Energy News Roundup: April 2-April 8

This week in regional energy news …

• In a letter to Energy Secretary Steven Chu, New Hampshire Senator Kelly Ayotte and Representative Charles Bass oppose the Northern Pass project, which would transmit hydroelectric power from Hydro-Quebec to New England through New Hampshire.  Ayotte and Bass propose burying the transmission lines within existing rights-of-way.
• Veolia Energy North America and the city of Boston are heating much of Boston with a “district energy system,” which involves purchasing surplus power from a Cambridge power plant and using it to warm downtown Boston buildings.  There are about 2500 district energy systems in the U.S., including in most large cities and college campuses.
• Fishermen off of Cape Cod are wary of how the Cape Wind project might affect their livelihood.
• In a campaign speech, Conservative Leader Stephen Harper promised to fund green energy projects across Canada if he is reelected.
• Maine Senator Tom Saviello proposes Maine’s withdrawal from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.  RGGI auctions have funded energy efficiency grants to Maine businesses such as SAPPI and Madison Paper to invest in greener technologies.
• A U.S. Department of Energy researcher spoke recently with a Wiscasset community advisory panel regarding the risks of spent nuclear fuel rod storage.

Energy News Roundup: March 12-March 18

This week in regional energy news …

• Rumford Paper Co. is selling its cogeneration assets, which provide electricity and thermal energy to the paper mill in Rumford, to New York-based ReEnergy Holdings LLC.  ReEnergy specializes in renewable energy from integrated biomass waste fuel.
• The Portland Press Herald looks into the economic benefits and costs of waste-to-energy plants.  
• NB Power works to shore up the Point Lepreau nuclear reactor.  The reactor is undergoing a refurbishment currently but, in the wake of the disaster in northern Japan, NB Power is using the opportunity to make the generating station more earthquake-resistant.
• Adding a new standard to its merger approval rules, the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities will require merging utilities to prove that the merger will help the state meets its renewable energy portfolio goals.

N.H. and Mass. Generator Facilities Qualify for Maine Renewable Portfolio Standard, Says Maine PUC

In a pair of decisions issued September 1, 2009, the Maine PUC ruled that out-of-state generation facilities may be counted toward Maine’s renewable portfolio standard.

Chapter 311 of the PUC’s rules permits the Commission to certify generating facilities as eligible to satisfy Maine’s new renewable resource portfolio requirements.  Pursuant to that rule, the PUC certified the University of New Hampshire’s 7.9-MW combined heat and power plant, which is located in Durham, N.H. (Docket No. 2009-184).  The PUC also certified Richey Properties’ 600-kW wind turbine generator, located in Newburyport, Mass. (Docket No. 2009-197). 

For the PUC, the two requests “raise[d] the issue of whether behind-the-meter generation that is located outside of Maine (and therefore does not service Maine customers) is eligible to be used to satisfy Maine’s portfolio requirement.”  The PUC approved the requests, concluding that the facilities serve the needs of Maine customers that would otherwise be served by the New England market.  Therefore, the impact is the same as if the facilities sold energy into and purchased from the New England market.

UNH’s cogeneration plant has burned 89% landfill gas and 11% natural gas and diesel oil since May 2009.  Landfill gas is an eligible fuel under Maine’s renewable portfolio law.  Although the plant is a dual-fuel facility that uses natural gas and diesel, which are ineligible, the PUC explained that the statute does not exclude dual-fuel facilities and that such facilities are consistent with the standards because the “primary fuel is eligible.”  The order did not define “primary fuel” for these purposes.

Energy that Richey’s wind turbine generates is either used by Mark Richey Woodworking in its business operations in Newburyport or sold to National Grid’s Massachusetts Electric Co.  The turbine has been in operation since February 2009.