Maine PUC releases confidential transcript in wind energy case

by Naomi Schalit and John Christie, January 31, 2012 © Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting

A proposal for a joint venture that would undertake major construction of wind towers across the state and region has encountered more regulatory complications, a week after reports were published that state officials recommended the proposal be turned down.

The state’s Public Utilities Commission (PUC) was set to decide on Jan. 31 whether the proposal by First Wind, (Maine and Hawaii's largest windfarm developer) Emera Inc. (the Nova Scotia-based parent company of Bangor Hydro and Maine Public Service) and Ontario-based Algonquin Power and Utilities Corp. could move ahead. But that meeting has been indefinitely postponed while attorneys for the deal’s proponents and opponents wrestle over actions taken by First Wind and Bangor Hydro over the last week.

A confidential and contentious meeting between PUC staff and lawyers for the parties in the case was held on January 25. A transcript of that meeting was released by the PUC on Monday, January 30. The Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting is linking to the transcript as a public service for those who are interested in this issue. To read the document, click here. To see the order issued by PUC staff in response to requests made at the confidential meeting, click here.

The first referenced document can also be downloaded at: MAINE-PUBLIC-UTILITIES-COMMISSION_1-25-12.pdf

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Related: Maine PUC Rejects Giant Wind Farm Because of “Risk to Ratepayers”