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Showing posts with label Ocean wind. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ocean wind. Show all posts

Aug 18, 2024

Gulf of Maine History 2010: Feds, state set up Maine Offshore Wind Task Force. State told: map offshore wind sites. AUDIO

Feds set up Maine Offshore Wind Task Force.  Tells Maine: prepare to turn federal & EEZ waters off state into offshore wind farms. 
State officials must come up with maps of wind-suitable areas off Maine by next Task Force meeting.
At Issue:
Earlier this year, Maine's legislature passed and governor Baldacci signed LD 1810 n Act To Implement the Recommendations of the Governor's Oc... This sets up state offshore windfarm laws and regulations. Key among the provisions of the new law is directing offshore wind power efforts at least ten miles offshore and limiting it to floating technology in deepwater locations.

But the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy would like to change that to all federal waters from three miles offshore and out. Their plans also include promoting shallow water "monopole" type windmills, driven right into the seafloor, instead of floating. While state officials and legislators questions the federal representatives, the resolution of these two plans is not clear.
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AUDIO MP3 RECORDINGS:
 
MAINE TASK FORCE MEETING
 
SEPTEMBER 124, 2010
 
, Hutchinson Center, Belfast Maine
FEDERAL BUREAU OF OCEAN ENERGY MANAGEMENT, REGULATION AND ENFORCEMENT

MORNING SESSION
***Introduction 1 Meeting Facilitator 7 minutes








AFTERNOON SESSION











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While the federal plan would not affect most Maine lobstermen, the announcement confirms concerns raised after passage of the bill by groundfishermen that they, along with scallopers, shrimpers and other offshore fishermen, could find access to their fishing grounds at possible jeopardy. According to Aditi Mirani, Federal Project Coordinator for Maine, concerned citizens and state agencies have ten days to send their comments and decisions /positions about the new "charter".

Initially, the Task Force organizers had planned to limit public question and answer session to the close of the meeting,. However, after a request by a citizen, the governor's office had the agenda modified to allow for him to ask a question earlier in the meeting. The questioner noted that the agency is organizing ocean windfarming along the entire Atlantic coast, and that impacts to migratory species like tuna, whales and seabirds from windfarming off North Carolina or New Jersey could require that Maine reduce its offshore wind impacts to those migratory species. Would the Federal task convene a coastwise review of this issue? The officials said they would look into it.

Key people to contact: Aditi Mirani (703)-787-1752 Aditi.Mirani@boemre.gov, Federal coordinator for Maine offshore wind projects. // Karin Tilberg 207/287-353 Karin.Tilberg@maine.gov Governor's Sr. Policy Advisor.
// Beth Nagusky (207)287-2812 Beth.A.Nagusky@maine.gov Maine DEP Commissioner

AUDIO MP3 RECORDINGS:
 
MAINE TASK FORCE MEETING
 
SEPTEMBER 124, 2010
 
, Hutchinson Center, Belfast Maine
FEDERAL BUREAU OF OCEAN ENERGY MANAGEMENT, REGULATION AND ENFORCEMENT

MORNING SESSION
***Introduction 1 Meeting Facilitator 7 minutes








AFTERNOON SESSION










END

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Maine as Third World Country:

CMP Transmission Rate Skyrockets 19.6% Due to Wind Power

 

Click here to read how the Maine ratepayer has been sold down the river by the Angus King cabal.

Maine Center For Public Interest Reporting – Three Part Series: A CRITICAL LOOK AT MAINE’S WIND ACT

******** IF LINKS BELOW DON'T WORK, GOOGLE THEM*********

(excerpts) From Part 1 – On Maine’s Wind Law “Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine if the law’s goals were met." . – Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, August 2010 https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/From Part 2 – On Wind and Oil Yet using wind energy doesn’t lower dependence on imported foreign oil. That’s because the majority of imported oil in Maine is used for heating and transportation. And switching our dependence from foreign oil to Maine-produced electricity isn’t likely to happen very soon, says Bartlett. “Right now, people can’t switch to electric cars and heating – if they did, we’d be in trouble.” So was one of the fundamental premises of the task force false, or at least misleading?" https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-swept-task-force-set-the-rules/From Part 3 – On Wind-Required New Transmission Lines Finally, the building of enormous, high-voltage transmission lines that the regional electricity system operator says are required to move substantial amounts of wind power to markets south of Maine was never even discussed by the task force – an omission that Mills said will come to haunt the state.“If you try to put 2,500 or 3,000 megawatts in northern or eastern Maine – oh, my god, try to build the transmission!” said Mills. “It’s not just the towers, it’s the lines – that’s when I begin to think that the goal is a little farfetched.” https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/flaws-in-bill-like-skating-with-dull-skates/

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Sign up today and lend your voice and presence to the steadily rising tide that will soon sweep the scourge of useless and wretched turbines from our beloved Maine countryside. For many of us, our little pieces of paradise have been hard won. Did the carpetbaggers think they could simply steal them from us?

We have the facts on our side. We have the truth on our side. All we need now is YOU.

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Hannah Pingree on the Maine expedited wind law

Hannah Pingree - Director of Maine's Office of Innovation and the Future

"Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine."

https://pinetreewatch.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/

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Dec 17, 2020

Maine government's sudden expansion of wind development - fishing industry responds.

