Presentation to the NRCM
Powerpoint file of the presentation to the Natural Resources Council of Maine on January 21, 2010.
[Download Here]
Supergrid for Renewables: Coloring the US Grid Green
Modernizing the US grid is a mammoth task, one that is spurring new lines of thought about generation and transmission resources.
by Elisa Wood
Renewable Energy World
Oct. 6, 2009
Renegades, some may call them, but people have lived off-grid for decades by relying exclusively on solar panels for electricity. Disconnected from their local utility, they have no central back-up and no reliability. Most solar electric users are less extreme. They remain connected to the utility and use a combination of solar and grid power.
Now, a Maine, US energy company has proposed a third and unique kind of relationship between solar energy system owners and the conventional electric grid. It is neither on-grid nor off-grid; instead solar energy becomes the grid.
[MORE]
Intervenors Spar Over CMP's
Proposed Transmission Upgrade
by A.J. Higgins
Maine Public Radio
Sept. 30, 2009
Maine's Public Utilities Commission is supposed to be an independent quasi-judicial body that ensures reliable utility service and fair rates for Maine consumers. But Richard Silkman says he's becoming increasingly worried about influence peddling by current and former members of Gov. John Baldacci's administration.
Silkman, a former state planning director under Republican Gov. John McKernan, wants the PUC to consider his own solar power project as an alternative to CMP'S. But just as the three-member PUC commission prepares to review CMP's application, the future makeup of the panel remains uncertain.
Commissioner Sharon Reishus's term of office has expired, but she continues to serve as chair until she is reappointed or a replacement is named. The Baldacci administration has been weighing Reishus's reappointment for the last six months and Silkman fears she is caught in a power play over the CMP upgrade plan that Gov. John Baldacci favors.
"It doesn't take six months to evaluate those kinds of credentials. She hasn't been reappointed. We're concerned about what the quid pro quo is," Silkman says.
[MORE]
GridSolar offers alternative to Central Maine Power transmission line upgrade
by Andrew Benore
Village Soup
Sept. 3, 2009
WALDOBORO: GridSolar representatives on Sept. 2 described a distributed solar power generation plan that would be an alternative to the transmission line upgrade project proposed by Central Maine Power to deliver energy during times of peak demand.
Mark Isaacson, a co-founder of GridSolar, discussed his company's 800-megawatt solar power generation proposal at the Waldoboro Town Office. He said CMP's proposal to spend $1.5 billion to build high capacity transmission lines is a "bulk power solution to a peak demand problem."
[MORE]
Land option won in bid for Solar Plan
GridSolar is proposing an alternative to CMP's request for power lines
by Ed Murphy
Portland Press Herald
Aug. 14, 2009
An alternative-energy company's challenge to Central Maine Power Co.'s $1.5 billion transmission line upgrade has taken a small step forward with an option to lease a 17-acre plot in Saco.
If GridSolar wins support for its plan from the state Public Utilities Commission, the land could become the site of one of the company's first solar arrays, pumping electricity into the area's power lines.
[MORE]
Solar Official Blasts CMP Line
by Scott Monroe
Kennebec Journal
Aug. 13, 2009
PITTSFIELD -- Swaths of land can be home to rows of solar panels to meet Maine's energy needs, instead of constructing a new high-voltage transmission line that will pass through the town and by private properties.
Dr. Richard Silkman, the owner of GridSolar LLC, delivered that message to the Town Council Tuesday night when he told councilors that the solar option could be an "alternative" to Central Maine Power's $1.5 billion proposal.
Silkman said he has been presenting the option to several Maine communities recently, as part of an effort to convince the Public Utilities Commission that such a solar project could be a viable alternative to building a bigger power line.
[MORE]
GridSolar moving forward
by Deirdre Fulton
Portland Phoenix
August 11, 2009
GridSolar, which I wrote about last month, achieved a victory in Saco this week. The Saco City Council said okay to a 20-year lease on city-owned land, adjacent to a former city landfill. It's the first of these types of arrangements for GridSolar, which proposes building medium-scale solar panel installations on 8000 open-field acres around Maine to fill gaps in energy supply at peak-demand times. The proposal is presented as an alternative to larger-scale power-plant build-up, which would require massive transmission-infrastructure improvements.
