modified Nov. 13, 2011, at 4:17 p.m.
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Poll Question

Gov. Paul LePage
Pat Wellenbach | AP
Gov. Paul LePage

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AUGUSTA, Maine — Governor Paul LePage wants to cut in half Maine’s reliance on oil for heating homes and businesses, but while the goal is drawing praise, many doubt it is realistic.

“Right now, 80 percent of our homes are heated with oil,” LePage said in a speech last week. “I’d like to lower heating oil from 80 percent to about 40 percent.”

He would like to reach that goal by the end of his current term in office, which ends in 2014. He said it could be achieved by shifting more urban areas to natural gas and rural areas to wood pellets.

“You need a hub, an anchor for natural gas and we are working on getting gas lines to Calais from the line going to the Woodland mill,” LePage said. He said talks also are underway to bring a line from Bangor Gas to the paper mill in Millinocket. He said that line could also serve Lincoln Pulp and Paper and some residential areas along the length of the pipeline.

LePage said there is already a growing market for wood pellets with modern furnaces that are efficient. He said it is important to reduce state dependence on oil as its dominant heating source.

“We are glad to hear we share the goal of reducing our dependence on oil,” said Dylan Voorhees of the Natural Resources Council of Maine. “The question is, how we do it, and is it a realistic plan?”

He said both natural gas and wood pellets are alternatives that can be used, but he hopes the governor addresses the easiest way to reduce oil consumption: conservation.

“People can make investments in conservation that have three to one paybacks on every dollar invested,” he said. “With that money back in people’s pockets, than renewable energy sources are the next step.”

Voorhees said there are a also a lot of competing needs for Maine’s wood supply and the state needs to make sure its traditional uses are met as demand for pellets grows. He said if supplies of pellets are outstripped by demand, the cost will go up and make it a less desirable option for many home owners and businesses.

“He has set a very ambitious goal, but we do have to be ambitious to address this long term problem,” he said.

Rep. Stacy Fitts, R-Pittsfield, the co-chairman of the legislature’s Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee said the Governor’s goal is “lofty” but agreed that the state needs to set high goals when it comes to its over dependence on oil.

“We certainly have the foundation in place to move in this direction,” he said. “I think timewise, and costwise, we are going to have to evaluate what people can afford. I just don’t know if we can reduce our oil use that much in just three years.”

Fitts said higher oil prices, less federal aid for poor Mainers and a forecast of colder than usual weather makes this winter a crisis. He said it may be necessary to divert some money from long-term goals like conversion to other fuels to make sure the poor can stay warm this winter.

“We have to do whatever it takes to keep people safe,” he said.

Fitts said the state already has a program in place to help with the financing of new furnaces by consumers. He said extraordinary times call for extraordinary goals and he praised the governor for setting a high goal.

Sen. Phil Bartlett, D-Gorham, is the democrat senator on the panel and agreed the governor’s goals are ambitious and will be difficult to reach.

“I don’t see how we could shift a significant number of people over to natural gas in the next three years, although I certainly support that effort,” he said.

Bartlett said there is also a significant barrier in that oil is simple to use and wood often is not. He said even with most pellet furnaces, a person will have to make it part of their daily routine to deal with the furnace. He said Maine has long had an over-reliance on oil for heat.

“We must encourage more use of Maine-based energy resources like biomass and decrease our over dependence on imported oil to heat our homes.” That quote could come from Gov. LePage. But it is not. It is from an interview with then Gov. Joseph Brennan, a Democrat, responding to the 1979 Iranian oil crises that saw home heating oil increase by 50 percent in a few weeks. Brennan set a goal of reducing use of oil to 50 percent of Maine homes without setting a timetable to reach that goal. Maine was then using oil in 85 percent of its homes.

 

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  • Mr_Spuddy

    How about solar and wind?  Maybe larger rebates and credits from the state would provide encouragement.

  • Anonymous

    Modern weatherization techniques can reduce the heating cost of most Maine houses by between 30% – 50%.  Start at EfficiencyMaine.com and speak with a qualified energy advisor.

  • Anonymous

    Now here is something from Paul LePage that I think we all can get behind. Of course like anything the devil will be in the details. I eagerly await those details as I am sure many many other Mainers do as well. Bring on your plan Governor so that we can all get behind it and support you in this great idea. 

  • Anonymous

    Thats an easy one.  Consumers will be priced out of the market. Loopy will get his wish.  He is so masterful and incisive.  Fuel subsidies for the needy a thing of the past.  Its all for the best, to get our economic house in order, say the Tea Bags and their fat cat puppet masters.  Their anguish is mitigated however by the happy thought that winter doesn’t last all year long.

  • Anonymous

    Natural gas makes sense for businesses when available and viable, but for residential homes the only way heating oil use will be cut in half by even 10% will be if the price increases by at least 30% – which doesn’t seem likely over the next ten years since Iraq, and now soon to be Libya will be pumping full-bore quantities of oil onto the world market with reckless abandon to rebuild and stabilize their countries.  Unless of course politicians step in and heavily tax oil, or if people vote in such stupid measures and mandatory renewable energy mandates which do nothing other than raise prices on the most affordable and practical form of energy for most Mainers (oil).  Having a complete natural gas furnace retrofit job done is far more expensive and hard to realize savings on than just sticking with an oil furnace even if oil prices go up considerably.

  • hasacluemaine

    Fitts, since you are in the pocket of the wind industry how about demanding that 50% of all wind power stay in Maine? The wind industry that you shill for always touts the tens of thousands of homes being served by wind power. The problem is..it doesn’t serve Maine. Our natural resources are being tapped for energy shipped out of State. Hmmm Fittsy, are we not on the wind power for Maine train, because it cannot economically compete with natural gas and wood?

  • Anonymous

    Too bad Penguin is looking to steal the funding for the Efficiency Maine program to fund short term oil purchases through LIHEAP

  • http://twitter.com/z_gryphon Ben Hutchins

    Well, Governor, it’s good to want things – aspiration is what our society’s success is based on – but at this latitude I rather doubt you’re going to get what you want without randomly freezing people to death.  Which may be part of the plan for all I know.

  • Anonymous

    LePage is the man.He has a spine at least.What a great concept.Imagine if the country cut back 50% of its foreign dependence on oil? If we only can get more politicians to actually do “for the people”.

  • Anonymous

    This is the 8th season I have heated with wood pellets. When I first bought my wood pellet heater they were $150 a ton, this season I paid $249 a ton. The only thing that will happen if more people burn wood pellets is the price will go up. It would be nice to see a reduction of oil use but I just don’t see it happening within the next three years as the Governor wants.

  • Anonymous

    The reason oil usage has gone down is because people are going cold because they can’t afford the cost of fuel.  So, how are they going to afford the cost of changing over to gas or wood pellets?  Plus, who is going to pay for the cost of all these gas lines?  And, are they safe?

  • Anonymous

    Funny, but ….

    http://waldo.villagesoup.com/news/story/burnham-wood-pellet-plant-officially-dead/466017

    So why didn’t LePage do everything possible to “stay open for business”… and convince the IWF to stay in Maine?

  • Anonymous

    Fantastic goal! We’ve been heating with pellets for 8 years & have saved a bundle & kept our home warmer than we ever could afford with oil. Maybe the Governor can work on the insurance companies that refuse to provide home owners policies on homes heating exclusively with wood or wood pellets. After building a new home & installing a pellet furnace as well as a pellet stove in the living room we could not find an insurance company to provide coverage unless we had oil or propane for back up. Their excuse is that the pellets could run out!!! I guess homes that only heat with oil never run out of oil?? It’s easier & affordable to buy a few bags of pellets until you can buy a ton than it is to wait for a tank of oil to be delivered. If you don’t add a propane or oil furnace to your home it costs $200+ a month for insurance coverage. Sickening.  

  • Anonymous

    Wind? What do you do when the wind isn’t blowing like today?

  • http://twitter.com/mstevens79 Michael

    psstttt, hey lepage, you were hired to figure things like this out.  if it was just signing checks and showing up at ceremonies i am sure anyone could do it. show some leadership and intelligence on the subject. figure out how people should should help and direct them, otherwise, dont even speak up on issue. just my 2 cents, or 1.5 cents since i got taxed.

  • http://twitter.com/mstevens79 Michael

    ““Right now, 80 percent of our homes are heated with oil,” LePage said in a speech last week. “I’d like to lower heating oil from 80 percent to about 40 percent.”” oh ok, will do gov, anything else you want us to totally remodel in the house while we are at it? 

  • maine 456

    wow, you can’t stand this guy can you? he could say ”lets give ben hutchins 20 million dollars” and you would still be bitter.
    I’m sorry cutlers last minute attempt to show everyone he was secretly a liberal in an independent suit didn’t get him in office. 

