Energy News Roundup: March 16-March 22

This week in regional energy news …  

• Two environmental organizations are seeking a federal court order prohibiting four Maine hydroelectric dams from operating during this spring’s salmon run.
• Seeing growth in the market, the owner of Estes Oil is seeking permission to construct a 10,000 gallon propane storage tank on his property along Route 1.  Meanwhile, on March 27 the Searsport planning board will begin its final deliberations on approval of the 22 million gallon liquefied propane gas tank proposed for that town.
• Non-transmission alternatives to energy congestion during periods of peak demand in the Boothbay, Me., area are the goal of a pilot project run by GridSolar.  GridSolar is currently soliciting bids from power generators.
• Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont plan to work together to issue a joint solicitation for renewable energy projects.  
• Officials with the Portland Montreal Pipe Line say that there are no plans to reverse the U.S.-to-Canada flow of the pipeline to permit tar sands oil to flow into the U.S.
• The Maine BEP this week reversed a Maine DEP decision to deny a permit to a wind project on Passadumkeag Mountain.

Energy News Roundup: March 9-March 15

This week in regional energy news …

• Maine Governor Paul LePage has proposed removing the capacity cap on renewable energy generating facilities that help Maine meet the goals of its renewable portfolio standards, or RPS.  LePage has proposed removing the 100-MW limit, which applies to any generating facility except wind projects.
• Voters at the Town of Industry’s annual meeting approved a wind project ordinance requiring a buffer area around any future wind turbines.
• The towns of Cumberland, Yarmouth, and Falmouth held a joint council meeting to discuss the elements of their natural gas agreement with Summit Natural Gas of Maine, Inc.  The towns have chosen to endorse and partner with Summit as their natural gas distribution company.

Energy News Roundup: March 2-March 8

This week in regional energy news …

• Maine’s highest court vacated a Maine Board of Environmental Protection decision that permitted a nighttime noise level of 45 decibels at the Saddleback Ridge Wind Project.  Following the BEP’s decision, the Legislature lowered the permissible limit to 42 decibels, and the Law Court ruled that 42 decibels was the appropriate limit for noise at the wind project.
• Several bills before the Maine Legislature are looking to limit or completely repeal the government’s ability to exercise eminent domain to benefit private enterprise.
• Gardiner has joined Augusta and Kennebec County in the effort to create an RFP for gas service to the area.
• The Maine PUC has approved Efficiency Maine Trust’s plan for an increase in energy efficiency investments.  The plan still needs legislative approval.
• View outstanding photographs of Ocean Renewable Power Co.’s tidal turbine here.
• UMaine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center is researching the use of lasers to detect wind speed above the ocean.  This new area of research is the subject of an international race, with groups worldwide looking for a cost-effective way to harness the ocean’s energy.
• Sappi Fine Paper is considering removing its dam in Westbrook, Me., to make way for recreational opportunities and allowing for fish passage

Offshore Wind Power in Maine Getting Federal and State Support

U.S. Senator Susan Collins of Maine has co-sponsored a bill that would provide an investment tax credit for up to three gigawatts of offshore wind energy development in U.S. waters.  The bill is similar to a failed 2011 bill co-sponsored by then-Senator Olympia Snowe.  The introduction of the bill follows an appearance by Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar earlier this week at the Offshore Wind Power USA conference in Boston, at which Secretary Salazar reiterated his and President Obama’s support for the development of offshore wind power.  Also speaking at the conference were Trine Ingebjorg Ulla of Statoil and Habib Dagher of the University of Maine, who are both developing pilot projects, with grant assistance from the U.S. Department of Energy, for floating wind turbines off the Maine coast.  Statoil’s project, which just received approval from the Maine P.U.C., will be located offshore from Boothbay.  The University of Maine project, which plans to launch a 1:8 scale prototype in April, will be located near Monhegan Island.      

