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May 21, 2009

Developers oppose energy bill

By Mainebiz News Staff

A sweeping energy bill that would require the state to study energy corridor leases is strongly opposed by energy developers.

Developers of projects worth more than $5 billion said yesterday that if the Legislature passes the bill it would delay the construction of energy corridors and may mean the projects move to other states, according to the Portland Press Herald. The three opposing companies include two Toronto firms -- Riverbank Power Co., which intends to build a $2 billion underground generator in Wiscasset, and Transmission Developers Inc., which plans a $1 billion underwater power line from Wiscasset to Boston -- and Mass.-based New England Independent Transmission Co., which plans a $2 billion transmission project for wind power in Aroostook County.

The companies took issue with a portion of an amendment to a state energy bill that would require a report and recommendation in December on how the state can get maximum value from leases with corridor developers, the paper reported. The firms say that the amendment creates regulatory uncertainty and the delay threatens limited-time-only funding from the federal stimulus package. David Farmer, Gov. John Baldacci's deputy chief of staff, says the governor is committed to finding a compromise in the bill's language to satisfy the developers' concerns.

 

Reader comments

From Bill Shoot

Maine should replicate the Tennessee Valley Authority and control our sources of energy production. The TVA, though still a quasi government organization, actually operates in the black. I would recommend a Maine model begin as public and then spun off to private shareholders.

Cheap, Maine produced and controlled energy would transform the manufacturing landscape and make the State competitive. The TVA helped transform the South into a leading manufacturing base.

We should not be content with settling for pennies on the dollar.

From William Thomas

The way the state can 'maximize' its revenue from the projects is to get the heck out of the way. Revenue will come from sales tax, fuel tax, income tax, tolls, and every other way the state already collects revenue.

The pirates in Augusta are looking for special extortion powers over these particular projects as if they don't already have enough ways to squeeze the life out of the people of Maine.

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