  • Anonymous

    It’s nice to want, however, in practice that may be more difficult.  Unfortunately as  a country we have neither the resources or the will to change.  Alternatives are costly and can take many years to pay back on the investment.  Until the costs are brought down to manageable levels, drastic changes as he would like will be problematic.  Regulations are also a problem, because even though you may have a perfectly good chimney, it if only has one flue, you can’t hook up a wood or pellet stove to it.  You have to have another chimney installed.  So if you figure anywhere from 3 to 4 thousand dollars for a system and another couple of thousand or so for a chimney.  Plus the expense of pellets or coal or wood which keeps rising as well as the amount of extra work, cleaning out ash, stacking and piling, loading a stove(something not every one can do for one reason or another) then you have something that becomes almost impossible to achieve.  Nice thoughts but not very practical

  • maine 456

    In my opinion any infrastructure like gas lines that are only safe with proper maintenance and future funding are not safe. 

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_Q4AP5EYCYRCGZGIJGWI6TLIUEA Tom

    It’s a realistic goal, but oil will still have to be used - a renewable resource oil - which will provide those elusive “green jobs” that all the politicians want. Biomass is the way to go.

    Hemp oil fits the bill, but requires legalization by the US Congress (Maine has already legalized industrial hemp).

  • maine 456

    natural gas is a depleteable resource, wood has low efficiency and the last thing we need is to start consuming trees at the rate of oil, we do kinda need them for stuff like breathing.  

  • Anonymous

    Add plagarism to his list of things that he has accomplished while in office.

  • Anonymous

    Efficiency Maine has been doing exactly what the governor wants,; helping Maine people and businesses become more energy efficient.  Soooooooooo,  why is this the agency he will defund in order to provide heating oil lost from LIHEAP.

    This situation is similar to Lepage’s demand in one speech that we make more jobs here in Maine  and in the next speech threaten to cut funding to higher education.  

    I am constantly amazed at LePage’s ability to demand action on something and then cripple the very people or agencies that could accomplish his demands.

    Does this man ever think any action through to it’s logical conclusion or does he just wind up his mouth every morning and let ‘er rip until the battery dies in the evening? 

  • Anonymous

    maybe he will give everyone money to change their heating system

  • Anonymous

    Obviously you would rather people froze to death so that people can have money to spend on some caulk.

  • Anonymous

    I guess the 40% who will be left using oil will be the ones who use it for free? seriously, he is asking a poor state to spend alot of money to rehaul their heating systems.. If I could afford to do this I would have done it a long time ago. Does Mr Lapage have any ideas how we are to accomplish this?

  • Anonymous

    So true!  The regulations and the insurance companies make it nearly impossible to burn wood.  Who ended up covering you?  I would like to get a quote from them.  Thanks.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_5UNYCGGAJUFC77EA5ZJA7M7QJU xw

    exactly.. where there is demand there is increase in price..   same with natural gas, all these investments in upgrading ths system to handle the new customers will have to be recouped somehow .. natural gas has been on a steady price increase as well

  • Anonymous

    We must help people who need it but we ALSO should be encouraging the weatherization of homes!  In fact, I think we should be helping all LIHEAP recipients to weatherize!  If the average weatherization project can return a 30% savings on energy costs, that 30% helps all of us – the homeowner and LIHEAP recipient and the taxpayers, not just this year but next year and the next. 

  • Anonymous

    I am politically very conservative but I agree that it’s incredibly short-sighted to take the focus away from weatherization retrofits.  Switching to natural gas and wood pellets is not going to make any difference to the vast majority of Maine homes that are un-insulated and incredibly leaky.  We MUST continue to incentivise weatherization retrofits.  As heating oil goes up in cost, more families will ask for aid which will further stress the LIHEAP and General Assistance programs.  If oil goes up high enough, we may actually see Maine become un-livable for much of our population!  If half of Maine needs help with heating costs, how will the other half afford to help?  We have to stop the bleeding!

  • Anonymous

    Fact:  solar and wind are just not viable to the average homeowner yet.  Even with rebates and tax credits, it’s not financially feasible for most families.  We have to deal with the overall very poor condition of our housing stock in the state.  It doesn’t matter how we heat our homes if most of the heat unintentionally leaves our homes!

  • Anonymous

    And with $6000 – $8000 most homes could be made 30% more efficient with a payback on investment of less than 10 years *at current oil prices*.  It’s really a no-brainer.  Weatherize.  Insulate.  Air seal.

  • Anonymous

    Is his mouth wind up or battery operated? You sound like the person your desribing in your post.

  • Anonymous

    And this all shows EXACTLY why weatherization retrofits are the logical way to go!  It doesn’t matter what fuel heat the house – if the house is uninsulated and leaky, it’s hard to heat!  The average Maine home stands to see a 30% reduction in heating costs with modern weatherization techniques.  Start at EfficiencyMaine.com and find a qualified Energy Advisor to get started.

  • Anonymous

    Yeah, gumnt is the only answer here.  How could we ever survive without gumnt leading us by the hand and meeting our every need?  I’m not a tea partier, but their views align with mine much more than yours, which don’t at all.  I’m not patting myself on the back, and we have to be careful with our money, but every winter we buy somebody needy a 100 gallons of heating oil, and I don’t keep track of the groceries that we have bought for people.  None of the recipients know who it came from, but they do know that it came from somebody in the community, NOT the gumnt.  Not only is this more efficient than some program, I would imagine that there is a greater sense of appreciation and accountability knowing that it came from someone they know (even though they don’t know who).  Not saying you aren’t doing anything, but are you?

  • Anonymous

    Right on!!!

  • Anonymous

    Just one thing to keep in mind. According to the energy gurus, there is the same b.t.u.s in one ton of pellets as there is with 200 gals. of oil. At today’s prices that would be $750 for oil compared to $250 per ton for pellets. Another thing to consider is most of the pellets  are made here in Maine. That helps our economy compared to helping the middle east.

  • Anonymous

    The average Maine home stands to see a 30% reduction in heating costs with modern weatherization techniques.  Start at EfficiencyMaine.com and find a qualified Energy Advisor to get started.

  • Anonymous

    With $6000 – $8000 most homes could be made 30% more efficient with a
    payback on investment of less than 10 years *at current oil prices*. 
    It’s really a no-brainer.  Weatherize.  Insulate.  Air seal.

    PACE Loans are available to help homeowners weatherize.   Start at EfficiencyMaine.com and find a qualified Energy Advisor to get started.

  • Anonymous

    The rebates and tax incentives offered through Efficiency Maine worked!  And we need to do more of the same.  Let’s keep the pressure on LePage to see that the weatherization programs are too valuable to shut down.  Weatherizing homes means permanent energy savings, no matter the fuel source!

  • Anonymous

    You can’t make a 1950′s style cape or a 1980′s mobile home completely efficient with, plastic sheeting, caulking and insulation.  Sadly most of the recommendations offered by efficiency Maine are akin to putting lipstick on a pig.  Natural gas is needed statewide.  As usual Maine is 30 years behind the times thanks 30 + years of liberal rule.

  • Anonymous

    Well I wont to win the lottery and that won’t happen  and If you know anything about the state of Maine  you need to get into reality cause it’s not going to happen either 

  • Anonymous

    This is political crap.     how and why would he be on the side of natural gas, with out business being a part of it.  I wouldn’t be suprised if he had stocks himself…    There are alot of alternative methods to generate power, hence  heat.   Guess, who is exploring the viability of natural gas…?        yup that’s right , the ones with the money……Exxon/Mobil..       No help in sight there.

  • Anonymous

    Lipstick on a pig?  Baloney!  Why are you interested in putting misleading information out there?  What exactly are your qualifications?  We’ve been working with the Efficiency Maine programs for almost two years now and the residential weatherization projects have been very effective.  The 1950s era houses we’ve worked on are enjoying 40%-50% energy savings!  Weatherization done by qualified professionals makes a huge difference. 

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_HJQKFIBPEJ4G3YJTMPPQC25MFI David

    Careful what you ask for, Guvnah!   The economy may just deliver that wish into your lap.

  • Anonymous

    Sorry about the mixed metaphor.  What part of my post do you think is running off at the mouth?

  • Anonymous

    What a joke…   
    What are you going to use????
    A heat pump?????
    Next that will be the next big thing in Maine….. Dont do it… They sux..
    A wood stove is awsome….

  • Anonymous

    Natural gas lines pass within 20 miles of belfast but all we can do is look at them on the way to Augusta to pay our taxes. Who owns these lines any way, and why didn’t they run lines into the surrounding areas, also why doesn’t the people of maine own all the hydro power or part of it. that water belongs to everyone.

  • Liberal Soup N Crackers

    It doesn’t matter what LePage states or takes an opinion on. It will be ridiculed by fools who have no ideas or solutions of their own.

    Natural gas is this country’s abundant energy resource. It is time we kicked the green fools to the curb and started using the resources we have.

  • Anonymous

    I don’t know where you got you info from but my info says  140,000 btu’s in one gallon of oil.  16,500,000 BTU’s for one ton of pellets.   That equates to approximately 120 gallons of oil to one ton of pellets.   That means $250 for one ton of pellets or $420 for 120 gallons of oil.  Now take into consideration (if you burn oil normally) that you are still going to burn some oil for hot water and when you are away and the price of a decent pellet stove,  it would take a long time for payback.  Probably the amount of time it would take for the stove to burn out and have to buy a new one. 