The terms of the agreement, which can't be acted on until the Maine Public Utilities Commission provides GridSolar with a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity, state that GS will pay an annual lease fee of $25,000 for the property as well as property taxes on all improvements to the property.
[MORE]
[Download Press Release -PDF]
Energy and ME: Terrestial Wind. Deep-water wind. Tidal. Solar. Maine's Got Power and Everyone Wants a Piece
by Kathryn Skelton
Sun Journal
July 26, 2009
Mick Peterson says by 2011 he expects a tidal energy project with turbines packed into tractor-trailer-sized units submerged off Eastport to start feeding power into the New England grid. It's a project that, he says, truly puts that type of energy production to the test: If tidal can't work here, it can't work anywhere in the United States.
Habib Dagher wants to tether a giant windmill 10 miles off the coast by 2012 as a test site that taps into massive Gulf of Maine winds. He says that energy, and the jobs that follow "could transform our economy for forever." In November, the Legislature and Gov. John Baldacci will ask voters if they want to put $6 million into the idea.
Meanwhile, GridSolar LLC wants federal stimulus money to make an as-yet-unnamed town in Maine a test site for solar energy — and keep making its case to unseat Central Maine Power Co.'s billion-dollar transmission line upgrade.
Proposals for renewable energy are generating talk across Maine and increasingly, developers have not only dreams, but dates.
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Smart Solar
by Deirdre Fulton
The Portland Phoenix
July 8, 2009
Maine will never be a leader in wind-energy
development, says Richard Silkman, co-founder and -manager of a firm
that could revolutionize the way we address energy issues in this state
and throughout the region. "We missed our chance," he stated flatly
during a presentation at the Maine Audubon Society in June.
But
now we have a new shot at trendsetter status, in a different industry —
solar. And Silkman, along with business partner Mark Isaacson, has a
plan to get us there.
MORE
GridSolar Project Makes Sense for Maine Ratepayers
by Rich Silkman and Mark Isaacson
Bangor Daily News
June 23, 2009
In a June 13 OpEd, “Maine power project will deliver,” George Loehr,
a consultant to Central Maine Power Co., argued that the $1.5 billion
CMP has proposed to spend on its transmission grid is necessary to
ensure that Maine’s electric grid remains reliable.
Sure, spending $1.5 billion will improve Maine’s transmission grid.
Spending $1.5 billion on just about anything will make it better.
That’s not the point. The point is whether or not spending $1.5 billion
as CMP has proposed to spend it is a wise use of Maine ratepayer money.
MORE
Solar Beats Power Lines in State Poll
by Tux Turkel
Portland Press Herald
May 28, 2009
PORTLAND - By a nearly 2-to-1 ratio, Mainers would prefer using solar panels to upgrade the state's power grid over putting up high-voltage lines, according to a poll released Wednesday.
Younger people and those who say they support environmental causes are most likely to see solar energy as the answer to keeping the lights on, the poll suggests.
The poll was released at a news conference organized by GridSolar LLC, a Portland-based company that hopes to fill the state's future electricity needs with acres of strategically placed solar collectors. The event was part of a high-stakes campaign to present an alternative to Central Maine Power Co.'s proposed $1.5 billion upgrade of the state's transmission system.
MORE
Download our press release - pdf
GridSolar Project Fills Demand, Creates Jobs,
At Lower Cost
by Rich Silman and Mark Iassacson
Kennebec Journal
May 17, 2009
Despite claims to the contrary, we don't need to upgrade CMP's
transmission lines in order to transmit the power from wind generation
facilities in Maine to electricity users in the Northeast. Wind
projects are already online in Stetson and Freedom and under
construction at Kibby Mountain. New projects have been proposed in
Rollins, Roxbury, Dixmont and Rumford, while many others are in the
pre-development stages.
Maine's current transmission grid is more than adequate for these projects and many more like them.
MORE
Read CMP's Response
Firm Pitches Solar Farms Over Huge CMP Expansion
by Geoff Cunningham, Jr.
Fosters Daily Democrat
May 6, 2009
KITTERY, Maine — A small company out of Portland is pitching a big plan
that would substitute solar power for a Central Maine Power proposal
calling for $1.5 billion in new transmission lines to meet Maine's
future peak power needs. GridSolar LLC. — a 35-person company
based in Portland — is offering the Maine Public Utilities Commission
an alternative to the CMP proposal that would meet peak electric
demands through the generation of power in small solar farms that would
be built in the regions projected to have power shortfalls within the
next 10 years.
