Wind Power in the Cross-winds: Black Nubble defeated; Kibby approved on Monday, January 14

So, NRCM is back at the St. Paul Center on a snowy Monday morning, but we’re not here for the Plum Creek hearings today. The Clean Energy Team is here for LURC’s deliberations on the Black Nubble and Kibby wind proposals. While the rest of the office and much of the state has been given a snow day, we, along with about 100 others braved the trip to Augusta.

First on the schedule for the day is the Black Nubble Wind Farm proposal. The commissioners have spent the first 1.5 hours raising their concerns primarily about the scenic impacts of the project and whether or not it fits harmoniously into the larger landscape. They have also raised concerns about whether the company has sufficient financial backing for the project – a surprising focus given that one of the Maine Mountain Power partners is Edison Mission Energy, connected to multi-billion dollar Southern California Edison.

While much of the time was used to discuss concerns, a few commissioners noted that it was important not to dwell on the negative and forget the positive aspects of the proposal. The audience – lawyers, project developers, interveners, and members of the interested public – have no opportunity to comment, which is frustrating. You can see the audience nodding in agreement as their arguments have been raised and whispering to one another, and then in the next breath the opposing side will be smiling.  It’s a bit tough to figure out where the Commission stands at this point, although it seems like there are two in support of the project, two against, and the other two are undecided.  [The 7th Commissioner, Steve Wight, has recused himself from the deliberations and vote.]

Well, in a disappointing move, the Commission just voted (4-2) after only another ½ hour of discussion to recommend the staff prepare a denial document for the project. I understand the charge of the Commission, but this is still an incredibly disappointing decision for a number of reasons. In this state and the country we are facing an energy crisis, and wind power is one of the best solutions we have. A solution which not only moves us toward energy independence and keeps important dollars in the state, wind power also is an emission-free source of electricity, lest we forget the planetary crisis we are facing today of global warming, or more accurately climate change. Hopefully, the commission will get one out of two right this afternoon…

We arrived back just after lunch and the deliberations on Kibby had already begun. Unlike the Black Nubble deliberations, the Commissioners didn’t focus on scenic impacts. They seemed most concerned about road building issues, in addition to decommissioning requirements. They were less concerned about the scenic impacts because of the lower elevations and differing topography “consisting of more rolling hills;” they stated with a little hesitation that the Kibby project location was not a unique and high value location like Black Nubble.  It was clear in the first five minutes that most of the Commissioners were leaning toward approval of the project, and after less than an hour there was a motion to ask the staff to prepare an approval document. The commissioners voted unanimously (7-0) in support.

And that was that. With no opportunity to comment or clarify concerns during the deliberations, we left the building to get home to shovel our driveways before dark.

The Commission missed an important opportunity today to help Maine take two big steps forward toward a clean energy future.  We left the meeting pleased by the vote in support of the Kibby project, but deeply troubled by the decision on Black Nubble.  NRCM worked extremely hard negotiating the scaled-back Black Nubble compromise.  This project had earned unprecedented support – with endorsements from all of the major newspapers in the State, and more than 22 organizations representing tens of thousands of Maine people.  NRCM strongly believes that approval of the Black Nibble project would have been the right decision for Maine, and our future. 

The wind was blowing hard outside, and there were cross-winds during the meeting.  The wind blew one way for Kibby, and another for Black Nubble.  We left shaking our heads, troubled by the mixed decisions. 

You can read our official press release here (http://www.nrcm.org/news_detail.asp?news=2090).  Please share your comments below.

- Sara Lovitz, NRCM clean energy project outreach coordinator

Comments

[P.L. Green]

My understanding is that most (about 90%) of the best wind in Maine is within a few miles of the coast: on land, islands, and water. When will that be used to power wind turbines? So far the policy seems to be outta sight, outta mind. Not at all far sighted.

[Jon]

An informative reply, even if I don't agree with everything you have said. I agree with enough of it to keep supporting NRCM.

[NRCM's Clean Energy Team]

Dear Erica Blaine,

Thank you very much for writing. We appreciate your thoughts but need to clarify in a few places.

First, please understand that NRCM is not an agency. We are Maine's leading nonprofit organization working to protect our state's environment, now and for generations to come. We have more than 11,000 members across the state and beyond. We are dedicated to protecting what makes Maine a special place to live, work, and recreate.

The purpose of our blog posting was to express our disappointment in both the process and the outcome of LURC's recent decision on the Black Nubble wind project. We were left with the impression that the type of wind farm that will most likely be approved is the one that cannot be seen, suggesting that the best place for wind farms in Maine would be in the most remote reaches of the North Woods - which would be a tragedy. This "out of sight, out of mind" mentality is at the core of the problem with our energy situation, must end. Global warming, destructive mountain-top removal of coal, and international conflict over oil are just a few of the unfortunate realities of our dependence on energy. We need to keep these issues "in sight, and in our minds" when thinking about wind farms.

Alternatives to wind power are fossil fuels or nuclear power. The harm caused to our treasured state - our environment as well as the health of our people - by dirty energy are well documented and must be quickly addressed. Maine has among the highest child asthma rate in the country (and the highest adult asthma rate). Traditional Maine jobs such as lobstering and forestry are threatened, and so are our recreation-based businesses such as skiing. If we don't take meaningful action very soon, the maps of Maine's famous coast will need to be redrawn, because global warming's impact on our oceans is more drastic than even the best science originally estimated. Unlike a windmill, though, such impacts are not immediately obvious, and therein lies the danger.

