Engineering News Articles
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KITTERY, Maine —A preliminary public meeting on the replacement of the Dennett Street Overpass Bridge received residents' approval.
A handful of residents came to hear a presentation from Maine Department of Transportation Project Manager Jim Wentworth, who talked about the possibility of replacing the nearly 70-year-old bridge, which carries the Route 1 Bypass over Route 103/Dennett Road.
While Wentworth noted that planning is still in the very early stages, he said the bridge could cost between $2 million and $2.5 million to replace and might take somewhere between six and nine months. Wentworth said the DOT's goal is to replace the aging structure, widen a narrow road under the bridge, and provide a new and more level sidewalk for walkers and bikers." (The bridge) is getting old. If you drive under it, you see it's in pretty poor to fair condition," Wentworth said.
Dennett Road resident Ken Linscott expressed concern with possible slowdowns for the project in the wake of the currently stalled Memorial Bridge repair project, saying he believed the overpass replacement would improve safety in the area. In response, Wentworth said the project was being pushed forward as an important repair and would begin sooner than later.
Wentworth said the project could begin in late 2009 or 2010 unless a construction schedule was developed for the Memorial Bridge which would make re-routing traffic too difficult. DOT project engineer Robert Blunt said there has been some discussion of detouring traffic around the bridge site over Ranger Drive and Gorges Road, but noted that traffic studies will have to be completed before that determination is made. Blunt said that despite the condition of the bridge, it is still safe to drive over and under.
Wentworth predicted the DOT would return to Kittery for another public hearing in the next few months.
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November 20, 2008 - Orland Intersection Known
for Accidents
Written by Cyndi Wood
ORLAND — The intersection of Route 1, Upper Falls Road and School House Road
has a bad reputation. Known for accidents over the years, the Maine Department
of Transportation has made changes to try to improve visibility and reduce
drivers’ speeds. “We’ve probably done about all we can do at that location other
than cutting down the hill, and we’re not going to do that,” said DOT Region
Traffic Engineer Bruce Mattson.
The four-way intersection sits at the top of a hill on busy Route 1. Signs warn
drivers of the upcoming intersection and the speed limit is reduced to 45 mph.
There is also a blinking yellow light. The intersection has two lanes of
thru-traffic on each side and a left-hand turn lane into Upper Falls Road for
westbound traffic.
Mattson said accidents have decreased there since the DOT has made improvements
over the years. Still, accidents happen, including last week’s fatal crash that
killed an Ellsworth man. Mattson said the DOT first started making changes at
the intersection sometime in the late ’80s or early ’90s after a tractor-trailer
plowed through a church when swerving to avoid a vehicle.
The intersection was widened to five lanes at that time. Further improvements
included installing traffic islands, overhead lane signs, the flashing yellow
light, more traffic signs and pavement markings. About five years ago, the DOT
also reduced the height of a traffic island in the intersection so it would no
longer obstruct the view of oncoming traffic for drivers turning out of School
House Road next to the HOME co-op.
Mattson said the intersection is one of two historically troublesome spots in
Orland. Just down the road where Route 175 connects with Route 1 is another
intersection known for accidents. Mattson said the DOT has also taken
steps to improve visibility there. At the intersection with School House and
Upper Falls Road, one of the major problems is speed, according to Mattson.
“It meets minimum standards, but with the speed limit being 50 and people going
60 or 65…”
Wayne Ames, chairman of the Orland Board of Selectmen, said the intersection
does have “quite a history of accidents.” He also attributed much of the
problem to drivers’ speeds. “You can’t drive for people, and people won’t
slow down,” Ames said. He said that one suggestion he had made about the
intersection was to make both the right-hand lanes in either direction turn-only
lanes. Other than that, he said he does not see many solutions. “There
isn’t a heck of a lot that can be done,” Ames said.
Mattson said on average about 8,600 vehicles pass along Route 1 daily. About
2,000 vehicles use Upper Falls Road, which is a popular route to Bangor for Blue
Hill Peninsula residents. School House Road traditionally gets much less
traffic, but that could change this summer.
During construction of a new bridge on Route 175, the Castine Road, School House
Road will become a detour route. Mattson said travelers on Route 175 would be
detoured up School House Road and then onto Gray Meadow Road to avoid increasing
traffic at the intersection at the top of School House Road.
Gray Meadow Road connects with Route 1 farther down the highway toward
Ellsworth.
Drivers heading from Bucksport and connecting to Route 175 would make a right at
School House Road, Mattson said.
“There aren’t many alternative route options there,” he said.
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November 19, 2008 - Higgins Beach seawall
work begins
By Al Edwards Reporter - American Journal
SCARBOROUGH (Nov 18, 2008): Scarborough has broken ground on a $650,000 seawall
to replace the existing wall at Higgins Beach.
Crews from Cape Ann Equipment of North Andover, Mass., excavated the site and
poured concrete for the foundation, said Scarborough Public Works Director Mike
Shaw. "It's moving along quite well," Shaw said.
The project evolved after the 2007 Patriot's Day storm damaged the wall.
"We had two options at that point," Shaw said. "We could repair it by piecing it
back together or we could take funds to rebuild the wall that was not originally
designed by an engineer firm and had some flaws to begin with." Completion
of the seawall is expected by Dec. 17, Shaw said.
In February, the Scarborough Town Council agreed to bond $450,000 for the
project. Also, because the damage was caused by the Patriot's Day storm, a
$214,000 grant was available from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
"It was a good deal for the town and it needed to be rebuilt," Scarborough Town
Councilor Michael Wood said. The town in January submitted an application
to the Department of Environmental Protection for a permit to replace the
existing seawall. The town’s application is under review and pending approval.
The Higgins Beach seawall dates from the 1960s, when large boulders were put in
place to minimize beach erosion from storms. This rock wall was covered with a
protective cement barrier in 1992 and has undergone repeated maintenance over
the years in response to the problems of erosion and rising water levels. The
wall runs approximately 750 feet, from Pearl Street to the Breakers Inn.
"It was just gravity holding rocks in place with nothing to rest on," Shaw said.
"We decided to go with the enhanced project and what we're going to have is a
fitted rock wall (that) will be designed so that the size of the stone that is
going to be in the wall takes into account the forces of the ocean." The
new wall has to be built so that its "footprint, height, and reflection of waves
cannot be more than the existing seawall," according to Steve Dickson, a marine
geologist at the Maine Geological Survey in Augusta. In addition, the Department
of Environmental Protection mandated in 2006 that that a repaired or replaced
wall must be less damaging than the previous one to the environment.
The Scarborough Town Council, DEP and the Portland engineering firm of Deluca
Hoffman met with the Maine Geological Survey and Maine Department of
Conservation twice in 2007. These groups determined how the wall would affect
bird nesting and other local habitats. The new wall meets those mandates
and will be about 500 feet long with a street-level height, Shaw said.
There will also be added amenities such as a year-round staircase and a sidewalk
on the ocean side of Bayview, Wood said.
Based in Westbrook, Reporter - American Journal Al Edwards can be reached at
207- 854-2577 or by e-mail at aedwards@keepmecurrent.com.
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November 19, 2008 - University Of Maine At
Presque Isle To Build Wind Turbine - Presque Isle (NEWS
CENTER)
The University of Maine at Presque Isle is taking big step in going green. The school has reached an agreement with Lumus Construction to begin working on a $2 million project to install wind turbine. UMPI is the first university in the state to install a 600kW wind turbine.
The President of that University, Don Zillman said. "This is an historic moment for the University of Maine at Presque Isle, one that encompasses both our efforts to make wind energy generation on campus a reality and our willingness to serve as a leader on the community wind project front. With this agreement, we not only will be decreasing our carbon footprint, but also serving our role as an educational, community and statewide leader in green power use. We couldn't be more excited."
Officials have been working on this project since May of 2007. They expected the turbine will save the institution more than $100,000. On top of saving the school money the turbine will eliminate an estimated 572 tons of carbon dioxide going into the atmosphere each year. Lumus Construction is based out of Portland, and Woburn Massachusetts. The company will begin work immediately at the turbine site, located adjacent to the university's athletic fields on the southern end of campus.
More information on the project will be released on Monday at 11 a.m when the University and the construction company hold the formal contract signing and the discuss project in detail.
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October
28, 2008 - PORTLAND (AP)
- Maine is one of 15 states that will share in $200 million allocated by the
U.S. Housing and Urban Development agency.
HUD Secretary Steve Preston on Tuesday announced the allocations for states
affected by natural disasters.
Maine will receive about $2.2 million for flooding damage that occurred in
several counties during severe storms last spring.
According to HUD, the funding is provided through the Community Development
Block Grant Program and will help support each state's long-term disaster
recovery and critical infrastructure needs.
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October 23 - Trans-Maine road proposal attracts
notice
By BILL POWER Business Reporter
A distressed U.S. economy may boost support for a proposed east-west highway
across Maine, some top players in the Atlantic Canadian trucking industry heard
Wednesday. "The economy is not looking good, but a window has opened in
the past 30 days that adds support to this project," said Maria Luisa O’Connell,
president of the Border Trade Alliance in the United States.
The president of the organization that lobbies on behalf of communities on the
Mexico-U.S. border said the recent stock market calamity will have investors
looking for revenue-generating infrastructure projects such as the toll highway
proposed by Maine entrepreneur Peter Vigue, chief executive officer of Cianbro
Corp. The Pittsfield, Maine, company is promoting the highway as a
transportation, utility and communications corridor from the New Brunswick-Maine
border to Quebec.
An update on the proposed 350-kilometre highway across Maine was part of the
2008 International Transportation Summit, hosted in Halifax by the Atlantic
Provinces Trucking Association.
Ms. O’Connell said the major reliance of many U.S. communities on exports adds
political appeal to the highway project and could create a more favourable view
of the privately funded project in Washington, where security concerns would
previously have presented some roadblocks. Security concerns about the
estimated $2-billion project were raised at the conference by Paul Morris,
executive director of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Mr. Morris told summit participants the need for strict security precautions
remains as critical as in the aftermath of the 9-11 attacks against the United
States and could have implications for the highway project, scheduled to open to
traffic in 2014. "Promoters (of the project) should not be expecting current
procedures are going to go away," he said, referring to border crossings.