  • Anonymous

    I don’t think you have to change your whole heat system to use natural gas.  There are gas burners available to just retrofit your old oil one,  you keep your existing boiler/furnace. That would be a small investment.

  • Anonymous

    people in hell want ice water, too….

  • http://twitter.com/mstevens79 Michael

    “The average Maine home stands to see a 30% reduction” but he wants 40-80% gotta please the govna…

  • Anonymous

    Just making an observation. I don’t like any politicos. There all crooks.

  • http://twitter.com/mstevens79 Michael

    my 82 year old grandfather cuts and splits (with a little help from us) 12 cords a year to help supplement the 10 cords he buys to run a furnace that heats the house and 3 greenhouses that runs to make sure he has enough food on the table. thanks again government. 

  • ladybaroque

    Good luck on that, bub!!

  • Anonymous

    How in the world is this going to happen? Did a bunch of people suddenly get a windfall of cash that will allow them to get a pellet stove? Natural gas is the way to go. Much cheaper and there’s a lot of it in the U.S.

  • Anonymous

    So Oliver! You’r not a tea bag, but you don’t want the goldurned gumnt leading us by the hand and meeting our every need. But your a Tea Bag fellow traveler. You don’t think you’ll be holding an Obama sign with me next year.  Funny, as to hand holding and meeting our every need I didn’t think this was Saudi Arabia.  But I take your point. You bestow 100 gal of oil every winter on “somebody needy” and don’t bother to keep track of the vittles you buy for “people” (plural). None of the recipients have a clue where it comes from but they know it comes from somebody in the community “NOT the gumnt.”  You feel that this is more efficient than “some program” and you “imagine” people  facing the most dire prospects of poverty are wetting themselves from an enhanced “sense of appreciation and accountability knowing that it came from someone they know (even though they don’t know who”).  You close by wanting to know if I can match that.  No Oliver I can’t.

  • Anonymous

    Insurance companies will never stand for this and neither will the Maine Oil Dealers Assoc. with all their foolish rules to protect their turf.

  • Anonymous

    I use a combination of wood, gas ((propane), and passive solar.  I could easily use wind also .  I just haven’t gotten around to it.  Wood pellets will help drive the woods industry and Natural will create jobs in building infrastructure for the installations.  Local oil company s that also sell gas or  independent gas companies will also get a boost.  Maybe it’s doable maybe not but at least it is a goal that will help Maine wean itself away from oil purchased from foreign sources.  It’s worth investigating to see if it can be done.

  • Anonymous

    Wind is unreliable, but Solar is more practicle in that it is easy to store, but still is a work in progress.  You are correct it is not viable yet.  The biggest problem is that even though you get rebates, you still need to have the full money up front, then you get rebates.  For many $18,000 to $25,000 is a lot of money to come up with.  The other problem with Solar is the maintainence and replacement cost of key parts that have relatively short life spans.  Then the problem comes, will you be able to get rebates 5, 10, or 15 years down the road when you have to replace the inverter, batteries and eventually the solar panels.

  • Anonymous

    Hemp oil from Industrial Hemp seeds would be sweet.

    I’ve also been thinking……what about fuel pellets made from Industrial Hemp fibers!
    Hemp pellets would probably be just as hardy as wood pellets, probably take less processing, and hemp yeilds would grow right back year after year.
    Industrial Hemp could probably even be mixed with the wood pellets mixture, making like a hemp/wood pellet, creating a hardier pellet and increasing yeilds.

  • Anonymous

    And also Industrial Hemp for weatherization!
    Industrial Hemp can be made into foam and spray insulation.
    Hemp insulation breathes and insulates well, and would be healthier and safer to install, not being made of fiber glass.
    It also makes a hardy drywall, hempcrete, etc.

  • Guest

    and thank god he did not get into office. libby mitchell in mens wear.

  • Anonymous

    Good idea for those who don’t rent. Renters are not allowed to have wood or pellet stoves, per insurance companies…..

  • Anonymous

    I agree.  We have the oldest housing stock in the country.  A lot of homes are on posts with exposed or semi-exposed crawl space underneath, no insulation in the walls.  No matter how much foam core insulation is put up against the house, it’s sometimes better to start from scratch.  New technologies and building practices are making homes more energy efficent than ever before.

  • Anonymous

    And as far as waiting for Congress, screw that.
    Why should Maine have to wait? Maine can lead the way!
    I bet LePage is just dying to tell some Federal Agency to “Go to Hell,” like he said on the campaign trail, here’s his chance.
    LePage could be like, “DEA, go to hell!  We’re going to create jobs, decrease fossil fuel dependence, heat our homes, and clean the environment at the same time.  We are going to plow ahead with the production of Industrial Hemp in the name of Energy Independence!”

  • Guest

    correct. and the cost of oil is going higher due to the consequence of liberal screw ups.

  • Anonymous

    We own a Cape built in 1956, and we had a huge cut in our oil costs by replacing our old oil burner (which was old and very inefficient) with a new one.  Caulking has helped as well.  The bigger issue to me is that a lot of people in Maine are like us and have a lot of money sunk into oil burners, and it’s going to be expensive to switch.

  • Anonymous

    Bring in nuclear power, get it nice and cheap, and everyone can switch to electric baseboard

  • Anonymous

    And when you think about the average Maine home, it’s not unusual for some rural homes to have giant yards, fallow farm lands and such.
    Mainers could grow Industrial Hemp on their few acres, harvest it, pelletize it, bag it,
    and heat it in their pellet furnace year after year.  True energy independence.
    No more gambling on energy prices from year to year because we’d be growing our own fuel, reusing our seeds.
    Hemp Harvests year after year.
    No waiting 40+ years for your trees to grow back.

  • Anonymous

    EDIT: I left my account logged in on a public computer, I fully support nuclear power and agree with Bgirls comment.

    [Original comment here was "Keep your Hiroshima plants out West, I don't want em!"]

  • Anonymous

    Actually, solar thermal is much more cost effective than solar electric and works quite well here in Maine to offset at least dometic hot water. Full blown heating is certainly costly. At least it does for me and the payback is realistic.  

  • Anonymous

    I made the change to pellets and cord wood a couple of years ago.  I did it to decrease my need for foreign oil for which we fight wars.  I enjoy the heat and am hopefully keeping a little money in the state.  As to Big Paulie’s big plan, I hope it works, but worry it may be a bit too ambitious.   

  • Anonymous

    Wood pellets? Doesn’t that give off fumes that can be harmful to people with respiratory problems? I use propane myself and I am worse than frugal in using it. I’m downright cheap. If it wasn’t for the fear of frozen pipes, I’d probably never turn the heat on. Every time you squeeze a dollar to save some of it, they raise the prices….and that goes for everything you buy. Can’t the people making a profit afford to make a smaller profit and let the rest of us keep a little to live on?

  • Anonymous

    My guess is there’s no randomness to his evil genius. All the poor folks on LIHEAP will be the first ones sacrificed.  Sounds reminiscent of that Hitler fella.

  • Anonymous

    Bravo! Well said. Every time there’s an incentive to switch to something else, they only give tax credits. So if you don’t have the money to lay out for it, you still can’t afford it. 

  • Anonymous

    Perhaps those Japanese nuclear technicians can come here and help us get started. 

  • Anonymous

    Finding the resources to help one get started isn’t the problem. It’s the little things like money that holds most people back.

  • Anonymous

    Mlktmaine – you’re logic is complete baloney.  While you are right that plastic sheeting, insulation and caulking will not make an older home ‘completely efficient’, it will make it considerable more efficient and is therefore, completely worth doing.  Natural gas heat in an uninsulated home is going to leak out the window just as quickly as oil heat.  Home’s need to be insulated before we should worry about the cost of what is heating them.

  • Anonymous

    The best and easiest way to cut oil use is to require all builders to put energy efficent oil boilers in new and existing housing.

  • Anonymous

    It has become impossible for me to take this man seriously.

  • Anonymous

    the modern gas lines are much safer than what was put in the ground over 100 years ago. They are made of plastics that won’t rust or crack.

    A few years ago when the price of F/O leapt past $4 per gallon, I bought a pellet stove and 4 tons of pellets for less than it would have cost me to fill my two oil barrels.

    When I lived in Pennsyvania we always had LNG, it was clean, low maintenance, and a lot cheaper than oil. We cooked, heated with hot water baseboard and our hot water. Much cheaper than electric.

  • Jay Ellingsen

    The governor is offering solutions to the issue of oil dependence in this state which the far left has been harping on for years. Why don’t you offer solutions also, instead of lamenting what the governor is trying to do. I know, he has the wrong political affiliation.

  • yowsayowsa1

     That is because the left has no solutions.

     Only complaints.

     And they usually involve blaming our governor.

  • yowsayowsa1

    Ya.

     Our “esteemed” former governor Baldacci allowed the main gas line to traverse our state to service southern New England without requiring the company to install trunk lines to the north and west.

