Passage of bill may assist Mayo mill

By Mike Lange
Staff Writer

 AUGUSTA — In a flurry of last-minute legislation, Maine lawmakers gave final approval to a bill earlier this week that makes several changes in the six-year-old Community Based Renewable Energy program.

 If the bill withstands a possible veto by Gov. Paul LePage, it’s expected to have a positive economic impact on the $11 million Riverfront Development Project in Dover-Foxcroft.

 LD 1310, sponsored by Rep. Jennifer DeChant (D-Bath) with strong support from Rep. Norman Higgins (R-Dover-Foxcroft), makes several changes to the CBRE including increasing the maximum capacity from 50 to 100 megawatts of power from community-based generators.

 For all practical purposes, the cap has already been reached. The Public Utilities Commission has certified 16 projects totaling 49.992 megawatts of capacity already in use across the state.

 So when the principals of the Riverfront Development Project, also known as Mayo Holdings LLC, wanted to restart their hydroelectric dam at the former furniture manufacturer and be able to sell the excess power, the permit was denied because of the cap.

 “This has been a priority for the last five months to open up this program that would allow an application to restart the hydro facility at the Mayo Mill,” Higgins wrote in an email message.

 Jonathan Arnold, a managing member of Mayo Mill Holdings LLC, told the Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee that his firm has combined “five loans, four grants, two types of tax credits, and two forms of renewable energy to make the project financially viable.  It has taken nearly six years to put together the 13 layers of financing, each of which plays a critical role in making the project sustainable over the long term.”

 On Monday, the Maine House voted 125-19 to support the CBRE revisions and the Senate concurred.

  But LePage has threatened to veto every bill submitted by a Democratic lawmaker; and on Monday, he kept his promise. Ten bills were vetoed, all with similar messages: “As promised, I am vetoing all bills sponsored by Democrats because they have stifled the voice of Maine citizens by preventing them from voting on the elimination of the income tax.”

  Higgins said he was not surprised. “We expect a veto (of LD 1310) and we are now working on getting the votes we need,” he said. He predicted that it may take a week before the final results are known.

 According to a summary of LD 1310, the new legislation “makes the program permanent, broadens eligibility, adds provisions to ensure program participant viability, eliminates the program incentive of renewable energy credit multipliers and requires the Public Utilities Commission to use a periodic competitive bidding process to choose projects that will receive long-term contracts.”

 Among those who testified against the bill was Jim Cohen of Verrill-Dana on behalf of Emera Maine. Cohen said the company objected to the legislation “because it requires our customers to invest in large-scale renewable energy projects without any requirement that such contracts benefit customers or encourage local investment.”