He said the scheduled opening date leaves little time for required security
infrastructure improvements, such as an anticipated rebuilding of the U.S.
border-crossing facility at Coburn Gore, Maine, near the southeastern corner of
Quebec, to handle increased traffic volume. He said it would take at least
seven years to get a required border-crossing facility in place. "The proposed
Maine crossing is already behind the curve in this regard," he said.
Laurette Laverdiere, with Cianbro Corp., said the company is holding to its 2014
completion date with a view that security issues and a list of other issues
typical of a project of this magnitude will be resolved. "We feel the
technology currently exists to speed up border crossings," she said in an
interview. "Truckers will not use the highway if the driving time they save is
lost in a two-hour wait at the border." Ms. Laverdiere said another
essential component for the east-west highway across Maine is the construction
of about 90 kilometres of highway on the Canadian side to connect with Highway
10 near Sherbrooke, Que.
The east-west highway would be built in time to handle an expected influx of
marine cargo from Asia and the Far East via the Suez Canal, if Cianbro can
secure investor and regulatory approval.
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October, 22, 2008 - Maine, NY towns working on
wind-farm regulations
By Nick Sambides Jr., BDN Staff
LINCOLN - The Planning Board doesn’t believe a moratorium on wind farms, or
new regulations regarding massive wind turbines, are necessary, but other Maine
and upstate New York towns disagree, a news survey revealed Wednesday.
Board Vice Chairman B. Michael Ireland said a moratorium such as the board would
consider would delay the project six months - not eliminate it.
“We have to see what they want to do in order to judge it properly,” Ireland, a
land-use permitting environmental consultant, said at a board meeting on
Tuesday.
Board members readily admitted that they hadn’t any experience dealing with wind
turbines, but said it would be their responsibility to learn. Lincoln’s land-use
laws are comprehensive enough to make further regulations regarding wind farms
unnecessary, Ireland said.
The board, Ireland said, will also rely upon Maine’s Department of Environmental
Protection to help evaluate the project. First Wind requires permits from DEP,
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Burlington, Lee, Lincoln and Winn, the towns in
which its proposed $120 million Rollins Mountain wind farm would be built.
Fort Kent is pondering a one-year moratorium on wind farms and Wallagrass,
Byron, and Roxbury have passed moratoriums, said Lisa Linowes of Industrial Wind
Action Group, an anti-windpower advocacy organization in New Hampshire.
In upstate New York, Newfield has a moratorium on wind development, Farmersville
is introducing one, and Ithaca recently approved residential turbine
regulations, a nexis.com search revealed Wednesday.
Common threads run through New York towns’ concerns: the lack of information
about wind farms, their potential adverse impacts and how best to glean economic
benefits from them.
Upstate New York has at least six farms, with at least six more being pursued,
similar to the Mars Hill wind farm First Wind of Massachusetts built last year.
First Wind is building a farm on Stetson Mountain and hopes to build a $120
million farm on Rollins Mountain in Burlington, Lee, Lincoln and Winn next year.
“We’re trying to get a law in place before a developer comes,” Hammond, New York
Town Councilman Ronald Tully told the Watertown Daily Times on Oct. 14. “We’re
trying to be proactive.”
Hammond has yet to be approached by a developer, Tully said.
Major New York concerns regard set-back zones, which determine where a turbine
can be constructed, property taxes and revenue from the turbines. According to
the Ithaca Journal, Enfield, New York recently proposed a law setting wind
turbine setbacks 450 feet from buildings and 100 feet from property lines.
It requires a computerized photographic visual impact study, a sound pressure
and noise analysis study, and a study on the effect that “shadow flicker” -
created by rotating blades and sunlight - would have on nearby residents.
It was not immediately clear Wednesday whether Maine DEP requires such studies,
but the more than 500 pages of incomplete DEP permit application that First Wind
officials displayed at Tuesday’s Planning Board meeting testified to the
company’s thoroughness and willingness to comply with state laws, a spokesman
said.
nsambides@bangordailynews.net
794-8215
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October 22, 2008 - Grant to Aid Vernal Pools
STAFF REPORT
Maine Audubon and a handful of Maine communities have received a $47,000 grant
to improve protections for vernal pools.
The grant will help identify and protect valuable vernal pools, which are
temporary wetlands often overlooked as important wildlife habitat.
Maine Audubon and Brunswick, Orono, Readfield, Scarborough, Wayne and Yarmouth
will work to identify significant vernal pools and educate communities about
their importance.
Plans include digital mapping of vernal pools and training local residents as
citizen scientists to help assess the importance of particular sites.
The grant to Maine Audubon is part of the first $1.4 million awarded by the
TogetherGreen initiative, a national Audubon project with funding from Toyota.
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October 18, 2008 - FERC dismisses Quoddy Bay LNG
application in Maine
BANGOR, Maine (AP) _ The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has dismissed an
Oklahoma developer's application to build a liquefied natural gas terminal at
the Passamaquoddy Indian reservation at Pleasant Point.
The agency said the decision was prompted by Quoddy Bay LNG's failure to provide
information the agency had requested about the project in order to move forward
with an engineering review and environmental assessment.
FERC also dismissed the company's application to build and operate a pipeline
that would link the terminal to the existing Maritimes & Northeast line in
Baileyville that pipes gas from Canada to Massachusetts.
In a letter Friday to Quoddy Bay, FERC noted that it was dismissing the
application "without prejudice," which allows the company to file a new
application in the future.
Company President Don Smith says the dismissal comes as no surprise. It delays
the project for several years but will not cause any changes in the plan,
according to Smith, who projected that the terminal will be up and running by
2014.
"FERC had announced to us in a letter many months ago they were putting our
applications on hold pending our getting active with them. Now they've sent us a
letter that they are dismissing the applications which operationally doesn't
change anything for me," Smith said.
Save Passamaquoddy Bay, a group opposed to LNG development in the area,
applauded FERC's dismissal of the application.
"The project has been under suspension until today's announcement by FERC of
complete dismissal from the federal permitting process — FERC's first such
dismissal in history. This is the logical — if not late — end to a poorly sited
and ill-conceived project, clearly one that the developers themselves — along
with a host of consultants — could not technically accomplish," said Robert
Godfrey, a spokesman for the group.
Two other LNG projects in the nearby communities of Robbinston and Calais are
still pending
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October 18, 2008 - FERC OKs $1.4 billion CMP rate
incentives
By Dawn Gagnon BDN Staff
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Thursday conditionally approved
rate incentives for a $1.4 billion transmission project in Maine that will
increase reliability and capacity to export power to southern New England.
According to a news release issued by the federal agency, FERC granted Central
Maine Power Co.’s petition for transmission incentives for its Maine Power
Reliability Program Project. The approval, however, is subject to the condition
that ISO-New England include the project in its regional system plan as a
reliability transmission upgrade.
FERC noted that the planned project is the largest project in CMP’s history and,
when completed, will give the electric utility an estimated $1.85 billion of
transmission infrastructure in service — six times more than the company’s
current transmission capabilities.
The proposed upgrade consists of 245 miles of new 345-kilovolt transmission line
and 74 miles of new 115-kilovolt transmission line, 10 miles of rebuilt
345-kilovolt transmission line and 155 miles of rebuilt 115-kilovolt
transmission line and additional improvements.
A fact sheet about the proposed upgrade states that the new transmission
infrastructure will include the new 345-kilovolt line running from Orrington to
Portsmouth, N.H.
FERC granted CMP a 1.25 percent return of equity, or ROE, rather than the 1.5
percent the utility requested, and conditioned CMP’s proposal to recover 100
percent of construction-work-in-progress, or CWIP, in rate base on CMP’s
including it in a future rate filing.
FERC also granted CMP’s request for recovery of 100 percent of “prudently
incurred” costs associated with abandonment of existing infrastructure, provided
the abandonment is a result of factors beyond its control.
FERC determined that CMP has shown that the total package of incentives
addresses the risks and challenges faced by the project. The ROE incentive, CWIP
and abandonment will encourage investors despite the project’s risks, according
to FERC.
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October 6, 2008 - UMaine women make their mark in a
male-dominated field
Rhiannon Sawtelle,
Maine Campus Media
After more than a half-century of male domination in the field, female
engineering students at the University of Maine founded the Society of Women
Engineers in 1950. A non-profit group, the society empowers women and acts as a
networking and funding resource.
SWE members at UMaine are taking full advantage of the national group. The only
chapter in Maine, the women work to empower themselves and others in their
field. "We are here to develop leadership skills," President Amber Simmons
said.
Twenty percent of the College of Engineering students are women, 15 percent
identifying themselves as civil engineers. Although the numbers are low, the
members are not fazed. "I feel like I have an advantage," SWE Secretary
Sarah Hunnewell said. Simmons said she is used to being the minority, taking
engineering classes in high school. She doesn't let it dissuade her. "I
don't feel like the minority. We all know each other," she said.
The group has 20 members with a majority of underclassmen. The group said these
numbers stem from recruitment at welcome weekends and engineering workshops in
Somerset Hall. The group has many activities planned within its expertise
for the community. The women often hold meetings at Margaritas on Wednesday
nights and meet more frequently when an event is being planned.
The group's October event is "Science in Action." The event works with local
Girl Scout troops and teaches them about engineering. Throughout the day, they
learn about each field and do a project pertaining to each. At the end of the
event, Girl Scouts earn science merit badges.
"Our mission is to promote women in engineering," Simmons said. SWE's motto is
"advance, aspire, achieve."
The group attends the SWE regional conference, helps with the engineering formal
in the spring and has judged a local middle school science fair in past years.
SWE will support representatives from Proctor & Gamble for a job fair. The
meeting will be a session on how to prepare for an interview. It is open to
everyone for a small charge and free to SWE members.
In its half-century run, SWE has acted as an educational and service
organization that recognizes women in the field. The group describes itself as a
"driving force that establishes engineering as a highly desirable career for
women," according to its Web site.
The UMaine chapter of SWE is open to all fields of engineering at the school.
The chapter's Web site invites men to join.
