Saturday, February 8, 2014

Templeton Light Plant inks wind energy deal

Templeton Light Plant inks wind energy deal

Eryn Dion
News Staff Writer
TEMPLETON — Templeton will soon be expanding its renewable energy portfolio, as Templeton Municipal Light & Water recently signed an agreement with Boston-based renewable energy company First Wind.

The contract, signed between First Wind and the Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company, of which Templeton is a member, is a 20-year agreement allowing for the at cost purchase of energy produced by a wind farm being built in Maine.

According to TMLWP General Manager John Driscoll, the plant purchased 666 kilowatts of wind energy capacity, which will generate 2.5 million kilowatt hours of power a year of renewable energy for their light customers to purchase. Although exact pricing could not be disclosed, Mr. Driscoll said the rates would be comparably low and fixed over the course of the agreement.

“At this time it looks like a 20-year agreement,” he explained. “And knowing what our purchase price will be for these 20 years will greatly assist the TMLWP in keeping retail electric rates in town from fluctuating sharply.”


The wind farm, named the Hancock Wind Project, is being built in Ellsworth, Maine and will feature 17 turbines and produce 51-megawatts of power. While the facility hasn’t been built yet, First Wind’s Director of Corporate Communications John Lamontagne said it won’t be long before the company breaks ground.

“The Hancock Wind project is in an advanced stage of development,” said Mr. Lamontagne. “First Wind plans to start construction this year with a target completion date before the end of 2015.”

Templeton already draws a considerable amount of power from renewable sources, including Templeton Wind, whose turbine is located behind Narragansett Regional High School, and Berkshire Wind in Hancock, Mass., which combined make up 8 percent of the town’s power portfolio. With the addition of power from the Hancock Wind Project, that total will jump to 12 percent and 62 percent of the town’s power will come from clean, non-carbon emitting sources.

The Renewable Portfolio Standard issued by the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources calls for 20 percent of a municipal plant’s power portfolio to be made up of renewable energy sources by the year 2020, a number the TMLWP is well on its way to achieving.

“The TMLWP is already at 15 percent for 2013 and will be adding another 4 percent by the acquisition of a portion of the First Wind renewable energy output,” Mr. Driscoll said.

Power generated by the Hancock Wind Project will be purchased by MMWEC, a non-profit agency and political subdivision that issues tax-exempt bonds to its members for the financing of electric power projects. MMWEC is partnered with 16 other municipal light plants in the state, including Boylston, Chicopee, Groton, Holden, Holyoke, Ipswich, Mansfield, Marblehead, Paxton, Peabody, Russell, Shrewsbury, Sterling, Wakefield, West Boylston, and Westfield. Templeton Light has been a part of MMWEC since its creation in 1969 and receives many benefits from the organization, including rebate programs for customers and assistance with supply and compliance needs. MMWEC will purchase 75 percent of the power generated by the Hancock Wind Project, with the remaining 25 percent going to Burlington Electric Department in Vermont.

First Winds operates 16 wind energy projects across the country, with facilities in Maine, New York, Vermont, Utah, Washington, and Hawaii with a combined power output of 1000 MW, which, according to Mr. Lamontagne, is enough to power 300,000 U.S. homes for a year. They are also building four solar panel projects in Warren and Millbury Mass., slated to go online this year and provide power to the University of Massachusetts’ Lowell and Medical Center campuses.

A solar array is also in the works for Templeton, as permits put forth by Ten K Energy were approved by the town’s Planning Board and construction of the project, located on Farnsworth Road should begin in spring.

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Wind Action

4 comments:

