Reply #17: The Executive Director of the Maine Sportman's Alliance writes a column. [View All]

The high cost of electricity in Maine strangles industries and squeezes residents. With this state's abundant natural resources, including water and wood, and steady winds both inland and offshore, you would think it would benefit from the nation's lowest electric rates.

Think again. Electricity costs in Maine and the rest of New England are 36 percent higher than the national average...

...The New England Futures Project, reported in this newspaper, calls New England "America's energy orphan, literally at the end of the energy pipelines." The project reports that "only Hawaii is more vulnerable to interruption of imports or distribution-system breakdowns." Suggestions for remedies include "radical diversification of energy sources," plus smart conservation -- using New England's "hallmarks, self-reliance and resourcefulness," to solve the problem...

...Many anglers oppose new hydroelectric dams -- or even retrofitting of existing dams. Environmental groups including Maine Audubon and the Appalachian Mountain Club have opposed wind turbine projects in Aroostook County and the western Boundary Mountains, respectively.

For every good idea, there is a good deal of opposition led by those who are concerned about fish, birds, wilderness, hiking views and their own neighborhoods.

And I have not even suggested that one solution to our energy problem would be another nuclear plant. Just 11 years ago, Maine Yankee was providing 57 percent of Maine's electricity -- very inexpensively. The closure of Maine Yankee is one very big reason that electric rates have soared.

Nagusky rightly notes that "the disposal-of-waste issue is a serious issue that needs to be considered." Absolutely, but we should not shut the door to this cheap source of power...