Mainebiz

V O L . X X I I I N O. X I V J U N E 2 6 , 2 0 1 7 20 N ew England's windiest state has big appeal for investors willing to jump over the regulatory hurdles. "We've been spending hundreds of thousands of dollars up to this point and are getting ready to spend millions in building and construction projects," says Harry Benson, a Scarborough- based development director with EverPower Wind Holdings Inc. "We're at a critical point." e Pittsburgh-based company, backed by London-based private equity fi rm Terra Firma Capital Partners Ltd., is developing four sites here — one at Bryant Mountain in Oxford County, two in undisclosed locations up north, and one Downeast. It operates facilities in California, New York, Pennsylvania and Illinois, and identifi ed 15 potential sites in Maine before settling on four. Like many of its peers, it's encoun- tered an unpredictable permitting process. "We thought we understood the process in Maine, and then when we started charging forward with our projects, things keep changing," he says. "Part of the issue in Maine is that they've been getting stricter." e fi rm is nevertheless sticking to its plans to develop 760 megawatts (MW) of wind power here, adding to its current operating capacity of around 1,000 MW. It's also looking to set up a Portland offi ce once things progress. "We still feel that the majority of our projects are viable and should be built," Benson says. "Being an optimist is part of being a developer." Paul Williamson, a Portland-based development manager with Apex Clean Energy, of Charlottesville, Va., has simi- lar frustrations. " e biggest issue with permitting is that there's a fair amount of subjectivity in the process. at makes it diffi cult for the developer." In Maine, Apex is developing Downeast Wind 1, a 90MW proj- ect, for which it plans to submit the permit application later this year, start building at the end of 2018 and wrap up in late 2019. It's also looking at a second potential project. "When we talk about support from the state government, we're not look- ing for subsidies or fi nancial support," Williamson says. "We're specifi cally looking for that ability to permit proj- ects and solve problems in a construc- tive way rather than running against barriers we can't overcome." e uncertainty looks set to con- tinue after Gov. Paul LePage's recent veto of a measure (LD 901), sustained by lawmakers, which would have eliminated state authorities' discre- tion in determining the "visual scenic impact" of proposed wind projects. e veto came four years after Norway's Statoil ASA yanked a $120 million off shore project here, which LePage opposed citing concerns of a $200 million burden on Mainers by way of increased electric costs. He said at the time that Statoil was ambiguous in its commitment to growing Maine's economy. Statoil is now developing off shore wind in New York after submitting a winning bid of $42.5 million last December, reopening old wounds and prompting fresh criticisms of a state "openly hostile" to renewables," as Jeremy Payne, executive director of the Maine Renewable Energy Association, bluntly puts it. " e truth is that was ours," he says. "We screwed it up." Big business Maine, which got its fi rst wind farm at Mars Hill over a decade ago, has 903 MW of installed wind capacity at 16 facil- ities, far outranking its regional peers. e fi gure includes Patriot Renewables LLC's 23 MW Canton Wind facil- ity in Oxford County, which is due to become operational in coming months. Wind accounted for 14% of the state's electricity production in 2016 and three-fi fths of utility-scale wind power in New England, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Nationwide, Maine ranked No. 21 in the American Wind Energy Association's latest quarterly report. Maine has a prime opportunity to supply growing demand from south- ern New England, though success largely depends on better transmission connections, especially from north- ern Maine. With Maine companies shut out of last fall's tristate clean- energy request for proposals from Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut, the pressure is now on to submit proposals to Massachusetts in another call by the end of July. An expert in the renewable energy industry, David Wilby of Wilby Public Aff airs LLC in Brunswick, said at the recent E2Tech conference in Portland that Massachusetts' plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 25% below 1990 levels by 2020 will be "challenging," but could present opportunities for Maine. In Maine, the use of wind has yielded huge environmental benefi ts, including a decrease in 2016 carbon dioxide emissions by 143 metric tons, Wind power's bumpy ride Onshore development slow but steady as offshore plan advances B y R e n e e C o r d e s E N E R G Y F O C U S 1. Mars Hill (TerraForm Power Inc.): 42MW 2. Stetson I & II (TerraForm Power): 83MW 3. Kibby (Helix Generation LLC): 132MW 4. Oakfield (Novatus Energy): 150MW 5. Vinalhaven (Fox Islands Wind): 4.5MW 6. Beaver Ridge (Patriot Renewables LLC): 4.5MW 7. Rollins (TerraForm Power): 60MW 8. Record Hill (Wagner Wind Energy): 50MW 9. Spruce Mountain (Patriot Renewables): 20MW 10. Bull Hill (TerraForm Power): 34MW 11. Passadumkeag (Southern Co.): 42MW 12. Hancock Wind (Novatus Energy): 54MW 13. Saddleback Wind (Patriot Renewables): 34MW 14. Canton Wind (Patriot Renewables): 23MW (due to become operational in the coming months) 15. Bingham (Novatus Energy): 186MW 16. Pisgah Mountain (SWEB Development): 9mw S O U R C E : Maine Renewable Energy Association WIND FARMS IN MAINE 13 15 16 14 10 12 11 8 3 7 2 1 4 6 5 9

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