To learn more about the Record Hill Wind project in Roxbury: http://recordhillwind.com/.
ROXBURY — Owners of a wind-power company set to erect 22 turbines on local hills have decided to delay the project by a year because the energy market has fallen in the recession.
Record Hill Wind LLC is building a $120 million wind farm along the 4-mile ridgeline that connects Partridge Peak, Record Hill and Flathead Mountain. The company had planned to put up the turbines next year, but now says it will be up and running in 2011.
"It's basically a business decision based more than anything else on
the current state of the energy market, which is very, very low,
principally because of the recession," co-owner Angus King of Brunswick said Friday.
Electricity prices are driven by the price of natural gas, because gas-fired generation plants are usually needed to provide incremental electricity. Due to the structure of the competitive electricity market, these plants set the price of electricity for all consumers.
That's why electricity suppliers closely monitor natural gas markets and base their prices per British thermal unit or Btu to consumers on future prices for natural gas. British thermal units are the amount of heat required to increase the temperature of a pound of water one degree Fahrenheit.
"The energy market in Maine and New England is at the lowest it's been since 2002," King said. "In 2008, the price was $12.50 per million Btus, but today, it's $4, so that's a pretty dramatic drop. So, now is not a good time."
That's why King and partner Robert Gardiner of Cumberland Foreside deferred their turbine purchase by a year.
"It was just prudent business management," King said.
Delaying project completion by a year doesn't mean the company will take a year off from road construction and site preparation work.
"We will be back at work when mud season is over next year, but we're not pausing for a year," he said. "We will work through the summer."
But for now, with the onset of winter fast approaching, King said construction will stop in three weeks.
"We will be wrapping up the work that's going on now, principally, to ensure that before the winter comes, all the environmental controls and erosion controls are in place," he said. "And then we will be moving forward with additional preparation work probably next summer and looking forward to being in service in 2011."
The project has been under construction since late August when the Maine Department of Environmental Protection approved Record Hill Wind's project permit.
King said company contractor Sargent Corp. of Bangor has built a new access road from Mine Notch South toward Partridge Peak.
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Candice Anne, you are so
Candice Anne, you are so full of bull, I don't know where to begin. The folks who are opposed to industrial scale wind turbine projects have a plethora of reasons, starting with the fact that it is bad public policy to support an industry that wouldn't exist if it weren't for subsidies and preferential market manipulations. Why should we detroy miles of ridgelines in rural Maine for this folly?
Regarding noise, most of us have actually witnessed the existing industrial scale turbines first hand. I personally have stood on Mountain Road in Mars Hill with an expensive, well calibrated decibel meter in my hand. On a day when the wind was blowing at less than 20 mph., we were consistently getting readings of 46-54 dbA. The project was initially licensed at 45 dbA, then given a variance to 50dbA by the state, in spite of problems documented by the residents of East Ridge Rd. and Mountain Rd.
Windturbine zombies tend to rhapsodize over these as you have in your posting, but I will let the facts speak for themselves. So will the court when the Mars Hill Homeowners' Association suit against First Wind is heard.
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Angus, shut it down, now! Walk away, now! Do the right thing, now! Leave Highland Plantation alone, now! You & Rob are only in it to get rich from subsidies & RECs, not because it is an efficient, cost-effective, reliable source of electricity.
The reality, folks, is that as wealthy and well connected as Mr. King is, the Record Hill project doesn't have solid financial backing to order his turbines. Walk away now, Angus!
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.Of course money is driving
Of course money is driving the project, to a point, just like it does in every form of energy generation. But, this form has NO EMISSIONS, no fuel costs. For comparison I do not see everyone going after the people that grow organic vegtables, they cost twice as much, and have no pesticides, do you think they do it out of the kindness of their hearts? of course not, they make a profit, but it also helps the environment. Wind power is the same, no emissions but someone takes the risk of investing the time and money, to make money, this is America is what we do.
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After monrhes of following the wind farm debate, I have been struck by a startling realization. Not one of the anti-wind turbine folks has ever visited a single wind turbine or a wind farm. They say they object to wind turbines because of the noise and that they are ugly and will destroy our way of life. How can they make those assertions never having stood under a wind turine, 100 feet from a wind turbine or even 1 mile from a wind turbine?
Read the comments or listen to someone who is in favor of the turbines or has no objection and they frequently have taken the time to see one or been to a farm and seen many. They describe the experience as mystical, spiritual religious. They describe the sight as breathtakingly beautiful, wonderous and majestic. I have had the experience and it gave me goosebumps and I get goosebumps listening to these people report their experiences. The eye witness reports certainly do not jive with the dire warnings of the blight these monsters will be on our majestic mountains majesty according to the anti-turbine folks.
Not one witness has had any objection to noise. In fact those having been there, done that are mezmerized by the silence of these great twirling pinwheels. The anti-turbines who have never stood under, 100 feet away from or 1 mile away from one or more wind turbines would have you take their word for it that the noise is terrible. Why?
I am left wondering what is the real motive of the forces behind the anti-wind turbine folk? In reviewing the articles and comments most notably the one in SJ where Jonathan Carter has jumped on the anti-turbine bandwagon, Ifeel the fog is beginning to lift. I do not think these people have the best intersts of the Stat of Maine or the People of Maine at heart or even a slightest motivator in any way. I do think they fear Maine getting out from under their thumb and Maine people enjoying any of the technology and benefits they enjoy every day. I think they view the turbines and the advancement they bring to Maine as taking from them, our gain would be their loss.
All of their arguments agains wind turbines are or have fallen apart, noise, esthetics, jobs, tax revenues, and profitability. The question is, will Maine people realize the potential or will we remain under the grest thumb.
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One of the anti-wind folks big whines was how there was no money in this and now they are complaining because of delays for good business practices. Why would you expect anything but this being a for profit venture? Why would you want it to be anything else? One of the whines has been the fear these facilities will not be maintained and become an eyesore. These people are demonstrating they have good business sense and are in it to make money, as such they will have the profit to maintain the facilities. Clearly nothing will make the anti-wind power people happy.
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I am happy
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond."I guess there is no
"I guess there is no question now on what is driving this industry."
Did you think it was something other than profit, or are you naive?
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So, does mr. king plan to spend his money to maintain a workforce on the mountain to monitor erosion and water quality during this delay ? Can people expect mr. king to remove the ban on access to this mountain during the shutdown ? I guess there is no question now on what is driving this industry. Are you going to risk allowing climate change to destroy us because you can't put money in your pocket, mr. king and mr. gardiner ?
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