Energy News Roundup: January 8-January 14

This week in regional energy news …

• The town of Belfast, Maine, is considering purchasing electricity wholesale, which would be a first for a Maine municipality.  Residents would have the option of purchasing from a subsidiary of the town.
• The Obama Administration has requested that wind energy companies interested in leasing fishing grounds off of Martha’s Vineyard file notices of interest. 
• Maine Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins and Representative Michael Michaud praised the EPA’s decision to pull back on proposed rules that would have regulated biomass emissions as a global warming threat.
• After reviewing a project environmental impact statement and record of decision, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has issued a permit for the Cape Wind project.
• Maine Governor LePage has appointed Darryl Brown as commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Protection, pending Senate confirmation.  Mr. Brown has criticized DEP permit processes in the past and hopes to make the agency more business-friendly.
• Maine State Representative Paul Davis has introduced a bill to abolish the state Land Use Regulation Commission, hoping to turn LURC’s authority over to the state’s sixteen counties.