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Briefing Materials

The materials compiled here are intended to provide task force members with an overview of wind power technology, and economic and environmental issues associated with its development in Maine.  There is a wealth of information on wind power available on the Internet and elsewhere.  As the study process moves forward, task force members and others may wish to suggest additional, more detailed materials useful in understanding and addressing particular issues.  An item's inclusion among or exclusion from these materials does not imply a view or position of any recommendation or perspective it may contain.  These materials are intended to stimulate discussion, ideas, problem solving, and in some cases further inquiry into specific topics of potential interest.  

 

Tab 1: Mission and Composition of the Task Force

This provides section includes the text of Governor Baldacci's May 8, 2007 Executive Order establishing the Governor's Task Force on Wind Power Development in Maine and a list of the gubernatorially appointed task force members and their contact information.  The Executive Order spells out the scope and focus of the task force's charge which may be summarized as:

  • Examination of the regulatory processes, review criteria, and financing options currently applicable to wind power projects proposed in Maine;
  • Identification of potential barriers to wind power development in Maine; and
Recommendation of changes to state policies, regulatory requirements, and financial incentives to facilitate siting wind power projects in Maine in a manner that generates the benefits of this indigenous, renewable energy resource for Maine people without undue adverse effects on other natural resources values and uses.

Tab 2: Overview of Wind Power Technology

This section contains materials from websites of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) that provide a basic explanation of how wind power technology works.  Both sites have links to helpful on-line animations of how wind generating facilities operate.

The section also includes information prepared by the U.S. Department of Energy on technological trends in wind power development.

  • Selections from DOE Wind Program: Technology Trends and Strategic Plans (October 2003) - http://www.uwig.org/seattlefiles/bsmith.pdf ; see also, Musial, et al., infra, pp. 3 - 7 (synopsis of the technological development for nearshore and offshore wind power)           

Tab 3: Maine's Energy Picture - Overview of energy sources and trends regarding electric power generation in Maine

This section provides information on the mix of energy resources used for production of electricity for Maine and New England. 

The information shows the current role and influence of natural gas.  Materials included are slides from a 2005 presentation to the Land Use Regulation Commission (LURC) by Beth Nagusky, former director of Maine's Office of Energy Independence and Security and an excerpt from a 2005 report to the New England Governor's Conference, Meeting New England's Future Natural Gas Demands: Nine Scenarios and Their Impacts.  The excerpt outlines potential effects related to fuel diversification, natural gas price mitigation and stabilization, energy security and cost of addressing projected increases in demand for electricity with renewable resources, including wind power.  The report's executive summary is also included as background.

  • The Energy Picture in Maine and the Region from 60,000 feet (MSPowerpoint  presentation, , Beth Nagusky, former director, Governor's Office of Energy Independence and Security to LURC, December 7, 2005)
    (formats: pdf | Powerpoint)
  • Selection and executive summary from Meeting New England's Future Natural Gas Demands: Nine Scenarios and Their Impacts: A Report to the New England Governors, Power Planning Committee of the New England Governors' Conference, Inc., March 2005

Tab 4: Maine's Wind Power Resource

This section contains a map of Maine's wind power resource areas, published by NREL.  For comparison purposes, a comparable map of wind resource areas in New England as a whole is included, too.  A brief insert is added to explain the relationship between wind speed and power production.   

Tab 5: Wind Power Projects in Maine and New England

This section contains a map, produced by the New England Wind Forum, which shows current and proposed wind power projects in New England.  Although the map may not be completely up to date, it does provide an overview of the location and distribution of projects of commercial interest.

A brief summary of Maine projects that have been reviewed or are currently under review by DEP or LURC is being prepared.  

Tab 6: Wind Power's Potential in Maine as an Indigenous, Renewable Resource

This section contains several documents addressing the development potential of wind power projects in Maine.  Information providing an overview of issues regarding community-scale projects is included.    

Terrestrial; general development potential.  In 2004, the Maine Legislature directed the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to study select issues regarding wind power development, assess the viability and development potential of this renewable energy option for Maine, and identify potential means to promote the industry in Maine.  The resulting report - The Report on the Viability of Wind Power Development in Maine, Maine Public Utilities Committee (Presented to the Utilities and Energy Committee of the Maine Legislature, January 27, 2005) -  http://www.maine.gov/mpuc/staying_informed/legislative/2005legislation/2005reports.htm - is included here.  The report's recommendations are succinctly summarized on pages ii and iii of the executive summary.  Section VIII discusses the recommendations in more detail.  Section VI of the report discusses obstacles to wind power development in Maine.  These two sections may be of particular relevance to the task force's charge.