Energy News Roundup: February 2-February 8

This week in regional energy news …

• Maine Governor LePage issued his State of the State address this week.  Gov. LePage called for faster approval of natural gas service proposals, as well as lower energy prices in exchange for his agreement on a reduced emissions cap with the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI.  According to RGGI, emissions in the Northeast are far below the current cap (clicking link will open a PDF).  The full text of the governor’s speech is available here.
• Recent media coverage in Maine has explored the state’s “hunger” for natural gas and the regulatory and legislative plans in progress to expand the reach of the fuel.  Maine Natural Gas and Summit Natural Gas of Maine have each submitted bids in response to an RFP for natural gas service to the Portland suburbs of Cumberland, Yarmouth, and Falmouth.
• A study by True North Associates and C2 Systems, and overseen by the state’s Office of the Public Advocate, has found low health risk to the installation of smart meters in Maine.
• The federal government will pay Maine Yankee over $80 million to reimburse for costs incurred in storing spent nuclear fuel.  Since 1996 when the generator was retired, 550 metric tons of spent fuel has been stored in Wiscasset, Me.  The money will benefit Maine ratepayers, says Maine Yankee.
• Canada is looking into construction of a west-to-east pipeline.  The pipeline would take five years to build and would transport crude oil from Alberta eastward.
• Beer companies are onto the trend of green power.  Lewiston, Me.-based Baxter Brewing Co. is “committed to offsetting 100% of its electric usage with American wind power,” and has a rotating wind turbine on its homepage.  Meanwhile, Alaskan Brewing Co., based in Juneau, is converting its spent grain into steam to power the majority of its operations.

Energy News Roundup: January 26-February 1

This week in regional energy news …

• The Penobscot River Restoration Trust is the recipient of a $1 million federal grant to help its dam removal efforts (the Great Works dam removal is shown in the image to the right).  Maine’s senators, Susan Collins and Angus King, announced the grant this week.
• The towns of Falmouth, Yarmouth, and Cumberland are reviewing proposals for natural gas service to the towns submitted by Summit Natural Gas of Maine and Maine Natural Gas. 
• Dead River Co. is partnering with Xpress Natural Gas to offer compressed natural gas, or CNG, to businesses in Maine that use at least 75,000 gallons of heating oil annually.
• Last weekend saw a large protest in Portland, Me., against the possibility of tar sands oil passing through Casco Bay.  This week, Canadian diplomats met with Maine municipal officials to defend the oilsands.
• The Maine Department of Environmental Protection will no longer be imposing a 20-cent-per-barrel surcharge on gas imported into Maine.
• Maine’s gas utilities are reporting an increase in the cost of natural gas this winter due to high demand. 

Is a Floating Wind Turbine Subject to Regulation as a Vessel?

Analysis from guest blogger and Verrill Dana litigation attorney Ben Ford.  You can read Ben’s posts at Verrill Dana’s maritime law blog, Law at the Water Line.

Portland, Me., is the gateway to the North Atlantic.  Every day in the winter, ships arrive caked in ice from the frozen spray driven by the winds of the Gulf of Maine.  The winds that give these ships their white frosting are the same winds that may one day give this region an economic and environmental boost.  Plans are underway for an array of floating wind turbines designed to harness these powerful winds.  Yet, as with any new technology, floating wind turbines raise a host of legal and regulatory challenges.  Some of those challenges turn on a deceptively simple question: Is a wind turbine a ‘vessel’ under the law?

Until recently, the answer was maybe yes, maybe no. But a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in Lozman v. City of Riviera Beach may have changed all that.  On the surface, Lozman appears to be about whether a house boat, with no means of propulsion and no steering gear, is a “vessel” under federal law.  However, the implications of the decision affect everything from riverboat casinos, to floating wind turbines.  The distinction between a “structure” and a “vessel” can have serious legal implications affecting employment relationships, insurance, financing, and other regulations.     

When the city of Riviera Beach, Fla., failed to evict Fane Lozman from a city-owned marina, the city turned to federal law and sued Lozman for the cost of providing “necessities” to his “vessel” in the form of dockage fees and utility charges.  Nobody disputed the definition of “necessities” but was the houseboat a “vessel” under federal law?

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