Utilities commission sends contract terms back to Statoil
Voicing concerns that Maine ratepayers would invest too much and Statoil too little in that company's proposed offshore pilot wind park, Maine Public Utilities Commissioners Thomas Welch and Mark Vannoy opposed the contract terms. Leaving the door open for a more favorable outcome, the Public Utilities Commission tabled the contract terms instead of denying them outright at a meeting in Hallowell on October 4.
Chairman Welch said Statoil “has made a serious and good faith effort” to invest in Maine for the pilot wind park but said a long-term commitment to Maine was lacking in the current terms.
Under the proposed term sheet, Maine ratepayers would have paid roughly $200 million in higher electric costs over the 20-year contract period. Welch estimated Statoil’s dollar commitment to the project at less than $100 million, but acknowledged they couldn't predict the impact of job and industry creation related to it.
In the term sheet, Statoil also committed to a 30 percent capital investment in Maine, shoreside supply chain development and a research and development program with the University of Maine. However, Statoil’s commitments to Maine were limited to the pilot park. Welch said Maine’s return on its significant investment in the project would only be realized if it also benefited from any full-scale wind farm that followed the pilot park.
In his comments, Welch sought specific capital and employment targets from Statoil “to the extent it has any involvement in a major offshore wind development in the waters off New England.” He also wrote that Maine should share in the benefits from any commercial use of “information and experience gained in the pilot.”
Commissioner David Littell spoke in support of accepting the term sheet. Littell cited Statoil’s expertise, investment, and commitment to research and development, the potential for job and industry creation in Maine and broad public support.
“Maine will never see a more capable, well-respected, or financially capable partner. In purely financial terms, this term sheet is exceptionally favorable to Maine," Littel said. Welch said it was now up to Statoil to decide whether it wanted to renegotiate the term sheet. “They can come back to us. Sometimes you can get to no, faster than to yes,” Welch said.
Statoil’s North America Communications Vice President Ola Morten Aanestad said in a phone call after the decision, “We were hoping for a more positive conclusion from the PUC today so we could continue maturing the project. We now need to take this information back and evaluate how we can proceed."
Sue Mello can be reached at 844-4629 or sumello@boothbayregister.com.
For more on Statoil:
What's on the horizon for offshore wind energy?
Fishermen voice concerns about offshore wind production
Pilot wind farm clears first regulatory hurdle
Statoil's wind farm officials meet with representatives in Boothbay
Feds open comment on offshore wind
