Maine lawmakers vote on energy and environment bills

By Deirdre Fulton

WASHINGTON – Maine Democratic Rep. Thomas Allen warned Wednesday that the influence of dam owners could cost the public its say in the dam relicensing process.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee, overriding several objections from environmental and consumer protection advocates, was expected Wednesday evening to approve an energy bill that included incentives for development in the hydropower industry. Allen's proposed amendments that he said would guarantee a public voice in dam relicensing were defeated.

"I'd like to see a different bill that looks forward - that encourages new technologies," Allen said after the committee's vote.

The dam relicensing provisions in the bill would ignore a compromise Congress agreed to last year, Allen said, that would have placed more power in the hands of the public and public-interest groups.. The committee bill would give that power to dam owners, leaving fishermen, fish and wildlife agencies and other interested parties with little say in the managing of hydropower facilities.

Four years ago, the Edwards Dam, on the Kennebec River, was removed after the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission determined that the amount of power the dam generated did not justify the destruction of the river's ecosystem. Without citizen input, the dam's removal would have been impossible, said Judy Berk of Maine's Natural Resources Council.

Now that the dam has been removed, "the large value of the ecosystem" is being realized, she said. Fish, like salmon and sturgeon, that were unable to reach their spawning grounds because of the dam are rebounding. In addition, the state was able to raise the river's water quality level after just a few months, Berk said.

Another provision of the committee bill would give a $300 million subsidy to the hydropower industry. Hydropower is "cheap and established," and the subsidy is unnecessary, Allen said.

Subsidizing the hydropower industry would cost taxpayers at least $200 million, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense Action, a non-partisan budget watchdog group. The committee rejected Allen's amendment, which would have cut the subsidy to $100 million.

Neither Allen nor the Maine Natural Resources Council opposes hydropower development in general. In fact, Allen's biggest problems with the bill stem from the fact, he said, that it remains "too attached to oil and gas." Nevertheless, he added, there are problems with giving the hydropower industry too much power.

Allen suggested that other renewable energy developments, like solar, wind and energy efficiency, need more financial help than hydropower does.

"America has the high-tech work force, the research institutions and the capital to lead in each of these industries," he said in his opening statement to the committee.

Energy efficiency is particularly important, Berk of the Resources Council said. "A kilowatt-hour saved is a kilowatt-hour earned," she said.

In the Senate, the Finance Committee on Wednesday approved a package of bills that would provide incentives for environmentally responsible energy policies. Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe, who sits on the committee, has pressed for more fuel-efficient vehicles and said she was eager to support "responsible energy solutions for America's future.

The committee-approved legislation includes provisions that Snowe sponsored or co-sponsored to offer incentives for technology, such as wind energy, hybrid vehicles, energy-efficient appliances and fuel cells.

Published in The Kennebec Journal and The Morning Sentinel, in Maine.