     We still don’t know what he gained personally from this arrangement, but I’m sure he wasn’t looking out for the citizens of this state.

  • Anonymous

    The Oil Companies are who will cause the consumer to switch to any alternative that is cheaper. When they gouge the consumer and charge their customers a higher price for #2 Fuel Oil, which is a dirty byproduct in the refining process and has no Fed/State highway use tax, they can only expect the consumer to shop for an alternative. Governor LePage has exactly ZERO control over consumer usage.

  • maine 456

    Yea if libby mitchell won we would at least know what was coming, cutler would have a new surprise for us every day, ”hey guys I told a little fib Im actually pretty elitist. The barn coat was pretty warm though.”

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1596904300 Bruce Bell

    I would love to see Dead River go bankrupt.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1596904300 Bruce Bell

    Windmills and solar panels would be better right?

  • Anonymous

    Your last sentence  is one of the funniest ones i’ve read…. it does seem like that doesn’t it.

  • Anonymous

    I think a good step along the way would be to encourage landlords to make Apartment Buildings/Rentals more efficient!  Many people that apply/receive Liheap live in rentals because they can’t afford a home or maintenance on one and the heating costs are killing them.

  • yowsayowsa1

    Easy rough formula for pellets compared to fuel oil is if pellets are $200/ton = $2.00/gal.
    $250/ton = $2.50/gal.    $300/ton = $3.00/gal.  Etc.

     At today’s price for fuel oil at $3.60, pellets would have to cost $360/ ton to compare

  • Anonymous

    Get it right perifunl, it was Fukushima that had a nuclear meltdown. 

  • Anonymous

    Yes that was a very well thought out comment from Paul, you can disagree with the President, but disrespecting the President only makes him look like a immature child that calls names at people  he disagrees with, not very proffessional or classy, and very un-Maine like. I have never heard any Maine govenor (5) speak in such a disrespectful way as this person, sad for Maine.

  • Anonymous

    I have a small house that has been insulated and it takes less than 300 gallons to heat even though the windows are old. It would be even nicer if oil was $2 or $3 dollars a gallon.

  • Anonymous

    Hemp seeds are also great food.

  • Anonymous

    Very nice, it is heart warming.

  • Anonymous

    I guess you will use his hot air to heat your homes

  • Anonymous

    Used to be, if you received LIHEAP funds you were eligible for a free weatherization as well. Don’t know if that program is still going on.

  • Anonymous

    Yes, but how is the gas going to get to your house if you, like a lot of us in eastern  ME, live  out in the boonies nowhere near a pipeline?

  • Anonymous

    I agree, that was a sad page of history for maine with that off the cuff remark by Lepage about the President.

    I just wish that someone in the position of power would finally call out the DEA for their stonewalling of the development of Industrial Hemp, and tell them to get out of the way.

    A DEA agent can tell the difference just looking at baking soda, coke, bath salts and sugar.
    Why couldnt they be able to tell the difference from Industrial Hemp and marijuana?
    It’s madness…………….Reefer Madness, hehe.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_NQQ57LHQR4BYFHB3S6GP6JOE6U mainegurl

    what a moron,glad his term ends in 2014~ i’ll be voteing for someone else ~

  • Anonymous

    Well I helped reduce the State’s usage. Because I can’t FREAKIN’ afford it.

  • Anonymous

    And will you allow the nuclear waste to be buried in your back yard?

  • Guest

    What’s cheap about nuclear? 
    It takes millions opon millions of taxpayer subsidies to build and maintain the nuclear facilities.
    And then there’s the nuclear waste that has a half-life of thousands of years.
    So what’s cheap about it?  The electricity that goes to the consumer may be cheap,
    but the inital start up costs and maintenance aint cheap.  And the Free Market isnt going to pick up the tab, more like pass the buck.

  • Anonymous

    Actually the way to go is underground neighborhood pocket nuclear reactors based on RTG technology, like what powers some space probes.  It safe, long-lasting, uninterrupted and potentially viable.  It’s safe since terrorists would need hours to pry it from the ground (with huge heavy equipment) and it would easily be noticed.  Radiation is entirely shielded and a meltdown is impossible.  Problem is that the government will not let it happen for residential homes in a million years since it can’t be taxed like other forms of typical energy once installed.  Same problem as the hydrogen fuel cells made by United Nuclear.  They are safe, viable, and practical, but the government wont let it happen since you can’t continually tax free water (rain or pond/river water) which is what the hydrogen generator makes fuel from, and you can’t tax solar which is what powers it. Obama’s administration and the rest of the democrats are only environmentalists as long as their socialist taxation structure can remain intact.

  • Anonymous

    Heck yeah!
    Packed with omega’s and protein.
    Tastes good too!

  • Anonymous

    WOW!!  I knew Dylan Voorhees would come back to the fold and stop promoting useless wind turbines.  Dylan, you are right about the state needing to conserve the wood supply. Like not hacking down hundreds of miles of trees and thousands of acres  for  roads , turbine pads, service buildings, junction buildings, and transmission lines then spraying to prevent tree regrowth. What a waste of our natural resources , and I am so happy that you finally see the light!! Welcome back from the dark side of evil, inefficient, ugly, noisy, vibrating, subsidy sucking,blinking, energy wasting, flatlander toys, a.k.a. wind turbines!! No bloggers have mentioned coal stoves. They are selling like hotcakes around here, which does not bode well for air quality. Nat gas thru a pipe and CNG might help, bit winter is going to drop on us too soon this year. Wouldn’t anything burn cleaner than coal?

  • Anonymous

    How about Industrial Hemp for fuel…..to save on trees.
    Industrial Hemp is carbon neutral.  What carbon it gives off when it’s burned,
    is offset by the next year’s crop.  Kinda like breathing.
    Industrial Hemp grows, breathes in carbon.  Industrial Hemp burns, releases carbon. 
    Carbon neutral.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_G7TM2WWUSPPTO2SNDBEXTLHSRQ Confucius

    You need to understand who Ben is and his background, that will tell you all you need to know.

  • maine 456

    Oh but that actually makes sense, for it to please the government it has to have a certain degree of stupidity. 

  • Anonymous

    Ummm….who’s going to pay for the expansion of Natural Gas lines across the State?
    It costs like a million dollars per mile to install.

  • Anonymous

    Haha! No doubt.

  • maine 456

    Thats an incredibly disrespectful statement, why dont you go on youtube and listen to the stories of survivors. 
    Dropping the bomb on japan was absolutely necessary and its probably why there haven’t been any more world wars but there were women and children and other civilian casualties that really aren’t something to make fun of.
    The other thing that should be pointed out is that nuclear weapons and a nuclear meltdown are two completely different things.

  • Anonymous

    I left my account open and someone left this comment, sorry to offend you

  • maine 456

    you should tell whoever did that to grow up.

  • http://twitter.com/TheGuardianMH The Guardian

    Well, that should be easy.  We can’t afford to buy it anyway.  We’ll just all freeze to death this winter. 

  • Anonymous

    They already have a bunch of it here I believe they haven’t cleaned out Maine Yankee yet.

  • Anonymous

    Not liberal,  rural rule – cant make money with so few people scattered everywhere

  • Anonymous

    Undoubtedly he will accomplish this by cutting heating assistance to the poor and letting them freeze to death.  That’ll cut consumption.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_D6SREAXG57MPPFEUO5VB65FFOY none

    The Governor’s plan is not as ambitious as it sounds.  As oil prices have skyrocketed, Maine has been dramatically reducing the amount of heating oil it uses.

    http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2011/11/13/mainers_using_less_heating_oil/

  • Anonymous

    A shame we have to buy hemp seed from Canada and not our country.

  • Anonymous

    I know I’d tell that person where to go!

  • Anonymous

    Why because they are making money off of us, as a business?  Or have you had bad service from them?  No one likes high prices on anything but we can’t have an infinite supply of fuel for the world.  I see fuel prices going up, up, up in the future it is inevitable, anyone who tells you different is in denial or is just horribly misinformed.

  • Anonymous

    Would you cut your profit margin to help people you’ve never met?  If I owned a local supplier I’d try but these big guys are in it for the profit.

  • Anonymous

    It’s rediculous.
    Every Industrialized Country on Earth except ours can grow Industrial Hemp.
    Our government is basically afraid a certain type of hay, but welcomes imports of the finished product.
    And in these times of high unemployment, eco systems being pushed to the max, and ever growning demands for green products, to continue prohibition of Industrial Hemp is pure nonsensical.

  • Anonymous

    Your right. Hemp is amazing. I googled it on Wikipedia and it is far more versatile than I knew. Sounds like a possible energy SOLUTION among other uses.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Davida-Willette/100000655412147 Davida Willette

    some people didnt have a choice. they couldnt fill their tanks the price was so high . 1000 dollars for a fill. think about it 

  • Anonymous

    How about Geothermal for households it could provide heat electricity and hot water throughout the entire house less chance of broken lines and environmental damage. It’s expensive i heard but in the long term actually makes you money. Also what about those Tidal generaters for more electricity. I heard they are more productive then wind, and Maine’s coastal water’s  was number 1 when it was researched. Although who is gonna pay things are kinda tight, to be looking for funding  arn’t they?