  1. Wow Driscoll now know about the rebate programs. Funny he / they didn't know when we asked about any rebate offers.
    If you check about them you will find they have been discontinued and are/were missrepresented as longer life bulbs than they will last. Priced higher compaired to home depot. I know for a fact that i could have purchased a better bulb at a lower price and also the false ads have come out and will show the longer is not what they say.
    Another 20 year deal at a price we don't know and are under the control of the monster corp MMWEC state organization.
    A lawyer who charges the 375.00 per hour without any contract/or any bidding for the services!
    A General manager who seems to run the Commission,not the commission runs him anymore!
    A General mgr. who keeps us from getting our own grants for solar arrays,or will not allow net metering like other do and should. Ask why? Answer" Control"
    How many more rich people will get the benefit of tax free bonds and get richer off our electric bills. Want to bet how many are politicians who can get in the front of the line to purchase a no lose deal.
    If we can get private to do solar in Tempelton why wouldn't our own department do it too.
    Fact is their in to much debt to even think of it. To construct the wind turbine the coop had to be formed by the 375$@hr. lawyer we have to hire to handle the loans from the MMWEC trap we find our town put in. All this to ay as much for power as the others around us, But with much more risk and responsibility for what may happen.We are on the hook for decommissioning Nuclear plants and also the wind turbines. Will the solar company ten k leave when the money runs out or the panels rot through,leaving a toxic field of unknown contamination to clean up? What contracts have been turned over about the new fresh deals. MMWEC is said to hold our copies of the contracts with 5,000.00 or more we should have in the town offices for the public to view as ststed in the chapter164 laws. How does a commission let this happen? Dana has the answer to that and it's all on his watch. Dana your "fired. How could we not have copies of these multi million dollar contracts in our possession? When asked about them nobody had an answer to why not. Sound funny? If it were a business it would have a copy of every and all contracts. But the lawyer for MMWEC is the same lawyer for our TMLWP.Same lawyer for the CoOp with Princeton/MMLPWECC. One only has to look in the 2010 Annual report for a financial report to see how this could be. The report was not in it! Why?Why would it change year to year and why would it be the same for 2 years. I meant identical,as in the same report. How that for an audit job. CLEAN?
    All on the DANA BLAISE watch. Time for a new Chairman on the light commission.
    I hope to have your support and will do the best to get our Crown Jewel working for the "Templeton" that owns it again.
    Lets all be "Shareholders" AGAIN!!!

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  2. As an FYI, according to MGL c30b, section 1 (b) (15) - labor relations representatives, Lawyers and CPAs are exempt from contracts meaning a public entity can hire any lawyer without a bid or a contract.

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  3. How can anyone look at this and believe you JD. when you said last month we are at 13.5% now it's 15%? Great job i guess unless it's not true! Can you count eges not in the basket yet? your numbers are different all the time and if not put them on the TMLWP web site for the public to look at. List purchases and amounts to verify your claims. You would say whatever to make your"our" company sound perfect. Is this another pay upfront deal like the plant in ludlow MMWEC is in charge of?
    Will that project get off the ground in 2015 like stated in the town report or are delays still a issue? The report prior to this delay was startup in 2013 last year,it did not happen either and as more and more light dept part ways with MMWEC deals and leave the rest of us to pick up the slack. It's no wonder the contracts with MMWEC are not to be seen by the publics eyes. They need to keep them with blank pages to rewrite the details! Demanding answers is the only way to keep the commission on the way to full transperency and following the law.Every deal we hear only the good points and the fine print is not for our eyes.Why do other municipal light plants drop out of the MMWEC deals and we keep getting in deeper and only to not know whats up on paper. Do we owe for the Co Op deal and this is the control we gave up for it?Are the Commissioners borrowing more again without our approval? The contracts would show this ?
    TMLWP has been rouge and is getting worse every day. How much has been spent /borrowed to fund the ludlow plant we have not got extra electricity from and won't till after mid 2015 maybe! These great deals Dana are why were in debt so far and are never to get out. My opinions provable again!
    Dana your fired again.
    When the smart meters come to town they will say we were forced to put them in also. We had no choice it was the law we wanted to follow. Owe and the new meter will spin faster for a higher bill to collect. Have your homework done to fight this and when the time comes we should be able to get net metering in town and grants to pay us to instal it from the feds.
    Lease to own deals won't come here till the TMLWP goes along with it. Till we push them they will keep going out rouge to help them make money on us and the town both!
    Lets all be Shareholders AGAIN!!!

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  4. David is right, there is to much this general public has no knowledge about. I am feeling these Light Commissioners know about as much as you and I, but are in the position to vote, based on J.D's word !! Why buy into these deals with MMWEC when we could have our own ? People should take a ride to Adams Slaughterhouse in Athol, to see the huge solar farm they have right there. One thing is for sure, if they have any problems with the panels they will know right off, because you can see just about all of them from the store. There was a good article about smart meters in the Telegram. I will get it on the blog. Everyone needs to read about these, because I think these will be rammed down our throat next. So we will pay for them, then pay for them to be put on our homes, then electricity will really cost us, and you will know THIS IS NOT YOUR GRANDFATHER'S ELECTRIC COMPANY, ANYMORE. jUST INCASE I DO NOT HAVE YOUR ATTENTION !! Bev.

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