Iberdrola's Many Costly Voices

Iberdrola Renewables–a subsidiary of Iberdrola Group and the owner of CMPC–is poised to become a major player in the industrial wind energy plan for Maine.  But before Maine embraces this foreign company and the product it’s selling, there are some crucial questions which must be answered.

Wind energy is expensive in many ways—both to tax-payers and to rate-payers.  Our neighbors in North Carolina are discovering the same thing.

This excerpt is from the December 15^th edition of the Charlotte Observer:

“The developer of the largest wind farm ever proposed in North Carolina says the project has stalled because no utility wants to buy the power the project would produce.

“Iberdrola Renewables, having put more than three years into a 31-square-mile wind farm near the coast, this week began notifying property owners and public officials…that the project is on hold indefinitely. If built, the Desert Wind Energy Project… would have ranked among the largest wind farms in the country.

“… the Spanish company has been unable to find a buyer for the power output of Desert Wind.”

No purchaser for wind power?  Is this due to the price wind will cost?  Or are there other disadvantages to wind power which makes it undesirable?

In trying to protect its investments and promote its agenda, the wind lobby has been vociferous about the jobs “wind” is bringing to our state.  Thus far, experienced local construction companies like Reed & Reed and Cianbro have been contracted to build the developers’ wind facilities.  However, the November 28^th issue of Renewable Energy Magazine reported that another Iberdrola subsidiary, Iberdrola Engineering and Construction, is moving into the wind facility construction business in the United States.  Iberdrola has been awarded two construction contracts for wind developments in the region—in Groton, NH and Hoosac, MA.  That begs the question: If Iberdrola is successful in getting permits for wind facilities in Maine will they import their own crews to build them?

Another lamentable detail:  When CMP customers write checks for our monthly electric bills, we’re sending them to a processing center in New Jersey.  We’re not mailing them to Augusta as we did for decades–back when CMPC was a Maine company, instead of a Spanish one.  Why is it that Iberdrola out-sources this traditional source of employment for Mainers?

Add to that; the fact that CMP intends to lay off dozens of employees once it has completed installing smart meters across the state, and one has to ask:

Is this foreign company looking out for the best interests of Maine’s citizens?