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| October 02, 2008 - Two schools to test winds of energy independence http://www.theforecaster.net/story.php?storyid=16360 |
| PORTLAND – Two Portland schools are studying the
potential for harnessing wind as an alternative source of energy. The East End Community School is one of only two groups in the state to be selected for a federal initiative aimed at identifying wind energy potential. The Portland school, along with the Auburn Water District, will receive a high-tech device, which will be placed on a 100-foot tower at the school. Wind data will be recorded over the next year and the results will be studied by engineering students at the University of Maine, Orono. Depending on the results, the school could eventually generate its own power from wind. If wind currents are strong enough, excess electricity could be sold to the power grid. The project may not only result in realizing the potential for wind power on the Eastern Prom, but could also become a valuable teaching tool at the expeditionary school, which educates through real life experiences. Meanwhile, eighth-graders at King Middle School, also an expeditionary school, are embarking on a 10-week learning expedition project about wind power. Former Gov. Angus King, co-founder of Independence Wind LLC, helped kick off the project on Monday. King spoke about his work developing land-based wind farms in western Maine and his vision for offshore wind farms in the Gulf of Maine. Hiram Sibley, a teaching strategist at King, said the students were energized by the former governor’s appearance. “The kids were energized and they asked a lot of questions,” Sibley said. “It really got right to the heart of the issue.” Eighty students from King Middle School will look into the potential wind power in the East End, West End, on Commercial Street and Franklin Arterial. Sibley said the students have already been out in the field, testing wind speeds by using hand-held meters and global positioning systems. Students design and build small working models of wind turbines for each neighborhood. The most efficient design that generates the most electricity will win the top prize – bragging rights among his or her peers. Wind generation, however, isn’t the only focus. Sibley said students must also take into account other potential challenges associated with wind power, including neighborhood opposition to a windmill near their homes. “They’ll have to meet the needs of each community,” he said. That means students will have to address noise pollution, safety concerns and make a design that blends into the neighborhood aesthetically. Sibley said the 10-week program at King will dovetail nicely with the forthcoming wind study being conducted by the Public Utilities Commission and UMO at the East End Community School. “We like to do things that are authentic and timely,” Sibley said. “We want these kids to know about the energy challenges in this state.” He added, “Who knows, some of these kids might move on to become engineers and come up with some good solutions to Maine’s energy needs.” Randy Billings can be reached at 781-3661 ext. 100 or rbillings@theforecaster.net. |
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October 1, 2008 UMaine among Final 20 Teams
Competing For DoD $1M Wearable Power Prize
The final phase of the Department of Defense (DoD) Wearable Power Prize
competition began yesterday when 20 teams powered up their systems at the Marine
Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, Calif. Large companies,
small businesses and individual inventors are vying for a $1 million top prize
for producing a system that will provide ground warfighters with lightweight,
wearable power for their combat equipment.
“I think this competition is a great opportunity,” said Scott Schoeffel, a
member of finalist Team Ultralife, a Newark, NY company that specializes in
batteries and power solutions. “Having spent 10 years in Navy Special Operations
Forces, I know what it’s like to pack several pieces of equipment that need
rechargeable power. It’s great to see technology lightening the load of soldiers
so they can be more effective in the battlefield.”
DoD launched the innovative competition in July 2007 by offering a $1 million
first prize for a wearable system that provides 20 watts (avg.) of electrical
power for 96 hours, weighs less than 4 kilograms (8.8 pounds), attaches to a
standard military vest, and operates autonomously.
University of Maine students and brothers Chris and Brandon Look were one of 169
original entries to make it to the final testing round. “Our dad is an engineer
and owns a construction company, so we’ve always been interested in anything
mechanical,” said Brandon, who is a volunteer firefighter. “Chris serves in the
Army National Guard, so in a sense, we’re both ground pounders. We know from
experience what might benefit the guys in the field.”
After passing rigorous safety inspections yesterday, each of the final 20 teams
attached its prototype power system to a nylon vest that is strapped to a
mannequin to begin a 92-hour bench test.
“Each prototype is now connected to a computer-controlled load system,” said
Karen Burrows, a Power Prize competition program manager. “We have many
different kinds of batteries and fuel cells being tested and some interesting
power generators. On Thursday morning as the teams complete the bench test, we
fully expect to have some prototypes still producing power above the minimum
levels—those teams will then compete head-to-head in a final field test on
Saturday.”
The 4-hour field test will be held at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in
Twentynine Palms, Calif., on Saturday Oct. 4. Beginning at 7 a.m. (PST), the
base will be open to the public and media to view exhibits and see finalists
wearing their prototypes as they power surrogate military equipment at nine
stations in the final trial of the competition.
Media can direct queries to Cmdr. Darryn James, DoD Public Affairs,
(703)-693-8287. More information on the Wearable Power Prize can be found at:
http://www.dod.mil/ddre/prize/final_event.html. A list of the 20 final teams can
be seen at the following link
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/d20080929wearable.pdf
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September 26, 2008, Locally, Wall Street stalls funds
for Maine's streets -State hits surprising obstacles in trying to sell road
bond: high rates, no buyers
By
NOEL K. GALLAGHER, Portland Press Herald
| The state of Maine could not float a $50 million transportation bond
this week because traders told officials there was "no market" at all
for large financial transactions such as this one. The state hopes the national financial crisis will stabilize by next week, when it again tries to access capital, probably getting a higher interest rate than had been expected. "In 34 years I have never had a trader say, 'I can't give you a sale price. There is no market,' " said Maine Municipal Bond Bank Executive Director Robert Lenna, describing his efforts to sell the bond on Wall Street. A week ago, Lenna said, the interest rate for the AA-rated revenue bond would have been about 3.8 percent or 3.9 percent. But on Tuesday, short-term interest rates, a factor used to calculate interest rates for municipal bonds, soared as high as 9 percent and 10 percent, effectively shutting down market activity. "If there is any place the (national financial) crisis is affecting the citizens of Maine, it is here," Maine Treasurer David Lemoine said Wednesday. The board of directors for the Maine Municipal Bond Bank voted Wednesday to sit out this period of turmoil in financial markets and try to sell the transportation bond sometime before Nov. 15 at a rate no higher than 5.5 percent. Even at that rate, the bond would cost taxpayers millions of dollars in extra interest payments over the life of the loan than might have been expected a week ago. Lemoine said Thursday that the state's bond bank representatives made the right move by delaying. "Congratulations on stepping back from the plate and having the courage to do that," he told Lenna at the bond bank's monthly board meeting Wednesday. There were no immediate repercussions from failing to sell the bond this week because the state Department of Transportation did not need the funds immediately. However, there will be consequences if the market turmoil lingers, Lemoine said. The $50 million TransCap bond is meant to pay for 10 highway reconstruction projects involving more than 20 miles of road in eight counties. It is part of a larger transportation package approved by the Legislature last session that includes $160 million in bonds earmarked for bridges. Those bonds are scheduled to be put on the market in annual $40 million issues, from 2009 through 2012. Lemoine said the jobs associated with the 10 transportation projects covered by the $50 million bond could be jeopardized if the markets don't recover. As a rule of thumb, about 34 jobs are created for every $1 million in transportation funds, meaning that up to 1,700 jobs could be affected. "If this problem is not fixed, then you can look at the list of projects and the jobs that they would have created and say that is not going to happen," Lemoine said Thursday. Lenna said the "frozen, distorted" bond market is particularly surprising because municipal bonds are considered very stable, with a default rate of less than 1 percent. But that perceived stability has been knocked out of kilter by the financial crisis. "It's like this poison has been introduced into the financial circulatory system," he said. "(The bond market) is where governments and towns and counties go to borrow the money that lets them build schools and build sewer plants and pave roads and do all of that infrastructure that needs constant maintenance," Lenna said. "If this market were to contract substantially, if investors decide it is not as secure as they thought it was or they thought there are other places to put their money, the impact on our ability to get money to build schools and hospitals and all of this stuff would be affected. "It's a big deal. It's a really big deal," Lenna said. In addition to re-floating the TransCap bond, the Maine Municipal Bond Bank is looking to re-enter the market next week for its semi-annual bond sale, with a $99 million bond representing local projects for more than 20 municipalities. Lenna said he hopes the market will have settled down by then. Maine's situation is not unique, said Susan Gaffney, an executive with the Government Financial Officers Association, a nationwide trade association. "We're hearing from many state and local entities that they are having problems with pricing and accessing the market," she said, noting that most are also choosing to delay activity until the market stabilizes. "This is a problem with liquidity and not a problem with municipal securities as a product." If anything, Maine is in a better position than most, since it has a limited number of bonds in play. Some major cities have daily activity in the market. "You are in better shape to wait and let the market recalibrate," Gaffney said. The TransCap bond sale delay will not hurt the 10 transportation projects, state transportation officials said. One of the projects, to repave a section of Route 4 in Sandy River Plantation, is already under way, and a second project, to repair a section of Route 1 in downtown Kittery, has been put out to bid. "Right now, we're fine. We're funding (the work) with money from elsewhere," said Mark Latti, spokesman for the Maine DOT. "Now, if things continue and we're unable to sell the bond by the end of the year, it would pose some challenges. It would mean those projects would be delayed." Revenue to repay the TransCap bond will come from five sources, including 7.5 percent of annual receipts from the state gas tax, currently at 28.4 cents per gallon for gas and 29.6 cents for diesel. But gas consumption is down, eating into that revenue. Other sources of TransCap revenue are $10 from each $25 vanity license plate fee and $10 from each $33 vehicle registration fee. Last month, Maine DOT announced it was suspending work on about 85 miles of road, a little more than 10 percent of the work planned for the year, because of rising asphalt prices. "It's a difficult environment," Latti said. "All state agencies are experiencing difficult times, and it's a balancing act between available funding and available contractors. We're really in extraordinary times." Staff Writer Noel K. Gallagher can be contacted at 791-6387 or at: ngallagher@pressherald.com |
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September 23, 2008 - 1,000 MW Pumped Storage Project proposed at Maine Yankee site Link to Channel 6 News article
| WISCASSET (NEWS CENTER) -- A Canadian company wants to build a $2 billion power
plant in Wiscasset 2,000 feet underground. The huge and unique proposal was
outlined to the town's planning board Monday night, and so far, town officials
say they're very interested. Wiscasset has electric transmission lines and a big industrial switching station left over from Maine Yankee. Wiscasset also has available industrial land next door, as well as water. A company from Toronto called River Bank Power wants to use that water to generate a thousand megawatts of electricity. They plan to do this by digging a series of shafts or channels 2,000 feet straight down through bedrock. They would then have turbines at the bottom and river water would pour down the shafts and generate power. Water would be stored in gigantic chambers, and then pumped back to the surface at night, when electric usage is much lower. Wiscasset town planner Jeff Hinderliter says Riverbank Power was received well at the planning board meeting. He says there are a lot of questions that will need to be answered, but for now, the project looks promising. He also says it would finally bring good development to land that used to be owned by Maine Yankee. "We just don't want this site to be vacant; we want to see some type of development for this site. And it would be great if we had some sort of sustainable, clean, renewable resource we could bring out here." Riverbank CEO John Douglas told NEWS CENTER his company hopes to build five of these underground power plants in North America. Wiscasset is on the short list of 14 sites, and he says is currently in the top five. State energy director John Kerry says he's met with the company representatives once already, and says that the state is open to the proposal and wants to hear more. Kerry says there are some environmental questions to be answered. Company CEO Douglas says they will do that, but he says the environmental impact would be benign. Douglas says the water level, current and marine life of the Back River and Sheepscot River would not be harmed. He says the technology -- known as pump storage -- has been used for years. What's different here he says, is they plan to do it underground. The company is calling its process "Aqua Bank." It says the plan is to take the next three years to secure all the needed permits. If they choose Wiscasset, construction would last another four years, and employ up to a thousand people. |
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September 19, 2008 Senate Committee Approves
Water, Bridge, Dam Infrastructure Bills from ASCE News
The Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee approved three bills
this week aimed at fixing the nation's crumbling infrastructure. All of the
bills are among ASCE's top legislative priorities as identified by the
Infrastructure Action Plan for the 110th Congress.
