Bill puts payments at $4,000 per turbine
The benefit standard would be comparable to what wind farm developers have agreed to pay several host communities.
By ETHAN WILENSKY-LANFORD Kennebec Journal
AUGUSTA — A bill to clarify what wind energy developers should pay communities that host wind projects has received unanimous support from the Legislature's Utilities and Energy Committee.
A wind energy project now can earn swifter approval from regulators if a developer provides "significant tangible benefits" to a community.
That language is too vague, said Pete Didisheim, advocacy director for the Natural Resources Council of Maine.
Under the bill endorsed Thursday, developers would pay $4,000 per turbine, per year to host communities – in addition to local property taxes – for projects to be built in the future.
The money would not be earmarked for a specific purposes. And in some cases, a developer could choose to split the payment between a county and town, or among several towns.
Communities would still have the option of approving projects without benefit agreements, and they would be free to negotiate larger payments, the legislation says.
The bill, L.D. 1504, took shape after weeks of negotiations among developers, environmentalists, local government representatives and others.
Developers say they like the bill because it would give them more certainty in planning projects.
"It's hard to budget around an unclear requirement," said Dave Wilby of First Wind, which has built wind farms in Mars Hill and Stetson Mountain, among others.
"Now we at least know what the baseline is, so it eliminates one piece of uncertainty in the development process."
The new benefit standard would not apply to existing projects.
But, at $4,000, it would be comparable to what developers have agreed to pay several communities for operating or pending projects.
TransCanada, which is about halfway through building its 44-turbine wind project in Kibby and Skinner townships, has agreed to give the nearby town of Eustis $1,000 per megawatt of energy produced per year for as long as its turbines turn.
If an expansion of the Kibby project is approved, as town officials hope, that could generate $150,000 a year for the town for at least the next 20 years.
"All of that money is going to go to offset the tax that we have to raise in the community," said First Selectman Jay Wyman.
The owner of a home assessed at $100,000 could expect to save $150 a year, he added.
Washington County has used the $3.75 million it expects each year in property tax revenue from the Stetson wind project to contract with the Sunrise County Economic Council, which will administer loans and grants to promote and improve nature-based tourism, transportation infrastructure and other projects in the county's unorganized territories.
"Investment spurs job creation," said Harold Clossey, the council's executive director.
But not everybody is happy about the proposed standard.
Chris O'Neil, who represents the Friends of Maine Mountains, said the bill is an acknowledgment that wind energy projects have a negative impact.
Communities don't incur increased costs from wind projects, he said, but what he sees as an eyesore affects the whole state.
"We're still not considering the cumulative impact to the state of Maine," he said.
MaineToday Media State House Reporter Ethan Wilensky-Lanford can be contacted at 620-7016 or at:
ewlanford@mainetoday.com
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12 COMMENTS
ThorEau said...
NRCM = Nearby Residents Can Move NRCM = National Raptor Clipping Machine NRCM = Now Raping and Clearing Mountaintops NRCM = New Religion Conning Members NRCM = Never Renewing Council Membership
March 20, 2010 at 12:38 AM Report abuse
homeboy said...
This seems like a small potatoes payment if you can't sleep...I know, I have a "neighbor" who cranks techno-pop thorugh the walls of his house into mine. Repeated calls to the PPD and visits haven't helped make him stop...sleep and peace of mind are pricelss.
March 20, 2010 at 7:45 AM Report abuse
B.Raynes said...
This bill fails to account for the reality that not all residents in a community are impacted equally. This attention paid to “community benefit” further marginalizes those most harmed by industrial wind. There are few living near turbines that would choose this meager “bribe” over their former quality of life. With a clear emphasis on pay offs, those not directly injured by developments may find it easier to close their eyes (and ears) to the pleas of those who are. Furthermore, this payment is “in addition to local property taxes”. Nowhere is it mentioned that through TIF agreements, the vast majority of property taxes assessed are returned directly to the developer. The financial incentives to this industry are staggering, the majority of which are paid for by taxpayers. This amounts to nothing more than a return of our own money. In yet another attempt to keep public support for industrial wind from listening to the voices of reason, a few crumbs are tossed to the populace.
March 20, 2010 at 7:51 AM Report abuse
lordpeter said...
Nothing more than a BRIBE. You just know the product must be faulty if they have to BRIBE you to take it.
March 20, 2010 at 10:53 AM Report abuse
Jack_Pine said...
I wonder if one of today's LETTER writers is the same Gardiner Parker who is the recent Colby grad who gave the presentation called "Wind Power in America". http://www.colby.edu/sturesearch/ressymposium/RS2009/Assoc_sess.html I also wonder if this is the same Gardiner Parker who is a son of Woolwich’s Jackson Parker, the CEO of the largest wind power contractor in Maine, Reed & Reed. http://www.wiscassetnewspaper.com/07_16_09_Reed_Reed_WISC.htm That is the company is responsible for the following sprawling industrial wind complexes: Mars Hill, Stetson, Beaver Ridge and Kibby Mountain. See the devastation atop Mars Hill: http://www.windtaskforce.org/photo/marred-hills-mars-hill-me?context=latest
March 20, 2010 at 11:13 AM Report abuse
Jack_Pine said...
And what happens when the turbines get larger and they are stuck at $4,000. It is sinful bribe money that appeals to people to sell out their neighbors.
March 20, 2010 at 2:57 PM Report abuse
Jack said...
The money from the turbines will offset property taxes. Are you kidding me? The need to collect taxes is insatiable and the honey moon will not last.
March 20, 2010 at 3:37 PM Report abuse
opine2 said...
ABSOLUTE MADNESS!!! Anyone with a basic understanding of the wind power industry would know that. DO THE RESEARCH!
March 20, 2010 at 4:32 PM Report abuse
splarry said...
Wind turbines are a blight on the countryside. I can just see what the vast wilderness of Maine will look like twenty five years from now with thousands of turbines? SAD!
March 20, 2010 at 7:29 PM Report abuse
Blueyes1119 said...
This is "chump change" that will be tucked into the cost of doing business for the wind developers. If you really want to benefit communities, make the wind site pay full taxes on full valuation, disallow the TIF scam, and have an annual impact fee to offset the ruination of natural resources and viewshed and altering the character of a town. This is what I recommended to the Town Council of Lincoln as they considered First Wind 's Rollins Project. I suggested the impact fee be based on 50% of the production tax credit First Wind would receive for the 20 turbines in Lincoln. They assume 30% production, so using their figures, this calculates out to 50% of $1,655,640., or $827,820. for the town. This is a real "tangible" benefit to a town for destroyed mountains. At $4,000 per turbine, First Wind would be laughably off the hook for a mere $80,000. Sock it to those thieves! Stop making it so friggin' easy for them to rural Maine!
March 20, 2010 at 11:14 PM Report abuse
windblock said...
Just another BRIBE. If windsprawl was a good thing, nothing would be needed to sweeten the pot. Let's make this easy. Windsprawl will make our elec. bills go up for no measurable decrease in CO2. So upcfirstwindevergreen LLC go away and take your big city lawyers with you. Maine will do fine.
March 22, 2010 at 11:17 AM Report abuse
Caveman said...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/energy/renewableenergy/7505006/Europes-largest-windfarm-shut-after-turbine-blade-snaps.html
March 23, 2010 at 11:11 AM Report abuse