Energy News Roundup: February 4-February 10

This week in regional energy news …

• The Salem Harbor Power Station in Massachusetts proposes to convert to natural gas from coal and oil.  The conversion would be part of a deal, currently being negotiated, in which Virginia-based Dominion would sell the plant to Footprint Power of New Jersey.
• Vermont’s senate is considering purchasing a majority interest in transmission lines in the state.
• Environment Maine expresses its opposition to the recently announced reorganization of Maine’s Land Use Regulation Commission, while supporters from the LePage Administration maintain that the changes are necessary to ensure local control.
• A USDA official met yesterday with Maine wood pellet interests to discuss wood pellets as a heating alternative and the importance of the industry to the state’s economy.  The Maine Pellet Fuels Association, Corinth Wood Pellets, and others were represented at the meeting, where the issue of federal subsidies for fuel sources was raised.

Energy News Roundup: December 3-December 9

This week in regional energy news …

• Statoil, a Norwegian energy company, is seeking federal approval for an offshore floating wind farm off of the Maine coast.  The four-turbine pilot project, which would be located south of Boothbay Harbor, could be operating by 2016 and generating 12 MW of electricity, if the application (PDF) is approved.
• The Concord Monitor has created a section of its Web site devoted to full coverage of the Northern Pass Project, which would bring 1200 MW of hydroelectricity from Canada to New England.  Recently, the State Senate Judiciary committee voted for new protections for property owners facing eminent domain taking but rejected legislation that would have attempted to prohibit projects like the Northern Pass from using eminent domain powers.
• Cate Street Capital, the new owner of the Millinocket and East Millinocket, Maine, mills, recently also purchased the exclusive North American rights to biocoal technology.  Biocoal is a wood-derived fuel that would replace coal-burning at electric plants.
• A proposed new propane import terminal in Searsport, Maine, has incited local opposition.
• According to ISO New England’s winter electricity demand outlook, the region should have ample electric production to meet demand, even in the event of any extreme winter weather.
• An ethanol plant in Prince Edward Island that would produce the technology to create ethanol from sugar beets retains the support of the provincial government even though the Alantec plant will be selling the technology rather than the ethanol product itself.
• An exploratory panel has recommended that Maine’s Land Use Regulatory Commission give Maine’s 16 counties more power over land use decisions.  Among the 12 committee members present (out of 13), the vote was unanimous.  Other recommendations include letting the governor nominate only three LURC commissioners, rather than seven, and letting counties take on minor permitting issues that are now handled by LURC.

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.

Kibby Expansion Project Gets Go-Ahead from LURC

The Maine Land Use Regulation Commission voted 5-1 Wednesday to approve TransCanada’s application to build the 11-turbine Kibby Expansion project.  The expansion will connect with TransCanada’s existing 44-turbine Kibby Mountain wind power facility.  Together the projects will have a nameplate capacity of 165 megawatts of electricity.  The Commission’s vote capped over a year of review of the Kibby Expansion project.  TransCanada was represented by Verrill Dana attorneys Juliet Browne, Kelly Boden and Scott Anderson.