Second wind
Bangor Daily News | Oct. 17, 2013 | bangordailynews.com/
The National Grid has signed a proposal to purchase electricity from First Wind, from the Bowers Mountain project that not only doesn’t exist – it has been rejected by the former Land Use Regulation Commission and the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. First Wind, of course, hopes that this bit of information fed to the media will somehow influence Maine’s Board of Environmental Protection, which is reviewing yet another attempt by First Wind to bypass the DEP and the will of the public.
The proposal clearly illustrates the reality of wind power in Maine: We don’t need it. Our mountains and landscapes are being ruined to generate power sold outside of Maine.
A more important point is this: Maine’s wind law states that wind power projects must not cause “unreasonable scenic impact.” The Bowers Mountain project has been repeatedly rejected because it would destroy the landscape and sense of wilderness around the Downeast Lakes watershed. Case closed.
National Grid’s proposal is irrelevant. It should have absolutely no bearing on a desperate, last-gasp appeal by First Wind.
Jack Gagnon
Lakeville
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2013/10/18/second-wind/