Energy News Roundup: January 14-January 20

This week in regional energy news …

• NGL Energy Partners LP announced on Monday an agreement to purchase North American Propane’s assets in New England and the Mid-Atlantic.  NAP has over 50,000 customers.
• Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper pushes for more Canadian control and say over the Keystone DL pipeline.
• On Wednesday, New Hampshire’s Senate delayed its vote on a bill that would create problems for the Northern Pass transmission project’s efforts to acquire land by eminent domain.
• First Wind’s petition to expand its Oakfield wind farm to 50 turbines from 34 won the unanimous approval of the Maine DEP.

Opponents Appeal Saddleback Ridge Wind Project

Opponents of the proposed Saddleback Ridge Wind project have appealed the project’s Maine Department of Environmental Protection permit.  The appeal was filed today with the state’s Board of Environmental Protection, challenging the DEP’s conclusions regarding the project’s compliance with visual and noise standards.  The appellants also claim that the DEP’s regulations regarding noise and visual impact are unconstitutional for a variety of reasons.   The appeal was filed on behalf of Friends of Maine’s Mountains, Friends of Saddleback Mountain and several individuals.  The Board of Environmental Protection has heard and denied four similar appeals of DEP permits for wind power projects in the past two years.  Those appeals were ultimately taken to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, which affirmed the validity of the permits to build the wind power projects in question.  Verrill Dana, which successfully represented the wind power developers in all of those proceedings, is representing Saddleback Ridge Wind in the opponents’ latest appeal to the Board.

Saddleback Wind Project Approved: New Blades Will Reduce Sound

The Maine Department of Environmental Protection has issued its approval to Patriot Renewables to construct the Saddleback Ridge Wind project in and around Carthage, Maine.  The project’s twelve 2.75-103 General Electric turbines will generate a total nameplate capacity of 29.4 megawatts.  The GE 2.75-103 turbines are manufactured with a new modified blade design engineered to reduce the turbine’s noise output.  More information on the turbine design is here.  The project’s DEP permit was signed and issued on October 6.  Verrill Dana attorneys assisted Patriot Renewables with the permitting for the Saddleback Ridge Wind project.

BEP Denies Appeal of DEP Permit for Wind Power Project

The Maine Board of Environmental Protection has rejected an appeal by the Friends of Spruce Mountain of the permit for a 10-turbine wind power project in Oxford County.  The Maine Department of Environmental Protection issued a permit to Massachusetts-based Patriot Renewables for a 20-megawatt wind power project along the Spruce Mountain ridgeline in Woodstock, Maine last October.  The Friends of Spruce Mountain, a local citizens’ group, opposed the project, raising concerns about low-frequency noise and the project’s proximity to homes, and subsequently appealed the DEP’s permit.  The BEP voted down the appeal 5-1.  

Verrill Dana attorney Gordon Smith represented Patriot Renewables in the BEP appeal.  Smith said that a conservative scientific model was used to predict noise levels and that the project will comply with the DEP’s most stringent noise limits.  Moreover, the DEP order included a requirement that Patriot Renewables collect noise data at permanently-established sites and operate a toll-free complaint hot line so that residents can report loud turbine noise.  If the DEP finds that the project is exceeding noise limits, Patriot must immediately reduce the noise levels of the turbines.

Quincy-based Patriot Renewables has proposed four wind projects in western Maine, including a 12-turbine wind farm on Saddleback Mountain in Carthage, which Franklin County commissioners voted earlier this week to support.

Energy News Roundup: January 22-January 28

This week in regional energy news …

• The proposed merger of Northeast Utilities and NSTAR is drawing controversy from environmentalists and competitors.
• Standard offer electricity prices will drop for CMP’s and Bangor Hydro’s customers.
• New Hampshire’s regulators have increased incentives for the purchase and installation of residential biomass heating systems.
• Wood Pellets Company and Corinth Wood Pellets, two Maine wood pellets companies, received grants totaling $288,000 this week from the Department of Agriculture’s Bioenergy Program.
• After a party-line vote, Darryl Brown has been confirmed as Maine’s newest Department of Environmental Protection commissioner.
• NB Power asks its customers to curb their energy usage during a cold spell.

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.

Energy News Roundup: September 4-September 10

This week in regional energy news …

• The Maine Public Utilities Commission has approved a five-year contract for energy supply to Verso Paper in Bucksport.  The mill is converting to a biomass boiler, and the additional capacity will support that switch.
• Ocean Renewable Power Co. continues to make good news on its tidal turbine in Eastport, Maine: the Department of Energy is giving the Portland, Maine, company $10 million to advance its tidal generation technology on a commercial scale.  Earlier this week, ORPC announced that the turbine would be moved this month to benefit local fishermen.
• In Canada, Atlantic Resources Corp. has plans to install the world’s largest tidal turbine off of Nova Scotia, in the Bay of Fundy, sometime in 2011.
• Public hearings on Cape Wind are under way at the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities.  Regulators must determine whether electricity generated from Cape Wind and sold by National Grid will benefit ratepayers.
• First Wind met with commissioners from Piscataquis County, Maine, regarding a proposed 33- to 35-turbine wind development there.
• The Maine Public Utilities Commission is investigating the need for a smart grid operator.  The MPUC is looking into whether it’s in the public interest to have one or more smart grid coordinators in Maine.
• It’s official: David Littell was sworn in as the newest Maine PUC commissioner on Wednesday.  On the same day, Beth Nagusky was sworn in as acting DEP commissioner to replace Littell.