  • Anonymous

    was 2 years ago they did mine, 1923 farmhouse wouldn’t believe what it has saved my family I put up banking every year and double plastic the windows every year, also leave furnace on 62 and put some clothes on.not only liheap will save money, but all the money u put on top of  liheap will go down.That money you can now spend on new window’s etc.

  • Anonymous

    Don’t worry Ben.   There’s plenty of help.   They want to whine and cry about welfare, and about not kissing buisness butt.   But in the same statement they will say how badly Obama, and others are treating LIHEAP and , to them, it’s a travesty!   LIHEAP is a benefit.    But nooo, it’s politically popular for them, you, know, the ones that want to cut everything?,  to say….wait a minute…It’s Obama’s fault! And it was NOT the administration that demand cuts to the energy assistance program….it was compromisable, made at the direction of …guess who?

    Education?……I don’t even want to get started on that!  What..makes businesses beliveve it’s the responsibility of the education system to bring them qualified employees?…….those kids that graduate think the same way as a businesss……who has the best deal?…..     But according to the business community and our governor….it’s all our fault!

  • Anonymous

    What are we supposed to use instead of fuel oil??   I have a furnace that burns only fuel oil… one chimney that insurance will only let you burn fuel oil??  Someone gonna buy me a new furnace or a pellet stove?  Doubt it… I make too much money to qualify for these things, but not enough to have them…

  • Anonymous

    A combination of wood and electric is Maine’s best option. We can grow wood and we can make electricity. We do not have any oil rigs and oil is a finite resource that we never should have gotten hooked on in the first place. 

  • Anonymous

    BINGO!!! Every good idea gets shot in the butt by a greedy insurance company. They didn’t even exist 150 years ago and now they control every aspect of our lives.

  • Anonymous

    The last I had heard, Obama cut LIHEAP, not Lepage.  When did that change?

  • Anonymous

    You missed the most important part of my post. With pellets your money stays in Maine. With oil you’re funding the middle east. Also why would you heat water while you are away and not able to use it?

  • Tyke

    Only if one considers former VP Cheney and his oil buddies “liberals”.

  • Tyke

    Congress sets the budget. Obama hasn’t cut anything. Call your Representative or Senator’s  office to find out what the problem is.

  • Tyke

    I see disagreement here on how this is calculated, Do you have any references we could look at?

  • Tyke

    I see disagreement here on how this is calculated, Do you have any references we could look at?

  • Tyke

    I see disagreement here on how this is calculated, Do you have any references we could look at?

  • Moose

    Pretty harsh words and instead of he it should she. Libby would have done fine may have bumps in the road and there is know.

  • Tyke

    Is Lepage’s Canadian family in the energy business? He sure seems to promote ideas that benefit Canadians a lot.

  • Anonymous

    Um, since oil is too expensive we keep the thermo at 50 degrees, any one complains we tell them to stand outside for an hour or take a cold shower, then it’ll feel warm.

  • yowsayowsa1

     This is a general, easy to remember, rule of thumb with many variables, so not exact.

     

  • yowsayowsa1

     Share the wealth.

     Share the risk.

    Both are the results of left wing moonbats controlling the country.

  • poormaniac

    An executive order would have sent that money out.

  • poormaniac

    You can’t really believe that education comment. We all know adult high school grads who can’t add without a calculator , who can’t spell without a spell checker, etc.

  • Anonymous

    One has to wonder why ground source heat pumps are not mentioned, a much better alternative for rural areas and small towns. Peter Vigue, CEO of Cianbro, proposed this idea a few years back, with 20-year zero or low interest loans tied to the building and administered by CMP or BangorHydro. A $500 or $600 yearly loan payment is considerably less expensive than what many pay for oil, and there is none of the hassle of pellets.

    And while natural gas is currently a cheaper alternative to oil (and cleaner too), the disruption caused to city streets as roads are dug up (with blasting) to lay the pipes would be amazing – not to mention the sheer cost. The 4 .5 mile gas line being laid to the mill in Baileyville is said to cost $15 million – and that’s a trunk line. Imagine the cost of running a pipe to each house from it along the way.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_627Z6GPPA2WEIIW3ZBXSZKFMW4 Mike

    Gas, oil, and wood are not the only fuels available for heating. Heat pumps, both geothermal and air source are much more efficient and are powered by electricity.  Electricity can be produced locally from the sun and wind.

  • Anonymous

    Yes, by all means, bring in nuclear.  The new Gen IV plants are inherently safe by design.

  • midmainer

    What is not spelled out in your article is Lepage’s loony plan to help finance miles and miles of natural gas pipeline. That line will cost about $1 million per mile, and will not be laid to residential users, rather will go to just a very few large industrial users.
    Lepage should start reading the news, there are buildings all across the state, commercial, industrial, even school and government buildings taking advantage of relativley low start up costs in shifting to bio mass boilers. The cost of natural gas is on the way up, and once the fast increasing extraction expense (fracking) takes hold the costs will spiral even higher. Reliance on fossil fuels, whether oil or natural gas, is reliance on a source that is first getting more costly and then will be running out. Despite what a very small off base group thinks, god is not in the gas and oil manufacturing business, it is not bubbling up anew from the center of the earth as faster than we use it. We must explore new innovative ways of powering and heating our world, that’s the way to energy independence, and to the creation of millions of new jobs.

  • Anonymous

    If you could harness all the hot air vented within and at the Hampden town council meetings, you could heat nearly all of Bangor for the months of Feb and Mar. 

  • Anonymous

    Mlktmaine – you’re logic is complete baloney.  While you are right that plastic sheeting, insulation and caulking will not make an older home ‘completely efficient’, it will make it considerable more efficient and is therefore, completely worth doing.  Natural gas in an unheated home is going to leak out the window just as quickly as oil heat.  Home’s need to be insulated before we should worry about what fuel is heating them.

  • Anonymous

    Google the “Global Oil Scam” by Phil Davis. Purchase solar panels.

  • Shiretowner

    I agree. The house my hubby and I bought is 60 years old, and came with all original insulation. (We just found out this fall..) Which means, right now we have none :( So our heating bill which runs about 750gallons a winter is because we have a noninsulated house- and not enough money to pay for tearing the walls down, reinsulating the entire 2floor building, and rebuilding it. This also goes for our roof space. Now that we know what we’re up against we get to spend the next 5 years gutting out house room by room. Too bad we don’t qualify for the weatherization program :D

  • Shiretowner

    Tax payers. Duh.

  • Shiretowner

    It’s abundant until it is depleted. Non renewable energy is not where the answers lay. I guess “you people” who support LePage don’t truly get the idea behind kicking the habit of relying on nonrenewables. It’s too bad that making alternative suggestions for LePage are a waste of time (since he won’t ever read these posts) and a waste of effort since “you people” wouldn’t understand what not shooting yourself in the foot means.

  • Shiretowner

    …and then you woke up and realised who you are talking about =/ Remember the guy who is saying Cut Education or Cut State Assistance!

  • Shiretowner

    Install new wiring so you use less electricity while you are at it. Also, newer windows to cut down on energy loss. May as well replace the old heating system, and reshingle the roof when you’re finished with everything else.

  • Anonymous

    Check out: http://www.hearth.com/fuelcalc/oil.php

    $32.14 per Million BTU of Heat delivered to home $3.60/gal$3,053.30 per year for normal home for Oil at 80% efficiency

    $20.37 per Million BTU of Heat delivered to home $230/ton$1,935.15 per year for normal home for Pellets@ 70% efficiency

  • Anonymous

    Actually its easy to burn wood and the insurance companies have no problem with it. You do have to have means to have hot water in the summer so some other source is generally needed.  Having an automatic solid fuel fed source is rare and most insurance companies haven’t recognized that yet. Most likely you can’t get a loan on a house with just a wood/pellet stove. If you don’t want insurance-don’t get it.

  • Anonymous

    Its as simple as changing the fuel source used and not being dependent on oil. I use wood in the winter (simple wood stove) and solar all year. A reduction in heating cost is just an added benefit.  

  • Liberal Soup N Crackers

    The current, known reserves of carbon fuel, especially natural gas, exceed the entire length of the industrial age based on current use. Restated, there is no crisis with regard to supply. That means there is ample time for discovery, research, development and application of “alternative” technology without using scare tactics to rush the abandonment of existing energy sources out of political motivation.

  • Anonymous

    Yup! I think I’ll cancel Christmas and go out and pay $1,500 to $2,600 for a pellet stove and get a few tons of pellets.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_2KHVW2VO2VDIH4YVP2ZT3AHXCU John Doe

    I hope you’re just being sarcastic when you blame the cost of oil on liberals…  because if not, your post wreaks of ignorance and error.

  • Anonymous

    Natural gas is very abdundant in the US and will be around for a very long time. It is also very clean burning. Just about any energy alternative has an impact somehow. New England is basically the major consumer of heating oil in the states. I support LePage and I use solar also.