The EPW Committee approved the Clean Water Act State Revolving Loan Fund and the
Safe Drinking Water Act, S. 3500. The bill would authorize $20 billion for the
CWSRF through 2012 and $15 billion for the drinking water SRF over the same time
period. Additionally, towns receiving both loans for wastewater or
drinking-water facilities with 10,000 or more residents must hire engineers in
the private sector that meet the qualifications based selection (QBS)
(PL-92-582) requirements of the Brooks Architect-Engineers Act of 1972.
The EPW Committee also approved the National Highway Bridge Reconstruction and
Inspection Act (S. 3338), which would authorize $1 billion for the repair and
replacement of the nation's aging and deficient bridges. The $1 billion would be
in addition to the funding already appropriated under current transportation
law. The bill would also require the Department of Transportation to take a full
inventory of the nation's bridges and to create a "risk-based" system to
prioritize those most in need of repair or replacement. Bridges received a grade
of "C" on the most recent Report Card for America's Infrastructure. http://www.asce.org/reportcard
ASCE testified in favor of this bill last week. Read the full testimony at
http://www.asce.org/files/pdf/pressroom/ASCE_Senate_EPW_Bridges_Sept_10_2008.pdf
Finally, the Dam Rehabilitation and Repair Act, (H.R. 3224), also passed the
Committee. The bill would create a $200 million grant program for repairing high
hazard non federal publicly owned dams. The Report Card for America's
Infrastructure gave Dams a grade of "D" in 2005.
We will keep all Key Contacts updated with these bills as they continue to make
their way through the Senate.
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September 4, 2008 EMMC parking garage OK’d
- Historic buildings saved by decision
BDN Staff By Eric Russell http://www.bangornews.com/detail/50119.html
BANGOR, Maine — City planning board members Tuesday approved construction of a
five-story parking garage at Eastern Maine Medical Center, a decision that will
save two historic structures opposite the hospital from demolition.
The project, estimated at $16 million, still needs approval of the Bangor City
Council, but would add 650 spaces to the 160 spots already on the lot for a
total of more than 800.
City planner David Gould said Wednesday that planning board members expressed
some concern the new parking structure would increase traffic on State Street,
but most fears were alleviated.
“This isn’t expected to create any more traffic than what has been created by
the parking garage at Hollywood Slots,” Gould said. “And things are moving
pretty smoothly there.”
The garage at Hollywood Slots Hotel and Raceway on Main Street, at 1,500 spaces,
is believed to be the largest in Maine.
Even though the project has not been fully approved, work already has begun on
utility infrastructure that runs underneath the existing lot. The new garage
will be built adjacent to a three-story garage at the hospital campus. With
council approval, construction will begin this fall.
The decision to build a new garage culminated months of discussion among city
leaders and a neighborhood work group tasked to ease EMMC’s parking problem
while saving two historic buildings, the Wing Estate and the Robinson House.
Hospital leaders had contemplated tearing the two buildings down to make space
for parking and other needs before a group of community members formed to help
preserve the structures as historical sites.
The Wing Estate is one of a few Gothic Revival-style houses remaining in the
city and is nearly two centuries old. The Robinson House dates to the 1930s and
sits on the property of the former Howard House, which was built in 1781. It is
believed to have been the first frame house in Bangor.
City and hospital leaders hope the new garage helps alleviate a serious parking
crunch. As it stands, the hospital has 2,061 parking spaces on its State Street
campus, or about 535 fewer spaces than it needs for its patients, visitors and
staff.
Many employees currently park off-site and ride shuttle buses to the hospital,
costing about $500,000 annually.
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September 3, 2008 Work begins on Maine's
largest wind farm; Work begins on Kibby wind farm
Donna M. Perry
Kingfield Irregular
FARMINGTON -- Work on the $320 million Kibby Wind Power project has started on
Kibby Mountain in northern Franklin County.
The project that will span Kibby Mountain and Kibby Range in Kibby and Skinner
townships has moved from the regulatory and business development stage to the
implementation stage.
The 44-turbine commercial wind farm has received all permits to move forward,
project manager Wolfgang Neuhoff said Thursday, Aug. 28.
TransCanada MaineWind Development Inc., an affiliate of TransCanada Corp., a
Canadian-based energy company, is also asking Maine Land Use Regulation
Commission for approval of some minor amendments to the permit that will reduce
environmental impacts, he said.
In the meantime, clearing for the 17 or so miles of roads has started and
TransCanada has begun work with engineering, procurement and construction
contractor, Reed & Reed of Woolwich. "They will be constructing the roads and
the foundations for wind turbines and will be erecting the wind turbines,"
Neuhoff said. "They will also construct the electrical collector system --the
lines that transport the power to the substation."
Ongoing clearing work is being done by Plum Creek, which owns the land
TransCanada is leasing for the project. Once some of the timber was removed for
the proposed roads leading to where the turbines will be erected, it gave the
company better information to develop a revised layout that will lessen the
impact on the environment, Neuhoff said.
Reed & Reed is doing survey work and geotechnical work. The latter entails
drilling holes and collecting rock samples to analyze for strength and
composition, he said. The contractor will start construction of roads this week,
either by improving what already exists or building new roads. "We are now
planning to have the first set of 22 turbines completely erected and online in
December 2009," Neuhoff said. "The first turbine will be going up in June. The
second set of 22 turbines is targeted to be on line in 2010."
Two other major contract packages for the project are going out to bid.
One is for engineering and construction of a substation off Gold Brook Road, a
well-maintained logging road, and the second contract is for the construction of
27.7 miles of transmission line to connect the Kibby substation with Central
Maine Power Co.'s Bigelow substation in Carrabassett Valley. "The work is
scheduled to be awarded in the middle of October and construction on
transmission line will start this fall and continue through winter," Neuhoff
said.
The installation of a temporary office for contractors and TransCanada started
Thursday at the beginning of Gold Brook Road, off Route 27, in Chain of Ponds
Township. It is estimated about 250 people will be employed during the
construction phase of the wind farm, and it is expected there will be 10 to 12
permanent jobs once the project is operational.
The project is being built under a tax-increment financing agreement approved by
the state and Franklin County commissioners in June. It is the second TIF
agreement in the state to be approved for an unorganized territory and the third
commercial wind farm to receive approval to be built in Maine.
TransCanada's taxable investment covered under the 20-year TIF is capped at $220
million in value with the minimum amount invested at $150 million. Anything over
the $220 million valuation would be assessed taxes that would go into the
statewide unorganized territory fund.
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September 2, 2008 - Central Maine Power informational
meetings on $1.4 billion project
By Lynda Clancy http://knox.villagesoup.com/Government/story.cfm?storyID=126028
Central Maine Power Company announced Aug. 29 that it will hold a series of
public informational meetings for the proposed Maine Power Reliability Program,
a major upgrade of the company’s bulk power system and one of the largest
transmission projects ever sought to be built in Maine.
The meetings will be held Wednesday and Thursday, Sept. 3 and 4, and Tuesday,
Sept. 9 in Saco, Waterville and Lewiston.
The meetings will provide an opportunity for the public, landowners and other
interested parties to review materials concerning the construction of electric
utility facilities and the associated environmental impacts and for CMP to hear
public comments, according to the company's press release.
According to CMP's petition with the Maine Public Utilities Commission filed
July 1, "Maine's bulk power transmission system, the vast majority of which was
placed in service more than 30 years ago, is reaching the limits of its ability
to meet the growing electrical demand of Maine customers while complying with
the reliability and security standards mandated by law and administered by the
North American Electric Reliability Corporation (MERC), the Northeast Power
Coordinating Council Inc. (NPCC) and ISO New England."
The MPRP consists of new construction or modifications of approximately 485
miles of 345,000 volt and 115,000 volt transmission lines and related substation
improvements.
The project is a proposal that CMP said "is the result of exhaustive and
comprehensive study and analysis into the needs of Maine's currently reliable
but soon to be inadequate transmission infrastructure that was built to reflect
the conditions of the 1960s."
The project is expected to cost approximately $1.4 billion and will require
several state and federal regulatory permits and local approvals in
approximately 80 municipalities, including those in the Midcoast.
