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Kennebec Valley Community College (KVCC) has been granted a $100,000 federal award to help rural small businesses and agricultural producers reduce energy consumption and implement renewable energy technologies.The grant will enable KVCC to provide renewable energy development assistance for at least 140 agricultural producers and rural small businesses across Maine over the next two years.
“Work funded under this grant will support the delivery of a high level of renewable energy technical assistance to farms and small rural businesses throughout the state,” said Dana Doran, Director of Energy Programs at KVCC. “This assistance will help Maine farmers and small rural business owners save energy, improve their environment, and strengthen their bottom lines.”
Mars Hill wind farm - the first commercial wind project in the state of Maine
Mars Hill has produced more than 627,000 megawatt-hours of energy and generated approximately $2.5 million in tax revenue for the town of Mars Hill since March 27, 2007. First Wind’s 42 MW Mars Hill Wind project supplies clean, renewable energy to local ratepayers in northern Maine.
The Mars Hill project, which cost about $90 million to develop and build, generates enough power for an average of 20,000 Maine homes each year. New Brunswick Power purchases all of the power and it is distributed to homes and businesses in Northern Maine. Reflecting the cost-competitiveness of wind energy with traditional fossil fuel sources, New Brunswick Power was recently able to offer a 10-20 percent discount in its standard offer service in the Mars Hill service territory.
Total proceeds for Maine to date are over $30 million
The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), spearheaded by the Baldacci Administration in Maine, brought in $1,439,023.44 million to the state from the last cap and trade auction. To date Maine has made $30,178,278.45 in proceeds that have benefited various weatherization and energy efficiency programs in the state.
“Every dollar we keep in our region supports growth in local economies,” said David Littell, a Commissioner of the Maine Public Utilities Commission and Vice Chair of RGGI, Inc. “RGGI investments keep $765 million in our states by reducing fossil fuel expenditures. At the same time, we are reducing harmful pollution. This double impact—of enhancing local economies and reducing emissions—is what makes RGGI so effective.”
President Barack Obama speaks after touring Sempra's Copper Mountain Solar 1 facility, Wednesday, March 21, 2012, in Boulder City, Nev. The president explained his energy agenda this week. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)
President Barack Obama explains his energy policies from wind, solar, biofuels, and electric cars to oil — in his speech in Cushing, Oklahoma.New energy technologies will continue to add jobs and boost the economy.
The President:
Now, under my administration, America is producing more oil today than at any time in the last eight years. (Applause.) That’s important to know. Over the last three years, I’ve directed my administration to open up millions of acres for gas and oil exploration across 23 different states. We’re opening up more than 75 percent of our potential oil resources offshore. We’ve quadrupled the number of operating rigs to a record high. We’ve added enough new oil and gas pipeline to encircle the Earth and then some.
So we are drilling all over the place — right now. That’s not the challenge. That’s not the problem. In fact, the problem in a place like Cushing is that we’re actually producing so much oil and gas in places like North Dakota and Colorado that we don’t have enough pipeline capacity to transport all of it to where it needs to go — both to refineries, and then, eventually, all across the country and around the world. There’s a bottleneck right here because we can’t get enough of the oil to our refineries fast enough. And if we could, then we would be able to increase our oil supplies at a time when they’re needed as much as possible.
Last week the Maine Public Utilities Commission set standard offer service prices for the month of April for large commercial and industrial (C&I) customers of Central Maine Power (CMP) and Bangor Hydro Electric (BHE). The April prices, which are set based on an energy market index, reflect continued low prices in wholesale power and natural gas markets. The April prices are 10% lower than prices in March and 25% to 35% lower than prices one year ago.
Democratic lawmakers on the State Legislature’s Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee said the governor’s efforts to ram through sweeping energy proposals that undercut energy efficiency and renewable energy will hurt Maine families and businesses.
On Friday, Governor Paul LePage released four significant energy proposals that could get a public hearing as early as tomorrow.
“The Governor said it was a top priority last summer to introduce an energy bill,” said Rep. Alex Cornell du Houx, D-Brunswick, who serves on the committee. “Now as the legislative session is in the last month, he is trying to recklessly upend good energy policy with almost no notice for a public hearing? The people deserve more time to find out if they will be one of the winners or losers under the plan.”
In his State of the Union, President Obama introduced an all-of-the-above strategy that develops every available source of American-made energy. This includes everything from tapping our offshore oil supplies and vast natural gas reserves, to doubling down on clean energy resources like wind and solar power, to developing new technologies that help us use less energy altogether.
Oil companies receive $4 billion every year in taxpayer-funded subsidies, despite continually bringing in record high profits. Meanwhile, gas prices are on the rise—just like they were this time last year—and the same people funding those subsidies are paying more at the pump for the gas they need to get to school and work.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded $1 million to the Penobscot Indian Nation that will help the tribe install a 227-megawatt wind project in Alder Stream Township in Franklin County.
“As President Obama highlighted in the State of the Union, the administration is committed to building an American economy that lasts and leverages our nation’s clean energy resources,” said DOE Energy Secretary Steven Chu. “The awards will help tribes across the country advance a sustainable energy future for their local communities, spur economic development and advance innovative clean energy technologies.”
In President Obama 2013 budget proposal only $20 million was included for the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Water Power Program, a 66 percent reduction from the funding level set by Congress in the FY12 Energy and Water Development Appropriations bill. This Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) program is charged with supporting efforts to research, test and develop innovative technologies capable of generating clean and affordable electricity from water resources.
“This is disappointing news for the entire U.S. water power industry,” said Sean O’Neill, OREC’s president. “Conventional hydropower already provides substantial electricity to consumers and stands ready to do more. Marine and hydrokinetic (MHK) technologies, including wave, current and tidal, have demonstrated substantial progress and offer the promise to deliver clean, affordable and American made energy to the U.S. grid and deserve continued funding support.”
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