MORE
Entrepreneur: Solar Better Than Plans for Power Lines
by Scott Taylor
Lewiston Sun Journal
April 8, 2009
LEWISTON - Solar power could be an alternative to Central Maine Power
Co.'s proposed $1.5 billion expansion program, councilors were told
Tuesday. Energy consultant Mark Isaacson of Competitive Energy
Solutions in Portland outlined his plan for a distributed solar grid
that could supply electrical power to Lewiston during peak times - just
like CMP's expansion program.
The difference, Isaacson said, is that solar energy makes sense for the future.
MORE
GridSolar "A Viable Energy Option for Maine"
Editorial: Lewiston Sun Journal
March 22, 2009
Maine's Public Utility Commission has some tough decisions to make in the coming year if the state is to become energy independent and a viable exporter of energy in decades to come. The PUC's task to protect ratepayer interests is key, as it tries to review two important, but now competing, proposals that seek similar goals.
MORE
Eternal Sunshine is Maine's Power Answer
Guest Column: Lewiston Sun Journal
March 22, 2009
Gov. John Baldacci got it partly right in his State of the State speech this year. Renewable energy must play a major role in meeting Maine's electricity requirements in the future. But that renewable energy should be developed in Maine. The state does not need what the governor referred to as "energy corridors" that enable new generation to be developed in Eastern Canada and shipped through Maine to southern New England.
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CMP's Power Grid Expansion Unnecessary
Maine Voices: Maine Sunday Telegram
March 15, 2009
In an editorial on March 8 ("Questions remain, but grid upgrade necessary"), the Maine Sunday Telegram endorsed Central Maine Power's spending $1.5 billion on its transmission system – despite the fact that Maine's Public Advocate's Office has determined that the spending is not needed.
MORE
GridSolar Responds to Governor's
State of the State Address
March 11, 2009
In this report from WCSH6, GridSolar partner Rich Silkman responds to Governor Baldacci's energy initiatives included in his State of the State Address.
MORE
GridSolar Plan Has Advantages
Over CMP Upgrade, Saco Officials Told
Press Release
March 5, 2009
Officials from GridSolar, LLC, which has proposed a less costly and cleaner alternative to Central Maine Power Company’s proposal to upgrade its high-voltage transmission lines, told the Saco Energy Committee Thursday that its plan has several advantages over CMP’s proposal.
(Download our press release - PDF)
Solar Energy Promoters Seek Public Support
Maine Public Radio
March 5th, 2009
A green energy presentation was given today to officials in one of Maine's greenest cities. Members of the Energy Committee in Saco, home of a new wind-powered train station, today hosted a presentation by Gridsolar, LLC. The company hopes to develop up to 800 megawatts of distributed solar generation in Maine.
MORE
GridSolar, LLC Petitions PUC
To Develop and Distribute Solar Generation
Press Release
Feb. 1, 2009
Portland-based GridSolar, LLC, today filed a petition with the Maine Public Utilities Commission to become a Maine transmission and distribution utility. The GridSolar Project would develop up to 800 MW of distributed solar generation and represents an alternative to the proposal by CMP to spend $1.5 billion on its Maine Power Reliability Project, the so-called “MPRP."
(Download our press release - PDF)
Residents Leery of CMP High Voltage Upgrade Proposal
Maine Public Radio
Feb. 2, 2009
Central Maine Power is in the midst of
trying to convince the state that it needs to upgrade its aging
transmission system. But the $1.5 billion proposal is
getting pushback from residents worried about more high-voltage power
lines transmitting electricity from distant power plants through their
backyards. MORE
In Maine, Could Distributed Solar Replace A Power Line?
Platts
Feb. 2, 2009
Central-station versus distributed power, writ small. An entrepreneur has put some sturdy little legs on a debate that's usually theoretical: what is more desirable, the central-station power model or the distributed power model.
MORE
Maine Utility Says Solar a Viable Option for Peak Use
Portland Press Herald
Feb. 3, 2009
Acres of solar-electric panels installed near communities that use
lots of power in the summer could be an alternative to a controversial
and costly upgrade of the transmission system in southern and central
Maine, a Portland-based energy company is asserting. MORE