The project "as proposed by petitioners is the most economic and environmentally
sound means of ensuring that the power grid in Central and Southern Maine
remains reliable and meets federally mandated reliability standards," according
to CMP.
CMP and Public Service of New Hampshire filed a request on July 1 with the Maine
Public Utilities Commission for a Certificate of Public Convenience and
Necessity for the MPRP. Applications for environmental permits and local
approvals will be filed later this year.
The current estimate for the proposed project is $1.35 billion, of which
approximately $1.1 billion is associated with transmission line work and $260
million with substations.
All three public informational events will be held between 6:30 and 8:30 p.m.
and the public may go at any time during that period to view the informational
displays and address questions to members of the CMP program team. The meetings
will be held as follows:
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August 29, 2008 - Maine Airports Receive $900,000 in
Federal Aid
By MICHAEL DABRIEO; OF THE BANGOR DAILY NEWS STAFF
The Hancock County and Augusta State airports are slated to receive grants worth
more than $900,000 from the Federal Aviation Administration, U.S. Senators
Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins announced this week.
The Hancock County Airport will receive $427,500 while the Augusta State Airport
will receive $475,000.
"Maine's airports, both big and small, are critical resources for the
communities in which they exist and the people they serve," the Senators said in
a joint statement on Tuesday. "It is essential that we enhance and maintain the
infrastructure and safety at each of these airports in order to remain
competitive and efficient."
Both airports applied for the grants early this year and will use the funds to
purchase an Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting vehicle and more safety equipment
that is required by the FAA to upgrade from Class III airports to Class I.
The airports found they needed to upgrade when their primary carrier, Colgan Air
Inc., announced that it intended to replace its 19-passenger planes with
34-passenger models by Oct. 31.
Both Hancock and Augusta airports, currently designated Class III, can
accommodate planes with nine to 30 seats, said Hancock County Airport manager
Bob Cossette. The airports need to upgrade to Class I to accommodate the
34-passenger planes.
"We were hoping we would get the grant," said Cossette. "Starting in the month
of November we will achieve full upgrade and start receiving the bigger planes.
It is a lot sooner than we expected."
The airports also need to build $400,000 storage facilities for the rescue and
fire fighting vehicle and other fire fighting equipment to achieve Class I
status, but both Cossette and Augusta State Airport manager John Guimond don't
expect that to be completed for another year or two.
"We are going to apply for another grant, but that probably won't be approved
until 2009," said Guimond.
The FAA "understands we can't do this overnight," said Cossette. "As long as we
have the plans in order we will be able to receive the planes."
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August 28, 2008 Maine Internet speed increases,
but U.S. lags
By Mal Leary 8/28/08 BDN Staff
http://www.bangornews.com/detail/49699.html
AUGUSTA, Maine — Over the past year, the speed of Internet access has
increased in Maine, according to a national online report. But the United States
ranks only 15th worldwide in Internet speed, experts note, and that hurts Maine
businesses trying to compete in international markets.
“How pathetic is that that the United States of America is 15th in the world?”
said Public Utilities Commission member Jack Cashman. “Obviously, the country
has a long way to go.”
The former commissioner of economic development and a businessman before joining
Gov. John Baldacci’s administration, Cashman said he is “acutely aware” of the
need for Maine to develop its Internet infrastructure, one he hopes will
eventually be the best in the Northeast. He said the future of Maine’s economy
depends on having strong broadband access.
“There are companies in Maine that are competing around the world,” said Sen.
Lynn Bromley, D-South Portland. She co-chairs the Legislature’s Business,
Research and Economic Development Committee, as well as the state’s Economic
Growth Council. “While it certainly is good that we have improved here in Maine,
we are in competition with countries that are doing far better than we are.”
The report is based on data from nearly 230,000 Internet users throughout the
country that took the online “Speed Matters” test conducted by an online
advocacy group of the same name.
Comparison data with other countries are from the U.S.-based Information
Technology and Innovation Foundation.
In the 2007 test, Maine ranked 35th in the nation, but improved to 21st in the
2008 test. The measure was of download speed with upload speed about the same as
last year.
“I think we can all applaud the improvement,” said Rep. Chris Rector,
R-Thomaston, a member of the BRED Committee and the council. “But we have a long
way to go to provide the Internet infrastructure we need to compete in the
worldwide economy, and make no mistake about it, we have to compete.”
The speed difference can be dramatic, according to the “Speed Matters” study. It
points out that an entire movie can be downloaded in Japan in two minutes. In
Maine it can take two or more hours to download the same movie.
Japan is rated fastest in the study with South Korea No. 2. Finland is in third
place and France in fourth place. Canada ranks eighth in the world with a median
download speed of 7.60 megabits per second. Maine had a speed of 2.56 megabits
per second, according to the study.
Both Bromley and Rector said the need for the “big pipe” to move more data at
higher speeds was recognized by lawmakers earlier this year when funding was
provided for a large fiber-optic connection that will benefit both the
University of Maine System and The Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor.
Research projects at both institutions require moving huge amounts of data to
other universities and research centers around the world. But world-class
Internet speeds coexist in Maine with what some see as the equivalent of a
string tied between two tin cans.
“It’s hard to believe, but there are businesses getting by with dial-up,” Rector
said. “It is really amazing.”
University of Maine Business professor Nory Jones teaches e-commerce. She
confirmed that some Maine businesses are still using dial-up Internet
connections, while others have state-of-the-art fiber-optic connections with
“very high-speed access.”
Jones said broadband is crucial to Maine’s economic future.
“Everything in business today depends on using the Internet,” she said.
“Everything is dependent on moving data.”
Jones said the entire supply chain of the retail economy depends on computers
and the ability to transfer data from retailers to warehouses and manufacturers.
She said even very small businesses use computers every day for basic functions
such as bookkeeping and credit card purchases.
“I am still astonished when I come across a fairly decent-sized, mid-size
business in Maine that is not taking advantage of the Internet,” Jones said. “It
happens more than you would think.”
Baldacci said he was very pleased that Maine had “catapulted” ahead of other
states. He predicted Maine would continue to improve its access with steps
already taken by his administration and the Legislature.
“What we have to have is a national policy that recognizes the importance of the
Internet to international commerce,” he said. “We are doing our part; the
federal government needs to do its part.”
Baldacci said he expects the next session of the Legislature will deal with
expanded state efforts to provide broadband access throughout the state.
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August 19,
2008 - Department Of Homeland Security Official Visits UMaineORONO (NEWS
CENTER) -- Admiral Jay Cohen came to get a tour of the UMaine's advanced
engineer wood composites laboratory. Admiral Cohen also got a chance to
visit with 20 Maine research and development companies that set up exhibits
explaining their work. Those companies make everything from wood composite hull
boats to maps.
"Universities, especially this laboratory, is known for the creation of new
products and technology but to get them out into the marketplace it's a
collaboration with companies, and we have many wonderful companies in Maine that
are doing research and are doing development," said University of Maine
President Robert Kennedy.
Senator Susan Collins invited Admiral Cohen to take the tour.
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August 19, 2008 -
Two island groups
pursuing wind power to combat escalating costs
Bangor Daily News Bill Trotter
btrotter@bangordailynews.
Link
Editor’s Note: This is the first in a three-part Bangor Daily News series covering plans for alternative energy projects on Maine’s offshore islands.
Since their earliest days, residents of Maine’s offshore islands have been known for being self-reliant, using what is immediately available to them in order to help sustain themselves.
The natural resources of these islands made them attractive to early colonists from Europe who were looking to establish permanent settlements in the Western Hemisphere. The islands had wind to move sailing vessels, trees to provide lumber for housing, and surrounding waters filled with fish to feed the islanders.
But myriad economic changes over the past century have had significant effects on these aspects of island living, prompting many island residents to look to the mainland for food, jobs or other resources. Now that some of these changes are becoming even more pronounced — affecting mainlanders as well as island residents — some Maine island communities are reconsidering natural resources that helped lead to their permanent settlement centuries ago.
Rapidly escalating energy costs is one of the biggest issues facing many of the island communities, island officials have said, and have led two groups of offshore Maine islands to tackle the issue head-on by pursuing wind power projects. The Fox Islands Electric Cooperative, which serves Vinalhaven and North Haven, and the Swan’s Island Electric Cooperative, which serves Swan’s Island and neighboring Frenchboro, each are looking into the possibility of erecting a few large wind turbines in order to help satisfy their electricity needs and perhaps even reduce electric bills for their members.
According to island officials, members of the two co-ops and residents of other islands that have their own electric power distribution entities pay rates that are roughly twice those paid by a typical residential customer on the mainland, and three times the national average. The average monthly electric bill on many of the islands, they say, is about $150.
"Electricity prices are killing us out here," said George Baker, a Harvard Business School professor and seasonal Frenchboro resident who has been working on the projects with the co-ops and the Rockland-based Island Institute. Baker, who is on sabbatical this year from Harvard so he can research the economic feasibility of the projects, also sits on the board of the Swan’s Island Electric Cooperative.
According to Baker, the possibility of generating electricity from wind power, which would shield island residents from the volatility of world energy markets and enable them to mitigate costs by seasonally selling excess power back into the regional power grid, has proved to be a strong motivator in pursuing the projects.
"Wind blows [on the islands] all the time," he said recently. "It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to say, ‘Gosh! Maybe we should consider wind power here.’ It truly is a no-brainer."
Community ownership
Unlike other wind power projects in Maine, these projects would supply electricity directly to nearby residents instead of feeding all their power into the New England regional power grid. Rather than being owned by developers looking to tap into growing markets, the island wind turbine facilities essentially would be owned and operated by the communities in which they are located.
According to Philip Conkling, president of the Island Institute, community ownership is a key aspect of these projects. Owning the power that is generated and being able to sell excess power in the winter when demand on the islands is relatively low and the wind supply is high will help island residents in their efforts to keep island life affordable, he said recently.
Electric power is not the only increasing cost on the islands. The limited and usually scenic real estate on the islands is expensive, which results in elevated property taxes, and the high cost of boat fuel and maintenance affects prices of even the most basic supplies on the islands, groceries included.