  • Anonymous

    Have LePage stand in front of the turbine and talk. Seriously, you do the same thing that you do any time the wind isn’t blowing or the sun isn’t shining enough to use solar. The energy generated by these sources is stored, not fed right into the system, and is thus available on those off days. Also, you don’t put all of your eggs in one basket, so to speak, you use several systems so that you have backup redundancy.

  • Anonymous

    If we were get all of our electricity from nuclear energy, each persons share of nuclear waste would fit in a 12 oz soda can. Show me another energy source that can match that.
    If people want clean, safe energy that does not produce co2 emissions, than there is no comparison to nuclear. Wind and solar are great, but do the math to figure out how many windmills and solar panels it would take to power the world, and you will quickly see that it simply is not  a solution.

  • Anonymous

    The biggest cheapest energy source we have is the sun. When building a home taking advantage of the sun is as affordable as positioning your home correctly. But with the advent of housing developments and city living many homes are oriented to the street. My wife and I consider ourselves fortunate because we live in a home sited properly with a south east wall of glass and west wall of glass for the evening sun. In addition the house has a chimney with a large foot print that is exposed 360 degrees internally and doubles as a thermal mass. The house was built 20 years ago and is not insulated well nor is the glass of the efficient type that can be installed today, but because of the sun the house is a dream to heat. Five cord of wood on the coldest winters, and over the past eight years we’ve used $88.46 of oil a year or another small way to tell Big oil, bite it.

    This natural gas deal seems suspicious, costly and half thought out. Being that no infrastructure exists and few would have the resources to convert to it, coupled with the suggested time frame to get it done, makes it sound a bit Extreme.

    We need to figure out how to make what we have and own more efficient and put dollars into existing structures instead of focusing on how to bring more Big Business to Maine as a soultion to our heating woes. It shows how out of touch they are.

    The solutions this crew comes up with reminds me of the monkey whose fist is stuck in jar because it won’t let go of the gumballs, solution …. Smash the jar.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_2KHVW2VO2VDIH4YVP2ZT3AHXCU John Doe

    So Obama should start using executive orders to do everything that the Congressional GOP stops?

  • Anonymous

    If you think you could do it better, run for governor next time around.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_2KHVW2VO2VDIH4YVP2ZT3AHXCU John Doe

    So the only reason we aren’t using neighborhood nuclear recators for power is because the government can’t tax it?

    That’s crazy talk. We have meters now that measure exactly how much electricity we use.  That wouldn’t change under local nuclear. The government would be able to tax you based on how much energy you use.

    Don’t forget, the provider of that nuclear-provided electricity will know exactly what you use, and will collect the taxes based on your use.

    And if you are trying to say that electricity will be free, heck no it won’t. Whomever puts each of these little nuclear reactors in each neighborhood, and maintains them, is surely going to be charging you.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_7T3YNF6MG3FPEAVTFIJC44VQUI Dlbrt

    LePage wants heating oil use cut in half by 2014

    Cut, Cut, Cut,

    Has this guy got any other words in his vocabulary, or did he “cut” out all the pages after C in his French  / English dictionary?

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_2KHVW2VO2VDIH4YVP2ZT3AHXCU John Doe

    LOL, yep, insurance companies are tools of the left. And the massive profits they make were intended by the left.

    Seriously, where do you people come from? Everything despicable about the right wing, you try to blame on the left wing. Big insurance is a tool of the right.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_2KHVW2VO2VDIH4YVP2ZT3AHXCU John Doe

    “Its as simple as changing the fuel source used and not being dependent on oil”

    To whom should everyone send the bills for thousands of dollars for retrofitting to a new fuel source?  Directly to you?  Address, please….

  • Anonymous

    We all want oil use cut in half… but that isn’t going to happen without a realistic plan.  Seriously… LePage can’t possibly think that half the residents of Maine can afford to install new heating systems can he?  Oh nevermind…. I’ll just consider the source.

  • Anonymous

    To change energy systems in homes is a very costly renovation.  While what you say about clean energy is true it is completely unrealistic to think that half the homeowners in Maine can afford to install new heating systems right now.  

  • Anonymous

    No, the cities would buy them and once they are hooked up they put out power for at least 10 years straight with no interruption.  There’s no employees or any other overhead needed.  I’m not saying it would be free, it would have to cost the same or less to be viable, which it could be, it just wouldn’t be taxed by the state or federal government since it would belong to the cities, and would not be regulated by the department of energy – the same way large generators or wind turbines on islands are not regulated or taxed per-se.  Also, no nuclear waste in the sense of large quantities of toxic material either.

  • Anonymous

    Strange, I checked the Efficiency Maine web site and the words “no longer available” accompanied many of the so-called incentives. And the PACE loans are 5 percent interest, not exactly an attractive rate. People would be better off to finance their upgrades with a home equity line of credit (less than 3 percent) or even better, with their own savings.

    That said, we’re all paying into Efficiency Maine through our power bills, so maybe it is time to get something back.

    We paid for some weatherization a few years ago out of pocket. New windows and new siding that included a layer of insulation. This article reminds me that I should crunch the numbers to see how much savings we’ve experienced. I do know the house sure is more quiet!

  • Anonymous

    We would be making alot more electricity if the past administrations hadn’t allowed our Power Generating dams to be removed… A Dam is the cleanest, safest solution, yet baldi wanted ALL of them removed.
    GO LEPAGE!!

    NO PARK FOR ME!

  • Briney

    Cut, cut, cut.  Either you do this, or else.  No consideration whatsoever on how to cut Maine’s reliance on oil in half.  Just have to do it.  He never has a proposal – just a weekly gush of brutish mandates. 

  • Anonymous

    True, many of the incentives are no longer available.  Wish we could change that, and hopefully the incentives will be funded again.  True, there are lower interest rates out there than the PACE loans and no one has to take a PACE loan – it’s just one of many options.  The good thing about PACE is that the amount of equity required is only 10% and that the program is structured to ensure energy savings.  It is also a loan that can stay with the home in the event the homeowner sells to a new owner.

    I hope you have experienced savings from your weatherization.  I will say, however, the generally speaking siding and windows are not the most cost-effective upgrades.  Air sealing in the basement and attic and insulation in the eaves usually give more bang for the buck and generate a much quicker return on investment.

  • Anonymous

    You mean the Free Market wont pay?! ;)

  • Anonymous

    You might want to get a home energy audit done by a BPI certified professional.  You don’t necessarily have to tear walls down and rebuild.  Dense-pack cellulose can be installed from outside and in the attic eaves and will make a huge difference.

  • Anonymous

    The best way is to require builders to adhere to a strict building and energy code.  We have a new statewide code, but Augusta decided to exempt all towns with fewer than 4000 residents. 

  • movingrightalong

    unfortunately, we use this same type of strategy.

  • movingrightalong

    Sounds like some sour grapes to me…

  • Anonymous

    having plastic over my windows definately helps alot. I also put styrofoam boards over the basement windows. I will be putting new windows on the house next year but for now, anything that helps even a little bit is worth it. An efficient heat plant still won’t be “completely efficient” if there are drafts from all of the windows in the house.

  • Anonymous

    I should have read your post before commenting on mlk’s above. Totally agree with your post.
    By his logic, having windows instead of big holes in the walls doesn’t make sense either.

  • Anonymous

    they should all recognize it by now. my history knowledge is sometimes pretty weak but back a few decades ago, coal was pretty popular.  Blue Coal anyone? Now, back to “the Shadow”.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_ZSBAAXFEXTIBDSRA5X3FA6TSG4 jersey

    Get a pellet stove do something and stop complaining. It isnt the governments job to take care of us it is our job. The government is so big because the people expect to get get get…..

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_ZSBAAXFEXTIBDSRA5X3FA6TSG4 jersey

    NO I think you should continue to rape the Earth of its natural resources and pollute the air because you think the world owes you something. Take a small loan they are low interest. It isnt all about you. 

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_ZSBAAXFEXTIBDSRA5X3FA6TSG4 jersey

    It isnt the governments responsibility to fix your home. It should have been done over the last 60 years. 

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_ZSBAAXFEXTIBDSRA5X3FA6TSG4 jersey

    Why is it someone elses responsibility to GIVE you anything. 

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_ZSBAAXFEXTIBDSRA5X3FA6TSG4 jersey

    The poor have relatives. Families should take care of families. It isnt the governments job to take care of your poor. 

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_ZSBAAXFEXTIBDSRA5X3FA6TSG4 jersey

    GET A JOB OR A SECOND ONE AND STOP THINKING THE WORLD OWES YOU SOMETHING. 

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_ZSBAAXFEXTIBDSRA5X3FA6TSG4 jersey

    As it should be…..

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_ZSBAAXFEXTIBDSRA5X3FA6TSG4 jersey

    I have a child with asthma. Pellet stoves do not bother her it is all enclosed. 

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_ZSBAAXFEXTIBDSRA5X3FA6TSG4 jersey

    Propane?

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_ZSBAAXFEXTIBDSRA5X3FA6TSG4 jersey

    It is better than being dependant on other countries……take a low income loan, get a second job…it isnt the governments responsibility tot take care of you. 

