RenewNewEngland.com

Fox Islands Wind Project Is Live: Community Wind on the New England Coast

Yesterday, the Fox Islands Wind Project held its official ribbon-cutting, attended by dignitaries from around the state and our own Lib Butler, Avery Day, Tom Doyle and Nick Livesay (Pierce Atwood represented Fox Islands Wind throughout this process). After years of work, the project is expected to lower electricity rates for island residents, and keep year-round island living economically viable. 

The three turbine, 4.5 MW project is not large for Maine, compared to facilities like TransCanada's 44 turbine, 132 MW Kibby Mountain installation, currently under construction, or First Wind's 38 turbine, 57 MW Stetson Wind project.  But the project may offer a glimpse of the future of wind development in Maine and New England.

In the near term at least, it's likely to be increasingly difficult to construct large scale terrestrial wind in Maine.  Both existing and proposed projects have encountered increasingly fervent opposition, which cites concerns about building in scenic or otherwise undeveloped landscapes, and the growing, if unsubstantiated, claims of negative health effects from wind turbines near homes.  The pace of current proceedings at the Maine PUC for approval of a transmission project needed for reliability purposes does not bode well for the sizable transmission projects needed to meet state and regional wind development goals.  One solution is the state's aggressive development of offshore wind, which, though fabulously expensive, is not in anyone's backyard.

The model of the Fox Islands Wind Project offers another solution: relatively small, community-owned projects sited close to load, owned by those who will use the electricity. While the process of constructing Fox Islands' wind turbines was similar to other wind projects (though not without some island-specific twists), the process of developing community support was unique, involving a deep commitment to community education and detailed engineering, economic, environmental and visual impact studies. The Island Institute, working with the Fox Island Electric Cooperative, a member-owned cooperative utility, involved the community members throughout the process.  The cooperative initially created a wholly-owned project development company.  That company then designed the project, and found private equity investors and US government loans to finance the project.  Research suggests that local residents' sense of ownership and participation in a project's development can have a positive effect on their response to the visual and auditory impact of wind turbines.  The Fox Island experience bears this out: as a result of this process, island residents voted to approve the project by a vote of 383 to 5 in July of 2008.  The response to the project in the coming months and years will be telling, both for Vinalhaven and for the other communities around Maine that hope to replicate the success of the Fox Islands Wind Project.

Maine Forest Service Announces Funding for Biomass Heating for Public Buildings

Last Thursday, the Maine Forest Service announced its Request for Application for its Public Building Wood to Energy Program, funded by $11.5 million in funds received under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).  The Forest Service expects to use approximately $10 million of that money to fund at least fifteen "shovel-ready" projects to convert public buildings to wood or dual-fuel heating. Projects must be completed within one year of receiving a grant. The program is open to all Maine public entities or parties with public buildings, including schools, hospitals, state, county, local and tribal governments.

Two classes of projects will be eligible for awards:

Standard Projects:
Eligible for grants of up to $25,000.  Example projects include smaller conversions to wood based systems such as a small pellet boiler or furnace or appropriately-sized wood pellet stove.  Generally, these systems will be less than 200,000 BTU’s and will involve a single building or other small facility.

Complex Projects:
Eligible for grants of up to $750,000.  Systems in this category will typically be larger systems in excess of 200,000 BTU’s installed in larger facilities or serving multiple building such as heating several dorms on a college campus.

Applications are due by January 5, 2010, with awards granted as soon after reciept.  More information, including the complete Request For Applications, can be found at the Maine Forest Service's ARRA site.

The Forest Service's RFA represents the first significant funds Maine has put toward biomass conversion, despite several years of effort and study by Governor Baldacci's Wood to Energy Task Force and several legislative proposals to support biomass conversion for public buildings.  Many see biomass as essential to help reduce the state's reliance on oil in general and foreign oil in particular, an issue of particular concern in Maine, where over 80% of homes rely on #2 heating oil for residential heating, more than any other state.  New Hampshire's Governor John Lynch has also expressed support for use of biomass for heating. 

