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.

Verrill Dana to Co-host Massachusetts Offshore Renewable Energy Conference

The Marine & Oceanographic Technology Network, the New England Marine Renewable Energy Center, Massachusetts Maritime Academy, the Marine Technology Society, and Verrill Dana, LLP invite you to attend In the Water and Running: Massachusetts’ Renewable Energy Innovation Zone. 

In October 2010, Federal, Massachusetts and University of Massachusetts Dartmouth officials announced plans to develop a 300 square-mile marine renewable energy technology test bed in ocean waters just south of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket.  Known as the National Offshore Renewable Energy Innovation Zone (NOREIZ), the site will provide a variety of platforms for companies to test and develop marine-related technology designed to capture energy from ocean wind, waves, tides, and current.  State and UMass Dartmouth have joined forces on an application for federal approval to develop NOREIZ.  The only other test bed of this kind is located in Scotland.  The Massachusetts application for federal approval is expected to be the first of its kind.

The conference, at the Massachusetts Marine Academy (101 Academy Drive, Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts), will occur on January 27.  Registration begins at 3:30, the program is 4:00-5:30 p.m., and dinner follows.  Registration without dinner is $15; with dinner, the fee is $25.

For details on this conference, please visit the registration site.  To RSVP, contact Gretchen Johnson by January 21 via email or by calling 207.253.4784.

Energy News Roundup: August 28-September 3

This week in regional energy news …

• The Cape Wind project stepped over a major hurdle this week as the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court approved, by a 4-2 vote, the offshore development’s consolidated “super permit” approving a transmission cable that will traverse state tidelands.  Cape Wind still awaits the Massachusetts DPU’s go-ahead.
• On Tuesday, the Maine Public Utilities Commission granted conditional approval to CMP’s plans to connect the Record Hill wind project to the utility’s transmission lines.  To do so, CMP will construct a new 115-kV line.
• A two-day conference of New England and Atlantic Canada business leaders in Bangor, Maine, this week was focused greatly on energy issues, particularly a reduction in consumption of fossil fuels.
• Solar panels area heading from Maine to the roof of the White House.
• First Wind is looking into an 80-megawatt wind project in Eastbrook and Township 16, Maine. 
• Meanwhile, Rumford, Maine, selectmen consulted with representatives from First Wind and the Maine DEP regarding proposed town ordinances relating to wind.

Energy News Roundup: August 14-August 20

This week in regional energy news …

• Portland’s Ocean Renewable Power Company is celebrating its tidal project off of Eastport, Maine.  ORPC’s tidal turbine began generating grid-compatible electricity on Wednesday.
• Using FAA funds, the Portland International Jetport is tapping into the earth’s heat to generate geothermal power and cut back on oil consumption at Maine’s major airport. 
• The Utilities and Energy Committee of Maine’s Legislature unanimously endorsed David Littell’s confirmation as commissioner of the Maine PUC.  The Senate will convene next week for a final vote.
• As we reported on Tuesday, ISO New England President and CEO Gordon van Welie was in Portland this week for the 50th annual Eastern Regional Conference of the Council of State Governments.  Charlie Colgan spoke at a morning session, along with a panel that also included Maine Governor Baldacci and Jim Douglas, the governor of Vermont.  Verrill Dana’s Katie Gray attended the conference.
• Madison Paper Industries is exploring building a $25 million wood-burning biomass energy facility at its site in Madison, Maine, to reduce its costs and its dependence on oil.
• The Cape Wind deals continue to generate controversy, at a recent gubernatorial candidate debate and over the contracts the utilities have entered into with the wind farm’s developers.
• A new Massachusetts law gives increased opportunities to solar projects in the state.
• After a $12 million investment in energy conservation and efficiency measures, Bangor, Maine’s efforts are paying off, literally.

Energy Experts Discuss Cooperation and the Way Forward for Renewables in the Region

The future for renewable energy in the Northeast was under a microscope at the 50th annual Eastern Regional Conference of the Council of State Governments, in Portland, Maine.

In a Monday afternoon session, a panel of experts including the President and CEO of ISO New England, Gordon van Welie, discussed the direction of state and federal policy on renewables.  The panelists encouraged states to coordinate and innovate in order to continue promoting renewable energy development in the Northeast and to support transmission capacity to carry the energy to demand centers.

There has been $4 billion of transmission investment in New England since 2002, with another $5 billion on the horizon, van Welie reported.  As a result, the U.S. Department of Energy recently removed New England from its list of “Congestion Areas of Concern.”

Maine is the region’s leader in renewables, with around 40% of New England’s queued-up renewable energy projects located here; the bulk of investment (over 80%) is in wind.  Because high-wind areas do not overlap with high-demand areas, “you’ve got to connect these two areas in order to make [wind] viable,” van Welie said.  To that end, in October 2010, ISO-NE will release its Wind Integration Study (PDF), which will include recommended technical interconnection requirements and a plan for integrating wind into the regional grid.

A significant challenge is that there is no agreement as to how to pay for transmission for renewable energy.  Van Welie suggested that the New England states could come up with a coordinated competitive procurement process, which would resolve any regional transmission cost allocation issues.  “This is doable as a region,” van Welie said.  But “because of the scale involved, we have to position the region for the long term.”

The panel also included Habib Dagher, Director of the Advanced Structures and Composites Laboratory at the University of Maine; David Littell, DEP Commissioner and presumptive PUC Commissioner; and Paul Hibbard, Vice President of Analysis Group, Inc. and former Chair of the Massachusetts DPU.  Maine Senate Majority Leader Phil Bartlett moderated the panel.

All of the panelists agreed on the need for the New England states to coordinate with respect to transmission planning and procurement.

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Verrill Dana and EBC to Host Congressional Candidate’s Talk on Ocean Management and Renewable Energy

On Wednesday, August 4, Massachusetts Senator and Tenth Congressional District candidate Robert O’Leary will speak at the Environmental Business Council’s latest meeting on environment policy.  Senator O’Leary will discuss ocean management policy, renewable energy, and other state and national environmental issues. 

Senator O’Leary is the vice chair of the Massachusetts Legislature’s Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight and a member of the Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources, and Agriculture.  In recent years, Senator O’Leary has made a mark in ocean management.  In 2008, he sponsored the landmark Massachusetts Ocean Act.  He is currently a leader in the effort to implement a national ocean management policy. 

All other candidates for the Tenth District seat have been invited to attend this event.

Verrill Dana Energy Group attorney Harlan Doliner is the chair of EBC’s Government Affairs Committee.  The August 4 meeting, at Verrill Dana’s Boston office at 9:00-10:45 a.m., is open to EBC members and their guests.  Please register in advance by contacting Megan Curtis-Murphy by email or at 617.505.1818.

Bill Harwood Speaks at Atlantic Power Symposium

Bill Harwood spoke last week at the Canadian Institute’s Atlantic Power Symposium in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Bill was part of a panel of New England experts addressing the topic, “Analyzing the New England Power Market and Its Path Forward.”