By using natural resources such as wind wisely, Conkling said, the island communities can help make sure they remain attractive and affordable places to live, much as they were in the 18th and 19th centuries. It was wind, which early colonists depended upon for transportation, that brought permanent settlers to the islands in the first place, he said.
"Fundamentally, it’s a sustainability issue," Conkling said. "Here’s a resource that’s been very valuable to the islands in the past — a resource that hasn’t been used for 100 years. [Reconnecting to that resource] is a very appealing idea."
Ed Schwabe, a retired U.S. Army colonel and board member for the Swan’s Island Electric Cooperative, said recently that reducing power costs on Swan’s Island could lead to economic benefits just as important as stable or even lower electric bills. He said small, ocean-oriented business such as sea-salt harvesting companies might decide to locate to the island if power were cheaper, which would help create local jobs.
"If we’re going to have a sustainable, year-round population on the island, we’ve got to have affordable power," Schwabe said.
Economics
The main reason many of the island electric bills are so expensive is that the co-ops that serve residents on each island own and maintain the island’s electrical distribution system. For island co-ops that buy power from mainland suppliers, this includes the expensive undersea power cable systems that connect the islands to mainland port communities miles away.
When residents on such an island pay electric bills, they also are paying maintenance costs on the island system and the debt service on loans the local co-op has incurred to purchase the necessary distribution equipment. This can add up to millions of dollars in debt that, in many cases, has to be paid down by only a few hundred co-op customers.
The high infrastructure costs and the limited number of people served by each system are reasons many islands established their own co-ops decades ago. Power companies didn’t want to spend so much money to serve so few customers, leaving the islands with little choice but to acquire diesel generators and set up their own electrical distribution systems.
The Fox Islands and Swan’s Island-Frenchboro, the two most populous Maine island groups with their own electric co-ops, first installed three-phase undersea cable systems to the mainland in the 1970s, eliminating their dependence on diesel fuel. Cables, whether bundled together or laid individually across the ocean floor, generally have to be replaced every 15 to 20 years, which can mean that as soon as one is paid off a new one is needed, resulting in more or less continual debt-service payments for co-op members. Swan’s Island most recently spent $218,000 on a single new underwater strand for its power cable system in 2000, while in 2006 the Fox Islands installed a new high-quality cable system, which includes both three-phase electric and fiber-optic cable, for $6 million.
It is because of their power cable connections to the mainland that these islands have the chance to generate their own power and sell what they don’t use on the regional power grid.
Another key factor in the islands’ move toward wind power occurred more recently, when the co-ops asked for help from Hannah Pingree, who represents their towns in the Legislature.
Deregulation of Maine’s power industry in the late 1990s barred retail companies such as Bangor Hydro-Electric Co., Central Maine Power and others from generating the power they sell, Pingree said recently. In an effort to increase competition among power generators, the state decided to require retail companies to buy the power they sell to consumers from third parties.
The law similarly barred the co-ops from generating their own power and then selling it directly to their members. So in 2005, after being approached by the co-ops, Pingree solicited help from the Island Institute and together they convinced the Legislature that the co-ops were facing a unique scenario and should be exempt from the power generation ban. The Legislature approved such an exemption for the Fox Islands in 2006 and then for Swan’s Island in 2007, she said.
According to Pingree, the issue of price stability is as important as affordability. Because island co-op members already face high prices in paying for their distribution infrastructure, she said, it makes it that much more difficult for them to absorb price spikes that might be brought on by hurricane threats or other oil industry scares.
Wind turbines would enable the co-ops to buy electricity for part of the year and sell it for part of the year, better insulating communities from price swings than other consumers, Pingree said. If energy prices rose, the co-ops would get the benefit when they sell excess power in the winter, and if prices fell they would get the benefit when they bought extra power in the summer.
"People like the idea of generating their own power," Pingree said. "People see the price of everything going up. To have some things you can control is exciting."
Addison Ames, a Vinalhaven resident and board member with the Fox Islands co-op, said recently that there are three reasons prices spiked in early 2006 for Fox Islands residents, which for some families resulted in electric bills as high as $500 a month: Normal market pressures already were pushing them upward; hurricane damage to energy industry infrastructure along the Gulf of Mexico severely limited the supply of fuel used by power plants; and the island’s three-year power contract with Central Maine Power expired, enabling the distribution company to raise its prices to meet its costs.
Island residents hope that, with local wind power at their disposal, electricity prices at least will be shielded from such volatile market pressures and remain stable during the projected 20-year life span of the turbines, he said.
"Could you imagine having a stable gasoline price for the next 20 years?" Ames said. "[Wind power] certainly can help, that’s for sure."
Swan’s Island
According to Schwabe, the Swan’s Island Electric Cooperative began collecting data on the island’s wind resources about a year ago, when it mounted research equipment at two heights on a local cell phone tower on Stockbridge Hill.
The study will last until next spring, Schwabe said recently, but initial results show that with one or two turbines, each of which could be more than 300 feet tall, the island could generate up to 3 megawatts of electricity during peak wind conditions. This should be more than enough power for the island’s 350 year-round residents, he said, and is expected to provide more than half the power needed to serve all the island’s residents when the population rises to about 1,000 in the summer.
Frenchboro is much smaller, with only about 40 residents in the winter and 100 in the summer.
Schwabe said a big question is whether it would be financially feasible to erect any turbines on the island. One commercial-scale turbine can cost $2.5 million, he said, and with the growing popularity of wind power the devices are getting more expensive all the time. Swan’s Island has only about 550 customer meters, he said, and many co-op customers are responsible for paying the bills for more than one account. The co-op’s relatively few customers would have to bear the cost of acquiring and erecting the turbines, he said.
"The capital costs are huge and they are all upfront," Schwabe said.
According to Katie Chapman, an Island Institute fellow who is helping the Swan’s Island co-op research the issue, the co-op would need some help from the federal government if it is going to acquire even just one turbine. The co-op simply doesn’t have the money for the initial capital costs, she said.
"It would be a big project," Chapman said. "Hopefully, we can get low-interest or no-interest loans from the [federal] Rural Utility Service, or it will get pretty expensive pretty quick."
According to Schwabe, the earliest that construction of a wind turbine facility is likely to begin on Swan’s Island is spring of 2010.
Fox Islands
Officials and residents on Vinalhaven and North Haven, however, are closer to realizing their goal of having wind turbines operating on Vinalhaven within the next two years. Late last month, members of the Fox Islands Electric Cooperative voted overwhelmingly, 382-5, to move ahead with the effort.
According to Chip Farrington, interim general manager for the Fox Islands co-op, they hope to erect two or three turbines on a 74-acre parcel off North Haven Road on Vinalhaven. The turbines would have a total peak-wind generation capacity of about 4 or 5 megawatts and likely would be large, perhaps 250 feet tall where the blades meet the hub, he said recently.
How tall the turbines will be, and whether the co-op buys two or three, likely will depend on what’s available when the co-op is ready to buy, Farrington said. Because of the high demand, the availability of turbines is scarce, he said, and the exact specifications of the turbines that go up on Vinalhaven likely won’t be decided until the co-op is ready to make its purchase.
The Fox Islands co-op is further ahead in the process because it began testing the islands’ wind resources in 2002, five years before Swan’s Island started its study, and because its larger membership makes it easier for the co-op to pursue the project. The islands, which make up the largest offshore community in eastern Maine, have a combined year-round population of about 1,500 people, with about 80 percent of them living on Vinalhaven. In the summer, the islands’ combined population balloons to about 4,500 residents.
According to Farrington, 1,900 of those residents are paying members of the local co-op. The projected cost for those members of acquiring two or three turbines and erecting them on Vinalhaven, he said, is $10 million to $13 million.
Even at that cost, the turbine project makes sense because the co-op already is spending millions of dollars on its infrastructure and is not getting any income in return, he said. When the co-op installed a new 11-mile, $6 million cable between North Haven and Rockport in 2006, the price included the expense of burying the cable 6 feet under the ocean floor so it would be better protected from weather and fishing vessels.
"Hopefully, that [cable] will last much longer then the older one," Farrington said.
Financing
According to Baker, the Harvard professor, planning how to fund the projects has required some creative thinking. He said he has had to travel to Washington, D.C., to talk with officials from the U.S. Department of Agriculture about what kind of federal loans the Fox Islands co-op might receive. USDA oversees the Rural Utility Service, he said, which has a mandate of helping provide utility infrastructure to rural areas.
"All we had to do was tell them this was a project that would benefit the Fox Island Electric Cooperative and was consistent with [the RUS] mission," Baker said.
With Baker’s encouragement, the federal service agreed to a nonstandard loan structure that will help direct $4 million to $8 million in federal funds toward the Vinalhaven project, he said.
According to Conkling, USDA officials will allow private investors to help put up some of the money for acquiring and installing the turbines. The investors will not share in any of the revenue from the excess power the co-ops would sell in the winter, he said, but they will benefit from some fairly substantial tax incentives that are expected make investment worthwhile.
All the revenues the co-ops would get from selling their excess power in the winter will go either toward paying down the debt service for the infrastructure or toward purchase of additional power that the co-ops will need during the summer months, Conkling said.
Permitting
Getting the projects approved by all the appropriate regulatory agencies could be a complex task, according to officials. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Federal Aviation Administration, Maine Department of Environmental Protection, local planning boards and possibly other agencies will have to issue permits for each project, officials said, and they could come up with conflicting suggestions for how to deal with issues such as turbine height and visibility.
According to Schwabe, six possible sites on Swan’s Island are being considered for turbines, but so far, no one has brought any possible concerns about the visual or environmental impact of the turbines to the co-op’s attention.
"Not to everybody is a turbine a thing of beauty," Schwabe said. "They are quite large. The erection of these turbines is a big, big deal."
According to Conkling, one likely issue with the Vinalhaven project is whether the turbines will have to be lighted at night. The FAA likes to have structures near airports and landing strips illuminated at night, he said, but lights also have been known to attract birds, especially when they are disoriented in foggy weather. There is a dirt landing strip on Vinalhaven that is used at night only for emergencies, he said.
"It’s a well-known fact that island lighthouses kill a lot of birds," Conkling said.
Because of the turbine proposal, study is being done of bird migration patterns on Vinalhaven, according to officials. Early results indicate the turbines will not pose a great threat to birds, but data about fall migration patterns still have to be collected before the study will be complete.