            The Legislature made no explicit decision to implement recommendations in this PUC report.  Rather, in each year following its submission, the Legislature considered several related bills to promote wind power in various ways and enacted two laws consistent with the report's recommendations.  In its most recent session, the Legislature passed a new enhanced portfolio requirement (LD 1920, PL 2007 c. 403), which will provides incentive for new wind projects.  In its 2006 session, the Legislature enacted a law that provides some tax incentives for small wind projects (LD 1379, PL c. 2005 c. 646).

Offshore.  This section contains a copy of Energy from Offshore Wind (Preprint of conference paper), Musial, Butterfield and Ram, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) (February 2006) - http://www.nrel.gov/wind/pubs_technologies.html#offshore.  This paper assesses the offshore wind industry in the United States as one in its infancy with potential to make a major contribution to the country's electricity demands on par with that of onshore wind and with limited adverse environmental effects. Estimates peg the United States' offshore wind power potential at about 1000 GW.  According to DOE estimates, as much as 50GW of offshore wind power may go on-line over the next 20 years and 100GW in the next 30 years.  These estimates assume a concerted research and development effort.  Proximity to urban markets and generally steadier and strong offshore wind speeds are among the factors that account for offshore wind's development potential.

Providing an overview of offshore wind project economics, the paper indicates that as wind turbines are adapted for offshore use, a project's economic viability will depend less on reduction of wind turbine costs and "more on a full system life cycle cost approach."  At present, electrical and grid infrastructure, foundation and support structures, offshore construction and operations and maintenance account for the bulk of total project costs and "the cost of offshore wind energy is increasingly dominated by balance-of-station (BOS) and operating expenses (OPEX)." 
 
The paper outlines technological developments needed in the near term to build and operate wind farms in waters greater than 30 meters (basically the current depth limitation to efficient development of offshore wind) as well as technological developments to site projects in deeper, offshore waters.  The substructures that support offshore wind turbines are most critical to development and expansion of this energy option.  The paper provides an overview of the anticipated technological progression allowing increasingly deeper waters and thus more productive wind resources to be utilized from the monopiles, currently in use commercially, to transitional technologies adapted from the offshore oil and gas industry, to wind-turbine specific floating platforms.  The paper suggests that commercialization of floating technologies, necessary for utilization of about 500 GW of the United States' offshore wind resource, will require about 15 years of concerted research and development informed by substantial experience with shallow water development.  The paper also notes the likelihood that turbine sizes may increase to 10MW or greater as deeper waters become accessible to take advantage of available wind and reduce project costs and the related need to develop the necessary facilities, protocols and infrastructure to test such ultra-large turbines. 
 
Surveying the state of the industry in 2006, the paper notes that there are now offshore wind projects in operation producing a total of 804 MW.  All are in Europe, with great majority in Denmark and the United Kingdom.  All are in waters less than 18m in depth and no more than 14 km from shore.  Before-and-after-control-impact (BACI) studies of Denmark's Horns Rev and Nysted projects are "the most credible and broad-based environmental studies in Europe for commercial facilities."

The paper's brief overview of environmental and regulatory issues focuses on the Energy Policy Act of 2005's establishment of the Minerals Management Service as the lead federal agency regarding wind development on the Outer Continental Shelf, and MMS' pending efforts to create a program for leasing and permitting of OCS wind projects.  While detailed assessment of ecological issues related to offshore wind development is beyond the paper's scope, it does suggest that experience with the Cape Wind project has highlighted the significance of public participation in decision-making and effects on marine life, aesthetics, commercial fishing, and boating safety as potential areas of public concern.

This section also contains the State Planning Office's recent comments on MMS' draft programmatic EIS (DPEIS) for its program, under development, for leasing areas of the OCS for alternative energy development including wind power as well as pertinent section from the DPEIS.  Based on review of information in the DPEIS, SPO notes the following:

"The DPEIS seems to suggest that notwithstanding possible technological advances (e.g., floating platforms) proposals to develop wind power resources in ocean waters up to 100m in depth may not be foreseeable by 2014.  The DPEIS notes that at present all wind turbine generators in the ocean are in waters less than about 30m (100 feet) in depth; and "in the next 5 to 7 years, it is expected that the maximum depth at which a wind facility would be constructed on the OCS would be about 45m."  Along the Gulf of Maine coast proximate to Maine, most areas landward of the 30m and 45m isobaths are state-owned submerged lands and state waters.  Off the southern Maine coast, the 30m and 45m isobaths do in a number of places extend beyond the three-mile limit of state ownership, as they do at several other locations further east along the coast.  Off Maine, the 100m isobath is located in OCS waters and runs close and generally parallel to the three mile limit of state ownership."

Community-scale.    Finally, this section provides a map and related information prepared by the New England Wind Forum on community-scale wind power systems under development or consideration in New England - http://www.eere.energy.gov/windandhydro/windpoweringamerica/ne_projects.asp
A fact sheet, prepared by the Renewable Energy Research Laboratory at the University of Massachusetts, outlines technical and physical requirements, siting, and environmental issues associated with wind power development at a community-scale.

