Energy News Roundup: December 8-December 14

This week in regional energy news …

• Electricity efficiency efforts are paying off in the form of decreased energy consumption, which will keep electricity use flat over the next decade, ISO New England reports.
• Two floating offshore wind projects being proposed by Statoil North America and the University of Maine each received $4 million in grants from the federal Department of Energy this week.  Test turbines for the UMaine project, designed by the Offshore Wind Laboratory at the school’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center, will be launched in 2013.
• Bangor Gas announced plans to build Maine’s first compressed natural gas fueling station for public use.  The station, which will be located in Bangor, is expected to be open in May.

Law Court Hears Oral Argument in Appeal of Oakfield Wind Power Project

The Maine Supreme Court heard oral argument yesterday in an appeal of the Department of Environmental Protection license issued to First Wind for the construction of a 150-megawatt wind power project in and around Oakfield, Maine.  The single issue raised in the appeal was the project opponents’ claim that the statutory visual impact standard applied by the DEP was unconstitutionally vague.  Counsel for the project opponents faced an uphill task as the Court recently held in Uliano v. Board of Environmental Protection that a similar, less detailed visual impact standard contained in the Natural Resources Protection Act was sufficiently specific to withstand a void for vagueness challenge.  The justices appeared skeptical of the opponents’ legal claim, at one point noting that that the statutory standard’s requirement that visual impacts be “reasonable” is an objective concept found throughout the law.  The Court also questioned whether the opponents had waived their right to raise the issue of unconstitutional vagueness because they had not raised it during the administrative appeal to the Maine Board of Environmental Protection.  First Wind was represented in the appeal by Verrill Dana Attorneys Juliet Browne and Gordon Smith. 

Energy News Roundup: December 1-December 7

This week in regional energy news …

• The construction of the Hoosac Wind Power project in Florida, Mass., is nearing completion.  The project, which is the largest in southern New England, includes 19 turbines totaling 28 MW of power.
• As the northeastern U.S. experiences a propane glut, more consumers are adopting propane as an alternative to heating oil.
• Due to the adoption of a harmonized sales tax, Prince Edward Island’s electricity rates will increase by 11.2% in 2013.
• Central Maine Power Co. is offering a time-of-use electricity plan, whereby customers will benefit from lower rates by shifting their use of high-energy appliances (such as clothes washers and dryers and water heaters) to off-peak hours.
• ISO New England has published its forecast of the 2013-2013 winter peak electricity demand.  Click here to read ISO-NE’s blog post on the subject and watch a video of ISO-NE’s Chief Operating Officer discussing the forecast.

Energy News Roundup: November 24-November 30

This week in regional energy news …

• The Maine Snowmobile Association and wind developers are working together to plan a 600-mile recreational snowmobiling route linked by Maine wind farms.
• Ocean Renewable Power Co., whose tidal turbine is operational in Cobscook Bay, Maine, is looking to place a smaller version of its tidal turbine in the Kvichat River in Alaska.  Earlier this year Alaska awarded ORPC $1.5 million to develop the river turbine.
• The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities has approved a 15-year power purchase agreement between NSTAR and Cape Wind.
• Officials from Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island have expressed objection to ISO New England’s 2013 budget request.  The officials said in their filing with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that ISO-NE’s $165 million proposed budget, which includes hundreds of six-figure salaries, is excessive.

Conference on MPUC Regulation of Utilities

On Friday, December 14, 2012, at the Senator Inn in Augusta, HalfMoon Education will present a one-day conference entitled: “Public Utilities Regulation: The Best Path Forward.”  The conference will cover many of the important regulatory issues facing Maine’s electric and telecommunications industries, including rate setting, affiliate reorganizations and transactions, and MPUC procedure.

The conference is chaired by Joe Donahue of Preti Flaherty and Bill Harwood of Verrill Dana. It includes a key note address by MPUC Chair Tom Welch and speeches by the outgoing House and Senate Chairs of the Legislature’s Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee.  Verrill Dana attorneys, Jim Cohen and Nora Healy, will be two of several panelists.  Panelists will include industry representatives, in-house counsel, external counsel and a representative from the Office of the Public Advocate.  MPUC staff will moderate discussions and provide key insight. 

For further information, please contact HalfMoon Education at 715-835-5900.

Energy News Roundup: November 10-November 16

This week in regional energy news …

• With heating oil prices remaining high, and natural gas not yet available to most areas in Maine, more Mainers are turning to propane as a replacement fuel.  According to the director of the Governor’s Energy Office, the use of liquid propane to heat homes has more than doubled in recent years.
• According to a report released by the Efficiency Maine Trust, Mainers collectively could reduce their electricity consumption by 16% over the next decade by installing energy-efficient appliances.  Click here to download the study.  The Trust is currently developing a second triennial energy efficiency plan for Maine.
• Small towns in New England are benefiting greatly from increased revenues and added employment as a result of wind developments.  Click here to view a table of wind projects set to come online imminently, along with their size and estimated benefits.  One of those projects is the Hancock County, Maine, Bull Hill project, which has recently been completed.  Another potential project is in the planning stages in the Bingham area of central Maine.
• The Point Lepreau nuclear reactor in New Brunswick, Canada, is behind schedule, but three other CANDU reactors (two in Ontario and one in South Korea) have come online following refurbishments.

Energy News Roundup: November 3-November 9

This week in regional energy news …

• Vermont Electric Power Co. incurred $1.25 million in expenses to repair a transmission line and 167 insulators after the insulators were shot out in an act of vandalism.  In Maine, the Portland Police Department is investigating more than $60,000 in copper thefts from CMP facilities in Portland in just the last three months.
• Beginning March 1, 2013, electric rates in Maine will decrease by approximately 8% for CMP customers and 6% for Bangor Hydro customers.  According to PUC Chairman Tom Welch, this will lower Maine electricity costs by about $20 million.
• ISO New England announced the publication of its comprehensive 10-year plan for the region’s power grid, including transmission upgrades and resource additions.
• All but one school in Lewiston-Auburn have converted to natural gas from oil, savings the communities hundreds of thousands of dollars in heating costs.
• The Maine PUC is seeking long-term contract proposals for energy supply from new and existing resources.  Proposals are due March 1, 2013.  The RFP and related materials are available at the PUC’s Web site.