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New England Wind Forum; A Wind Powering America Project, Volume 1, Issue 4 - May 2008 (Newsletter)
A Wind Powering America Project Volume 1, Issue 4 May 2008

New England Wind Takes a Wild Ride
The past several months have been full of news on the regional
wind power development front. The Stetson Ridge and Kibby
Mountain Wind Projects in Maine received approvals from
the Land Use Regulation Commission (these projects would
constitute the two largest wind farms in New England). Under
development since 1989, the Maine Mountain wind project was
denied the same approval despite substantially downsizing the
proposed project in an attempt to address objections. While the
Lempster (New Hampshire) Wind Project weathered an appeal
and construction has begun, key permits granted are now under
appeal for the Sheffield (Vermont) and Hoosac (Massachusetts)
wind projects. The Berkshire Wind project (under development
since 1998) got a breath of fresh life as the project was purchased
by a local utility group and two pending lawsuits are expected to
be resolved. The Minerals Management Service issued its long-
awaited draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Cape Wind
project, and a flurry of community-scale and customer-sited wind
turbine projects took significant steps.
Yet just when New England wind development activity is
taking off, a range of external influences, some of which plague
the entire electric power sector, present a continuing source
of friction. Cost increases (driven by global increases in raw
materials and labor costs, and worsening exchange rates) and
wind turbine scarcity (due to skyrocketing global demand) are
overtaking long-term technical progress and cost decline trends,
derailing some projects and slowing others while developers scour
the globe for equipment to move forward. These challenges are
compounded by the uncertainty over whether expiring tax credits
will be extended, freezing turbine orders in the face of uncertain
project economics.
Regional demands for wind power continue to increase. Maine,
New Hampshire, and Connecticut have adopted new or expanded
Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPSs), and Massachusetts is
considering enhancing its RPS. Regional greenhouse gas regu-
lations that rely on substantial quantities of wind power devel-
opment in setting their targets are being adopted. To meet the
growing demand, state government and stakeholder initiatives
including wind power task forces, commissions, and working
In This Issue
New England Wind Takes a Wild Ride p. 1
Wind Policy Update p. 2
State Policy Updates p. 2
Regional Wind Development Update p. 4
Perspectives p. 8
Technical Challenges p. 10
Small Wind Corner p. 11
Hot Topics p. 11
Cool Links p. 13
Wind Events p. 13
Looking south down the
spine of Mars Hill at a
dozen wind turbines
(and one communications
tower) at UPCs Mars
Hill Wind Power facility.
(Photo credit: Dave Wilby,
IEPM/PIX15569) 2



New England Wind Forum Volume 1, Issue 4 May 2008
groups are developing effective processes and infrastruc-
ture for enabling wind development while minimizing undue
adverse effects on communities and other natural resources
values and uses. In northern New Hampshire and Maine, plans
are being considered to expand the transmission system to enable
access to much of the regions wind power potential. Yet to
enable such expansions, changes to transmission policies may
be required to accommodate generation projects that do not
have the luxury of choosing to locate where adequate transmis-
sion exists. Meanwhile, ISO-New England, the operator of the
regional electric grid, is initiating a series of studies to understand
and prepare for the potential for rapid wind power expansion
throughout the region.
Many issues affect wind turbine siting, and public acceptance
is central among them. In some cases, issues must be addressed
as the region gains more experience. Some locations are appro-
priate for wind turbines, others are not. When wind projects are
proposed in communities, it is not uncommon for conflicting and
sometimes misleading information to be circulated. The New
England Wind Forum is continually attempting to identify issues
for which an objective source of information would assist commu-
nities in making good decisions. As we do, NEWF will (subject
to available funding) seek to fill the gap by developing Web site
content summarizing objective and balanced information on such
topics and highlight new content in NEWF newsletters. In this
issue, we begin to address misplaced concerns that wind powers
variability will eradicate any expected benefit. In the Technical
Challenges section, we highlight a recent interview with the head
of the largest electric grid operator in the country, addressing
wind farms and their role on the electric grid.
This newsletter will bring readers up to date on all of these
activities.
Wind Policy Update
Update on Federal Incentives and Policies for Wind
Production Tax Credit (PTC): The federal PTC is scheduled
to expire on December 31, 2008. While a 1-year PTC exten-
sion worth $5.5 billion was proposed in the Senates economic
stimulus package in mid-February, it did not gather the necessary
votes for passage. With expiration looming, uncertainty among
investors and manufacturers translates immediately into develop-
ment delays for projects scheduled for construction in 2009 and
beyond. This dramatic slow-down will threaten thousands of jobs,
and the boom-bust cycle caused by short-term policy-making
for renewable energy will continue to limit healthy, sustainable
growth in the industry.
Federal RPS: While the U.S. House of Representatives passed
energy legislation in 2007 that included a 15% by 2020 national
Renewable Energy Standard (RES), the Senate failed to follow
suit despite its passage of RES bills in previous years and
majority support for the proposed 15% RES. RES proposals
may meet further delays this year as supporters encounter the
traditional slow-down leading up to the presidential election.
State Policy Updates
Massachusetts
Major energy legislation under development: The
Massachusetts legislature is considering major energy legislation,
which could have significant implications for wind energy in
New England. The Massachusetts House of Representatives
unanimously passed HB 4373, An Act Relative to Green
Communities in November 2007, and the Senate passed a
different version of the bill (SB 2468, An Act to Generate
Renewable Energy and Efficiency Now) in January 2008. As of
February 2008, the bill is in joint conference committee, and
while both legislative leaders and the Governor have underscored
the importance of passing a comprehensive energy bill in 2008,
it is not clear when the consolidated legislation will be released.
Key provisions that are similar in both bills include: (1) increasing
the Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) target by 1% per year
after 2009 (indefinitely), (2) directing the utilities to establish
a pilot program for long-term contracts with renewable energy
facilities, (3) increasing the net metering thresholds and allowing
aggregate net metering, and (4) creating a Class 2 RPS require-
ment. The bills differ with respect to: (A) which types of hydro-
electric facilities are eligible for the Class 1 RPS, (B) whether the
importation of RPS-qualifying Renewable Energy Certificates
(RECs) from adjacent control areas should be severely limited,
and (C) the extent to which electricity generation and transmission
should be a permitted use in Ocean Sanctuaries. In addition, the
Senate bill would require a portion of the Class 1 RPS require-
ment to come from on-site generation and would allow the
utilities to own up to 50 MW of renewable generation by 2010.
Changes proposed to state waterways laws in support of
offshore wind: On December 10, 2007, Governor Patricks
administration proposed changes to the Chapter 91 waterways
protection laws, including declaring as water dependent the
underwater transmission cables used by offshore renewable
energy projects to connect to the wholesale electric grid. This
designation could afford offshore wind projects more favorable
and timely consideration at the Department of Environmental
Protection.
New wind energy cooperative established: A new entity
called the Massachusetts Municipal Light Department Wind
En