According to Rich Knox, spokesman for Maine Coast Heritage Trust, the trust is familiar with the Vinalhaven proposal and will be interested in finding out the final results of the study, but unless it shows that birds are likely to be significantly affected, the trust is not likely to oppose it.
The trust’s mission is to conserve land and to preserve the scenic beauty of the coast, Knox said recently, but its positions on development proposals are largely shaped by the extent of local opposition in the communities where the projects would be located. He said the trust expects that if other coastal communities held referendums on similar projects, the results would be similar to the recent vote of 382-5 in the Fox Islands.
"We believe our mission can co-exist with broader community goals of alternative energy and lower energy costs if [energy projects] are done right," Knox said.
According to Conkling, how long the permitting process might take is unknown because the types of wind projects being considered on Swan’s Island and Vinalhaven have never been proposed on the Maine coast before. The recent vote on the Vinalhaven project, he said, suggests that one thing unlikely to come up during the permitting process is staunch opposition from people who live on the islands.
"We certainly have more work to do," Conkling said. "But in 25 years, I have never seen a 99 percent in-favor vote on any island issue."
All offshore Maine islands are faced with economic and energy issues that are making them increasingly expensive places to live. Part 2 of this series tomorrow will take a look at other, smaller energy initiatives on the islands and challenges they face in keeping energy costs affordable.
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August 13, 2008 - Greenville Junction Wharf to get
face-lift
By Diana Bowley Bangor Daily News
http://bangornews.com/news/t/penquis.aspx?articleid=168336&zoneid=184
GREENVILLE, Maine - The aging condition of the Junction Wharf has been a concern
of town officials and local residents for several years, but enough state and
federal funding for its rehabilitation was always out of reach, until now.
The town recently was awarded a $350,000 Municipal Infrastructure Trust Fund
Grant, which along with smaller grants, a local commitment and a congressional
earmark, will allow the town to repair the bulkhead, replace a single boat
launch with a double boat launch and landscape the wharf area. Town
officials plan to go out to bid for the project by the end of the week and award
a contract early next month.
"We have had outcries from the public and we’ve had great citizen participation
over many years saying this is what we want, we want it fixed up," Greenville
Town Manager John Simko said Monday.
Despite the urgent need of rehabilitation for the wharf, which serves as an
ingress and egress to Moosehead Lake, Simko knew the town was up against some
stiff competition for the MITF grants. "I was trying to be optimistic but
I guess that knowing at that time there were 22 communities that applied, I knew
the competition would be great," Simko said. His optimism paid off; the town’s
application was the first to be selected for funding, in part because of the
public support and the various funding partners.
In addition to the $350,000 grant, the project will be funded by a $120,280
congressional earmark, a $62,300 grant from the Maine Department of Conservation
for the boat launch plus $11,000 worth of materials for the launch, an $8,000
U.S. Department of Agriculture Canopy Project grant and a local commitment of
$250,000 approved by residents last year.
Commissioner John Richardson, who made the announcement and presented town
officials with a grant certificate on July 23, said this week the project had
great support. In addition to Greenville’s project, several other communities
will share about $1,500,000 in MITF grants to enhance their downtown centers and
promote regional economic development activities, he said. Simko
thanked all those involved in the process, including the Department of Economic
and Community Development, which administers the trust fund, and Ken Woodbury of
the Piscataquis County Economic Development Council, who completed the town’s
application for the funding.
Since the wharf will get a face-lift and the work will improve access for
boaters, town officials hope to expand the project to improve snowmobile access.
On Aug. 1, town officials submitted a pre-application with the Maine Outdoor
Heritage Fund for $16,000 and expect to file a full application Sept. 1 with
Woodbury’s help.
That application will include a proposed paved walkway from the road leading to
Kelly’s Landing toward the beach that could be used by pedestrians and
bicyclists in the summer and fall months and by snowmobilers in winter.
"We’re hoping it will become more aesthetically pleasing; that it will become a
summertime pedestrian route and a wintertime snowmobile access and that will
limit the damage to the ground because it will be paved," Simko said.
In preparation for this part of the project, Simko said the town’s engineer has
laid out a design for the trail and that piece also will be included in the bid
package with the rehabilitation work, but as an add-on and contingent upon
funding, he said.
The entire project will be a benefit to the region, Simko said.
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August 8, 2008 - News Center 8 has an extended video of the Freeport Road Collapse, where a seepage path through the road embankment bypassed a culvert and failed the road section.
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Thursday, August 07, 2008 As Heating Emergency
Looms, Maine Searches for Energy Options
Written by Tom Walsh
http://ellsworthmaine.com/site/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=16160&Itemid=1
ELLSWORTH — As the grim realities of runaway energy costs sweep across
America, Maine may wind up being the proverbial canary in the coal mine.
“Maine will likely be the first state to experience a heating state of
emergency,” said University of Maine professor Habib Dagher in his recent
testimony before the U.S. Senate’s Homeland Security Committee. “I say that with
confidence, because we are living it, and living it right now.”
With eight of every 10 families in Maine relying on heating oil to fuel their
furnaces and the first bitter winds of winter only months away, the situation is
bad and getting worse, he said.
“Next winter’s heating oil costs will be $5 a gallon, if you try to lock it
today,” Dagher said. “That means the average Maine family will pay $5,000 to
heat their home next winter. In 2020, if we don’t do anything … those numbers
will be $10,000.
“We’re in the eye of a heating hurricane.”
Only 10 years ago, Maine families spent less than 5 percent of their household
budgets on energy, including heat, vehicle fuel and electricity. Today, that
percentage is close to 25. Half of family energy costs are being consumed by
gasoline prices and another 40 percent by heating costs.
“In 10 years, if we don’t make any changes, about half of the Maine family
budget would go to energy,” Dagher said. “Clearly, this is not sustainable.”
Alternatives to fossil fuels that ease the economic pain of Maine’s heavy
reliance on fuel oil and natural gas are under study, but research and
development efforts have been slowed by a sluggish economy and anemic federal
and state budgets. Nuclear power doesn’t seem to be a viable option for Maine,
at least not politically (see related story on page 6).
Solar options remain small-scale, as do geothermal options. Tidal generation
remains experimental, at best.
While some land-based wind farms are operational and others are under
development in Maine, they don’t take advantage of strong and sustained offshore
wind that develops over deep water. The floating wind turbines needed to harness
that renewable resource have yet to be designed or built.
Of all the renewable energy options, Dagher sees offshore wind as the most
viable alternative to fossil fuels.
“We’ve heard about tidal energy,” he said. “Tidal energy and wave energy are
actually a fraction, a very small fraction, of the offshore wind resource.”
In his July 22 testimony, Dagher proposed a $100-million research and
development plan that would jumpstart production of wind turbines that would be
sited at least 20 miles offshore in deep water, where there’s no shortage of
wind, especially in winter.
“The Gulf of Maine has been called the ‘Saudi Arabia of wind,’” he said.
“There’s over 100 gigawatts of wind power in the Gulf of Maine. That’s about 10
percent of the total U.S. power production.”
When combined with similar offshore wind farms off the West Coast and in the
Great Lakes, Dagher predicts this new technology could meet 40 percent of the
nation’s energy needs.
“Offshore wind is a wonderful U.S. natural resource,” he said. “It sits close to
where people need it. You look at where the population centers are, and it’s
very close to them. We don’t need to build large transmissions to get to those
locations.
“We need your support to create a national offshore energy initiative, a
Manhattan plan for offshore wind energy. [Maine is] prepared to lead the nation,
and is ready to do so, if a national program is created.”
Dagher told the committee that getting the required offshore wind technology
designed, built and functioning would require five to seven years.
U.S. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), the ranking member of the committee, is
convinced that U.S. reliance on foreign oil is a cultural cancer that needs to
be excised through a national commitment to renewable energy that is as
visionary as the U.S. space program was 50 years ago.
Like Dagher, Collins is concerned that Maine will become a social and economic
casualty without anything less than a full-court-press effort to reduce Maine’s
fossil fuel reliance. An estimated 87 percent of the total energy bill of the
average Maine resident is dependent on oil or gas.
“As I travel throughout Maine, I hear time and again of the hardship the
skyrocketing costs of gasoline and home heating oil is causing so many Maine
families,” she said. “Although it is still summer, Mainers are deeply worried
about how they will stay warm this winter.
“One woman told me that, every month, half of her Social Security check goes to
meeting the budget plan for her home heating oil. She is literally choosing
between keeping warm and eating well, a choice no American should ever have to
make.”
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Thursday, August 07, 2008 Maine Yankee Delivered
Electricity at Low Cost
Written by Tom Walsh
The Ellsworth American
Had it not been decommissioned 10 years ago and eventually demolished, the Maine
Yankee nuclear power plant in Wiscasset would still be operational. It was
licensed to generate electricity through 2008.
ELLSWORTH — There hasn’t been a nuclear power plant in Maine since 1997.
Big mistake.
At least that’s the view of Carroll Lee, a Brewer-based energy and business
consultant who spent the last five of his 32 years at Bangor Hydro-Electric as
the electrical utility’s president and chief operating officer.
“Maine Yankee was probably the most successful enterprise in Maine’s history,”
Lee contends.
A casualty of the deregulation of Maine’s electric utility industry, the Maine
Yankee reactor in Wiscasset came on line in 1972 and was decommissioned in 1997,
despite being licensed to operate through 2008.
In 1998, Maine passed laws that prohibited Bangor Hydro and other electrical
utilities from owning generating facilities, which prompted them to sell or
abandon those they had built and maintained for decades.
“During its 25-year life, Maine Yankee provided 40 percent of Maine’s electric
needs,” Lee said. “It saved consumers about $5 billion, returning its $250
million original investment many times.”
Lee points out that the cost of electricity is inextricably tied to the cost of
fueling the turbines used in generating that electricity.
“Maine Yankee’s operating cost was about 2 cents per kilowatt-hour, which
included fuel, operations, maintenance and property taxes,” Lee said. “If it had
not been constructed, its 5.25-billion kilowatt-hour annual production would
have been replaced by oil-fired generation or non-utility generation, costing at
least 6 cents per kilowatt-hour. The difference equals $210 million a year. Over
25 years, that’s $5.25 billion.”