Tab 7: Overview of Wind Power Project Economics in Maine

This section provides a brief white paper [under development] prepared by the State Planning Office to assist the task force in considering economic and financing issues regarding development of wind power projects in Maine.

  • Brief SPO white paper on Maine project economics [under development]

Tab 8: Overview of Regulatory Framework

This section provides an outline [under development] of federal, state and local land use and environmental approvals required for a commercial wind power development in Maine.  The outline is organized geographically to reflect the fact the approvals required vary somewhat depending on a project's location, e.g., onshore as opposed to offshore.

  • Chart or outline that shows federal, state and local approvals that may be required, organized by geographic area  [under development]

Tab 9: Maine's Current Wind Power Siting Policy

This section contains a copy of the Maine Wind Energy Act, as amended by PL 2005 c. 646, which encourages siting and development of wind power in the state.

Tab 10: Maine's Regulatory Framework

This section contains the following materials, included to provide an initial understanding and framework for discussion of the means by which the State and its municipalities review and regulate proposed wind power projects:

Tab 11: Regulatory Frameworks in Other States

This section contains materials included to provide an overview of other states' approaches to regulation of wind power. 

The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) prepared State Siting and Permitting of Wind Energy Facilities (2006) as a multi-state survey in partnership with the National Wind Coordinating Committee.  The paper summarizes the main similarities and differences among state and local approaches.   The paper separately summarizes the siting policies and laws of ten jurisdictions - Connecticut, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oregon, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin - which NCSL found representative of the spectrum of state approaches.  The paper notes that states' approval processes may be divided into the following five basic categories:

  • Mandatory, state-level wind siting statutes (e.g., energy facilities siting boards in Oregon, Connecticut and Massachusetts; Minnesota - state issued wind project permit);
  • Voluntary state guidelines (e.g., Kansas);
  • Model local ordinance (e.g., Wisconsin);
  • Local government siting rules (e.g., Iowa); and
  • Voluntary checklists and resources for use by local government (e.g., Wisconsin).

NCSL notes that most state guidelines call for consultation with local authorities regarding permit, zoning and land use controls as well as consultation with wildlife agencies on pre- and post-construction monitoring concerning threatened and endangered species and their habitats.  By contrast, not all state guidelines require consultation or consideration of other, non-wildlife related issues, including those regarding noise and visual resources.   

            The following are select, potentially notable features of these states' approaches:

Oregon:  Consolidated "one-stop" permit is available only for larger projects (greater than 105MW).  Smaller projects are subject to multiple agency approvals at the local and state level.

Massachusetts:  Approval of multiple state and local entities may be required in addition to that of Massachusetts' Energy Facility Siting Board whose jurisdiction covers generating plants (not just wind) over 100MW.  State agency and local approvals may be required for smaller projects.

Minnesota:  The state wind project permitting process applies to projects greater than 5MW; local approval may be required for smaller projects.

Kansas:  Siting guidelines provided by the Kansas Energy Council, while not themselves binding, reference pertinent county and local approval requirements and templates for application materials that local authorities may use.

Wisconsin:  The model local ordinance promulgated to help county and municipal government regulate wind projects applies to projects with towers over 170 feet that generate more than 100kW.  The state's natural resources agency has published additional guidance suggesting the need for a site specific, baseline wildlife analysis.    

Also included in this section is Proposed Windpower Siting Guidelines (May 29, 2007), provided to the New Hampshire  Energy Policy Committee, Wind Siting Subcommittee by the New Hampshire Wind Energy Facility Siting Guidelines Working Group.  This ad hoc study group is comprised of a variety of New Hampshire stakeholders with an interest in wind power development.  The document is focused on wind power development on terrestrial ridge lines. 

While not offered as a consensus document on which all participants agreed and, naturally, geared to New Hampshire's regulatory environment, the guidelines do include (see Appendix A) detailed guidance for evaluation of individual issues, including recreational use, noise, visual impacts, and wildlife.  The guidance includes outlines of methods and approaches for assessing potential effects, related data and information needs and pertinent regulatory standards on a wide range of issues that may arise regarding a proposed wind power development.   

  • State Siting and Permitting of Wind Energy Facilities, National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) (April 2006) (summary of representative approaches in other states) - http://www.nationalwind.org/publications/siting/Siting_Factsheets.pdf    
  • Proposed Windpower Siting Guidelines, New Hampshire Wind Energy Facility Siting Guidelines Working Group, May 29, 2007 (provided to the New Hampshire Energy Policy Committee, Wind Siting Subcommittee)

Tab 12: Maine Financial Incentives 

This section contains Maine statutes that provide financial incentives for wind power development in the areas of -

Tab 13: Overview of Federal Financial Incentives [under development]

Tab 14: Natural Resources Related Issues - Background readings on key topics