Renewable energy
Bangor Daily News | Nov. 6, 2012 | bangordailynews.com
A BDN contributor, Stacey Fitts, suggested in his OpEd ( “LePage should make unbiased analysis of energy standards before changing policy,” Oct. 10 BDN) that Gov. Paul LePage was “biased” in his analysis of Maine’s renewable energy producers.
Renewable portfolio standards have driven up the cost of energy for Mainers and will continue to do so at even steeper rates for years to come if allowed to continue. New transmission lines that are being built to accommodate the rapidly advancing wind industry have driven up ratepayers’ transmission costs by nearly 20 percent this past year alone. Thousands of new 400- to 500-foot wind towers are in the planning stages for Maine’s mountains, and these all have to be connected to the grid.
Mr. Fitts states that “Maine’s hydro energy assets have essentially been tapped.” There are many miles of rivers and large streams in Maine, and current technology for producing hydro energy doesn’t necessarily require building a dam. There is much opportunity for new hydro development in our state that will safely allow the passage of migrating fish both offshore and in our rivers and stream systems.
I hope Mr. Fitts can someday explain to his grandchildren why Maine’s once pristine waters never recovered from bulldozing the tops of its majestic mountains down onto the sides of its ecologically sensitive valley walls.
If Mr. Fitts wishes to find “bias,” let him look back at his own record as co-chair of the Energy, Utility and Technology Committee where he used his leadership position to zealously promote industrial wind.
Greg Perkins
Holden
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/11/06/renewable-energy/