And unlike with conventional hydro dams where the point of entry for the water powering the turbine is (relatively) small and feasible to keep clear of debris, no tidal generators have been designed yet that aren’t pretty easily fucked by a single submerged log or other significant piece of jetsam.

Nice

This is correct. If PTP were created it would essentially be an elected board overseeing the utility assets and operations, and they’d have to hire a management company. When Long Island Power Authority — the only example of a consumer takeover, rather than a utility that was founded as consumer owned from the outset — was created, they contracted first with National Grid, then fired them after mismanagement led to a dismal response to Hurricane Sandy (among other issues, including continuously mounting debt) and then with Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG), the largest utility in neighboring New Jersey. It did not go well. So, the “operator” contracted isn’t likely to be a Maine company, because there will be no more Maine IOUs to bid for such a contract. Maybe another utility operating in New England would bid, like Eversource or Liberty or National Grid or PPL, but that probably depends on whether they’d be able to profit sufficiently and whether working for the elected board seemed like a sound business move.

While PTP says all CMP and Versant’s existing employees (other than management) would be allowed to stay on, the IBEW has pointed out that there’s no way to guarantee that and there’s a very good chance if they were they wouldn’t be allowed to organize, so this is potentially the biggest anti-union proposal Maine will ever consider.

Also I’m undecided on the referendum—I like the concept but am curious whether these issues that were raised when it was in the legislature have or will be addressed. Another issue for another post is why the elected board would have two seats per county — that’s flagrant rural gerrymandering! The 17k people who live in Piscataquis County would have the same number of board seats as the 305k people in Cumberland County.

Yeah this is pretty sus. For one thing, electricity just went up last month for the 2023 standard offer, but that’s temporary for this year and gas is still more expensive. Also there’s just no way the $ for gas you’re quoting lines up with what you’re saying the heat pump added to your electric bill. Either you’re using more electricity for something else too (grow lights lol) or you’re trolling.

Nervous Nellie’s in Stonington. Not so much for the shopping as the spooky eclectic vibe. Go on a sunny afternoon and spend a couple hours (mostly outdoors).

What about AAU?

To be frank, COVID hit Bangor really hard culturally. Before the pandemic it was definitely on the up and up (and I’m not saying it isn’t anymore or won’t be again), but it didn’t quite have the critical mass of entertainment venues, restaurants, etc to ride through the pandemic. Losing a few took a real toll in a way that larger cities like portland could absorb more easily.

Also, Bangor’s been a shopping/service center for the past few decades. As boring as it was, the mall area served a huge swath of Maine and Atlantic Canada and brought a lot of economic activity that has evaporated with the rise of online shopping. Downtown’s resurgence and a lot of great effort and investment from a dedicated group of leaders is making a difference, but those have been stiff headwinds.

This is always going to be hard without lots more detail, but in general it sounds like you probably have some opportunities to reduce your bill. I heat a well-insulted 1200 sq ft house with one heat pump, plus heat pump water heater, 24 sq ft of heated tile floor, energy star dehumidifier, energy star air purifier, energy star chest freezer, energy star washer and dryer, one electric vehicle, and a basement drain pump plus usual household appliances, and pay $300-$350, but we’re on a time of use rate because of the EV.

• how often do you run laundry? Two loads a week is different from six loads a week, for example.
• are you on Standard Offer supply or some scammy third party supplier?
• do you clean the air filters in your heat pump and water heater and dehumidifier at least monthly? If not, they’re working a lot harder than they need to. Your dryer too — make sure the whole vent is clean for both efficiency and fire safety.
• are all your appliances and fixtures energy star? Light bulbs here are huge — with LEDs your light should be a couple bucks a month, with old school incandescents it’s probably $10-20.

Call your local library and ask if they have electricity loggers to lend you. Most do, and you can use those to get a better idea of what the freezer, dehumidifier, etc are using monthly.

The odds are very good that the #1 thing you could do to save energy is insulation and air sealing. A couple tubes of caulk to seal cracks around windows and doors is an easy first step. $50 for a sheet of foam insulation and can of spray foam to insulate rim joists can be next. Then look at Efficiency Maine for rebates on attic and basement and everything else.

This is true, but you need to call them to sign up, otherwise they don’t know you heat with electricity.

And whether or not it’s more expensive to heat with electricity depends on what electric technology you use. With a heat pump the only thing cheaper per Btu is a wood stove. With electric resistance heat there’s nothing more expensive except a wood stove that only burns mahogany.

Got a source for this bud?

The only new nuclear plant coming online in the US anytime soon is a decade behind schedule and $8 billion over budget. Also you think people freaked out about a transmission line, just try siting a nuclear plant anywhere in New England.

Little more nuance to this. Tax credits aren’t funded by electricity ratepayers, so that has nothing to do with electricity prices going up and a lot to do with renewables helping push them down (or keeping them from rising faster).

Net metering is complicated. For a while — ballpark the first 30% of households adopting solar, for example, which Maine is nowhere near — the benefits of having that distributed generation taking strain off the transmission system during peak hours, which saves everyone money, outweigh the reduction in bills those customers get. It’s true that eventually in theory if everybody net metered we wouldn’t be able to cover the cost of the grid with per-kWh rates, but many of the costs that have historically been recovered with per-kWh rates are probably better recovered with fixed customer charges anyway, so if the PUC keeps up with net metering by raising the fixed charge appropriately everyone will still pay a fair share, and we’ll all be paying less that we would’ve otherwise.

This is the way.

Unfortunately not thirty days. Non emergency bills take effect ninety days after the date of adjournment. Under normal circumstances the legislature wouldn’t adjourn until around June 15. It’s possible if they truly couldn’t get it done as an emergency they’d adjourn and then immediately call themselves back for a special session to do all their normal work. It’s a weird loophole and probably an administrative headache but has been done before. Even still, that would mean the funds wouldn’t be available until the end of March, which will be too late for a lot of folks.

You can get $100 back from Efficiency Maine for these materials too — they have a rebate form on their website.

Lots of good suggestions about DIY options if you’re comfortable going that route, and working with the dealer.

Definitely inquire with Dead River about financing. Tell them cash is tight but you obviously understand heat is essential and would be happy to discuss any payment plans for a tank install and/or delivery that they could offer.

Also, reach out to your local CAP — just google Maine Community Action Partners and find the one for your area — and speak with them about whether you might qualify for any assistance. There’s no shame in getting help, you’ve no doubt already paid in and will continue to do so in the future. Safety nets are here for exactly these types of situations so a bit of bad luck doesn’t turn into a spiral. Similarly, reach out to your municipality and inquire about General Assistance. They should have some funds available that could help you with this acute issue. Local churches also often have some funds that could be available to help.

In the next few weeks, look into heat pumps and/or a wood/pellet stove. Both are significantly cheaper heating options than oil. The timeline for getting an install may be weeks or months, so it’s not an immediate solution, but is one of the best things you can do to start saving yourself money on home ownership. Efficiency Maine has near-zero interest financing you can take advantage of, for those systems and insulation and air sealing, which will also cut your costs and are probably a good idea now that you have a slick new roof.

Good luck.

Head to efficiencymaine.com and look at their rebates and financing for insulation and air sealing as well as a heat pump. If you’re not sure what the terms are give them a call, I’ve found their call center staff wicked friendly and knowledgeable. You’ll probably need to wait a while to get on a contractor’s list but especially if you’re income constrained they have a lot of assistance, both direct $$ and really low cost loans.