MEETING SUMMARY October 29, 2007 Subcommittee on Community Wind Meeting I. Introductory Matters Meeting focus. Representative Bruce MacDonald welcomed those in attendance and opened the meeting by outlining its goals and focus (see meeting agenda). II. Presentation from Howard Carter Howard Carter of Saco gave a PowerPoint presentation outlining Saco’s efforts, presenting their larger energy efficiency efforts as the context within which they pursued a wind power turbine at their wastewater treatment plant. the DEP regulatory authorities potentially applicable to a wind power development. Mr. Carter's presentation is available on the project website. Mr. Carter stressed that while there has been an energy savings at the wastewater treatment plant as a result of the turbine, and there have been some technical issues with the turbine itself, the visibility of the project and its opportunity for public education has been very valuable. As outlined in his presentation, this project has led to interest in a second, larger wind turbine, proposed near the new train station. Representative Fitts said that there is a federal program being started that aims to link wind power with schools (see the web site www.windpoweringamerica.gov for more information), and may also be providing met towers and training to the University of Maine. III. Presentation from Dylan Chapman, Anna Grigo, and Megan Aydelott, Camden Hills Regional HS The three students from Camden Hills Regional HS (part of a group called “Windplanners”) presented their project via a PowerPoint presentation, which is also available on the project website. They worked with faculty from the University of Massachusetts to erect a meteorological tower and analyze the wind data. Currently, they are fund-raising with the hope of installing a 50-100 kW turbine, and are doing presentations to various groups regarding the benefits of the project. There are currently 30 students in Windplanners, and the education/outreach component of this project was also stressed. IV. Discussion Following the presentations, discussion ensued along several main topics: 1. Definition of community wind—for purposed of this sub-committee, and the recommendations that will be put forward, it was agreed that defining community wind has an ownership aspect as well as a size aspect. This becomes important when developing model ordinance language (see below). 2. Model ordinance—the group agreed that development of a model ordinance for use at the local level governing wind power turbines would be very useful. Such an ordinance should include standards for regulating wind turbines that consider, where appropriate, differentiating community wind from industrial-scale wind or perhaps smaller-scale wind (e.g., a small facility at a residence). The model ordinance should address issues such as setbacks, height, noise, and others. The group considered several ways to incentivize the adoption of a local ordinance, such as linking adoption to eligibility for state-level assistance or grants, and agreed that final language would be worked out with the full Task Force. 3. Net metering—this issue was raised by Bill McGuinness of the Island Institute, noting the unique nature of the projects and situations of the islands. Representative Fitts noted the somewhat unique nature of the non-profit electrical co-ops that are present on the islands, since they are utilities but are not investor-owned. Some of the pushback on the net metering issue stems from the fact that with net metering one utility uses the other’s infrastructure. However, since the islands are not retail, there may be other ways of exploring solutions to their issues. 4. Assistance with the feasibility portion of projects—several ideas were raised to help address the current lack of practical experience with community-wind scale projects in Maine. These include: coordination with the university system or other partners to help build a knowledge base; coordinated efforts to obtain wind data to reduce the need for pre-project met studies; co-locating met towers with existing infrastructure to help defray costs and hassles; take advantage of federal programs; explore possibility of widening access to existing PUC money. 5. Outreach and education—the importance of community wind for public outreach and education was expressed by many in the group. Following these discussions, the group decided that one more meeting would be necessary to fully discuss these issues, particularly the opportunities to address the feasibility obstacles, the outreach and education opportunities, and the net metering issue. The group decided that this meeting should be held prior to the next Task Force meeting if possible so that a full report could be made at that time. ?? ?? ?? ?? 2