Please understand that NRCM carefully evaluates every wind project on its merits, based on sound science. We work day after day to both advance clean energy solutions and protect the parts of the state that make Maine great. We opposed the original Redington project because we felt the negative impacts outweighed the positives. Black Nubble struck a balance, and it also would have put into permanent protection Redington Pond Range, which is of very high ecological importance to wildlife in the area. We are disappointed that LURC didn't do more of this balancing in the Commission's deliberation. The decisions on Kibby and Black Nubble are indeed hard choices, but having weighed all aspects of projects, we made our conclusion clear.

NRCM supports wind power within a context of advocacy for clean energy solutions and within a regional strategy for confronting global warming. Energy efficiency is a huge part of the solution. It is at least an equal priority for NRCM's energy project, and we are working right now to pass legislation that addresses energy conservation. Wind power, like energy efficiency, is a source of economic benefit to the people of Maine.

The urgency of global warming challenges us to not rely on "wait and see, go slow, or let others go first" approaches. Maine itself is and will be very negatively impacted by global warming, and humans have years, not decades, to begin to reverse the pollution trends we are currently on. Approval of the Kibby project is a big step forward, but the Black Nubble vote leaves our other foot stuck in the ground. This is no way to move into the future. To be a leader in clean power, we must have both feet free to take us where the wind blows - even to places where we might actually see the turbines that generate the power that we depend on every day. We must begin thinking about where our energy comes from, and the harm caused by the status quo system. We must change, for the sake of future generations.

Thank you for sharing your perspective with us, and for taking the time to write such a thoughtful email.

- NRCM's Clean Energy Team

[Cheryl]

That is a shame that Black Nubble was voted against. Don't the LURC commisioners know what is happening because of mountaintop mining and all the global warming related problems?

[Erica Blaine]

I support LURC's decisions on Monday about Black Nubble and Kibby. I am concerned by NRCM's promotion of industrial wind power in our state. Your blog gives the appearance of shame for LURC for voting against the Black Nubble project. It would appear as though you walked away shaking your head in shame and disbelief. But, you didn't speak of the downsides to industrial wind in your blog. There are pros and cons to industrial wind power that quite simply MUST be thoroughly researched prior to full approval of EACH and EVERY project. It is not enough to look at the merits of industrial wind and to give it your agency's clearance for every project that comes to Maine. Each project, developer and mountain has its pros and cons. All are unique, there may or may not be people around that mountain that will be greatly impacted. There is a human side to this that should be considered. Wind energy is NOT going to stop global warming on its own. I too love our great state, we as Mainers have done a fantastic job of protecting our land for our children and for prosperity. We have been given tremendous gifts, such as Katahdin, by Gov. Baxter. I wonder how he would respond if he knew that some of our great mountaintops and wilderness areas were to be blown away to place turbines upon them. I say "blown away" becuase after visiting Mars Hill, I saw the devestation that was created there, the entire north face of the mountain was blown away to create space for a turbine. No thoughts were given for the preservation of the mountain. No thoughts were given to the citizens who live with 2 miles of the project. No thoughts were given to recreational skiiers on the ski slopes of Mars Hill Mountain. I say this in full recognition of our current global warming situation. Global warming is a worldwide problem. I recognize and support Maine's role in this problem, but also urge caution to not rush into wind turbines as an answer to it. Maine alone and wind turbines alone, cannot fix global warming. Other factors, such as energy conservation MUST be fully employed, other alternative energy sources MUST be urged. Wind alone is a very small piece of the alternative energy puzzle. It would require 10 million more acres of land to be industrialized for turbines for the nation to have just 5% of our energy production from wind. With all of the turbines currently in America, less than 1% of our current energy is produced by wind. Wind turbines are a very small producer of energy. It really is just as simple as that. There is great cost involved, and not just money costs. There are human costs. Again, look at the only example we have in our state right now, Mars Hill. Mistakes were made by the town, by the townspeople, by the developer and by the state. We need to learn from the lessons we have already created and not duplicate them. In reading some of your blogs, it appears that you are urging the public to push forward in support of wind energy. It appears that you encourge wind energy as a huge answer to our problems. I would urge you to write your blogs with a bit more caution, please help to get the real facts out there. Tell the public about the merits of wind, but don't forget to tell the downsides as well. They do exist. I too would like to see Maine lead New England in alternative energy. But I'm not sure that Maine needs to lead NE in wind energy. Mainers are traditionally prudent and cautious when faced with big decisions, I urge us to hark back to that way of thought and slowly move forward with each and every wind decision. LURC is doing a fantastic job by taking their time and exploring both the pros and cons for each individual project and approving/disapproving each project ONLY after fully studying all aspects of the impacts (both good and bad). Its not all good. Until the wind power task force makes their decisions, it is the best that LURC can do right now. I urge the task force for wind to make the hard decisions about setbacks from turbines and model ordinances for noise, flicker, etc. These are difficult choices and decisions. The wind power task force is faced with these decisions right now. They are weighing them heavily, There are people, lives, livlihoods and dreams for our state and our children involved in these decisions. Please use caution when promoting wind power. There are many many sides to consider.