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_ZSBAAXFEXTIBDSRA5X3FA6TSG4 jersey

    Why are you only helpng him a little? It is your responsiblity to help family not the governments. 

  • Briney

    Done a lot. Got a pellet stove, wood stove, propane, and a couple of buckets of Middle Eastern oil. Impossible to stop complaining about Le Page – the cut-cut man.  Does he use oil in the Blaine House?  Does he get paid regularly? Does he have state-provided medical care?  Does he care about anyone else except himself and the tea party?  Perhaps we should cut his salary and stick a wind turbine on the State House lawn.

  • Anonymous

    What comments. Our Governor is damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t.

  • Anonymous

    There are low cost loans available for heating system upgrades. I can’t remember who handles it right now but I did look into it for my mother. That system should be expanded. A simple pellet stove with home grown pellets will pay itself back very quickly. Not every scenerio has the same solution. You would have to “crunch” the numbers to figure the best alternative to oil to find a resonable pay back period.  Basically, you would be paying for the upgrade in lieu of the oil you would use for a set time period.  

  • Anonymous

    I think it has more to do with “automatic” control. And I do know someone with an automatic coal stoked boiler. I would think this individual has insurance.

  • Anonymous

    It is not up to the governor or state or feds to heat your home.. its the home owner. If one can’t afford the heat what about the taxes and all utilites and internet cable satellite etc maybe they should move into an apartment and stop the blame game. the gov is suggest if you complaining abouit the cost of oil the make a switch…do something  about it.

  • Anonymous

    Because some find it circuitous that reducing heating costs to the public starts with first bring in Big Business to cue our woes?

  • Anonymous

    do you understand what this article is about??? if you think ,can’t afford oil , constantly complain about the freeezing children and old people. if you get it all as we say… then change heat source… but to to say the amount of heating oil usage is down… because people are freezing tells alot about you….Most responsible people have an alternate heating source and if you don’t ,its because  you do not want to.

  • Anonymous

    I realize it can be costly. There is a loan program available for heating system upgrades. At least I looked into for my mother. I just don’t remember where right now. However, the alternative is to keep spending way more money on oil. It just doesn’t make sense. Depending on the price of oil in can very quick. I have a solar thermal installer certification I got during the last oil spike. Solar was suppose to take off with heating oil over 5 bucks a gallon. As soon as the price dropped the market tanked and consumers lost interest, just like the seventies and eighties. We have to have  plan that looks forward with a long term view and stick with it.

  • Anonymous

    “IT IS NOT HOW MUCH HEAT YOU MAKE, BUT HOW MUCH YOU CAN KEEP INSIDE”

  • Anonymous

    In Maine’s economy, not everyone can afford the luxury of  tree hugging. We do what we can with what little we have.

  • Anonymous

    Do away with liheap for oil… why is ther no liheap for water bils and sewers and taxes… people expect these handouts…..

  • Anonymous

    why is it these same people can pay all their bills for living in these homes cable water elect sew phone internet satellite cable some as hig as 2400 @ yr just for tv . gas new car payment beer cigs. cheetos  but forget that they are going to have a heating bill this winter???

  • Anonymous

    i think you mean coal… and its safer to say 175 gal to a ton depending on efficiency for coal

  • Anonymous

    My parents face a heating oil problem. They decided to get a wood burning furnace and hook into the existing duck work. Last year they bought only 300 dollars worth of oil. How did they pay for it? They got a loan from the credit union based on good credit. 

    It sounds to me like you weatherized your home on your own initiative, just like many of us do.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_ZSBAAXFEXTIBDSRA5X3FA6TSG4 jersey

    Cuts are made because we are taking too much…..our founding fathers never intended for people to live off the government or off other countries. 

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_ZSBAAXFEXTIBDSRA5X3FA6TSG4 jersey

    Save it….really. Maine has opportunity…take it. Maine didnt use oil years ago and shouldnt need to now. If you dont like something, change it. 

  • Anonymous

    If you do not want insurance, don’t get it? Try that with your car and get back to me. If too many people stopped paying home owners insurance, the dim wits in Augusta would sell out to the insurance lobbies and pass a law requiring you to have it. Face it, they have a gun to all of our heads.

  • Anonymous

    Add a state tax of 100% on the price of oil. That should cut use in half…and screw 80% of Mainers…seemingly all of LIEpage’s political agenda would be achieved by the end of the day. 

  • Anonymous

    Come on Maine.  It’s easier than you think.  If you have a woodstove, buy more wood and turn down the thermostat.  If you have oil, a quick call and under $1000, you can switch over to propane or natural. Your furnace should work with a quick converter.  Or ditch the furnace and invest in a pellet stove.  All these posts about who is going to pay and how are we going to do this…put your tent up in Monument Square.

  • Anonymous

    Energy savings was not our only reason for doing the work. We have been striving for minimal maintenance, too. The energy efficiency is gravy. Regardless, our oil use was already much lower than the average bear because we have a small home with modest energy requirements.

    So, only 10% equity in the home is all that is required to take out a PACE loan? Add that to the inflated interest rate and what we have is yet another program to reward fiscal irresponsibility. It’s just another way to encourage people to take a loan out for something they cannot afford.

    People who can’t cough up a 20% down payment  (instant equity) have no business buying a home to begin with. Consider making some sacrifices and putting the savings into the bank before making such a major purchase. Forgo the designer clothes, video gaming systems, home theater with surround sound, unlimited cable, dinners out, iPhone, and new cars. Save up till you have 20% down and THEN buy a modest home that you can afford — not some 2,000 square foot palace dream home with three-car garage, pool, and hot tub.

  • Homosexuals- serial/pedophiles

    Good luck!

  • Anonymous

    First of all, its not necessarily just the school’s fault.  It’s a combination of the student, the parents and his teachers in reference to the high school comment.     

    My post was directed at college or tech school graduates.   

  • Whutmeow

    We have switched to a pellet stove as of two yrs ago. Even with the price going up by $50 or $60 dollars I am still saving tons of money since not using my oil for heating my home, only heating my water. I buy 3 tons of pellets at $210 a ton = $630 (this gets us through most of the cold months give or take having to buy a handful of bags in March) vs. paying $3.34 a gal. for oil at 100 gals a month = $334.00 X 5 months ( Nov – Mar) = $1670.00 and I’m being light on the amt of oil we would use just to make it easy.  So I am already saving $1000.  I’ll take it!!!

  • Anonymous

    Many would not be able because of cost. Some could add a gas space heater or fireplace if they have the room for it.

  • Anonymous

    In the end it all the same:  gas, oil, whatever.  Its all about supply, demand and commodity speculation.  The little guy will never come out on top.

  • Anonymous

    The crop would be raided before it was ready to harvest.  Do you actually think the druggies would leave it alone. LOL

  • Anonymous

    Efficiency Maine is not a bank and the interest rate is where it is in order to keep the PACE program going into the future.  I’m not saying it’s the best loan product out there, but part of the program is the requirement that the monthly payments are not to exceed the energy savings.  So, if a family is currently paying $120/month on heating costs, the loan payment should be less than $120/month. 

    I’m 100% with you that too many people don’t act their wage and I don’t enjoy recommending that someone borrow money, ever.  But, I will say that the PACE loan is there and trying to meet a need.  If someone can weatherize their home and start saving money on heating costs now and ensure those savings will continue year after year, it does make sense for some families to do that.

  • Anonymous

    Very good suggestion.   Ole Exxon/Mobil will be scratching their heads wondering why no matter much they slash heating oil prices, no one’s buying!!   

  • Anonymous

    The governor was requesting more LIHEAP money. It was cut at the federal level, not the state.  Gary, you are correct.

  • Anonymous

    some people just have absolutely no class  huh?    that sux,  bet you won’t do that again!  sorry to hear that that happened.

  • Anonymous

    Actually it is.  Interpretation is the key.

  • yowsayowsa1

     Who else but a liberal would come up with a scam like insurance.

     The capitalists control it, but the liberals love and embrace it.

     Share the wealth.

     Share the risk.

     What’s the difference?

  • Anonymous

    There’s plenty of homes that burn down where the owner didn’t have insurance. It just happened around here. As far as the car thing (which I don’t know why you equate the two), I have one car with no collision insurance-I take the risk if it gets destroyed. I have liability on it to protect others. That’s a big difference.

  • kaiser

    Sorry LePage. I  tend to not-care what idiots want, so I’ll continue to use as much oil as I need to.  Thanks anyways!

  • kkmousse

    Just where would you store the spent rod that have to be replaced often.  They are radio active for a time longer then we live. 
    And I do not want them stored in my back yard.
    I know what happens from an experience in CT in the little town I lived in.  The State thought that would be a good place for a Nuclear Waste Dump (not too many people to complaine or know what is happening). Well did they get a rude awakening when the neighboring Towns also pulled togather.  So the Nuclear Waste is still stored at the plants since there is not dump site yet.

    France Recyles Nuclear Waste, it has a cost associated with it. We have no one interested in that approach here since they prefer to just stockpile it till they figure out what to do with it.

