LOCATION/TYPE

NEWS HOME

[ exact phrase in "" • results by date ]

[ Google-powered • results by relevance ]


Archive
RSS

Add NWW headlines to your site (click here)

Get weekly updates

WHAT TO DO
when your community is targeted

RSS

RSS feeds and more

Keep Wind Watch online and independent!

Donate via Paypal

Donate via Stripe

Selected Documents

All Documents

Research Links

Alerts

Press Releases

FAQs

Campaign Material

Photos & Graphics

Videos

Allied Groups

Wind Watch is a registered educational charity, founded in 2005.

News Watch Home

Monhegan looks at wind energy 

Credit:  By JOHN MAGUIRE, Staff Reporter | Tuesday, January 15, 2013 | www.boothbayregister.com www.wiscassetnewspaper.com ~~

Would it be possible for Monhegan Island to lower its electricity costs by using wind? Matthew Thompson, President of the Monhegan Plantation Power District, wanted to find out when he attended a presentation about net energy billing as part of the Maine Agricultural Trades Show in Augusta January 10.

Others at the presentation learned about the electricity credits a community or business can get through alternative energy sources, such as wind or solar power.

Environmental attorney Sue Jones described how community wind projects and net energy billing work to increase energy efficiency and reduce costs.

Electricity (produced by diesel-powered generator on Monhegan Island) costs ratepayers about 70 cents per kilowatt hour (kwh), according to Thompson. He and others would like to reduce that cost by installing wind turbines on Monhegan and neighboring Manana Island.

There are about 30 year-round residents, many of whom are in favor of such a project, Thompson said. But many of the 800 seasonal residents are opposed to the idea, citing the potential for noise and light flicker disturbances, he said.

However, if a wind turbine project passed a vote, Thompson said they could run a line to Port Clyde to sell power to the main grid.

Port Clyde is 14 miles from Monhegan and Thompson estimates it would cost approximately $1 million per mile to run the line.

Even if they were to raise funds and obtain enough in grant money to do the project, it would require a very large substation to be constructed on the island, Jones said. She said she thinks it would be cost prohibitive, but asked about generating power for community use.

The island created a webpage dedicated to the possibilities. The site provides presentations, documents and links about the matter.

An “Opportunity and Risk” presentation offered to the community in 2009 by Dr. George Baker shows the benefits and possibilities, including potential costs and where the community could garner additional funds.

As for other communities, individuals and businesses, the benefits to co-ownership of a renewable energy project are worth considering, as Jones illustrated during her presentation.

Potential owners can be schools, farmers, small businesses, co-operative groups, colleges, municipalities and state agencies.

There are six megawatts (mw) worth of community wind projects in Maine, according to Jones. Of these, 4.5 mw are produced by Fox Island Wind, the largest community wind-power facility on the east coast. Jones said there are about 150 mw in development in Maine, a small portion of which are municipal.

One community wind project is the 100 kilowatt turbine installed at Camden Hills Regional High School in Rockport. “This is a very exciting project,” Jones said. “I like this because it was mostly student-led.” The turbine is currently spinning and generates electric power for the five town community school district, according to a January 19, 2012 article in the Coastal Journal.

The article states it took eight years of planning and implementation led by the local student group, the Windplanners, and cost approximately $500,000.

Net energy billing credits facility owners and customers for unused energy. Jones said credits can be applied to up to 10 accounts or meters, provided all are within a single transmission and distribution territory.

Unused credits accumulate into a 12-month period, after which, if still unused, get credited to the facility.

More information about this subject can be found in Chapter 313 in the Maine Public Utilities (MPUC) website.

Further inquiries can be made to Mitch Tannenbaum at the MPUC by calling 207-287-3831 or emailing mitchell.tannenbaum@maine.gov.

Source:  By JOHN MAGUIRE, Staff Reporter | Tuesday, January 15, 2013 | www.boothbayregister.com www.wiscassetnewspaper.com

This article is the work of the source indicated. Any opinions expressed in it are not necessarily those of National Wind Watch.

The copyright of this article resides with the author or publisher indicated. As part of its noncommercial educational effort to present the environmental, social, scientific, and economic issues of large-scale wind power development to a global audience seeking such information, National Wind Watch endeavors to observe “fair use” as provided for in section 107 of U.S. Copyright Law and similar “fair dealing” provisions of the copyright laws of other nations. Send requests to excerpt, general inquiries, and comments via e-mail.

Wind Watch relies entirely
on User Funding
   Donate via Paypal
(via Paypal)
Donate via Stripe
(via Stripe)

Share:

e-mail X FB LI TG TG Share


News Watch Home

Get the Facts
CONTACT DONATE PRIVACY ABOUT SEARCH
© National Wind Watch, Inc.
Use of copyrighted material adheres to Fair Use.
"Wind Watch" is a registered trademark.

 Follow:

Wind Watch on X Wind Watch on Facebook

Wind Watch on Linked In Wind Watch on Mastodon