While there hasn’t been a nuclear plant built in the United States in more than
30 years, Lee notes that there are now about 30 new nuclear projects being
proposed or planned.
“The most recent concern is that the construction cost estimates have increased
significantly, from $2,000 a kilowatt-hour to $4,000,” he said.
Although that would increase the construction costs of a 1,200- megawatt nuclear
plant from $2.4 billion to $4.8 billion, Lee contends such projects make good
economic sense.
“The savings have also increased, due to the dramatic increase in oil and gas
prices,” he said.
By Lee’s estimate, the cost of operating a nuclear plant, including fuel, is now
4 cents per kilowatt-hour. That compares to at least 12 cents for oil- and
gas-fired turbines.
“For a 1,200-megawatt unit operating at 90 percent capacity and producing 9.5
billion kilowatt-hours per year, the savings amount to $760 million a year.”
That translates, he says, to a payback on investment within just over six years
for a nuclear plant that is engineered to be operational for 50 years.
“The key to nuclear economics,” Lee says, “is the relatively low operating cost,
including fuel.”
August 6, 2008 UNITY Maine:
Unity Selectmen eye temporary bridge closure
By Steve Fuller
The Republican Journal Reporter
Selectors in Unity are considering temporarily closing a bridge that the
state has deemed unsafe, as the town prepares for the annual influx of traffic
from the Common Ground Country Fair next month.
The Farwells Mill Bridge, located on the Berry Road, spans Sandy Stream. The
bridge has a timber road deck on iron framework, all of which is supported by
granite abutments.
Selector Jim Kinney said a bridge has been at that crossing for 200 years, and
that a number of repair projects have been done over the years.
In the mid-1950s, for example, major repairs were made to the bridge after
flooding caused damage. More recently, the timbers that form the bridge's road
surface were replaced.
Selectors discussed the issue Monday, Aug. 4, at their regular meeting. They
said the bridge has been inspected by the state, and the report from that
inspection said the bridge is at risk and unsafe. Over the past year, a group of
civil engineering students from the University of Maine also examined the bridge
and prepared a report.
For the past three years, the bridge has had a posted weight limit of two tons.
Despite that limit, selectors said some people continue to cross the bridge with
heavier vehicles.
The combination of all these factors led the group to the conclusion that
something needs to be done. Selector Maggie Wilcox noted it has been one year
since the bridge that carried Interstate 35W across the Mississippi River in
Minneapolis, Minn., collapsed.
"Everybody in this country is talking about bridges," she said.
The possibility of closing the bridge for one week around the time of this
year's Common Ground Country Fair was mentioned, and the three selectors agreed
that seemed like a good idea.
The tentative plan would be to place large concrete barriers at both ends of the
bridge, while leaving an opening between the barriers that would allow foot and
bike traffic to cross. Signs would be put up to warn motorists of the change.
"That's a good move," said Kenney. "And then we have the time to consider what
we need to do."
Selectors also explained why they thought it would be good to have the closure
coincide with the fair. Local drivers, they said, know the bridge is posted and
know the risks they take if they cross it with a heavier vehicle.
Drivers from outside of Unity and the surrounding area are not familiar with the
weight limits in place on the bridge, selectors said. Although the Berry Road is
not a primary route to the fair, like many roads in town it sees an increase in
traffic when the tens of thousands of fairgoers arrive for the annual event.
Wilcox said she has sometimes used Berry Road to get to the fairgrounds.
This year's Common Ground Country Fair is Friday, Sept. 19, through Sunday,
Sept. 21. Selectors did not offer specific dates for when the closure might take
place.
In addition to drivers being aware of the bridge's weight limit, selectors said
another issue would arise from the increased traffic volume. If several cars —
each weighing less than two tons — were on the bridge at the same time,
selectors said that could place additional stress on the bridge.
Selectors took no action on the bridge closure matter Monday, other than to ask
Town Clerk Sue Lombard to check with the Maine Municipal Association about legal
issues that might arise if they were to go ahead with their plan.
Selectors said their decision whether to make the temporary closure will depend
on what Maine Municipal Association officials have to say.
The possibility of closing the bridge permanently was mentioned, but Wilcox said
such a move would be too hard on people who live nearby and who use the bridge
most often.
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July 20, 2008 Municipalities focus on energy costs, Kennebec Journal, Augusta By Keith Edwards, Staff Writer
From the potential for a wind turbine to provide power to public buildings in
Richmond to plans in Augusta to collect public and private funds to help
citizens prepare their homes for winter, local municipalities, schools and
others are looking for new ways of dealing with the high cost of energy, other
than writing bigger and bigger checks.
"With the impending winter and heating oil crisis we all know we're going to be
facing, the question is what we can do to help keep our fellow citizens from
freezing," said Augusta Mayor Roger Katz.
Katz said he's already reached out to Gardiner Mayor Andrew MacLean, and also
plans to contact Hallowell Mayor Anthony Masciadri, to look for ways the three
riverfront cities could work together to prepare for the energy crisis.
Of course, concern over energy costs is not limited to cities. Officials in
small towns like Richmond and Litchfield have concerns too, and they're looking
for solutions now in toasty-warm July, with hopes of being ready when the chill
of winter blows in.
In Litchfield, what started as an occasional e-mail newsletter for residents
interested in energy issues has grown into the Litchfield Energy Savers Society,
a group of residents working on energy-crisis solutions.
Resident Teague Morris, a leader of the group and publisher of the town's
Litchfield Sodalite newsletter, said they are working on getting a group of
volunteers together so they can do a massive "weatherization weekend" to help
residents unable to install kits in their homes and to make them more able to
withstand winter's cold.
"We'll send folks out there and provide the basics -- caulking, maybe some foam
spray, information on how to do a home-energy audit," Morris said. "But,
obviously, this is a drop in the bucket -- and a leaky bucket at that. It's only
a temporary fix. We need to look at longer-term solutions."
Morris said some in Litchfield are planning a series of workshops later this
year to educate the public on energy issues. One planned for Aug. 11, for
example, would feature an engineer who will speak about how to compare the costs
and features of different heating systems.
Those longer-term solutions, he said, could include looking at what Litchfield
could do, as a town, with solar, geothermal or hydropower as options for
providing energy.
Selectmen in Richmond hope to have a wind-turbine site survey conducted by the
University of Maine Cooperative Extension Service. Selectman Burt Batty said the
survey could determine if wind-turbine power could help offset the power needs
of town and school buildings.
Seth Goodall, chairman of the selectmen in Richmond, said the school heating
system may need to be replaced soon and the town and school are looking into the
feasibility of installing a renewable-energy system which could heat multiple
buildings, and not just one.
Richmond is also looking to improve programs the town has to help residents deal
with high energy costs, including a proposal to lower the interest rate on a
town program providing loans to residents to improve their homes. And they are
also looking at having a weatherization day to help seniors and other residents
winterize their homes. "We're looking at what we can do for our
residents," Goodall said. "This is the time we should be working on it, before
winter strikes."
Augusta and Litchfield have been comparing notes on their energy efforts, in
large part through Michael Byron, Litchfield's town manager, who is also a
member of the Augusta City Council.
Augusta City Manager William Bridgeo said the city has about $60,000 in funds
from past housing-rehabilitation programs, accumulated through early payoffs of
loans made to homeowners, which he said can be used to fund
weatherization-related activities, such as installation of new windows and
insulation in the homes of Augusta residents if they meet federal income
guidelines.
Gerard Roy, city development associate, said Augusta could partner with the
regional Kennebec Valley Community Action Program. KVCAP could administer the
program and use the $60,000 to help Augusta homeowners who qualify for help, Roy
said. Using the funding like that could also bring additional matching federal
money. "I can't think of a better use for this money," Roy said.
Darek Grant, a member of the Augusta Board of Education, has proposed the city's
schools form an Augusta Energy Committee to study and recommend strategies for
both short and long-term ways to conserve energy.
The school system is already conducting an energy audit of all school buildings
to look for potential ways to save funds.
Keith Edwards -- 621-5647 kedwards@centralmaine.com
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July 4, 2008 ASCE Maine Section installs
new exhibit at Children’s Discovery Museum
Over
the July 4th holiday weekend the Maine Section installed a new exhibit at the
Children’s Discovery Museum on Water Street in Augusta. The 17 brightly colored
posters depict the 16 Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks that have been
dedicated by the Section. ASCE Maine Section recently became an official sponsor
of the Museum with a $500 donation earlier in 2008. Participating in the project
were the Maine DOT who printed the posters and Maine Turnpike & HNTB, Inc who
paid for laminating the posters. Peter & Melissa Merfeld and Johnathan Schlager
of Augusta installed and provided the hardware and plexiglass. In fact the
Merfeld’s held a yard sale on June 21st to benefit the Museum that generated
$323 toward the installation costs. Many of the Merfeld’s neighbors provided
items that were sold to benefit this project. The new ‘Landmark’ exhibit
enhances ASCE’s role as part of the “Building Our Future” exhibit which features
a real life skid steer, a slide made of a 36” diameter culvert, a large flat
screen playing construction videos and a drafting area to name a few. The
installation could not have happened at a better time as the week of July 21st
there will be a Construction Camp sponsored by AGC/ABC/NAWIC and ASCE will now
be represented proudly amongst the rest of the construction exhibit. ASCE plans
to play a role during the camp with several ASCE members assisting on Friday of
that week with the West Point Bridge Design program. For more information about
the Museum check out
www.childrensdiscoverymuseum.org. If you wish to visit the exhibit, the
section has 25 free passes; just contact
webmaster@maineasce.org for your free pass.
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The 2008 ASCE National Concrete Canoe Competition teams
in order of final
rank are:
1) University of Nevada, Reno
2) University of California, Berkeley
3) Ecole de technologie superieure
4) California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
5) University of Florida
6) University of Wisconsin - Madison
7) Clemson University
8) Michigan Technological University
9) University of California, Los Angeles
10) University of Wisconsin - Platteville
11) Polytechnic University
12) Drexel University
13) Florida Insti