The December 16, 2020 webinar about the state of Maine's latest offshore windpower initiative revealed an enormous change in plans. LISTEN BELOW TO AUDIO S OF GOVT & FISHFOLK  AT zoom meeting
Rather than 1-2 floating turbines off Monhegan, the state is now promoting 12 floating  "research turbines"  offshore the Sheepscot River as a 20 year "research" project -  selling power to the grid . Attendees mostly Midcoast fishfolk and reps of both the Maine Lobstering Union and the Maine Lobstermen's Association were  very skeptical of the state's plan as as presented by Celina Cunningham of the Governor's Energy Office and  DMR Deputy Commissioner Meredith Mendelson and the words of Chris Wissemann of Mitsubishi-owned offshore power wannabees Diamond Offshore Wind Development , 
1. Intro by Celia Cunningham, Governor's Energy Office 9 min 



Jan 11, 2017

Maine Coastal Program's 11/22/16 FOAA response on offshore wind project Aquaventus/ Volturnus

Maine Coastal Program's 11/22/16 response to Friends of Penobscot Bay's FOAA  re Aquaventus/Volturnus 
request was for "Public records in custody of you or your staff dating from April 1, 2016 to November 14, 2016 that pertain to the Maine Aquaventus /Volturnus floating ocean wind turbines project, slated to occupy the Maine Offshore Wind Test Center.   (FOPB letter is page 34)

Much ado about trying to tweak the rules  to make the state offshore wind test center into a permanent windpower site - which it certainly was not intended to be!
A bit of groaning about opposition from Protect Monhegan folks

FOAA Part One Pages 1-12  PDF  Articles sent to each other

FOAA Part 2 Pages 13-34    PDF   Emails between the  people listed below 

People and email addresses used within the FOAA'd material:

State Agencies
Kathleen Leyden  <Kathleen.Leyden@maine.gov> Dir Maine Coastal Prog (MCP)
Mark Bergeron  <Mark.Bergeron@maine.gov>   Dir DEP Bureau of Lands
Robert G. Marvinney <Robert.G.Marvinney@maine.gov>  ME Geologic Survey
Patrick C. Woodcock <Patrick.C.Woodcock@maine.gov> Governor's Energy Office
Meredith Mendelson <Meredith.Mendelson@maine.gov>  DMR Deputy Commissioner
Philip deMaynadier <Phillip.deMaynadier@maine.gov>  DIFW Coordinator
Todd Burrowes <Todd.Burrowes@maine.gov>  MCP federal consistency reviewer
Peggy Bensinger  <Peggy.Bensinger@maine.gov>  MDEP's  Asst AG
Matthew Nixon  <Matthew.E.Nixon@maine.gov>  MCP  GIS &  Ocean Planning

Monhegan Residents
* Barbara Hitchcock <barbaramonhegan@gmail.com> Monhegan residen,t Hitchcock House
* Laura T Singer <lsinger@maine.rr.com> Monhegan Resident

Wind Industry
* Beth Nagusky <bnagusky@leedco.org>  Lake Erie Energy Development. Former head ME Governor's Energy Office- Baldacci
* Info@windindustry.com   "Website for the windindustry"

Jun 10, 2016

Maine offshore wind funding 2016 : French naval contractor getting a big piece of the pie?


Perched at the mouth of Penobscot Bay, Monhegan Island could soon find itself hosting a French company with no experience with offshore windpower. DCNS has become a partner in Maine Aqua Ventus, the University of Maine-led consortium working to develop and deploy two fullsize prototype floating wind turbines off in state waters off Monhegan.

With contractors like DCNS, $40 million won't be going very far. What's DCNS' bite of the Maine Aqua Ventus funding pie? Why them and not BIW or another Maine company?

DCNS cites "Our knowledge of complex systems and maritime technologies, as well as our expertise in managing complex programs..." as reason for hiring out-of-country.

Those skills are not to be found here in the Dawn State? DCNS is simply a big naval contractor that, having snapped up some tidal power businesses, now proposes to expand into ocean windpower, of which they, by their own admission have zero experience.
Milking the cash cow. How much do the various individuals within the ivory tower & the consultancies feeding off this grant expect to earn? Not to mention expense accounts and junketing around our windy world, as consumed much of DOE's seed grant that ended up with Dagher's Folly, a dwarf prototype too small and frail to be tested at Maine's ocean wind test center! Don't think it can't happen again. Leadership of the consortium whose prototype failed the DOE competition hasn't changed. Maine is back in only because of the inability of the winner states to follow through. Do we really expect different results from the same crew that mismanaged its federal seed money? Isn't that the definition of.......naive? Worse: Statoil's shortlived wind effort here was a model of transparency compared to the DeepCwind team's consistent opacity. It took litigation to free up information about their offshore wind test center selection process. Top windie Habib Dagher absolutely refuses to debate with critics of "his" project or even appear on a wind energy panel if an "unbeliever" is allowed too.
In short Maine's ocean wind power consortium, under whichever name: DeepCwind or Maine Aquaventus has always been more like a private Game of Thrones: a great wasteful scramble for personal advantage, with the smallfolk not welcome.

Maine can do better than that