On January 9th, the Maine Public Utilities Commission (MPUC) held a regular meeting. Included on the agenda was the following item:
Electric
3- 2010-00235 MAINE PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION LONG TERM CONTRACTING FOR OFFSHORE WIND ENERGY AND TIDAL ENERGY PROJECTS
Consideration of: Long-Term Contract for Capacity and Associated Energy Between Maine Aqua Ventus I GP LLC and Central Maine Power Company
Staff Assigned: Cook, Christine; Huntington, Faith; Ewing, Lee; Tannenbaum, Mitchell [Link to Agenda]
The Maine Aqua Ventus (MAV) project requires a final Power Purchase Contract to sell power to Central Maine Power. The MPUC reviews the Contract to assure it meets the conditions of the Term Sheet previously approved by the MPUC. The Agenda item on January 9th was the first step in this review.
An audio recording of the Commissioners’ discussion of this item can be found at the following link, beginning at approximately 14:00:
http://puc-rss.maine.gov/userportal/#/player/vod/R607f34d69771405fbbc9ee76a23fc5a5
While there was discussion on the project, the Commission did not make any final decisions. The MPUC will issue a written order that will describe more specifically the next steps. This may happen over the next few days.
Statement from MAV –
Maine Aqua Ventus is committed to completing the project and is committed to honoring the terms of the MPUC term sheet that was approved in 2014. This includes bringing state-of-the art technical and engineering developments through demonstration and to commercialization, a commitment to environmental monitoring and stewardship, a commitment to economic development and community benefits, and to collaborating and working with other users of the Gulf of Maine, including fishing, shipping and recreational interests.
MAV will work collaboratively with the Maine Public Utilities Commission to provide information needed to complete the contract review.