The road ahead for biomass is uncertain: industrial biomass development in New England continues, with ten new biomass facilities in the ISO-NE Interconnection queue, totalling 373.65 MW of new capacity.  Together with use of biomass for heating, this has prompted concerns about the capacity of Northern New England's forests, competition with the pulp and paper industry, and the environmental impact of burning all this wood.  Nonetheless, for those facilities eligible for this RFA, these funds offer an opportunity for significant long term savings and reduced reliance on oil. 

From New England to the World: Report from WFER IV

Pierce Atwood’s John Gulliver and Julia Weller recently participated in the World Energy Regulatory Forum IV in Athens, Greece.  WFER, as it is known, was created about a decade ago to provide a triennial platform for energy regulators from around the world, regulated energy companies, unregulated energy companies, policy makers, ministers and cabinet members, and other participants in the energy sector including investors, consultants, and customers, to gather and discuss topics of mutual interest.  This event was hosted by the Greek energy regulator, RAE.  Over 1,000 delegates from literally every continent attended.  The importance of independent, principled, non-politicized, cost-based regulation designed to create a favorable investment climate, appropriate consumer protections, and long-term economic and environmental benefits, has gained considerable acknowledgment and support over the 15 years as economies have moved from state-control to private investment, market-driven, competitive economies.  One of the important aspects of the World Forum is that regulators in emerging markets who are new to the job can gain insights from regulators such as those in the U.S., U.K., Australia or Europe who have decades of experience in balancing these important, complex and competing interests.

John chaired a panel of international regulators on Efficiency of CO2 Emission Reduction Mechanisms.  (In the photo above, he's second from the right.)  Julia participated in a separate panel on Regulatory Benchmarking.  Both found it to be an extremely rewarding, engaging, and challenging professional experience.  The planning for WFER IV took almost three years, and John had the opportunity to sit on the Program Planning Committee.  During the three years, of course, the world economy went from boom to bust, so the program was continually reoriented to address current pressing needs.

Three days of meetings are impossible to summarize in one blog entry, but John offers some general takeaways:

• We all share more problems than we think.  Volatile and high energy costs, security of supply, environmental concerns and fundamental fairness are global issues.
• The global appetite for energy, particularly electricity and transport fuels will be significant.  We are already seeing signs of renewed consumption levels coming out of the current economic crisis, especially in China, India, Brazil and other emerging powerhouses.  Recovery of oil from appropriately $35 a barrel to approximately $80 a barrel within a four month span is indicative of this trend.
• Everyone talks sincerely about renewables, but when it comes down to the brass tacks of pricing, it’s difficult not to shy away.  Photovoltaics at 25¢ a kilowatt hour are simply unaffordable for just about everyone.  Wind at 10¢ a kilowatt hour is hard for most people even in rich countries, if deployed on a widespread basis.  These prices are simply the generation price, and do not include transmission, distribution and other costs, which can add another 8-10¢ a kilowatt hour.  Feed-in tariffs have stimulated investment in renewables, but have also pushed average electricity prices to very high levels in some countries.  (For more on feed-in tariff developments in New England, see our previous post.)
• Global warming and greenhouse gas emissions are a huge concern.  Many experts think that the ultimate solution will come not just from switching from coal or other carbon emitting generation sources to clean sources (simply because more and more coal plants will be built in China and India that will outstrip any gains made elsewhere in terms of coal reduction), but instead will be driven by increased efficiency in consumption, retrofitting of existing buildings, and transport fuel change.
• Extension of basic utility services including electricity, water, gas and telephone, at affordable rates to people who are currently not connected to these services remains a significant priority in much of the world.
• There are numerous opportunities for U.S. companies to participate in global energy investment and business development.  The forecasted demand, even in light of the current global recession, is enormous.  Billions and billions of dollars will need to be invested in new generation, new transmission, distribution, and new technology.  U.S. companies have a competitive advantage due to their technical know-how, flexibility, and competitive dollar valuations.

The next World Energy Regulatory Forum – WFER V - will be in 2012 in the City of Quebec, Canada, and is sure to be as informative and thought-provoking as WFER IV proved to be.  Best of all for those of us in New England, it will be easy to attend and participate.  For more information about WFERs past and future, please contact John Gulliver or Julia Weller.