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.

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.

New Life Breathed into Woodland Mill

In September 2010, International Grand Investment Corporation (IGIC) purchased the Woodland pulp mill in Washington County from Domtar Maine LLC.  Prior to the sale, the mill, now owned by IGIC subsidiary Woodland Pulp LLC, was not part of Domtar’s core business, and its future was uncertain.  Under IGIC’s ownership, the mill has a much more optimistic future.  Governor Baldacci recently visited the mill and met with the mill’s Director, Bert Martin.   

The mill currently employs approximately 300 people and expects to hire 10 more in early 2011. The mill is currently producing 1,200 metric tons of pulp a day, but Martin would like to ramp-up production to 1,400 metric tons per day.  The mill is looking at alternative products and investing in energy efficiency with state and federal funding.  According to Baldacci, the mill is the largest employer north of Bangor and the “lifeblood” Washington County.  In addition to the pulp production, there are significant hydroelectric generating assets associated with the mill, which supply power for the mill.  Surplus power is sold to New Brunswick Power.

Verrill Dana served as local counsel to IGIC in the purchase of the mill, with a team spearheaded by Mark Googins and Jim Palmer.  Verrill Dana attorneys Scott Anderson, Johanna Babb, Charlie Bacall, Kelly Boden, Molly Callaghan, Doug Currier, Katie Gray, Bill Harwood, Nora Healy, John Krampf, Christopher McLoon, Suzanne Meeker, and Al Raymond assisted Mark and Jim. Verrill Dana will continue to serve as counsel to IGIC with respect to the mill, including representation of the mill in ongoing FERC matters.