Energy
UMaine’s floating prototype becomes first offshore wind turbine to provide power to US
CASTINE, Maine — “Energize, VolturnUS!!” It may sound like a phrase from “Star Trek,” but with that command, shouted at sea, history was made Thursday in Castine Harbor. For the first time ever in the Americas, an offshore wind turbine provided electricity to the power grid after a University of ...
Maine biomass facilities receive sustainable certification
on June 13, 2013, at 1:12 p.m.
AUGUSTA, Maine — ReEnergy Holdings, owner of four biomass-to-energy facilities in Maine, has achieved certification from the Sustainable Forestry Initiative Standard. The label verifies its biomass procurement program to promote land stewardship and responsible forestry practices. ReEnergy, which is based in Latham, N.Y., is the first company devoted to electricity ...
From the community
Pittsfield UUs put their money where their faith is
on June 13, 2013, at 12:53 p.m.
PITTSFIELD, Maine – The Council of the First Universalist Church of Pittsfield, Maine, voted Sunday to sell its more than 1,600 shares of Exxon Mobil stock and pledged to make its entire portfolio free of fossil fuel stock within five years. Among a growing number of city governments, colleges, institutions, and churches across ...
Clifton planners won’t allow public comment during wind farm meeting
CLIFTON, Maine — A Superior Court judge has ordered town planners to reconsider two items — tower heights and sound levels — from its October 2011 approval of Pisgah Mountain wind farm, and the local panel decided Wednesday not to allow public comment during the remand process. The Clifton Planning ...
Harrison passes resolution opposing piping of tar sands oil through town
HARRISON — Voters approved a resolution expressing their concern and opposition to any form of processed tar sands being piped through the town of Harrison on a 156 to 59 vote, during the annual town election Tuesday. Harrison became the sixth town in Maine, including Bethel and Waterford, to oppose ...
Can’t afford solar panels of your own? Rent them
By Brian Dowling, The Hartford Courant on June 10, 2013, at 2:22 a.m.
The same pathway that has put many in the seat of a new car — the lease — is taking off as a financial vehicle for homeowners who don’t have tens of thousands of dollars sitting around to buy a rooftop solar-panel system outright. It works like this. A solar ...
Power companies: Solar is all well and good until the sun doesn’t shine
By Lenny Bernstein, Washington Post on June 10, 2013, at 2:20 a.m.
It’s a sight that would bring joy to anyone who has ever paid an electric bill: that little wheel on the meter outside your home literally spinning backwards, signaling a reduction in your payment and the distribution of excess electricity to your neighbors. Yes, that actually happens at a few ...
House votes 131-7 to support compromise bill that addresses natural gas, efficiency
AUGUSTA, Maine — Members of the Maine House followed suit with their Senate colleagues Friday, greenlighting a comprehensive energy bill with a decisive 131-7 vote. The bill is a far-reaching proposal aimed at expanding New England ’s natural gas infrastructure, boosting funding for energy efficiency, directly lowering businesses’ electricity costs ...
More pipeline could lower New England gas prices, but should Maine subsidize it?
AUGUSTA, Maine — New England faces the highest natural gas prices in the nation and, as a result, some of the highest electricity costs, especially on peak days in the summer and winter when demand for electricity is high. A bill pending in the Legislature that recently attracted bipartisan support ...
DEP increases scrutiny of fire safety at Maine’s proposed wind farms
AUGUSTA, Maine — The Maine Department of Environmental Protection is raising more questions about fire safety standards at wind farms proposed in the state. The increased scrutiny is in part a reaction to a fire in January that destroyed a $4-million turbine at TransCanada’s wind farm on Kibby Mountain in ...
Camden Hills wind project lifts students to international competition in Sweden
ROCKPORT, Maine — Five students and two advisers from Camden Hills Regional High School will be flying to Sweden next week fueled by a wind power project that’s caught international attention. The student group, known as the Windplanners, was selected as one of seven teams worldwide, and the only from ...
Developers circling state plan to invest $75 million in natural gas pipeline expansion
AUGUSTA, Maine — An omnibus energy bill working its way toward legislative votes has captured the attention of natural gas pipeline developers. Gov. Paul LePage will meet Monday with representatives from Kinder Morgan, a major developer planning a pipeline expansion in northern Massachusetts, according to LePage’s energy director, Patrick Woodcock. ...
Developers circling state plans to invest $75M in new natural gas pipeline
AUGUSTA, Maine — Lawmakers’ attempts to balance the two-year state budget that takes effect July 1 could be on a collision course with a comprehensive energy bill that has bipartisan support and has piqued the interest of pipeline developers. Three budget amendments proposed Friday afternoon would funnel nearly $65 million ...
VolturnUS 1:8 windturbine launched
The VolturnUS 1:8 unit was launched into the Penobscot River at Cianbro’s Brewer facility Friday.
VIDEO
First floating wind turbine in North America hits the water in Brewer
BREWER, Maine — VolturnUS, the first offshore floating wind turbine in North America, hit the water Friday. The University of Maine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center unveiled its new turbine at Cianbro in Brewer, where the pieces were assembled and placed in the Penobscot River. A crane lowered the turbine ...
Should Maine be in the natural gas business?
Maine’s electric ratepayers could be called on to partially finance the construction of natural gas pipeline in southern New England under a bill that received broad support last week in the Legislature’s Energy Committee. The bill is a multipronged effort to lower electricity prices in Maine which combines elements from ...
ISO New England to rein in spending after protests about high salaries, 14.8% budget increase
By David Solomon, The New Hampshire Union Leader on May 31, 2013, at 6:36 a.m.
The independent organization that runs the New England power grid has struck a deal with regulators in four states to settle a protest filed late last year over a budget request of $165 million for 2013, a 14.8 percent increase over last year. The challenge was spurred in part because ...
Proposed waste-to-energy power plant gets board approval in Brunswick
By Dylan Martin, The Forecaster on May 30, 2013, at 10:49 a.m.
BRUNSWICK, Maine — By the end of the year, the town will become home to a facility that uses bacteria to convert waste into electricity. Village Green Ventures, a New York-based technology company, received unanimous approval from the Planning Board Tuesday night for a plan to build an “anaerobic digester” ...
62-turbine wind farm, largest in New England, proposed for Maine
BINGHAM, Maine — First Wind, the Boston-based company that operates five wind farms in Maine, has submitted an application to build a wind farm north of Skowhegan. If approved, it would be New England’s largest. First Wind on May 10 submitted an application to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection ...
From the community
CMP puts upgraded transmission line in Western Maine back into service
Bangor Daily News on May 29, 2013, at 6:04 p.m.
AUGUSTA, Maine — Central Maine Power, a subsidiary of Iberdrola USA, has re-energized a 13.9-mile 115 kV transmission line connecting the Riley Substation in Jay to the Rumford IP Substation in Rumford. The completion of the transmission line work earlier this month is yet another milestone in the Maine Power ...
Riders finish trek marred by tragic crash
Drug use continues to drive Portland, Bangor rates of violent and property crimes
University of Maine at Presque Isle grad overcomes obstacles, heads to medical school
Conservatives likely to write most remaining decisions in Supreme Court’s term
25 things to do this summer — boats, barbecue, the Bard and everything else
UMPI solar system model expanding into Canada