    So Nuclear Energy is not a good plan. Conservation and other alternatives.

    It takes a long time to grow trees so we could end up in a siduation where there would be not enough wood for pellets and the cost would esculate as a result. 

  • Anonymous

    We use oil and will probably stick with it until the burner dies. It’s about 6 years old and is pretty efficient. If anything, we’d move to propane, not wood pellets.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_W3ATBTECASYL22JPTSPQHXSLTQ thelightofthenorthstar

    IThe price of oil has proven to be one of the most terrible
    thefts in American history. The trillions of dollars that big oil, OPEC and the
    investment banks and hedge funds have stolen from the American people is
    criminal. No one will look into it because the political process has been
    bought and paid for by corporate interests. Go look at the Federal Election
    Commission’s web site and see how much money banksters have donated to your governors,
    congressmen and senators. Take a look at how much they have donated to the
    political parties not just the nationals but the state parties as well. We need
    a clean third party.

  • Anonymous

    Great idea, where is the plan.

  • Anonymous

    … act their wage… I like that!

    But on the PACE program, I can’t go along. Anyone with 10 percent equity in their home is most likely upside down on it right now. It is nuts for anyone to encourage people to borrow money for something they are already upside down on. It was bad enough when the banks did it a few years ago and messed up the economy big time. Now a government agency is doing the same thing? Nope.

    The financial savings that can be gained from improvements should be incentive enough. Anyone can do their own cost-benefit analysis and figure out when it’s time to bite the bullet. And don’t forget all the tax credits that are already out there.

    Horgarth obviously works for Efficiency Maine and is obviously just trying to do his job here, but I am not drinking the Kool-Aid.

  • Guest

    for your info, obama put the brakes on new refineries,and more drilling, and just 2 days ago, he also put a  stop the pipeline from canada to u.s. refineries. more supply = less cost. obama is doing all he can to stop affordable energy.and almost all the dems are with him.

  • http://twitter.com/wood2energy wood2energy

    Assuming 2004 was your starting point, the NYMEX oil price on Nov 14th was $1.40 per gallon.  Today’s NYMEX price is $3.18 per gallon, an increase of 127% (no inflation adjustment).

    Using the same methodology and your figures, you have seen an increase of “only” 66%.  If you thought wood pellets were a good economic deal when you started, that deal has gotten comparatively better.

  • Anonymous

    I can’t believe LePage is bucking Oil Companys! Is his new buddies perhaps in the Natural Gas Bunch? Or did LePage get replaced by a reasonable clone?

  • Anonymous

    What you are saying about nuclear energy was certainly true when Maine Yankee shut down operations. In spite of this, Europe, particularly France, has gone ahead to expand its dependence on nuclear plants on account of increasing safeness and lower costs. The reason why the US has not followed suit is primarily because of the cost, time, and energy associated with obtaining permits to build them. I suspect there may also be a not-in-my-backyard syndrome at work to discourage investors. Whatever the case may be, we need to encourage competition among all major sources of energy to ensure cheap and available energy for years to come.

  • Moose

    What we should really do to stick it to the oil company’s is have about three or four family’s move in together in Maine during the winter.Then they would  have plenty of surplus of oil in the spring. That would stick it to them big time. They do not mind sticking it to us at $3:50 to $3:60 and gallon.

  • Moose

    What we should really do to stick it to the oil company’s is have about three or four family’s move in together in maine during the winter.y’s have there surplus. That stick it to them big time. They do not mind sticking it to us.

  • Anonymous

    I don’t ask for handouts… but there are a lot of people that do … I will work for a pellet stove or gas stove what ever I have to do to stay warm… 

  • Anonymous

    LAPAGE has all the answers don’t you know,at least he said he did

  • Anonymous

    Natural gas heat is cheaper than oil heat.  While I believe that making all homes energy efficient is the right idea.  I think that bringing low cost natural gas to Maine is a higher prioity.  Along with cheaper fuel costs for homeowners comes cheaper fuel costs for businesses which over time computes towards more self-improvements in energy efficiency.  Travel out of Maine once and a while and you will begin to see just how far behind the rest of the country we are. 

  • Anonymous

    You are so right son many points.  Another difference with the PACE loans are that they stay with the house.  Anyway, it’s just one option and may work for some people.

    I don’t work for Efficiency Maine.  I am a building contractor who has become a participating energy advisor and have done work through Efficiency Maine.  I’ve seen first hand how modern weatherization techniques (which I did NOT know about or practice before I went through BPI certification in order to work with EM) can make a dramatic difference for Maine families and that’s why I am banging the drum.  It’s gratifying to have my customers tell me they are saving money and are more comfortable in their homes and decreasing Maine’s reliance on oil is an added benefit.

  • Anonymous

    Would it be safe to assume that the Blaine House is heated with hot air!!

  • http://twitter.com/z_gryphon Ben Hutchins

    The funny part is – well, actually, there are several funny parts, but a significant funny part is that you say that as if you do, which I have to say seems unlikely coming from some random, anonymous Internet yob.

  • Anonymous

    First of all natural gas can come from oil.  Second, would LePage like to help and pay for all the lower middle class families that do not qualify for assistance so they can actually get wood stoves and things in their homes and get off of such oil dependence?  Until then, I think the goal is unrealistic. 
    When aid is reduced and almost half the country has not been able to afford to pay federal taxes for the last two years, and what percentage lives in Maine?  Then, who would be loosing jobs as less people use a different product?  We are already in a recession and many people have already lost jobs and been unable to replace them.
     
    Besides, you don’t need a new pipeline to get people to convert.  The system that is already running by their homes is fine.  They need the system in their homes to be converted for gas and the pipelines to their homes to be updated or installed in their homes.  It all costs money.  That would also increase business for the gas companies without subsidizing large pipes to the middle of, as some people call it, know where Maine, by giving the people the money rather than the business. 

  • Anonymous

    Times have changed.

  • Anonymous

    Slow down on the coffee or what ever it is…..

  • Anonymous

    Feeling a little rude today?

  • Anonymous

    He’s lucky if he will still be in office by 2014.  I hope not.

  • Anonymous

    realmainer

  • Anonymous

    Ummm…….You maybe making a joke, but it’s a common misperception.
    Industrial Hemp is not marijuana.  Theyre cousins, but not the same plant.
    Industrial Hemp is grown for the seeds and fiber.
    Marijuana is grown for the buds.
    Industrial Hemp has a typical THC content of 0.3% – 0.5% 
    Marijuana has a THC content of 5% to 25%.

    Industrial Hemp smoked would cause a headache and a sore throat.
    A person would have to smoke a joint the size of a telephone pole to catch a slight buzz.

    Therefore, druggies would not bother messing with an Industrial Hemp field because they wouldnt be able to catch a buzz.

    An Industrial Hemp field would more likely get raided from overzealous DEA agents
    high on Reefer Madness propoganda.

  • Anonymous

    The issue with trying to use incentives to prop up weatherization projects is that the most likely population, our seniors, new families and those on the floor of this economic morass are the least likely to be able to adopt any type of meaningful incentive program as they are already compelled to choose between medical care, food and heat.

    Much like the cash for clunkers, weatherization projects do not help those most in need, a material portion of those funds go to people who have the time and money to participate; when your family needs food on the table, milk, diapers and medicine, no one is going to take the time (try to get an application done in less than a week) to mess around with an incentive program that they can t afford anyway.

    As mpt1964 says, our housing stock is aged. Instead of supplementing new families moving to Maine with the CDBG funds, our government should be focused on repairing-wholesale-the older farmhouses and trailer parks that house the families already living on the bleeding edge of our states economy. Focus our resources and put some people to work on good construction jobs repairing single family homes, mobile homes and some of the older development which are the backbones of our rural community and character.

  • Briney

    Our founding fathers believed in fair and equitable  taxation.  Our biggest welfare dodgers include many major corporations who skirt taxes by manufacturing overseas, and, headquartering offshore. 

     We have a Congress determined to block any attempts to remove the tax cuts for millionaires.  Congress lives high on the hog.  Salaries of $200,000 or more.  Free government health care during and after service. Free government transportation and housing.  Free government-managed offices.  Seems odd that the unemployed, those on welfare and Medicaid, are the first to be cut. Le Page lives in a state provided mansion which is heated and maintained by state government, with money donated by taxpayers.  

  • Briney

    Resourceful Mainers don’t need Le Page or anyone else telling them we have to cut back on oil.  We’ve been up against the oil companies before and got a wood stove.  Three years ago we advanced to wood pellets and installed a propane heater as a back up.  We still have oil.  But use it only when necessary.  

    Maine doesn’t need nuke energy.  Mopping up takes forever.  The gas line installation needs to be well scrutinized by the state – that’s what government is for.  

  • Briney

    Of all alternatives, wood pellets I believe, remain the cheapest.  A used pellet stove with pellets averaging a little over $3 for a #40 bag –  sometimes even less – shop around, will provide Mainers with more than enough heat.  Switching to gas is expensive and worrisome.  Nuclear power is worse.

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