Northern Maine wind undertaking is an efficient deal for Maine
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Jackson A. Parker is the chairman and CEO of Reed & Reed, Inc. in Woolwich.
Regardless of all the talk about power in our state and nation, most Mainers agree on the aims: We would like inexpensive, dependable, and Maine-made clear power to energy our properties and companies. In Maine proper now there may be one alternative that may assist us obtain these aims by offering inexpensive, clear and renewable power that doesn’t depend on risky and soiled gas from another a part of the world.
A wind farm, referred to as King Pine, has been proposed for an space in Aroostook County northwest of Houlton. It will be related to our energy grid by a brand new transmission line. The Maine Legislature handed a regulation to encourage any such funding in renewable energy and grid upgrades in northern Maine, because the area has by no means had the infrastructure essential to unlock its potential till now – and given the skyrocketing power costs we’re all experiencing, it couldn’t have come at a greater time.
King Pine Wind would generate sufficient zero-emissions renewable power to satisfy the wants of the equal of roughly 450,000 residential electrical energy prospects. The price of the wind energy will save Mainers cash on day one by costing lower than the wholesale price of energy, and a current examine confirmed that including sources like King Pine would decrease power market costs and supply vital price financial savings for shoppers.
Maine and the remainder of New England undergo from excessive power prices largely as a result of we’re so uncovered to the volatility of worldwide fossil gas markets. The price of the most important sources of our warmth and transportation – oil – and our electrical energy – pure gasoline – can enhance dramatically and out of the blue, as we’re experiencing now, as a result of elements like a conflict in Europe or world inflation. The one technique to keep away from these worth spikes is to seek out energy sources which are native, inflation-proof, and don’t fluctuate in worth as a result of occasions half a world away.
King Pine is strictly that sort of useful resource. Additional, the advantages aren’t guesswork, as a brand new Maine Public Utilities Fee report exhibits clear power tasks like King Pine are offering significant financial savings to Mainer prospects proper now. Between December 2021 and November 2022, current long-term contracts for renewable energy saved Maine ratepayers practically $14 million.
The Maine Public Utilities Fee chosen King Pine and the related transmission line after a sturdy aggressive solicitation. It additionally explored the opportunity of partnering with one other state to unfold the transmission price. Fortuitously, in December Massachusetts indicated it’s in taking part, following a overview of the advantages by a state company.
Placing our power {dollars} into native tasks will preserve our cash at house, permitting Mainers and Maine corporations to assist us make our essential and in addition cost-effective clear power transition. Constructing wind and transmission in northern Maine will put Maine folks to work, convey tens of thousands and thousands of {dollars} into communities by means of property taxes and group profit agreements, and create work for years to return for a variety of Maine companies.
With our firm having constructed practically all of Maine’s wind energy tasks, we’ve seen firsthand the financial impacts for native companies, the job creation and talent coaching alternatives these tasks create. As a Franklin County enterprise proprietor as soon as stated to me, “You’re our financial stimulus plan”.
These wind and transmission tasks will bear numerous regulatory evaluations over the following couple years. Maine ought to seize this momentous alternative and transfer these tasks ahead promptly, and assist transfer our state towards a extra inexpensive, affluent, and clear future.
